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By Dave Shedloski
PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent

The PGA TOUR last visited the Copperhead Course at Westin Innisbrook Resort just a little over four months ago, so chances are a good many players teeing it up in this week's PODS Championship are going to feel rather comfortable upon their return to Palm Harbor, Fla.

Forty-one of the top 50 finishers from the '06 edition -- including winner K.J. Choi and runners-up Paul Goydos and Brett Wetterich -- are returning to the scene of the sublime. The Copperhead Course, a sturdy par-71 layout of 7,340 yards, is a popular stop among the par pushers, and the chance to return a mere 17 weeks after their last visit apparently was a bargain to many.

Could this be a big week for Jesper Parnevik? (Greenwood/WireImage)

TOUR Insider Power Rankings

2007 PODS Championship

Rank Player '06 Finish 1 K.J. Choi Win 2 Brett Wetterich T2 3 Stephen Ames DNP 4 Jesper Parnevik T6 5 Bubba Watson MC

DNP indicates the player did not play. MC indicates the player missed the cut.

"The thing about Innisbrook is it's one of our best golf courses we play all year, and the guys know that," Rocco Mediate told the Tampa Tribune.

You have to go back to the 2000 U.S. Open, played at Pebble Beach Golf Links about three months after the AT&T Pebble Beach national Pro-Am, to find a comparably short period between starts at the same venue.

But conditions will not be as they were last fall when the course, replete with numerous sand and water hazards and lined by tall pines, was firm and dry. Rye overseed enables the rough to be grown in better than Bermuda alone, but that overseed might cause the course to play a bit softer even though the winter has been relatively dry. More impacting could be the March breezes, which are livelier than in the fall. If the rain holds off, then the greens should be quick enough to add another element to what is traditionally one of the harder exams on TOUR -- this on the heels of last week's Honda Classic hammering.

Worth knowing:

John Daly has another sponsor exemption this week at the PODS Championship and intends to test his injured torso. Daly had to withdraw from The Honda Classic after straining his upper body trying to stop his downswing on the third hole of his opening round. A patron snapped a camera in the middle of his swing, and Daly's attempt to abort contact with the ball resulted in injuries to his right ribs and shoulder, but he's hoping ice and therapy help him heal in time for Thursday's opening round.

Eighteen players in the field are visiting the Copperhead Course for the first time, including Sergio Garcia, No. 13 in the world ranking and the second-highest ranked player in the field after No. 9 Vijay Singh. Meanwhile, 11 players have played in all six previous editions, including inaugural winner John Huston, a local resident.

Another player hoping to feel better by Thursday is Will MacKenzie, who struggled on the weekend at The Honda Classic (74-71) with a sore right wrist that required treatment throughout the week. MacKenzie still tied for 22nd.

Brandt Jobe is slated to make his season debut this week more than three months after sustaining a hand injury. He underwent microsurgery in December after slicing off a portion of his left thumb and forefinger sweeping out the garage. Jobe, 41, is coming off a season in which he posted just two top-10 finishes and ended up 106th on the money list. He tied for 44th last year at the Copperhead Course.

If not for struggles in the final round, Jesper Parnevik would have posted a good finish at The Honda Classic (his final-round 74 dropped him from 13th to 30th). But look for better results at Innisbrook Resort, where he tied for sixth last year and tied for second in '04. He is 4-for-4 in cuts made on the Copperhead Course with three top-25s.

Only three players have posted four rounds in the 60s at the PODS Championship, and two have won the tournament: Vijay Singh in 2004 and two-time winner K.J. Choi in '02. Parnevik is the third, but he finished second to Singh.

Joe Durant struggled at The Honda Classic, but it wouldn't be a surprise if the reigning Disney Golf Classic champion rebounded quickly. Two of his four victories have come in his native Florida, and he has a tournament-best three top-10s in five starts on the Copperhead Course, including a tie for fourth last year. Durant once shot 63 there, and he finished last year's event with 37 straight holes without a bogey.