Johnson Wagner holes this 56-yard eagle approach shot on the par-4 5th hole.

Defending champion Johnson Wagner says his mind and game are in the right place. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR)

By Ann Miller, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

HONOLULU — After six years on the PGA TOUR, defending Sony Open in Hawaii champion Johnson Wagner is still trying to stop getting ahead of himself.

After he won his first title in 2008, he took 10th at his Hyundai Tournament of Champions debut at big and constantly blowing Kapalua Plantation. He could not wait to get to the Sony Open in Hawaii.

“I was like, golf is easy, I’m going to blow this field away,” Wagner recalled Wednesday, on the eve of his title defense at Waialae Country Club. “I missed the cut by a mile.”

He would miss three straight cuts at the Sony before opening with five birdies on the back nine in last year’s first round.

“I started planning my interview for the 59 I was going to shoot,” he joked. “Then I made four bogeys in a row or something on the front nine and it brought me back down to earth a little bit.”

Three days later, Wagner separated himself from a massive pack -- at one point Sunday 23 players were within three shots of the lead -- to win the Sony. His final-round 67 was two shots better than Carl Pettersson, Sean O’Hair, Harrison Frazar and Charles Howell III.

Those two strokes and many others can be traced to Waialae’s back nine, where Wagner was 14 under, bogey-free, and blissfully happy when he claimed his third TOUR title.

He finished second the next week, giving him three consecutive Top 10s and more than $1.5 million in January. Wagner collected another $435,000 the next two months, missed the cut at the Masters and never got inside the Top 35 the rest of the year, missing out on an opportunity to play in the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.

“I missed the cut at the Masters after a good week in Houston, and I think I just got really focused on making a Ryder Cup team, getting into the U.S. Open,” Wagner recalled. “I was worried about playing in tournaments as opposed to winning tournaments, and I kind of lost my train of thought that I had at the beginning of the year, which was just go out, play good golf, and hopefully find myself in position on Sunday.”

He believes he is as just as well prepared -- on the course and in the head -- for this season as he was a year ago. He focused on chipping and bunker play -- “a glaring weakness” -- in the offseason. If a few more putts had fallen last week at windy Kapalua he feels he could have been in contention.

The goal now, at 32, is not to get ahead of himself again.

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. 44 | Forward to No. 42 | Top 100 archive

2013 PREVIEW: Johnson Wagner will be looking to win for the third straight year in 2013. Consistency will be key -- all four of Wagner's top-10 finishes last year came in the first three months of the year.

2012 DEFINING MOMENT: Doing his best Tom Selleck impression with an abundant moustache, Wagner fired a 67 in the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii to win by two strokes. He nearly made it two straight at the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation but his closing 65 left Wagner in second, two strokes behind Mark Wilson. –- Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

ALBERS’ QUICK TAKE: How can we forget the 'stache? Johnson grew a mustache during the offseason and after winning the Sony Open, decided to keep the bottlebrush. The mustache never looked good but his golf game was certainly impressive. Johnson is not a long hitter but is a good putter. You seldom see him without a smile on his face. -- Fred Albers, SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio

BOLTON’S FANTASY OUTLOOK: Zero top 25s in his final 20 starts of the year, including a pair of unofficial events in Asia. Because he's so streaky, he's unreliable in short-term formats. He doesn't mind a full schedule, so there's value deep in rosters, but he's not worth the $2.225 million sticker in salary games. -- Rob Bolton, PGATOUR.COM Fantasy expert

---

2012 QUICK REVIEW

Regular Season ranking 20th

Final Playoffs ranking 36th

Best finish

1st

Sony Open in Hawaii

By the Numbers Starts: 27 Cuts made: 17 Rounds played: 88 Top-10 finishes: 4 Money List rank: 35th

TOUR ranking Driving distance: 152nd Driving accuracy: 70th Greens in regulation: 78th Strokes gained-putting: 39th Scoring average: 99th

