News and notes on the PGA Tour’s top 20 golfers

1. Tiger Woods, United States:

Although it now appears that Woods will return to the PGA Tour sooner rather than later, the exact time and place remains a matter of debate. Two visitors to Woods’ home in Central Florida last week accelerated speculation that he will play next week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, although other reports said it will be in three weeks at the Masters. First, it was reported by several media outlets that the no. 1 golfer in the world was seen on the range at Isleworth working with instructor Hank Haney, who apparently flew into town for several days of practice sessions. Then, the New York Post ran a story that Ari Fleischer, former adviser of President George W. Bush, was in Woods’ living room for two days advising him on ways to make his return easier after months of scandal. Fleischer also has advised Mark McGwire, the former baseball slugger who is back in the game this year as batting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals after admitting to steroid use. when he plays in Arnold Palmer’s tournament at Bay Hill, Woods usually does his pre-round warm-up on the driving range at Isleworth, across the street from his house, before making the 10-minute drive to Bay Hill and heading to the practice green. He also might play for Isleworth at the beginning of the week in the Tavistock Cup, its annual match against the pros from cross-town rival Lake Nona Country Club.

2. Steve Stricker, United States:

Following a two-week break, Stricker recorded another solid finish with a tie for 16th in the WGC-CA Championship, making birdies on his last two holes Sunday to close out a 4-under-par 68, his best round of the week. As good as it was, it was his worst finish of the season in a stroke-play event, coming on the heels of three results in the top 10, including a victory in the Northern Trust Open. Stricker is playing the next two weeks in the Transitions Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational before taking a week off before the Masters. He is appearing in the Tampa-area event for the fifth time and has had some success the last two years on the Copperhead course after missing the cut in his first two appearances. He tied for 14th in 2008 after closing with a 5-under-par 66, and he then tied for fourth last year, finishing two strokes behind winner Retief Goosen. after opening with a 73 last week at Doral, Strick was under par in each of his last three rounds and 8-under overall on those days to make a move up the leaderboard. He could have been under par in all four rounds except for a double-bogey 5 on the fourth hole Thursday, his only big number of the week. Stricker hit in the neighborhood of 60% of the fairways and greens in the windy conditions on the Blue Monster and pulled it all together by averaging 27.3 putts per round.

3. Phil Mickelson, United States:

Still trying to find his best form after a relatively unproductive five-event start to his season, Mickelson is taking a week off but has added next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational next week to his schedule. He also will play in the Shell Houston Open ahead of the Masters because he has said he feels rusty early in the week at a major championship if he has not played the previous tournament. In defense of his title in the WGC-CA Championship, he saved his best round of the week for Sunday, when he posted a 4-under-par 68 to finish in a tie for 14th. Lefty carded five birdies in each of the last two rounds, but five bogeys on Saturday kept him from really making a move on the weekend. He struggled with the driver despite averaging 301.6 yards off the tee, hitting only 20 of 56 fairways to finish last in the field of 68 players, and ran hot-and-cold with the putter. Mickelson took a total of only 50 putts in the first and last rounds but needed 59 in the middle rounds. despite all the talk about how much better he is hitting the ball thanks to the work with instructor Butch Harmon, he has hit the fairway fewer than half the time this season. still, he is not that far off with the Masters approaching, having finished in the top 25 in five of his six tournaments this season on the PGA Tour. however, this was supposed to be a big season for Mickelson, coming off victories in the Tour Championship and the WGC-HSBC Champions Tournament late last year, when he outplayed Tiger Woods each time.

4. Padraig Harrington, Ireland:

Coming off his best result of the season — and helping President Obama celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the White House on Wednesday — Harrington will play for his third consecutive week in the Transitions Championship. He will be appearing at the Copperhead course for the first time and after that apparently is taking two weeks off to wrap up his preparation for the Masters at home in Dublin. Paddy, who admittedly is a slow starter every season, might have started to get his game in gear when he finished in a tie for third in the WGC-CA Championship. it seemed to be getting away from him when he carded three consecutive bogeys through no. 15 in the final round, but he bounced back with a birdie on no. 16 and then holed a 10-foot putt for par on the last hole to close with an even-par 72. Harrington played his best golf on the Blue Monster when he charged through the middle rounds in 68-67, making only a single bogey each day, on no. 18 both times. the closer to the hole he got, the better he played, hitting fewer than half the fairways and 46 of 72 greens in regulation before averaging 27.0 putts per round — including 24 on Sunday — to rank eighth in the field. Coming off a season in which he claimed the British Open and PGA Championship, Harrington did not claim his first top-10 finish on the PGA Tour last year until he tied for second in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He still has not won a WGC title.

