The big news in golf this week is that Tiger Woods, two days after finishing second in the Masters, had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee for the second time in five years and will miss at least four weeks while he recovers.
Woods most likely will miss The Players Championship, one of three non-majors he has never missed since turning pro. He hopes to return at the Memorial on May 29, with the U.S. Open teeing off two short weeks later.
"Tiger has been experiencing pain in his knee since the middle of last year, and when he had it looked at by his doctors, arthroscopic surgery was recommended,' said Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent at IMG.
``Tiger has played through the pain in the past, but knew it would be better for him to have the procedure done as early as possible.'
That said, Tiger was not going to play at this week's Verizon Heritage in Hilton Head Island, S.C., anyway. So let's look at who might win.
Boo Weekley is the defending champ, beating Ernie Els by a stroke for his first Tour title. And he very well could defend this week, as he finished a solid 20th at last week's Masters and has two top-10 performances this season - ninth at both the FBR Open and the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
Weekley (+3000 to win at WagerWeb.com) was the 10th first-time winner at the Verizon and third consecutive. At worst he should be around for the weekend, as defending champion has missed the cut at the Verizon Heritage since Davis Love III in 1993.Speaking of Love (+3500), he is a five-time champion at Harbour Town and the tournament's leading money earner. But he is in the midst of one of his worst seasons.
Els (the WagerWeb.com co-favorite at +1000) will be back this year, and he has seven top-10 finishes at Harbour Town, including top-10s in his last four starts.
Els missed the cut at Augusta last week and has changed swing coaches, dropping longtime mentor David Leadbetter for former Tiger Woods instructor Butch Harmon.
"I really kind of lost my swing a little bit after the Honda Classic and I needed to do something," Els said. "I wanted to go his route."
World No. 9 Jim Furyk (+1000) also is strong here, with three top-10 finishes, including two second-place showings (2005 and 2006).
Furyk admits that preparing for the course is difficult after playing at the year's first major."It's more of a challenge to adjust than people might think," he said. "You go from Augusta National, which is such a big place - a lot of area, big greens, big bunkers and all - to a golf course with small greens, narrow fairways ... to change your game from Augusta to Hilton Head, it's not an easy thing to do. The focus is totally different."
Stewart Cink (+1100) is a two-time champion of this event and is coming off a T-3 at the Masters, his fourth top-3 finish of 2008. Brandt Snedeker and Steve Flesch, who also had top-5 finishes at Augusta, also are teeing it up this week. Masters champ Trevor Immelman, however, is not playing.
Despite the emotional drain of his final-round 77 at Augusta, Snedeker (+3000) said he never considered withdrawing from the Heritage.
"I love this place too much," said Snedeker, who tied for 16th in his second appearance at Harbour Town last season. He has made 9 of 11 cuts and has collected four top-10 finishes so far in 2008.
Major champions tend to thrive at Hilton Head. Of the previous 38 winners of this event, only 10 are without a major championship to their credit, however, seven of the last 11 haven't won a major, including the last four.
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