Golf: No firm favourites in elite Players field

MIAMI - The strongest field of the year will contest this week's Players Championship at Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida, where heavyweights such as Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh are not necessarily favourites for the title.

The hosting Stadium Course at the TPC at Sawgrass is among the fairest of tests in golf and a venue where the shorter hitters have just as much chance of winning as the big guns.

Popular American Fred Funk, the straightest driver on the PGA Tour and also one of the shortest, became the oldest Players champion in history with a one-shot victory at last year's rain-hit tournament.

Ponte Vedra resident Funk clinched his seventh Tour title with a one-under-par 71, serving notice that short hitting coupled with astute course management was a recipe for success at Sawgrass.

However, the big hitters have also flourished at the Players, with Fred Couples (in 1984 and 1996), Davis Love III (in 1992 and 2003) and world number one Woods (in 2001) all winning the tournament unofficially dubbed the fifth major.

"It's one of the golf courses where you have to be so consistent from tee to green," Woods told reporters before last year's tournament.

"You can't get away with poor ball-striking here. If you miss the fairways, it puts such a challenge on trying to get the ball on the green.

WRONG SPOT

"And if you put the ball in the rough, more than likely it's going to be the wrong spot, so you're going to have the daunting task of trying to two-putt, and more likely you're not going to.

"It puts a big premium on ball-striking. If you look at the guys who have won that particular week, they've hit it great."

South African Ernie Els enjoys playing at Sawgrass, although he is yet to visit the winner's circle there.

"It's a great test," the three-times major champion said on his official website. "I think to have different winners like that shows you how good the golf course is.

"It's not one of the longest courses we play all year, but it punishes you if you make even half a mistake. There are several holes where there's almost no margin for error.

"Main priority is you've got to hit it in the fairway, because the greens are usually firm and fast.

"You need to be hitting your approach shots from the 'short stuff' so that you have good control of your golf ball; otherwise, you're going to struggle.

"Look at last year's winner Fred Funk. No one hits more fairways than Freddie. And he made it count. It was a great performance."

Fan favorite Funk, at the age of 48, came from four strokes behind going into the rain-delayed final round at Sawgrass.

He mixed five birdies with four bogeys on a windy day at the Stadium Course to finish at nine-under 279, a stroke ahead of compatriots Tom Lehman, Scott Verplank and Briton Luke Donald.

It was the proudest moment of his golfing career.

"I can't believe I won this thing, it's the biggest win by far that I've ever had," Funk said after receiving a winner's cheque for $1.44 million from the PGA Tour's richest tournament purse.

"It was such a hard day and this is the strongest field that we play all year long. I'm overwhelmed."

This week, Funk will face the strongest PGA Tour field of the year in his title defence.

Forty-nine of the world's top 50 are at Sawgrass, the sole exception being American Kenny Perry who has been sidelined until at least the middle of next month following knee surgery.

The Players Championship starts on Friday morning (NZ time).

- REUTERS