He wound up selling the defending champion on the layout at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.

"I talked to [Davis Love III] and he told me how great the golf course was," Snedeker said Thursday. "That's how it spreads."

Tournament organizers are hoping that chatty pro golfers during the next few years will talk each other into playing North Carolina's oldest annual PGA tournament, the only regular stop to feature an original Donald Ross-designed course. Naturally, the par-70, 7,117-yard layout includes the tricky greens that are the staples of a Ross design.

"It's exciting to me to see a golf course like this, with the greens complex the way they are, in great shape," said Snedeker, whose two-shot victory last year was the first of his career. "In two or three years, you're going to see a great field show up here because the golf course is that good."

The recognizable names already have started to trickle in: David Duval became the latest commitment. The one-time top-ranked player in the world and 2001 British Open winner is joining a crowded field that already was expected to include Vijay Singh, the world's 10th-ranked player, and Rocco Mediate, the U.S. Open runner-up who took Tiger Woods to a 19th playoff hole.

The tournament moved to Sedgefield after three decades across town at Forest Oaks Country Club, where Snedeker claimed a two-stroke victory over Tim Petrovic, Billy Mayfair and Jeff Overton.

DUVAL ENTERS EVENT: David Duval, coming off three strong rounds at the British Open, said Thursday he would play next week in the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open with hopes of building some momentum.

Duval, who has not won on the PGA Tour since his British Open victory in 2001, had said he could only play one time over the next two months because he is not eligible for the PGA Championship or any of the FedEx Cup playoff events. His daughter, Sienna, turns 1 next week, and he planned to be at home for her birthday.

Instead, he's taking the family to Reno for some cake and golf.

Duval opened with rounds of 73-69 at Royal Birkdale and was three shots out of the lead, playing with eventual winner Padraig Harrington, when he shot 83 in the third round into gusts approaching 50 mph. He shot 71 the final day and tied for 39th.

Also playing in the Reno-Tahoe Open is Michelle Wie, and Duval had no complaints about the 18-year-old golfer with no status on any tour taking a spot in the opposite-field event.

"You're in or you're not in. It's pretty simple," Duval said. "Whether I agree if she should be playing -- I think she would be better off on the Futures Tour competing against women -- is neither here nor there. [Tournament director] Michael Stearns thinks she can bring people in, and that's his job. If some guy needs a spot in the field, chances are he's not going to sell any tickets. She might add 2,000."

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