Week 9 Approach Shots: The Honda Classic

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ELS PLAYING DEFENSE: Prior to his win at the 2008 Honda Classic, the last time Ernie Els won a PGA TOUR event came in 2004 when he was victorious at the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship, an event held in Ireland. A year ago in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Els came from three strokes off the lead in the final round to win by a stroke over Luke Donald. Els' last win in the U.S. before his Honda Classic victory was in 2004 at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio.

Quick Facts

WHAT: 10th of 37 regular-season PGA TOUR events WHEN: March 5-8 WHERE: Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. COURSE: PGA National TV: 3 p.m. ET, Thursday-Friday on GOLF CHANNEL; 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday on NBC RADIO: 12 p.m.-8 p.m. ET, Thursday-Sunday PGA TOUR Network (XM 146/SIRIUS 209) WHAT'S AT STAKE: $5,500,000 purse ($990,000 for winner) FEDEXCUP POINTS: 500 for winner KEY LINKS: Tee times | Leaderboard SHOT TRACKER | Tournament page VIDEO: Opening Shot

Els joined a strong list of Honda Classic champions that includes 2008 PGA TOUR Player of the Year Padraig Harrington, 2008 FedExCup winner Vijay Singh and 2009 U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples.

Els is coming off a tie for fifth at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, where he won three matches. He eventually fell to Stewart Cink in the quarterfinals.

The South African is 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking; his other top-10 finish of '09 was his tie for sixth at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.

PLAYER NOTES: Sergio Garcia is making his second consecutive appearance at the 2009 Honda Classic. He tied for 43rd in his first start at PGA National last year. Despite falling in the first round of last week's World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, Garcia is still ranked second in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Nothern Ireland's Rory Mcllory will make his second PGA TOUR start when he tees it up at The Honda Classic. He played at last week's Accenture Match Play Championship, tying for fifth. At just 19 years old, McIlroy won the Dubai Desert Classic in February, two months after falling in a playoff at the Hong Kong Open. This week's tournament will be Mcllroy's second stroke-play tournament on the PGA TOUR (British Open, 2007).

Thanks to his 20th PGA TOUR win at the 2008 Children's Miracle Network Classic in the season's final official event, Davis Love III earned a lifetime exemption onto the PGA TOUR. The two-time PLAYERS Championship winner posted a pair of runner-up finishes at The Honda Classic in 2003 and 2004. Love will be making his 15th start at The Honda Classic, dating to 1986.

Boo Weekley returns to The Honda Classic in hopes of erasing bad memories from 2007. Two years ago at PGA National, Weekley three-putted on the 72nd hole while hanging onto a one-stroke lead. He eventually tied for second after losing in a playoff to eventual winner Mark Wilson. Jose Coceres and Camilo Villegas were also in the playoff.

Of the 25 Nationwide Tour graduates in 2008, all 25 are playing this week. The stand-out among the graduating group so far in 2009 is Scott Piercy, who began his season with a tie for 12th at the Sony Open in Hawaii and followed that with another top-20 showing -- a tie for 19th at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. A week later, he posted his best finish early in the season with a tie for sixth at the FBR Open at TPC Scottsdale.

ON-COURSE OBSERVATIONS: PGA TOUR Network correspondent Michael Collins is on the scene at PGA National for this week's satellite radio coverage (XM 146/SIRIUS 209). Reports Collins:

I was out on the golf course all day today, and the course is extremely lush compared to what they guys have seen for a lot of the West Coast. The weather has been cooler than normal this time of year, so the rough is not up nearly as much as it has been in the past.

The greens are soft for now but firming up as each days goes. So far, the wind has been out of the north, which is the opposite of the way it usually plays, but that is supposed to change as the week goes on and the temperature warms up. The wind will switch back to its normal southern direction.

I talked to Ernie Els as he was playing his pratice round, and he was very excited and looking forward to defending his title as this year he has a different caddie on his bag than who was with him when he won. The caddie who was with him when he won now caddies for Rory McIlroy.

Weather forecast for The Honda Classic

THURSDAY, Rd. 1 FRIDAY, Rd. 2 SATURDAY, Rd. 3 SUNDAY, Rd. 4 Sunny Temp: 74 high/58 low Mostly sunny, slight chance of rain Partly cloudy Temp: 77 high/61 low Slightly overcast, possible showers Sunny Temp: 78 high/62 low No chance of rain Sunny Temp: 79 high/63 low No chance of rain

DTN/Meteorlogix is the official weather provider of the PGA TOUR. For more information, click here

The Honda Classic snippets

Teen invasion: Rory McIlroy and Tadd Fujikawa are in the field this week, where teens have had success. Ty Tryon, at age 16 years, 9 months and 7 days, made the cut at the '01 Honda Classic becoming the second youngest player (at the time) to make a cut on TOUR. In '90, Chris Couch played in The Honda Classic at age 16. Horse for the course: Mark Calcavecchia has quite a record at The Honda Classic, winning twice and finishing second twice. He won in 1987 at TPC Eagle Trace and in 1998 at TPC Heron Bay. A win this week would not only give him three wins in three different decades, but also at three different courses. Raging rookie: Rookie Scott Piercy is off to a great start. He's finished in the top 20 in four of his first five starts with a scoring average of 69.64. He's 37th in the FedExCup points race after the West Coast Swing. International event: You might want to look for an international player to shine this week. In the past 15 years, Honda Classic winners have hailed from Zimbabwe, Australia, Fiji, Sweden, England and South Africa in addition to the U.S.

In the spotlight

This week: Ernie Els

Each week during the 2009 season, PGATOUR.COM will spotlight one key player in the field. For this week's Honda Classic, it's defending champion Ernie Els, who tied for fifth at last week's Accenture Match Play Championship. Learn more about Ernie

KODAK CHALLENGE: The first-of-its-kind competition for PGA TOUR players continues at The Honda Classic.

The Kodak Challenge celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA TOUR. The Kodak Challenge offers $1 million to the winner. There will be one designated Kodak Challenge Hole at 24 different PGA TOUR tournaments in 2009, with this week's featured hole the 434-yard 16th.

Players, who must play at least 18 of the holes during the season to be eligible, will count their lowest score relative to par on the Kodak Challenge Hole made during an official competition round. The player, with the lowest cumulative score in relation to par at the end of the challenge, wins.

For more on the Kodak Challenge, click here.