---

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

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

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM NORTON, Mass. -- Johnson Wagner will not be confused with Tom Selleck anymore. The mustache is gone. So the PGA TOUR's own "Magnum P.I." look-a-like is no longer. Wagner's famous upper lip is clean-shaven as of Friday after that 79 he shot on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park. "I got tired of missing cuts," Wagner said simply. "The mustache was originally designed to get me to the Masters, and it did it. Now it's lost its flair for me. It's nice to be without it." Wagner had stopped shaving during the Thanksgiving holiday last year. He ended up getting rid of the beard but kept the mustache -- and made a deal with himself that it would stay around until he got an invite to Augusta National. He and the 'stache accomplished that goal early when Wagner won the Sony Open in Hawaii in his second start of the year. He nearly won the following week, too, but ended up tied for second at the Humana Challenge presented by the Clinton Foundation, one of four top-10 finishes in his first nine starts. But Wagner, who enters the Deutsche Bank Championship ranked 28th in the FedExCup, cooled off, ironically, just before the Masters. He has missed the cut in eight of his last 15 starts, including his last two at the PGA and The Barclays. Hence, the need for the razor on Friday -- much to his wife Katie's happiness. "A lot of people have asked me in the last two days ‘Did your wife finally convince you to (shave),’" Wagner said. "She's always hated it. That had no bearing on the decision but she's very happy about it. "It hadn't been working for awhile. Something had to change."

The pairings have been unveiled for this week’s PGA TOUR Matchups Game on Facebook. You can check out the Matchups for the Valero Texas Open below, or on the PGA TOUR’s Facebook page.

Participants have until 6 a.m. ET Thursday to make their picks. Log on to the PGA TOUR Facebook page and click the Matchups link to make your picks for this week, or to sign up.

GO TO FACEBOOK PAGE TO PLAY MATCHUPS GAME

K.J. Choi vs. Matt Kuchar	These two technicians are each seeking first win of year
Brendan Steele vs. Johnson Wagner	Defending champion takes on No. 5 in FedExCup points
Justin Leonard vs. Harrison Frazar	These two Texans have played together for almost 30 years
Charley Hoffman vs. Kevin Chappell	These two finished a shot behind Steele here last year
Bud Cauley vs. Harris English	It's an SEC battle (Alabama vs. Georgia) between rookies.

The pairings have been unveiled for this week’s PGA TOUR Matchups Game on Facebook. You can check out the Matchups for the Shell Houston Open below, or on the PGA TOUR’s Facebook page.

Participants have until 6 a.m. ET Thursday to make their picks. Log on to the PGA TOUR Facebook page and click the Matchups link to make your picks for this week, or to sign up.

GO TO FACEBOOK PAGE TO PLAY MATCHUPS GAME

Phil Mickelson vs. Fred Couples	Phil defends his title while Fred won his last TOUR event here
Johnson Wagner vs. Kyle Stanley	It's a battle of FedExCup leaders current and former
Graeme McDowell vs. Lee Westwood	These Europeans bring Texas-sized game to the Lone Star State
Ernie Els vs. Anthony Kim	The Big Easy takes on the 2010 champion at Redstone
Rickie Fowler vs. Bud Cauley	2010 Rookie of the Year vs. an early favorite for the 2012 award

Tuesday, March 27 Lee Westwood: 12:30 p.m. ET Johnson Wagner: 3 p.m. ET Wednesday, March 28 Kyle Stanley: noon ET Graeme McDowell: 2 p.m. ET

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

ORLANDO -- Johnson Wagner's round of 69 was valuable for two reasons.

First, it moved him up the leaderboard and left him 4 under at the midway point of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Secondly, it assured him of a relatively late tee time -- and when it's your 32th birthday, that's never a bad thing.

"So I can afford a couple of celebratory glasses of wine or something," the still-mustachioed Wagner said with a smile.

Since he turned pro "I haven't had many home birthdays," Wagner acknowledged. He's either been playing at Bay Hill or in the Chitimacha Louisiana Open on the Nationwide Tour.

Maybe that's a good omen, though. In 2006, Wagner's birthday was also on a Friday -- and he went on to win at La Triomphe Country Club.

Wagner made four birdies and an eagle on Friday at Bay Hill, but he also had three bogeys. Already a winner this year, he could possibly take over the FedExCup lead if he finishes sixth or better on Sunday, depending on how the dominoes fall.

"I played really nice today," Wagner said. ".. I'm looking forward to the weekend."

But first, a few celebratory libations.

