Watch Payne Stewart's tournament record, Robert Gamez's eagle to win and Tiger's heroics in 2008 and 2009.
Yep, this is Bubba Watson playing the role of photographer at Bay Hill during the pro-am. Be sure to check his Twitter feed to see if he posts any pictures from it.
Update: Bubba didn't actually take a photo -- he took a video. He has since uploaded it to his Twitter feed. And yes, it's pretty funny.
PHOTO GALLERY: The best images from Wednesday's pro-am
Last week's winner meets the media at Bay Hill on Tuesday.
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Gary Woodland, who won Sunday's Transitions Championship, might be the only PGA TOUR player who competed collegiately in two different sports.
But basketball (Washburn University) and golf (Kansas)
weren't the only sports he played growing up. Woodland was a
talented shortstop on his youth baseball team, the Topeka
Orioles.
"We had kids from all over the state of Kansas," Woodland
recalled. "We travelled and would play anybody that wanted to play
us. … I think every kid on our team played college
athletics. One kid turn pro right out of high school and one
is still playing in the major leagues.
“We just loved playing baseball and traveling all over
the place."
The summer Woodland was 16, the Orioles played a major-league type schedule of 100 games. That's also the year his dad suggested his son pick baseball or golf -- and Woodland chose the latter which "just came naturally to me. I think that's what ultimately made the decision."
Woodland can't remember exactly how many games the Orioles lost that year but he estimated it was just seven or eight. The team was a frequent participant in the CABA World Series, too.
So if the big-hitting Woodland, who ranks eighth on TOUR in
driving distance, batted first, someone mused, who in the world was
the clean-up hitter?
"We had four guys shaving when we were 12," Woodland said, laughing. "… We had some big guys, we just did. We were a power team and we were fortunate that we all matured very young." – Helen Ross
ORLANDO, Fla. — PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard are now available. You can check out how the draft order went this week by clicking here.
Now it’s your turn. Go to the comments form below and tell us who your picking this week and why.
You guys had some impressive picks last week. Martin Laird, Justin Rose and Brandt Snedeker -- all of whom played very well at Copperhead -- were mentioned. Who will show off their prognostication skills and predict the champion this week? We'll never know if you don't comment below.
PHOTO GALLERY: Woodland's basketball career at Washburn
Growing up in Kansas, all Gary Woodland wanted to do was play basketball. Even when Kansas wanted him to come to Lawrence and play golf, he balked, instead choosing to attend nearly Washburn University to play hoops.
"The [golf] coach at Kansas told me when I decided I was going to play basketball, he said, 'You're going to change your mind, you have a future in this game,'" Woodland said. "I called him a year later, and here we stand."
Woodland told the story on Sunday night after he won the Transitions Championship to secure a two-year exemption on TOUR. It was ironic that Woodland broke through on the PGA TOUR the same week the NCAA Tournament opened. After the win, Woodland was peppered with questions about his days on the court.
As Woodland tells it, his first game for Washburn -- coincidentally -- was against Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. It didn't go well. Woodland finished with three points, having shot 1-for-7 from the field.
"We got smoked by Kansas, and I realized maybe I need to do something different," Woodland said. "This isn't going to work.
Woodland will be making his first start in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard this week at Bay Hill. The win at the Copperhead Course pushed to him third in the FedExCup standings.
Live media center interviews for the 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard:
Bookmark: Live interview player
Tuesday, March 22
Noon ET -- Ernie Els
12:30 p.m. ET -- Gary Woodland
Wednesday, March 23
10 a.m. ET -- Arnold Palmer
After Pro-Am -- D.A. Points
After Pro-Am -- Ian Poulter
After Pro-Am -- Tiger Woods
It’s been a year of change for defending Honda Classic champion Camilo Villegas.
He switched equipment companies from Cobra to TaylorMade and had to hire a new caddie after Brett Waldman qualified for the Nationwide Tour.
Now he’d like to change his recent so-so performances on the PGA TOUR.
His best finish in four stroke-play events this year is a T44 at the Farmers Insurance Open. He missed the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii, withdrew from the Waste Management Phoenix Open after an opening 78 and was disqualified from the Hyundai Tournament of Champions for a rules violation. He also lost in the first round of last week’s World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.
“It's been a little slow, but it's the game of golf,” Villegas said. “You just have some good times and bad times and (I’m) looking forward to the rest of the year. Just get things going and start putting myself in position to win some golf tournaments, because that's what I do. That's why I play golf.”
