Ogilvy nearly won for the first time in three years before finishing second last week. (Franklin/Getty Images)

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

DORAL, Fla. – Last week’s Honda Classic was the right course at the right time for Geoff Ogilvy.

“I knew I was hitting the ball well and I went in and I kept hitting the ball how I had been hitting it,” said Ogilvy, who finished second. “I took a lot out of the week.

“It was nice. It had been a while since I was deep on a Sunday in that sort of situation.”

Or even playing on a Sunday for that matter.

Ogilvy arrived at PGA National having missed his last four cuts. He was a combined 18-over par in those starts and up until last week had recorded just two sub-70 rounds in 2013.

Sure, Ogilvy tied for 11^th at last year’s PGA Championship, but he was playing for second with Rory McIlroy having lapped the field.

“That's a little different from -- yeah, it had been a while,” said Ogilvy, whose last realistic chance at winning came at the 2011 BMW Championship, where he finished third.

Perhaps the Florida Swing is what will get Ogilvy in the swing.

Last week, he talked about how this stretch of tournaments has always served as a sort of unofficial start to the year.

The West Coast has a distinct feel and its quirks like poa annua greens. But the Florida Swing serves as a run-up to the year’s first major, which Ogilvy isn’t yet in. It’s a fact that’s been on his mind since the beginning of the season.

“It was on my mind a little bit more at the end of the West Coast as I was plummeting in the World Rankings rather fast,” Ogilvy said. “Nice to get back on the right side of the top 50 last week. Any of the next few weeks I could really lock it up with one good week again.”

Trump Doral is a good place to continue the momentum.

For one, there’s no cut. For another, Ogilvy has played well here before, winning in 2008 after finishing third the year before.

Then there was last week.

Only five players broke par in the final round at PGA National. Ogilvy was one of them, chipping in for birdie on the 16th to move within a shot and nearly holing his tee shot on the par-3 17th. He eventually finished two behind winner Michael Thompson after Thompson birdied the last.

The runner-up finish earned Ogilvy a spot in the field this week. It also moved him a step closer to returning to the Masters, which he hasn't missed since 2005.

“Even though I didn't win the golf tournament, I liked how I finished,” he said. “I was pleasantly surprised.  Well, not surprised, but satisfied that I had not forgotten how to do it.”

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Geoff Ogilvy needs to do laundry and doesn't have a hotel room for the night.

The good news?

"Half the TOUR lives in this area, so I'm sure I can find somewhere to stay," said Ogilvy, who unexpectedly qualified for next week's World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship after a runner-up finish Sunday at The Honda Classic.

Ogilvy, who shot a final-round 69 to finish two back of winner Michael Thompson, moved to 47th in the Official World Golf Ranking. The top 50 qualify for next week's event at Trump Doral.

It also puts the Masters in the equation for Ogilvy, who earlier this year failed to qualify for the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

"Missing the Match Play wasn't much fun," he said. "I would have loved to have won here and sealed (a Masters invite) but at least I've gone the right direction.

"If I can play well at a course next week that I've played well at before, hopefully I can make more of a move up and get back to Augusta."

Ogilvy has done that, winning at Doral in 2008 after finishing third the year before.

Thompson also qualified for the WGC-Cadillac Championship, moving to 45th in the world after his win.

Franklin/Getty Images

To preview the 2013 PGA TOUR season, PGATOUR.COM is counting down the Top 100 Players to Watch in 2013. For an archive page with the top 100 players and for an explanation on how the list was compiled, click here .

MORE TOP 100: Back to No. 37 | Forward to No. 35 | Top 100 archive

2013 PREVIEW: Geoff Ogilvy will be playing without a safety net this year as all of his exemptions for previous tournament wins have run out. The Aussie is too good a player not to persevere but he needs to start putting himself in contention again -- Ogilvy only had one top-10 finish last year.

2012 DEFINING MOMENT: The seven-time PGA TOUR winner only missed two cuts last season but at the same time, he only broke 70 nine times in the first two rounds of his 20 starts. His scoring average before the cut dropped from 54th to 109th, as a result. –- Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

ALBERS’ QUICK TAKE: One of my favorite players on TOUR. Maybe the best interview, Geoff offers insight you seldom get from other players. He is very smart and very talented. I tease him, that every time I see him play -- he plays well. His answer? Walk with me more often then. -- Fred Albers, SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio

BOLTON’S FANTASY OUTLOOK: He's as overvalued as he is underrated. While he managed only one top 10 in 2012, he netted top 25s in half of his 20 starts and missed only two cuts. Perhaps the best label is that you know what you get here. He picks his spots, wiggles his way into a position to pounce, and then doesn't let go. That allows for elevated confidence for gamers in need of reliable value in the heart of their rosters. And at $1.255 million, he's on sale in salary formats. -- Rob Bolton, PGATOUR.COM Fantasy expert

SOCIAL MEDIA: Find him on Twitter

2012 QUICK REVIEW

Regular Season ranking 68th

Final Playoffs ranking 47th

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

What is your prediction for Geoff Ogilvy in 2013? Fill out the form below and let us know

Lecka/Getty Images

Luke Donald will try to avenge last year's playoff loss to Brandt Snedeker.

The tee times for the first round of this week’s RBC Heritage have been released. CLICK HERE for the tee times. Use the space below to comment about the pairings at Harbour Town.

Here’s a look at some of the notable groups in the first two rounds:

Luke Donald/Kyle Stanley/Brandt Snedeker
All three players have won on the PGA TOUR this year, but the real story is the Donald/Snedeker rematch from last year's playoff at Harbour Town. Or it is the Snedeker/Stanley rematch from this year's playoff at Torrey Pines?

