Week 9 Approach Shots: The Honda Classic

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After opening the season in Hawaii, then moving to the West Coast, the PGA TOUR now travels across the country to begin this year's Florida swing, starting with The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa's Champion course in Palm Beach Gardens.

TV/Radio (all times ET)

TV: GOLF CHANNEL (Thu.-Fri., 3-6 p.m.;) NBA (Sat.-Sun. 3-6 p.m.) RADIO: PGA TOUR NETWORK - Sirius 209, XM 146, PGATOUR.COM (Thu.-Sun., 12-6 p.m.)

Weather

The forecast is for sunny skies the first two days, and partly cloudy on the weekend. Chance of precipitation is extremely low -- 10 percent on Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures could reach as high as 70 degrees on the weekend. Winds should be between 10-15 mph. Updated weather info

Key links

• Expert picks | Sleepers | Tee times • Power Rankings | Fantasy Insider • Inside the Field | Inside the Course

The Honda Classic is the first of four consecutive PGA TOUR events in Florida. Next week, the second World Golf Championships of the season -- the CA Championship -- takes place at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral, with the Transitions Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard after that.

With its spot on the schedule, The Honda Classic has become a key tournament for many reasons. It's the last opportunity for players to earn entry into the limited-field CA Championship via top-10 in FedExCup points or top 50 in Official World Golf Ranking. Those on the bubble in FedExCup points include J.B. Holmes (11), Rickie Fowler (13) and Brandt Snedeker (15). (Click here for bubble watch.)

In addition, players are seeking to position themselves for an invite into the first major of the year, next month's Masters. The top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking following Arnold Palmer Invitational earn invites to Augusta. This week's winner also secures a spot.

"I must admit I'm very pleasantly surprised at the field. It's stacked with, yeah, the world's best," Paul Casey said Wednesday. "... I think once you start to get a lot of the ... the top guys in the World Rankings, I think more come along because the World Ranking points will be here."

Y.E. Yang won his first TOUR event a year ago when he shot a final-round 68 at PGA National. The Honda Classic win was a sign of things to come, as Yang followed his success later in the year with a victory at the PGA Championship in August.

After winning a little more than $461,000 in 2008, Yang, a native of Jeju-do, South Korea, broke out in a big way in 2009, winning twice, finishing 23rd in the FedExCup and earning $3,489,516. This season, he is 17th in the FedExCup and is coming off a third-place finish last week at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Yang will seek to become the second player to successfully defend at The Honda Classic. The other was Jack Nicklaus, who won this event in 1978 after winning it the previous year, both times at Inverrary Golf and Country Club. This will be the fourth year that PGA National has hosted the event.

A strong field of 144 players will be playing this week. Besides Yang and Casey, also in the field are Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, and Padraig Harrington, all in the Official World Golf Ranking top 10. Other notable international player competing are Australia's Robert Allenby, Spain's Sergio Garcia, South Africa's Ernie Els, England's Luke Donald, Argentina's Angel Cabrera and Fiji's Vijay Singh.

Past Honda Classic champions in the field this week include Yang, Els, Harrington, Singh, Mark Wilson, Todd Hamilton, Justin Leonard, Mark Calcavecchia, Stuart Appleby and Tim Herron.

Columnists' predictions

Each week, PGATOUR.COM columnists will predict the winner. Here are their picks for The Honda Classic. Columnist Pick Comment Stan AWTREY BRETT QUIGLEY: He's played well in the last two Honda Classics (T12 in 2008, T13 in 2009) and he shot a 67 in his final round in Phoenix, even though he missed the cut. He's definitely due. Craig DOLCH ROBERT ALLENBY: The Aussie hasn't won since 2001, but he had contended each of the last three years at PGA National with top-five finishes. Melanie HAUSER LEE WESTWOOD: Thought about Camilo Villegas, then factored in his Arizona-to-Colombia-to-Florida jet lag. So ... going with Westwood. He's got a hot hand, a cool head and, a great game. Doesn't hurt that he's No. 4 in the world, either. John MAGINNES ERNIE ELS: We have seen the resurgence of David Duval, Lee Janzen and several other veterans so far this year. But quietly Els is playing some great golf. Look for the Big Easy to have a great week in his new backyard.

Bolton's Yahoo! selections

Fantasy columnist Rob Bolton will provide his Yahoo! picks as a starting point for you every week. Use the advice and opinion from his Power Rankings and Fantasy Insider to assist in determining lineups changes throughout each tournament. Group Starters Bench Group A Ernie Els Jason Dufner Group B Robert Allenby, Y.E. Yang Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood Group C Tim Clark Paul Casey

Sign up for our FREE fantasy golf game on Yahoo! Click here

CHAMPION COURSE PROVIDES TOUGH TEST: The par-70 layout played as the seventh-toughest course (out of 51) on the PGA TOUR in 2009, with a 71.389 average. The Honda Classic has produced a single-digit under-par winning score all three years since it moved to PGA National in 2007. Mark Wilson won with a 5-under tally in 2007, followed by Ernie Els' 6-under total in 2008 and Yang's 9-under score this season.

Hole Nos. 15-17 -- known as The Bear Trap -- were ranked as the fourth-toughest three-hole stretch on TOUR last season.

2009 toughest three-hole stretches on the PGA TOUR

Course Hole Sequence Sequence RTP* Tournament Liberty National Golf Club 9-10-11 0.949 The Barclays Bethpage State Park 10-11-12 0.926 U.S. Open Championship Bay Hill Club & Lodge 14-15-16 0.908 Arnold Palmer Invitational PGA National Champion Course 15-16-17 0.885 The Honda Classic The Ailsa Championship Course 8-9-10 0.875 British Open Championship

* - Sequence is cumulative relative-to-par score

Did you know?

Canadian native and notable hockey fan Mike Weir will be riding a high this week after attending Canada's overtime victory over the United States in the Olympic gold-medal game Sunday in Vancouver.

Kodak Challenge

This week's Kodak Challenge hole is the tough 434-yard par-4 16th at PGA National Champion course. Off the tee, everything slopes toward the water on the right, but a bunker was added to catch balls that roll too far right. Those who bail out left are faced with a 220-yard second shot over water, into the wind. More on Kodak Challenge

What the winner gets

A win this week at The Honda Classic will earn the following benefits: • Fully exempt for the remainder of 2010 and all of 2011 and 2012 • 500 FedExCup points. It took 354 points to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup in 2009 and 494 to reach the Deutsche Bank Championship. • A spot in the following events in order of play: 2010 Arnold Palmer Invitational, 2010 Masters, 2010 PLAYERS Championship, 2010 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, 2010 Memorial, 2010 AT&T National, 2010 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and 2010 PGA Championship • A spot in the 2011 SBS Championship • For a U.S. player, 1,080,000 points towards making the 2011 Presidents Cup team. • If it is a second victory for a player since last June 4, a spot in the U.S. Open