Five of the top 10 players on the FedEx Cup points list (and 21 of the top 30) will tee it up at this week's PGA Tour stop, the PODS Championship outside of Tampa, Fla.
And before you ask, no, neither Tiger nor Phil are playing this week.
Last year, Mark Calcavecchia opened with a 4-over 75 before storming back, thanks mainly to a third-round 62, to take a one-stroke victory over John Senden and Heath Slocum at the PODS. It was the highest first-round score by a PGA Tour winner since 1997.
That 62 equaled the tournament record. After his opening-round 75, Calcavecchia had already packed his car anticipating a quick exit as soon as he finished missing the second-round cut. Instead, he shot 67 to move from 112th to a tie for 38th. In Saturday's third round, he had 11 one-putts on the way to a 9 under.
And Calc is playing well entering the event his year, coming off a tie for fourth last week at The Honda Classic. He will be attempting to become the first player to successfully defend a title at the PODS Championship. Besides his 2007 win, he tied for 19th in 2006 and tied for 24th in 2003. He has three career victories in Florida.
"From tee to green I can still keep up with those young guys out here," said Calcavecchia, +3500 to win this week on WagerWeb.com. "I'm just not as good consistently around the greens - putting and chipping and whatnot."
The top player in the field this week is world No. 3 Ernie Els, who won for the first time in the U.S. in four years last week at the Honda. Els finished sixth in his last visit to Tampa two years ago.If you are planning on betting on Els (+325 on WagerWeb.com) to win this week, consider that he has won in back-to-back only twice before on the PGA Tour, the last time in '03.
Another South African, Retief Goosen (+5000), is looking to end a drought similar to Els. After posting at least one victory for five consecutive seasons from 2001-2005, Goosen, the 2003 PODS Championship winner, is seeking to snap a two-year PGA Tour winless streak. He makes his fifth appearance at this event, following his win with a tie for 20th (2004), tie for 44th (2005) and a missed cut in 2006.
Perhaps J.B. Holmes (+3300) can build off his FBR Open win and near-upset of Tiger in the Match Play at the PODS. Holmes has yet to miss a cut this year and was eighth at the PODS last year.
Then there's Scott Verplank (+2500), who will be looking to extend his tour-best streak of 27 consecutive rounds of par or better. In his first three events this year, Verplank finished T18th, T22nd, T5th, and his 84.86 is the best driving accuracy percentage on Tour.
Joe Durant (+2800) also may be worth a look, as four of his last five starts have produced finishes of 20th or better, and he is the only man in the field to have three top 5s at this event.
This could be the last year of this tournament, held at the Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course, a favorite of Tour Players. PODS is pulling its sponsorship at the end of this year, with another yet to be found.
The PGA Tour has made it clear it won't step in and bail out this event. "If there's not a sponsor next year," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said last week, "there won't be an event."
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