Week 12 Approach Shots: Transitions Championship

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SEAN'S SPECIAL SITE: At this week's Transitions Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla., Sean O'Hair will defend his 2008 title at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club's Copperhead Course. O'Hair, who previously won the 2005 John Deere Classic, picked up his second TOUR win when he came from three strokes off the pace on the final day a year ago by shooting a 2-under 69 to edge six players by two strokes. O'Hair's 4-under score was the highest winning score in Transitions Championship history and the highest on TOUR since Angel Cabrera's victory at the 2007 U.S. Open.

Quick Facts

WHAT: 13th of 37 regular-season PGA TOUR events WHEN: March 19-22 WHERE: Palm Harbor, Fla. COURSE: Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club TV: 3 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET, Thurs.-Fri. on GOLF CHANNEL; 3 p.m. Sat.-Sun. on NBC RADIO: 12 p.m.-8 p.m. ET Thurs.-Sun., PGA TOUR Network (XM 146/SIRIUS 209) WHAT'S AT STAKE: $5,400,000 purse ($972,000 for winner) FEDEXCUP POINTS: 500 for winner KEY LINKS: Tee times | Leaderboard SHOT TRACKER | Tournament page VIDEO: Opening Shot

The win helped O'Hair to a 75th-place finish in the 2008 FedExCup. He also enjoyed his second $2 million season.

This season, O'Hair has played in six tournaments and has yet to finish outside the top 25 in any of them. His best performances came at the Mercedes-Benz Championship (fourth) and the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship (tied for fifth). Following his tie for 13th at last week's World Golf Championships-CA Championship, O'Hair is 14th in the FedExCup standings.

PLAYER NOTES: Seventeen-year-old Japanese pro Ryo Ishikawa is playing this week on a sponsor's exemption. Ishikawa made his PGA TOUR debut earlier this year at the Northern Trust Open, where he missed the cut by three strokes. Ishikawa won the 2007 Munsingwear Open KSB Cup on the Japan Golf Tour at age 15. He turned professional in 2008 and won his second Japan Golf Tour event last November. ...

Australian Adam Scott, a six-time PGA TOUR winner, including victories in each of the last three years, played the Transitions Championship twice when it was in the fall (he missed the cut in 2006 and tied for 35th in 2005). Scott has not played in the last two years with the tournament date in the spring. The 28-year-old, who also owns eight international victories, started the season strong with a tie for second at the Sony Open in Hawaii.. ...

Seven-time TOUR winner K.J. Choi has been hot and cold in Tampa Bay. Choi earned two of his seven victories at the Transitions Championship, making him the only multiple winner in the tournament's eight-year history. The South Korean, who now resides in The Woodlands, Texas, has also missed two cuts (2000 and 2004) and withdrew after a first-round 79 in 2005. Choi opened with an 8-under 63 when he won the title in 2002 and followed with a trio of 68s to post a then tournament-record of 17-under 267, which Vijay Singh bettered by a stroke in 2004. ...

With The Presidents Cup coming up later this year at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, the Transitions Championship has three past champions who are eligible for the International Team: Choi, Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh. Others among the top 10 in the current Presidents Cup standings slated to play the Transitions Championship include Scott, Trevor Immelman and Tim Clark for the Internationals and Kenny Perry, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson, Nick Watney and Jim Furyk for the American team. ...

John Huston (2000) is the only former Transitions Championship past winner to have played in every Transitions Championship. His streak ends this week. Choi has played seven of eight times and is the only multiple winner (2002, 2006). Mark Calcavecchia (2007) and Carl Pettersson (2005) have played six times, while Singh (2004) and Goosen (2003) have played five. O'Hair, the defending champion, has played four times or every year since he became a PGA TOUR member in 2005. The tournament was not held in 2001 due to 9/11. ...

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

This week at the Transitions Championship, the Copperhead course is going to have all its venom. The course is the most lush it has been in years even though the area hasn't had any significant rain for over a month. The greens are their regular, firm-and-fast selves, as is expected, but the rough is very lush.

Sean O'Hair said last year when he won, his theory was "just hit it and go get it." But this year, with the rough being as thick as it is, caution may be the word of the week.

Fred Funk makes his 2009 PGA TOUR debut after a serious staph infection on his knee potentially could have ended his career. Fred says his knee is at about 70 percent, but laughed as he said 70 percent for him is now 60 yards shorter than all the young kids he's playing against this week.

Weather forecast for the Transitions Championship

THURSDAY, Rd. 1 FRIDAY, Rd. 2 SATURDAY, Rd. 3 SUNDAY, Rd. 4 Partly cloudy Temp: 82 high/60 low Mostly sunny Temp: 82 high/58 low Partly cloudy Temp: 78 high/56 low Partly cloudy Temp: 78 high/56 low

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

Transitions Championship snippets

Sight for Life: Kenny Perry, and last year's Masters Champion, Trevor Immelman, recently became "Healthy Sight Ambassadors," joining Transitions Optical to raise awareness for the importance of healthy sight and establish a clear link between healthy, quality sight and optimal athletic performance. Fiery field: There's a really strong field assembled this week with 27 '08 or '09 winners entered. Among them: K.J. Choi (who has won this championship twice), Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Kenny Perry, Adam Scott, Boo Weekley and defending champion Sean O'Hair. Teen dreams: The teenagers had a good week in Miami. Rory McIlroy tied for 20th at the CA Championship, while Tadd Fujikawa finished ties for 31st at the Puerto Rico Open. Another teenager will give it a go this week: Ryo Ishikawa makes his second TOUR start at the Transitions Championship. Making an impact: Tampa Bay Buccaneer Shelton Quarles' Pro-Am on Monday benefited the IMPACT Foundation. That is Quarles' foundation, which supports at-risk, single-parent families in the Tampa Bay area. Transitions Championship donated $20,000 to IMPACT Foundation.

In the spotlight

This week: Sean O'Hair

Each week during the 2009 season, PGATOUR.COM will spotlight one key player in the field. For this week's CA Championship, it's defending champion Sean O'Hair, who has six top-25 finishes in his six starts so far this season. Learn more about Sean

A victory this week earns you ...

• Exempt status for the remainder of 2009 and all of '10 and '11 • 500 FedExCup points: Even if you had not earned a point so far this year, 500 would likely move you into the top 20 and create additional opportunities to play in the '09 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and for the World Golf Championships-CA Championship in '10 • A spot in the 2009 Arnold Palmer Invitational, Masters, Verizon Heritage, THE PLAYERS Championship, Crowne Plaza Invitational, the Memorial Tournament, AT&T National, World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship • A spot in the '10 Mercedes-Benz Championship • 1,944,000 points for an American player toward making the '09 Presidents Cup team • A spot in the U.S. Open if this is a second victory since June 4, '08