5. Geoff Ogilvy, Australia:

Ogilvy, who has played pedestrian golf since winning the SBS Championship to start the season, is playing the rest of the Florida Swing, having committed to the Transitions Championship this week and then the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He is trying to get his game in order with the Masters approaching and could be a player to watch this week because he has had some success in four appearances at the Copperhead course, other than when he missed the cut in 2005. the Aussie tied for ninth in 2003, tied for 20th in 2004 and tied for 10th in 2008, although he shot himself out of contention with a final-round 74. Ogilvy is taking a reconnaissance trip to Augusta National early this week, three weeks ahead of the Masters, and will be showing fellow Aussies Michael Sim and Marc Leishman around the grounds as they make their rookie appearances in the first major. last week, Ogilvy did not break 70 in the WGC-CA Championship until he shot 3-under-par 69 on Sunday, and he wound up in a tie for 45th. He seemed primed for a big week when he made four birdies in the first five holes and six in all on Thursday, but he also carded four bogeys and a double bogey and had to settle for a 72. Ogilvy averaged 30 putts per round over the first three days, when the windy conditions made even putting difficult, but turned that around by taking only 25 putts in the final round.

6. Zach Johnson, United States:

Following a tie for 37th last week in the WGC-CA Championship, his first finish outside the top 25 in five events this season, Johnson will try to get it going again this week in the Transitions Champio0nship. after skipping the Honda Classic two weeks ago, Johnson is playing the last three weeks on the Florida Swing. This week, he is teeing it up on the Copperhead course for the fourth time. He has missed the cut twice, including last year when he shot 70-74—144 to fall one stroke short of playing on the weekend. Zach’s best finish in the tournament came when he tied for 14th in 2007, shooting 5-under-par 66 in the third round. He carried that form forward, tying for ninth in the CA Championship, which was played later that season, and then was wearing the Green Jacket after winning the Masters less than a month later. He could not duplicate that Doral performance last week, failing to break 70 until he carded six birdies and posted a 3-under-par 69 in the final round. the worst came when he recorded five bogeys and finished the first round with a double-bogey 6 on the difficult 18th hole to card a 76 — his worst round of the season by four strokes. His best golf came when he was 6-under through 12 holes on Saturday, but he spoiled that round with three bogeys and a double bogey down the stretch to shoot 70.

7. Camilo Villegas, Colombia:

After a late start to his PGA Tour season and then a productive four-week run, including a victory in the Honda Classic, Villegas is taking a week off before playing next in Arnold Palmer Invitational. Even though he is playing well, he probably needs the break at his home in Gainesville, Fla., because two weeks ago he also flew to Colombia to help kick off the first Nationwide Tour event in his native country before flying back to claim his third victory on the PGA Tour. Villegas said the biggest difference from his disappointing season in 2009 has been his attitude — he’s not getting down on himself for a poor shot or bad stretch of holes so far this year. Even though his tie for 16th in the WGC-CA Championship last week was his worst finish on the PGA Tour in four events this season, he continued to be one of the hottest players on the circuit. the only Colombian on the PGA Tour posted four rounds of par-72 or better on the Blue Monster and would have been under par every day if not for two bogeys late in his first round of 72. He played his best golf of the week with a bogey-free 68 in the second round, when he started with three consecutive birdies, but he could manage only one more. Villegas’ third-round 70 was marred by a double-bogey 6 on no. 7, but that was his only big number of the week.

8. Ernie Els, South Africa:

The big Easy has been saying for a while now that he was getting close to his old form, and he was right, except for the putter. last week in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, he putted the lights out most of the way and wound up winning by four strokes over fellow South African Charl Schwartzel, who is staying at Els’ home in West Palm Beach while playing in the Florida Swing. although he had not committed to play next week in the Arnold Palmer Invitational as of Sunday night, the schedule page at ernieels.com for quite some time has listed the tournament at Bay Hill and the Shell Houston Open as his coming events. the victory at Doral was the 51st official title of his career, including 17 on the PGA Tour, but Els had not won anywhere since the 2007 Honda Classic — the longest drought of his career. He shot a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 in the final round to pull away from Schwartzel and recorded 10 one-putts, probably the biggest a 24-footer for par on no. 14 to protect a one-stroke lead. the 40-year-old Els put himself in position by hitting 50 of 72 green in regulation, second in the field, and then averaged 26.8 putts per round to tie for fifth. He birdied three of the first four holes to take the lead in the final round, when he matched the bogey-free 66 he had on Friday. His 23 birdies led the field, and he had only five bogeys.