Bill Haas/Ernie Els/Padraig Harrington
Haas, the reigning FedExCup champion, is paired with two international superstars in the midst of career comebacks. Harrington has two top-10s in six starts this year, while Els has three top-fives in his last four starts.

Webb Simpson/Zach Johnson/Bud Cauley
This group almost spans three different generations. Cauley, a 22-year-old rookie, was one of the hottest players on TOUR before the Masters. However, rookies almost never do well at Harbour Town. Simpson, 26, has been under the radar after an epochal 2011, and still has three top-10s already in 2012.

John Daly/Rickie Fowler/Ricky Barnes
With Daly's pants and Fowler's hats, there will be lots of colorful clothes in this group. Barnes nearly won here last year before fading into a tie for fourth. Fowler has two starts here, one of them a tie for eighth in his first try in 2010.

Lucas Glover/Matt Kuchar/Geoff Ogilvy
Glover and Kuchar, a pair of Sea Island, Ga. residents, consider Harbour Town a local event. They will be paired with Ogilvy, who added Harbour Town to his schedule for the first time since 2007.

Now, it’s your turn: Which groups are you most interested in following this week?

Greenwood/Getty Images

Gary Woodland has a rematch with Webb Simpson in the first two rounds this week.

The tee times for the first round of this week’s The Transitions Championships have been released. CLICK HERE for the tee times. Use the space below to comment about the pairings at the Copperhead Course.

Here’s a look at some of the notable groups in the first two rounds:

Zach Johnson/Geoff Ogilvy/Padraig Harrington, 8:27 a.m., No. 1
How strong is the field this week? This three major champions are among 17 that showed up.

John Huh/David Toms/Jonathan Byrd, 8:37 a.m., No. 1
Rookie John Huh finds himself in an "A" pairing after his win last month at the Mayakoba Classic.

Luke Donald/Justin Rose/K.J. Choi, 1:33 p.m, No. 1
The world No. 2 (Donald) tees it up with last week's winner (Rose) and a two-time winner here (Choi).

Bud Cauley/Ryo Ishikawa/Tom Lewis, 2:04 p.m., No. 1
The oldest player in this group, Cauley, is all of 21 years old (in all fairness, he turns 22 on Friday). Lewis, who turned pro after last year's British Open, makes his U.S. debut.

Gary Woodland/Webb Simpson/Scott Stallings, 1:22 p.m., No. 1
This trio finished 1-2-3 last year at Copperhead. Stallings is making his return to the TOUR after missing four weeks with an injury.

With perfect weather for their practice rounds this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, several players have tweeted photos from Pebble Beach. Here’s a sampling:

GEOFF OGILVY

@geoffogilvy "pretty stunning right now"

IAN POULTER

@IanJamesPoulter  11th hole at Monterey it's very pretty, 183 yards pure

GAVIN COLES

@angryant1910  No15 at mpcc shore course, awesome back drop

JIMMY WALKER

@JimmyWalkerPGA  @attpbnproam #pgatour #7

PAUL STANKOWSKI

@PaulStankowski This never gets old.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- They did it for the kids.

With temperatures hovering around 115 degrees during the summer months in Scottsdale, Geoff Ogilvy and his wife Juli joined a lot of other "Zonies" and started taking their brood, which now numbers three, to the California coast to escape the heat. The yearly vacations have ended up becoming a permanent move.

"It was originally just going to be a summer kind of se- up, but we'd be driving back over the mountains and you drive over those mountains and you go down and it's going up a degree every second almost," Ogilvy said. "And you get down to the bottom of the hill and it's 105, it's like why are we going back?

“So we eventually just decided on one of the trips back for winter, that this would be our last winter, let's just get over here soon."

The Ogilvy clan ended up settling in Del Mar, a chic San Diego suburb nestled on the Pacific Ocean about five miles from Torrey Pines. The schools are top notch, the Aussie loves the surfing in the area and the laid-back lifestyle reminds him of home.

"A lot of Australians I know say they're comfortable around here," Ogilvy said. "The trees are all Australian trees -- you stole them. ... It's a very beachy culture, which is kind of what we're used to.  The climate is obviously pretty amazing. So it was a bit of a no brainer. ... Once you get here for a summer, it's hard to leave, really."

Ogilvy has found several golf courses he enjoys playing in the area. Interestingly, though, before his Tuesday practice round the last time Ogilvy played Torrey Pines was in the 2008 U.S. Open. Torrey Pines, one of the premier municipal facilities in the country, is just too crowded.

"There's lots of nice golf courses around here that don't have 50 people standing on the first tee when you lineup, which is testament of how cool the place is," Ogilvy said. "This is a pretty unique -- it's a bit like Bethpage in New York. It's the pride and joy of the town kind of thing or the city, really.

“So I don't need to come and play here too much. I mean, I've got lots of places to play much this is the place for the public to play. I'd love to play here a bit more, but I just don't get around to doing it"

Now, though, Ogilvy expects to make the Farmers Insurance Open an annual stop. He had planned to play last year but he was still on injured reserve after slicing a finger on some coral while he was in Hawaii.  A stomach ailment sidelined him later in the year so Ogilvy is looking forward to getting 2012 off to a strong start.

"I'm actually quite excited because I was so broken up last year and I had a few months off, and it didn't really seem like I wasn't in contention enough, and that's kind of why I play to win tournaments and get up there on Sundays,' Ogilvy said. "I'm looking forward to a year full of those type of opportunities, I guess."