Aug. 9, 2009

SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University head women's golf coach Brad Rickel will be making his third straight appearance at the 91st PGA Championship Aug. 13-16 at Hazeltine National Golf Club at Chaska, Minn., but not in the role you might imagine.

Rickel, as he has done the previous two years, will be the instructor for Spokane-born Ryan Benzel, who qualified for his third straight PGA Championship at the PGA Professional National Championship tournament at the Twin Warriors Golf Club at Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., earlier this summer. He shot a 2-under par 69 in the final round.

Rickel will file a daily diary beginning Monday and continue throughout Benzel's play in the PGA Championship. See the link on the Gonzaga home page.

The PGA Championship reserves 20 spots for PGA professionals, based upon the national championship meet. Benzel, who represents Battle Creek Golf Course of Tulalip, Wash., tied for second at the PGA Professional National Championship in 2007 and tied for fourth in 2008.

Benzel will try to improve on his previous best finish of 71st at the 2007 PGA Championship. In that season, he was one of only two PGA professionals to make the 36-hole cut. In 2008, he finished in a tie for 125th.

As an instructor, Rickel can coach Benzel on the driving range, putting green and on the course during practice rounds prior to the start of Thursday's play. Rickel must stay outside the ropes once Benzel tees off in the official tournament rounds, but once he signs and turns in his scorecard after each round Rickel can once again coach Benzel. Rickel will walk the course with the gallery during the actual tournament rounds and follow Benzel but cannot provide instruction during the course of the round

The 30-year-old Benzel, who turned professional in 2001, was born in Spokane and raised in nearby Ritzville. He played golf at the University of Idaho where he was coached by Rickel, who is beginning his third season guiding the Bulldog women.