9. Sean O’Hair, United States:

Finally finding his game again after struggling because of a stress fracture in his left wrist, O’Hair posted a bogey-free 66 — his low round of the year — in the final round of the WGC-CA Championship last week to finish in a tie for 18th. He is another member of the PGA Tour who is playing his way across Florida and this week will compete in the Transitions Championship before heading on to the Arnold Palmer Invitational. O’Hair has missed the cut three times in five appearances on the Copperhead course, including last year as the defending champion at 72-73—145, failing to make the weekend by two strokes. however, he tied for 10th in 2005 and then claimed the second of his three PGA Tour titles when he came from three strokes down on Sunday to win by two over six players in 2008, shooting bookend 69s in difficult conditions. last week in the final round at Doral, he played his most solid round in awhile, hitting 12 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens in addition to taking only 24 putts. He could have had another low round on Thursday, when he carded five birdies, but he also had four bogeys and a double bogey to wind up with a 71. the difference in his best days, Thursday and Sunday, and his worst, Friday and Saturday, came on the greens. He had a total of only 50 putts on the best but needed 60 on the worst.

10. Lucas Glover, United States:

The U.S. Open champion continued his in-and-out play this season when he failed to break the par of 72 in any of his four rounds and wound up in a tie for 56th in the WGC-CA Championship. Glover is playing this week in the Transitions Championship and then apparently will take two weeks off before Rhe Masters, for which he did not qualify last year. He has played well only once in six previous appearances on the Copperhead course — he tied for fourth in 2007, closing with three rounds in the 60s to finish two strokes behind champion Mark Calcavecchia. Glover has missed the cut twice in the Tampa-area event, including last year, when he shot 71-74—145 and wound up two strokes short of playing on the weekend. Luke played solid yet unspectacular golf for three rounds in the difficult conditions last week on the Blue Monster and had a chance for a good finish with a low final round. however, he played his worst golf of the week by far and closed with a 75 as many other were going low. Even though he had four birdies on Sunday, he canceled those out with two double bogeys. His three doubles for the week tied for the most in the field. Glover hit only a little more than half the fairways and greens but kept his head above water by averaging 28.3 putts per round. He has struggled in his last three tournaments after posting two top-15 finishes early in the season.

11. Jim Furyk, United States:

Still trying to find his best stuff after a late start to his season, Furyk broke 70 only when he posted a 3-under-par 69 in the third round and tied for 37th in the WGC-CA Championship. He is playing the last three legs of the Florida Swing, including this week in the Transitions Championship. This will be only his third appearance on the Copperhead course and he has not played it well, shooting 72-71—143 to miss the cut by one stroke in 2004, before finishing in a tie for 52nd last year. Furyk has broken 70 only once in six rounds on the course, when he opened with a 6-under-par 65 last year to take the lead, but he followed that up with a 78 to make the cut by only two strokes. the man with the funkiest swing on the PGA Tour probably could have had his first top-10 finish of the season last week if not for a 4-over-par 76 in the second round at the Blue Monster, when he carded four bogeys and made double-bogey 5s on both par-3 holes on the front nine. Furyk broke the par of 72 the other three days; his best was a 69 on Saturday, when he carded six birdies but also had three bogeys. He finished second in the field by hitting 41 of 56 fairways and also was second with an average 26.5 putts per round, so he seems to be getting close to some good results.

12. Y.E. Yang, South Korea:

Yang is going to take a break before the Masters, the first major championship since he roared past Tiger Woods in the final round to win the PGA Championship last August at Hazeltine. He is skipping the Transitions Championship and, as of the weekend, he also had not committed to the Arnold Palmer Invitational or the Shell Houston Open. the South Korean has played four consecutive weeks and needs the time off, but if he plays before heading to Augusta it would make sense to take the trip across Texas from his home in Dallas to play the week before the Masters at Houston. Yang could not break the par of 72 over the first three rounds of the WGC-CA Championship last week before posting a 7-under-par 65, equaling his best score of the season, in the final round to climb into a tie for 30th. He did not card a bogey in his final round and finished strong, making four birdies in a span of five holes through no. 17. That was a complete about-face from his third-round 75, when he made a birdie on the third hole and none the rest of the way. the difference can be traced to the greens because Yang averaged 31.3 putts per round the first three days before taking only 22 in the final round. He struggled last year after winning the PGA but has shown some flashes this season with four finishes in the top 20, including third at Phoenix.

