Featured Group: Wilson, Toms, Kuchar

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At each PGA TOUR event this season, a featured pairing will be highlighted prior to the first round. Here is the featured group for Thursday and Friday at Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

One has momentum, while the other two are looking to regain it.

Regardless, watching David Toms, Matt Kuchar and Mark Wilson play during the first two rounds of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial should be entertaining.

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All three veterans have the kind of fairways and greens game that should allow them to prosper at Colonial. None are big bombers, but there should be plenty of birdie opportunities to convert if their putters get hot.

Toms should come to Colonial with considerable confidence. He came within a 3-foot putt of winning the PGA TOUR's signature event -- instead falling to K.J. Choi on the first hole of sudden death at THE PLAYERS.

Toms, who made a big move from 56th to 22nd in the FedExCup last week, ranks second on TOUR in both driving accuracy and greens in regulation. Think that won't play well at Ben Hogan's personal playground?

Sunday's runner-up finish at TPC Sawgrass was Toms' third of fifth or better in 2011. He's motivated and he knows Colonial well with four top-10s in 13 previous starts, including second to Nick Price in 2002.

Kuchar is coming off a career year in which he finished second to Jim Furyk in the FedExCup and won the Arnold Palmer Award as the TOUR's leading money winner and the Byron Nelson Award and Vardon Trophy for low adjusted scoring average (69.61).

The Georgia Tech product picked up where he left off in 2010 -- opening the season with three straight top-10s to bring his total over his last 29 starts to a phenomenal 14. He led the TOUR in that category in 2010 with 11, more than his previous two years combined.

Kuchar, who is averaging a TOUR-leading 68.30 in first round rounds this year, has cooled off a bit in his last three starts, though, with a tie for 21st at The Heritage his best finish. He has one top 10 at Colonial, finishing solo ninth in 2008.

Wilson, who has one top-10 in four starts at Colonial, is the only 2011 champion in the group -- and he won twice in his first three events. That torrid start propelled him to the top of the FedExCup standings where the former UNC golfer stayed for 12 weeks. He is now third in that category.

Like Kuchar, though, Wilson is looking to regain some momentum. He picked up his third top-10 of the season at Bay Hill but has missed three of his last four cuts -- and tied with Kuchar for 21st at Hilton Head. He's solid tee-to-green, too, ranking 15th in driving accuracy and 23rd in greens in regulation.

WATCH VIDEO: Toms' pre-tournament press conference

Statistical comparison

Key stats from Toms, Kuchar and Wilson from the 2011 season (TOUR rank in parentheses)

Catagory TOMS KUCHAR WILSON   Top-10s 3 6 3 FedExCup rank 22nd 15th 3rd 2010 FedExCup rank 55th 2nd 131st 2009 FedExCup rank 19th 40th 32nd 2008 FedExCup rank 136th 115th 45th 2007 FedExCup rank 33rd 92nd 42nd THE PLAYERS finish 2nd T54 Missed cut Round 1 Scoring average 69.10 68.30 70.33 Round 2 Scoring average 70.40 70.90 71.17

Career at Crowne Plaza Invitational

David Toms Matt Kuchar Mark Wilson Appearance 14th 5th 5th Wins 0 0 0 Top 10s 4 1 1 Best Finish T2 / 2002 9th / 2008 T10 / 2008 Last Appearance/Finish 2010/T13 2010/T56 2010/Missed cut Round 1 Scoring Average 69.58 69.25 68.75 Round 1 Scoring Average 69.00 67.75 70.25

EXPERT PREDICTIONS: We asked some of our PGATOUR.COM experts to predict which player will fare best this week at Colonial Country Club:

Awtrey: Matt Kuchar. A great course for him to regain control of his season after a three uncharacteristically mediocre outings.

Dolch: David Toms. He may be running on fumes after losing in a playoff at THE PLAYERS Championship, but he has finished in the top 30 at Colonial each of the last six years, including a third in 2005.

Hauser: David Toms. He's one of the best ball-strikers in the game on a layout that demands it. Playing like he did earlier in the decade when he was a top-10 fixture here. And this just happens to be one of his favorite courses, period. Any questions?

FANTASY FORECAST: Rob Bolton has Kuchar 10th in the Power Rankings, and his Fantasy Insider recommends going with Toms in the Yahoo! game.