PITTSBURGH (AP) — When self-made billionaire Joe Hardy hosted Tiger Woods at his Nemacolin Woodlands Resort seven years ago, Woods said he thought the course would be the perfect spot for a PGA Tour event. Next week, Woods will return to the Pete Dye-designed course to play in the 84 Lumber Classic. The 2-year-old tournament pits him against Vijay Singh as the battle for No. 1 comes to Farmington, a small western Pennsylvania mountain town. “We’re certainly moving this up to a higher level,” said Hardy, who founded both 84 Lumber and the tournament. “I can’t say we’ll be one of the majors, but we’ll certainly give them a run for their money.” The field was already bursting with more than 60 other of the PGA’s top 100 money winners before Woods agreed to come play. The announcement Thursday capped a long effort by Hardy and others to attract Woods to their young tournament. “We’re just ecstatic. We can’t sleep at night at this point,” said Maggie Hardy Magerko, Hardy’s daughter and the president of the resort and 84 Lumber. The presence of Woods and Singh, who last week overtook Woods for No. 1 in the world rankings, is a huge boon for the resort. At the inaugural tournament last year, only one of the top 21 money winners attended. Hardy Magerko said they called Woods’ agent about six weeks ago to ask if Woods would come. He indicated he was interested and would also like John Daly, who is paid to endorse 84 Lumber and serves as the unofficial tournament host, to play in Woods’ tournament, she said. Daly decided at the last minute to play in the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston two weeks ago, a tournament benefiting the Tiger Woods Foundation. “His game feels good and he wants to stay in competitive action,” said agent Mark Steinberg of IMG, which represents Woods. Woods received a large appearance fee — reportedly, about $1.7 million — to play in a 1997 Memorial Day exhibition and two other events at Nemacolin. He later opted out of the two other events and reportedly took a smaller fee. He hasn’t appeared at the resort since the exhibition. It’s rare to have a tournament this late in the season that pits the top players against each other, since many of the top money winners reduce their schedules after the majors. Woods also rarely plays three consecutive events, as he will by playing in the Ryder Cup this week, the 84 Lumber Classic and a World Golf Championship event in Ireland the following week. Officials at Nemacolin said the course will look a lot different than Woods and the other players remember. After last year’s winner, J.L. Lewis, shot 22-under, resort officials decided to make major changes to the course. Several fairways were narrowed, bunkers were added, and greens were leveled to make them faster and pin placements more challenging. “We’ve got a real bearcat of a golf course out there,” said Dennis Clark, the resort’s director of Golf Operations. Hardy hopes the golf, and the amenities at his pricey resort tucked into the Laurel Highlands, keeps drawing the players back — or even attracts a prestigious tournament like the Ryder Cup. The resort has a new hotel and clubhouse, and a luxury RV park for golfers and their families. Hardy also used his deep pockets to attract the big players. He offered to fly any golfer committed to playing the tournament, along with four others, to the World Golf Championship event in Ireland for free, a deal valued at $40,000 per golfer. Already, people in Farmington, about 75 miles from Pittsburgh, are preparing for an onslaught of spectators. More than 80,000 advance ticket have been sold. About 30,000 fans clogged up traffic on nearby roads to watch Woods play in the 1997 tournament. Traffic wasn’t a problem for last year’s lightly attended event, but school officials in the Uniontown Area School District have postponed school for Sept. 24 in anticipation of large crowds.

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