13. Stewart Cink, United States:

Cink is playing for the second time in a three-week stretch on the Florida Swing beginning Thursday, this time in the Transitions Championship, and might feel that he has one coming on the Copperhead course. He held a three-stroke lead on the back nine of the final round in the Tampa-area event two years ago before stumbling home with bogeys on four consecutive holes and finished in a tie for second, one stroke behind winner Sean O’Hair. Cink skipped the tournament last year but is playing it for the seventh time, also having tied for third in 2005, four strokes behind winner Carl Petterson, and tied for 19th in 2006. the British Open champion was another player who struggled for three days last week in the WGC-CA Championship before tearing up the Blue Monster on Sunday. after failing to break the par of 72 over the first three days, he carded a 65 on the final round, with the only blemish a bogey at no. 9, to finish in a tie for 37th. Cink struggled with both his ball-striking and putting for the first three rounds in the windy conditions of South Florida but got it all together on Sunday, when he hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation in addition to taking only 26 putts. He made only eight birdies on the first three days at Doral but had exactly that many in the final round, collecting four on each nine.

14. Vijay Singh, Fiji:

Hoping to keep his run of good form going, Singh is playing this week in the Transitions Championship and in fact will play in all four tournaments on the Florida Swing. And why not, since all four venues are not that far from his home in Ponte Vedra Beach, meaning he can spend part of the week with his family. Singh will be competing on the Copperhead course for the sixth time, having tied for 19th in his last two appearances there in 2006 and 2007 after winning the tournament in 2004, a year after he finished second. the big Fijian posted four rounds in the 70s to beat Tommy Armour III and Jesper Parnevik by five strokes, one year after winding up three strokes behind champion Retief Goosen. He recorded four rounds under the par of 72 last week to tie for 11th in the WGC-CA Championship, one week after he tied four fourth in the Honda Classic. He would have posted consecutive top-10 finishes for the first time since he won the Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship during the PGA Tour playoffs in 2008, but he missed a nine-foot birdie putt on the final hole. In fact, Singh might have challenged champion Ernie Els had he better handled no. 18, which he played in 4-over-par for the week, including a double-bogey 6 in round one, when he was in the lead. He also made bogey on the hole each day on the weekend. He struggled on the greens with 61 putts on the weekend after taking 54 the first two days.

15. Sergio Garcia, Spain:

Yet another player who did not get it going until Sunday at the WGC-CA Championship last week, Garcia closed with a 3-under-par 69 to finish in a tie for 37th. the Spaniard is playing this week in the Transitions Championship for only the second time, having tied for 59th on the Copperhead course in 2007, when he failed to break 70 in any of his four rounds. after that, he probably will take two weeks off ahead of the Masters, although he could play next week in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he missed last year for the first time since 1999. El Nino did not break 70 in the first three rounds last week on the Blue Monster, including an opening 2-over-par 74, when he made a birdie on the first hole and another on the 16th but none the rest of the day. He finally got it going in the final round, when he made three birdies in the first nine holes and did not card his only bogey until no. 17. Garcia, who continues to struggle on the greens, has a new putter in his bag — a TaylorMade Rossa Daytona by Kia. With it he averaged 29.3 putts per round at the Honda Classic, good for 29th in the field, and struggled on the greens at Doral until the final round. Garcia averaged 31.7 putts per round over the first three days, including a whopping 36 on Friday, but needed only 26 on Sunday.

16. Kenny Perry, United States:

Perry still has not played particularly well since he tied for sixth in the SBS Championship to start the season, and last week he broke 70 only when he posted a 4-under-par 68 on Saturday and finished in a tie for 45th in the WGC-CA Championship. He plans to play the next two tournaments, starting with the Transitions Championship on Thursday, before taking a week off heading to the Masters. This will be his seventh appearance on the Copperhead course, but the only time he finished in the top 10 came with a tie for eighth in 2004, when he wound up nine strokes behind winner Vijay Singh. not that Perry has played all that badly in the Tampa-area event. His worst result was a tie for 30th, and he has been in the top 20 four times — including a tie for 17th last year. He played bogey-free in the third round last week at Doral but had at least four bogeys on each of the other three days and a total of 14 for the week, including 11 on the back nine of the Blue Monster. KP had a chance for another good round on Sunday, when he made five birdies, but he also carded five bogeys and had to settle for a 72. Always a strong ball-striker, Perry hit more than 60% of the fairways and greens in the windy conditions but needs to work out some issues with the putter. He averaged 29.3 putts per round, taking at least 29 each day, to rank near the bottom of the field.