Villegas is hoping his return to PGA National will help turn around his game, thanks to the memories of last year’s five-shot victory. But he knows just showing up isn’t going to get his game rolling.
“I don't see it that, ‘Oh, man, it's going to start here,’ ” he said. “Everything is a process. You don't win from the middle of nowhere and you don't get bad from the middle of nowhere.”
Villegas said it’s going to be a tough week for everyone because the winds are forecast to blow at least 20-mph and as much as 40-mph during the first two rounds.
“It’s going to be challenging,” he said. “This golf course is always tough and it tests our game and our emotions.” – Craig Dolch, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Tiger Woods may have equaled the longest stretch he has gone without winning a major, but Jack Nicklaus said Wednesday he still believes Woods will surpass his record of 18 major championships.
"I still think he’ll break my record,” Nicklaus said before playing in the Honda Classic pro-am with musician Kenny G and NFL players Jason Taylor and Tim Tebow. “I’m surprised that he has not bounced back by now. I think he’s got a great work ethic. He’s so determined to what he wants to do. I’m very surprised that he has not popped back.”
When Woods plays in next month’s Masters, he will have gone 34 months since he won his last major, the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. That matches his longest previous winless stretch from the 2002 U.S. Open to the 2005 Masters.
Woods, 35, remains four behind Nicklaus’ total, failing to win last year at favorite venues such as Pebble Beach and St. Andrews as he went through the fallout of his extra-marital affairs. Nicklaus said Woods’ performances in the majors this year will give everyone a better indication of whether he will reach or pass 18.
“You probably can ask me that same question at the end of this year and we’ll see what the answer is,” Nicklaus said. “It will probably define a lot of what will be the answer.”
It has been 15 1/2 months since Woods won any tournament, which also is the longest spell he’s gone since turning professional in 1996. Nicklaus went through a similar stretch in 1979 when he failed to win a PGA TOUR event for the first time since he turned professional in 1961.
Nicklaus responded in 1980 by winning the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship, his last two majors before he shocked the world by winning the 1986 Masters at 46.
Nicklaus said he only touched a club three times during the last four months of 1979, as he wanted to basically start over when the 1980 season started. During that time, he took lessons from chipping guru Phil Rodgers to correct his biggest weakness.
Even so, Nicklaus said he wasn’t feeling confident about his game when he showed up at Baltusrol for the 1980 U.S. Open. But after a first-round 63, Nicklaus was back in contention at a major.
“You just keep working at it and you keep doing things, and all of a sudden, something happens that kicks in, and I think that’s what will happen with Tiger,” Nicklaus said. “Sometimes the little things have to happen to you, and I think that’s where you're talking about Tiger and his problems, I think that will happen to Tiger.
“I think when you have as much talent as he has, that will happen. He's not going to go anywhere. I mean, how does he win 14 majors? He doesn't get there by playing poorly. He has won a lot of tournaments hitting it all over the world, but he still figured out a way to get the ball in the hole to win that golf tournament. He’ll do it again.” --Craig Dolch, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
Lee Westwood and Tiger Woods go way back.
The first time the two were paired together was at the 1998 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. They were just 25 and 22, respectively. Westwood went on to tie for seventh while Woods shared 18th.
More recently, their names were linked again when Westwood overtook Woods for the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. So the Brit has seen Woods at the top of his game and as he struggles to regain his form.
As far as Westwood is concerned, though, one thing remains constant.
"There's an old saying: class is permanent and form is fickle," Westwood said. "He's the classiest player I've ever played with and I'd be wise enough to know not to write him off."
That said, Westwood understands the fascination from fans and the media with the state of Woods' game.
"I think there's a different kind of interest for everybody," Westwood said. "When he was playing well, there was the interest to see how far out he could get -- and if anybody could catch him up. "Now he's not playing very well and obviously, the interest is will he get it back and when and how far will people go in front of him.
"All the time this story's changing. If you had to read the same old story that you guys wrote each week in and out, we'd get pretty bored, wouldn't we? So it gives you something interesting to base your stories round."
While some of those same reporters Westwood referenced have questioned why Woods isn't trying to play his way into shape, the Brit understands the fine line between competition and practice. Westwood had a drought of his own soon after he ended Colin Montgomerie's seven-year stranglehold on the European Tour's Order of Merit.
"When I went through a bad patch it was a juggling act whether to stay at home and practice and work on your game because you get more done or to go out and play and risk maybe not playing well and take another confidence knock," Westwood said.
"So its very, very much in situations like that up to the individual. So Tigers' got to do what he feels is right and not what everybody else feels is right and what maybe suits everybody else."