DORAL, Fla. -- Former FedExCup leader Johnson Wagner emerged Saturday to join Keegan Bradley as prime threats to Kyle Stanley's FedExCup lead at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship. Stanley, who posted a 4-over 76 in Round 3, opened the door a bit wider for Wagner, the current No. 2. Stanley's round dropped him from a tie for 10th into a 42nd-place tie. If the tournament ended Saturday night, his lead over Wagner would have been just six points. Bradley, who needs a victory to catch Stanley atop the standings, had six birdies in his bogey-free third round that landed him in Sunday's final pairing with 54-hole leader Bubba Watson. Bradley will enter the finale three shots off the pace. A victory would be the third of his career, and likely place him atop the FedExCup standings for the first time. Here’s a quick look at how Stanley and his pursuers are stacking up at the Cadillac Championship. Listed below are each player’s current FedExCup standing, the minimum finish they will need this week to have a chance at becoming No. 1, and where they stand at TPC Blue Monster.

Player Points Points back Finish needed Currently Proj. points Proj. total 1. Kyle Stanley 935   N/A T42 26 961 2. Johnson Wagner 860 -75 10th 7th 95 955 3. Mark Wilson 840 -95 6th T42 26 866 4. Rory McIlroy 815 -120 4th T8 76 891 5. Phil Mickelson 807 -128 4th T42 26 833 6. Bill Haas 752 -183 3rd T42 26 777 7. Hunter Mahan 745 -193 3rd T18 52 794 8. Brandt Snedeker 716 -219 2nd T42 26 741 9. Steve Stricker 598 -337 1st T14 58 656 10. Keegan Bradley 563 -372 1st T2 258 821 11. Ben Crane 514 -421 1st T60 10 524 13. Martin Laird 465 -470 1st T23 44 509

By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM

When Rory McIlroy won The Honda Classic to take over the top spot in the World Golf Rankings, it gave Titleist bragging rights as the equipment manufacturer on the top bag in golf.

Those rights have switched hands as much as the top ranking has in the past year-plus.

McIlroy succeeded Luke Donald (a Mizuno guy), who supplanted Lee Westwood (Ping), who took the mantle from Martin Kaymer (TaylorMade). Westwood also had it for a period before Kaymer, then of course for years prior to that it was all Tiger Woods, and all those Nike swooshes.

Interestingly, bragging rights to the FedExCup have also been shared. Bill Haas won it last year as a Titleist guy, and before that it was Jim Furyk (Srixon hat, mixed bag), Woods (Nike) and Vijay Singh (Cleveland).

LOB-STER: McIlroy said his up-and-down on the 14th hole at PGA National’s Champions Course was his best of the week – and he had a lot of them while leading the field in scrambling at 83.3 percent.

McIlroy had a shot of some 65 yards from rough so deep he could barely see the ball, yet he slid a 60-degree wedge under it to within four feet, then made the putt.

That new wedge, a Titleist Vokey Design with four degrees of bounce, first went in the bag the week prior at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play, where McIlroy was runner-up.

“He’s got such great hands, he can play a little less bounce than your average player,” said Titleist Vokey Tour Rep Aaron Dill. “He’s just a magician -- he hits it high, low, he spins it.”

HATSPEAK: If you’re wondering why TaylorMade staff players such as Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose and Johnson Wagner (right) are wearing hats with “17” on it at TPC Blue Monster, it’s for the company’s continuing RocketBallz campaign. The 17 is for the company’s claim of 17 yards extra distance over other 3-woods (your mileage may vary).

It’s the company’s second hat drive this year; at the Northern Trust Open its PGA TOUR players wore white hats with a simple red heart on the front, part of a “#driverlove” social media campaign.

SHAFT SWAP: Sang-moon Bae, No. 2 in PGATOUR.COM’s rookie rankings, changed shafts in his Callaway Razr X Muscleback irons from a Dynamic Gold S-400s to KBS Tour stiff, allowing for higher shots and an easier time drawing the ball. He finished T47 at The Honda Classic

WINNER’S BAG: McIlroy at The Honda Classic:
Driver: Titleist 910D2 (8.5 degrees)
Fairways woods: Titleist 906F2 (13, 18 degrees)
Irons: MB (3-9)
Wedges: Vokey Design SM4 (46, 54, 60 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron GSS Newport prototype with deep milled face
Ball: Titleist ProV1x