17. Dustin Johnson, United States:

After finishing in the top 20 in his first four appearances of the season, including his victory at Pebble Beach, Johnson has struggled in his last two outings. He was eliminated in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and last week finished in a tie for 56th, beating only 10 players in the elite field. DJ is playing in the final three legs of the Florida Swing, including the Transitions Championship this week, before he takes a week off heading into the Masters. This will be his second appearance on the Copperhead course, where he shot 75-75—150 to miss the cut by five strokes two years ago. Johnson opened with a 3-under-par 69 last week at Doral but could not break the par of 72 in any of the last three rounds. He could have gone very low on Thursday after making an eagle on the first hole and also carding five birdies, but he also mixed in four bogeys. Johnson had a similar quick start on Sunday with another eagle on the first hole and was 4-under after 10 holes, but he did not make another birdie and recorded a triple-bogey 8 on the 12th hole en route to a 40 on the back nine to close with a 73. He made another big number while shooting 76 on Saturday, taking a quadruple-bogey 7 on the fourth hole. the power-hitting Johnson tied for the lead in the field with three eagles, but his two “others,” the triple and quad, also tied for the lead.

18. Angel Cabrera, Argentina:

Heading into defense of his Masters title, Cabrera is taking two weeks off before playing in the Shell Houston Open as he continues to search for his game. He said it is important to him to make a strong title defense at Augusta and that he has been working hard on his game even though his best performance in six events on the PGA Tour this season was a tie for 10th in the SBS Championship, the opener at Kapalua. the good news is that he was not on form before winning at Augusta last year — he had missed the cut in three of his first five events. the Argentine did not break 70 in any of his four rounds last week in the WGC-CA Championship and wound up in a tie for 50th. He put himself in a hole from the start by making only two birdies and posting a 2-over-par 74 on Thursday, never really getting his game going on the Blue Monster. Cabrera was at least under par at 71-70 in the middle rounds and seemed to be on his way to a strong finish on Sunday, when he was 3-under through 12 holes. however, he went bogey-bogey-double bogey on the next three holes and wound up with a 73, and he has not broken 70 in his last five rounds. El Pato’s best golf of the week came when he shot 70 in the third round, making his only bogey of the day on the seventh hole, the hole that also cost him a score in the 60s the previous day when he made a double bogey.

19. Anthony Kim, United States:

Coming off his second-place finish in the Honda Classic, Kim did not really hit on all cylinders last week until the final round of the WGC-CA Championship, closing with a 4-under-par 68 to tie for 22nd. after playing the last four weeks, Kim is going to take a break before the Masters. He has not committed to any of the next three events on the PGA Tour, but last season he played in the Shell Houston Open, where he tied for 26th, before he tied for 20th at Augusta. Even though 2009 was a forgettable year for Kim, he played well in the first two majors, also tying for 16th in the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. before last week, he had improved his placing in every tournament this year on the PGA Tour, tying for 52nd at the Sony Open in Hawaii, tying for 33rd in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and tying for 24th in the Waste Management Phoenix Open before his runner-up finish in the Honda. the only way he could have kept that going would have been to win at Doral, where he virtually took himself out of contention for the title by making only a single birdie while shooting 73 on Friday. it was the fourth time in as many stroke-play tournaments on the PGA Tour that one poor round has been costly to him. Kim could have gone sideways again on Sunday because he hit only 5 of 14 fairways and 9 of 18 greens, but he played bogey free by taking only 25 putts.

20. Ian Poulter, England:

Poulter did not have his best stuff last week until the final round, when he closed with a sizzling 8-under-par 64 that left him in a tie for 37th in the WGC-CA Championship. He is playing for the fourth time in five weeks on the PGA Tour when he tees it up this week in the Transitions Championship in what will be his first appearance on the Copperhead course. Poulter rose 25 spots on the leaderboard Sunday when he torched the Blue Monster for an eagle on the first hole and added seven birdies. after averaging 30 putts per round over the first three days, he was on fire with the putter on Sunday, taking only 22 strokes on the greens. Any chance he had was blown away in the wind at Doral on Friday, when he carded seven bogeys and made his only birdie of the day at no. 17 while shooting 78. Poulter started out strong with three birdies on his first nine on Thursday, but he never really got it going again until Sunday, when he was 9-under through 13 holes — although it was too late by then. the colorful Englishman said he was moved to receive personal messages of congratulations from the likes of Greg Norman, Arnold Palmer, Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie after his recent victory in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Monty, captain of the European team, must have been especially pleased because Poulter should be playing for him in Wales come October.

News and notes on the PGA Tour’s top 20 golfers


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