Week 16 Approach Shots: Zurich Classic of New Orleans

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It had been seven years since Jerry Kelly won his two PGA TOUR titles -- at the 2002 Sony Open in Hawaii and the Advil Western Open. There had been a couple of close calls -- four runner-up showings, two each in 2006 and 2008 -- but another victory had been elusive. That ended last year in New Orleans when Kelly took control of the tournament with a 3-under 69 in the third round and then hung on to defeat Charles Howell III, Rory Sabbatini and Charlie Wi by a stroke.

TV/Radio (all times ET)

TV: GOLF CHANNEL (Thu.-Fri., 3-6 p.m.) CBS (Sat.-Sun. 3-6 p.m.) RADIO: PGA TOUR NETWORK - Sirius 209, XM 146, PGATOUR.COM (Thu.-Sun. 12-8 p.m.)

Weather

The forecast calls for sunny skies on Thursday, but there's a chance of isolated thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday. The skies should clear up again on Sunday. Temperatures are expected to reach the low 80s. Updated weather info

Key links

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

Kelly defends a TOUR title for the third time in his career this week when he arrives at TPC Louisiana. The Wisconsin native has been amazingly consistent this season. His best finishes are ties for 12th at The Honda Classic and at the Masters Tournament.

"(My) favorite memory from last year's tournament would definitely just be sinking that last putt. It had been a while since I had won, so just the feeling of closing it out, getting it done," Kelly said Tuesday.

Another one of his favorite things about New Orleans? The food. He arrived for his title defense on Sunday night and has already visited several local restaurants for one of his favorite treats -- oysters.

Other former winners of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in this week's field are Andres Romero (2008), Chris Couch (2006), Tim Petrovic (2005), Steve Flesch (2003), K.J. Choi (2002), David Toms (2001), Brad Faxon (1997) and Scott McCarron (1996).

Couch, whose only TOUR win came at the 2006 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, had posted just two career top-10s before the win. Couch already has two top-10s in 2010 after beginning the year outside the top 400 in the Official World Golf Ranking. After a pair of T4 finishes at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, Couch jumped to 205th in the world rankings and is currently 206th. His career-high in the world rankings was 103rd, the week after his New Orleans victory at English Turn Golf and Country Club.

Louisiana native David Toms has made 16 career starts in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He won the tournament in 2001 when it was contested at English Turn Golf and Country Club. The victory was the fifth of his 12 career titles. Toms has made three starts at TPC Louisiana, with his best performance a tie for fifth a year ago.

Sergio Garcia will make his first appearance at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Garcia, who has made the cut in all but one of his starts this season, is a seven-time PGA TOUR winner and has 11 international victories.

Charles Howell III has an impressive record in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He has never missed a cut in seven appearances and has four top 10s, including runner-up performances in 2006 and again last year. Fifteen of his 28 rounds have been in the 60s and his last nine have all been under par.

Howell says he's up for the challenges of TPC Louisiana again this year and thinks it suits his game.

"It's quite windy here. I enjoy playing in the wind. It's a long course on paper, but at times it doesn't play long because it does get so firm and fast," Howell said on Tuesday. "You would also hear that there's not much rough and you would think that that may make it easier. Here might make it more difficult because the ball will run away from you, especially when the winds get to cooking pretty good out of the south. It gets drying fast real quick."

TOUGH TRACK: The last four holes at TPC Louisiana are pivotal. Last year, Jerry Kelly was a cumulative 4-under for the week on the closing holes. That was good, but nothing compared to Andres Romero's performance on the holes in 2008 when he recorded his first PGA TOUR title. Romero was 10-under that week and 13-under overall. Nick Watney, the 2007 champion, played the holes in 1-under, while Tim Petrovic was 1-over during his win in 2005. The tournament was not held at TPC Louisiana in 2006 because of extensive course damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

FUN FACTS: This will be the 62nd playing of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the only Louisiana native to win the event is David Toms (Shreveport, LA/LSU) in 2001.

• While Louisiana natives have had a hard time winning in New Orleans, the same can't be said for international players. Players from nine countries outside the U.S. -- Argentina, Canada, England, Fiji, Paraguay, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Wales -- have won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

• Players elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame have won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on 19 occasions, including two each by Henry Picard, Byron Nelson, Billy Casper, Ben Crenshaw and Tom Watson.

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 Steve Marino Bryce Molder Group B Andres Romero, Kevin Stadler Charles Howell III, Pat Perez Group C Justin Rose Woody Austin

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Columnists' predictions

Each week, PGATOUR.COM columnists will predict the winner. Here are their picks for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Columnist Pick Comment Stan AWTREY BOO WEEKLEY: He's close to home again and played well in New Orleans (T13) last year. He's been fighting a few things this season, but looked more at ease at Hilton Head. He'll definitely be a crowd favorite. Craig DOLCH CHARLES HOWELL III: He has been runner-up in his last two starts here and he's got three top-10s already this year. Maybe the third time is the charm. Melanie HAUSER DAVID TOMS: Bum shoulder and all, this is etouffee and gumbo country. Yes, Charles Howell III and K.J. Choi are here, but sometimes you just have to go with the homeboy who went to college just down 1-10 at LSU. John MAGINNES BUBBA WATSON: Bubba Watson has to break through eventually.A big golf course where he can air out the big dog seems like just the spot.

Did you know?

There have been several first-time winners in New Orleans in the last 20 years, including Ian Woosnam (1991), Mike Standly (1993), Scott McCarron (1996), Lee Westwood (1998), Carlos Franco (1999), K.J. Choi (2002), Tim Petrovic (2005), Chris Couch (2006), Nick Watney (2007), Andres Romero (2008).

Kodak Challenge

This week's Kodak Challenge hole is the signature 215-yard par-3 17th at TPC Louisiana. After Hurricane Katrina, architect Pete Dye made some changes to TPC Louisiana. On the 17th hole, bunkers to the left were eliminated and replaced by bulkheading. The pot bunker on the right, however, remained the same. Par will be a great score on the newly-reshaped green. More on Kodak Challenge

What the winner gets

A win this week at the Zurich 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 PLAYERS Championship, 2010 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, 2010 Memorial, 2010 AT&T National, 2010 PGA Championship, 2010 WGC-Bridgestone Inv. • A spot in the 2011 SBS Championship and 2011 Masters. • If a U.S. player, 1,152,000 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.