Arnie's big shindig at Bay Hill has drawn a spectacular field. Here's a look at our favorites. All times eastern.
Tiger Woods, Steve Lowery, Mark Wilson
Tee time: 1:05 p.m.
Tee: No. 1
Total TOUR wins: 67
Why you should watch: Tiger goes for five Bay Hill victories and a tie with Ben Hogan in career wins. A tie for 20th is his best at Bay Hill since that four-peat. Still, he's won his last four PGA TOUR events and five in a row counting that victory in Dubai. Lowery already has a victory this season, winning the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. However, since that win, he has two missed cuts. Wilson, meanwhile, has three top-25 finishes in eight starts this season, including a tie for ninth at the FBR Open.
| 2008 Stat Comparison |
| Woods |
2 |
2 |
2 |
-- |
-- |
2 |
2 |
66.12 |
| Lowery |
4 |
2 |
1 |
-- |
-- |
1 |
2 |
70.44 |
| Wilson |
8 |
6 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
1 |
3 |
70.73 |
|
Phil Mickelson, Scott Verplank, John Rollins
Tee time: 1:20 p.m.
Tee: No. 1
Total TOUR wins: 40
Why you should watch: Verplank just had a streak of 27 consecutive rounds under par stopped last week at the PODS Championship. Regardless, he's putting together a good year. He has three top-25 finishes in five starts this season including a tie for fifth at the Northern Trust Open. Rollins missed the cut last week at the PODS Championship, but tied for 14th at the Northern Trust Open. And then there's Phil, tied for sixth at Buick, lost in a playoff at the FBR Open and won the Northern Trust Open.
| 2008 Stat Comparison |
| Player |
Events |
Cuts Made |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Top 10 |
Top 25 Scoring Average |
| Mickelson |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
-- |
3 |
4 |
69.12 |
| Verplank |
5 |
4 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
1 |
3 |
71.13 |
| Rollins |
5 |
3 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
1 |
72.17 |
|
Woody Austin, Vijay Singh, Bart Bryant
Tee time: 1:54 p.m.
Tee: No. 1
Total TOUR wins: 37
Why you should watch: Singh is trying not only to extend his TOUR record for wins over the age of 40, but he's also going for his 32nd career victory, which would break the record currently held by he and England's "Lighthorse" Harry Cooper for most PGA TOUR wins by a foreign-born player. Austin has just one top-10 this season -- his run to the quarterfinals in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. He tied for 30th in his most recent start at The Honda Classic. Bryant, meanwhile, is coming off a strong run last week at Innisbrook and he's finished in the top 20 in each of his past three trips to Bay Hill.
| 2008 Stat Comparision |
| Austin |
6 |
5 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
1 |
2 |
72.04 |
| Singh |
7 |
6 |
-- |
1 |
-- |
2 |
4 |
70.40 |
| Bryant |
6 |
5 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
3 |
70.01 |
|
