Wondering which players to watch at the 2007 Nissan Open? We've got five favorites, five maybes and five long shots for you to consider.
| 5 FAVORITES | ||
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Jim Furyk Without Tiger, Furyk is the highest ranked player in the field. A third-round 76 shunted the train at Pebble Beach and made Sunday an insouciant stroll for Phil Mickelson. Furyk ended up in sixth place for his second top-10 of 2007. Leading the PGA Tour in Greens in Regulation and ranking third in driving accuracy, he seems to have a firm grip on the steering wheel. He comes to Rivera having made the cut there in six previous appearances. Last year he took 12th place. |
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Phil Mickelson His first win since last year's Masters was a big confidence booster. Before last week, Mickelson dismissed any notion that he wasn't mentally engaged in the early season competition, but his demeanor betrayed a bit to the contrary. A powerhouse victory at Pebble effected a change. In his post-victory interview, you could see it in the eyes -- bigger, brighter and more focused. Now he's ready to take on the trials of another season. Riviera has never been a great track for him, but he comes with a fresh approach after many years of absence. |
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Vijay Singh Vijay never made up the ground he lost after a slow start at Pebble, but he regained enough by the end of Sunday for 11th place. It was his third top-10 of 2007, giving him the FedEx Cup points lead for this week. Like Mickelson, Singh has played Riviera off and on throughout the course of his career and has never really taken to it. In five career starts, he could finish no better than 18th place, but never failed to make it to the weekend. |
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Adam Scott Scott was named the winner of the 2005 Nissan Open after the weather-plagued tournament could only get in 36 holes of respectable golf and he beat Chad Campbell in a playoff. He showed a similar proficiency at Riviera last year as he challenged Rory Sabbatini in a valiant run on Sunday, but finished runner-up. He puts in his third attempt at the Nissan Open this week after a five-week layoff. Scott opened the season at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, taking second place behind Singh. |
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Ernie Els Els hasn't seen PGA Tour action since the Tour Championship in early November, but that doesn't mean he's been idle. In December, he did South Africa proud by winning the national Open by three shots, and in 2007, he picked up two top-5 finishes at the European Tour's Qatar Masters and Dubai Desert Classic. Els returns to the U.S. for the Nissan Open, which he won in 1999 by beating out Tiger Woods and Davis Love III. |
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| 5 MAYBES | ||
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Retief Goosen Goosen makes his 2007 PGA Tour debut this week. He'll also get his first look at Riviera Country Club. He's never played in the Nissan Open in his pro career. Goosen concluded last season with fourth place at the Tour Championship and started 2007 strong with a fifth-place finish at Abu Dhabi and a victory three weeks ago at the Qatar Masters. |
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Luke Donald Last week, Donald missed a PGA Tour cut for the first time since the 2006 Players Championship. The streak totaled 14 events and demonstrates that the Englishman has truly arrived as one of the world's elite players. Next on the agenda, as he has expressed repeatedly, is a major championship. He began his year with a bang, taking two top-10s in the season-opening swing through Hawaii. Donald had his finest showing at Riviera in 2006 when he grabbed 12th place. |
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John Rollins Two runner-up spots have placed Rollins second on the PGA Tour money list, only about 160K behind Vijay Singh. Rollins has displayed some of the finest golf on Tour so far. With 19 rounds already in the books, his stroke average comes in just below 70. Confidence ought to be high heading into Los Angeles. Rollins shot his season low of 64 during the third round of the 2006 Nissan Open. His fifth-place finish last year was his best at Riviera. |
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Charles Howell III Since his first and only Tour victory in 2002, Howell has six second-place finishes, including the two he has earned in 2007. Back in 2002, Howell was fated to be one of the PGA Tour's premier players, but that hasn't panned out. His putting has been a huge detriment over the last few years, but there appears to be a marked improvement in the stroke this year. It would be surprising if Howell doesn't end the winless streak in 2007. |
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David Toms Since the season's first round at Kapalua, Toms has posted 11 straight rounds of par or better with T8, T13 and T8 to show. If he weren't playing so well, we would have to rate Toms' chances this week as fairly bleek. He has received nothing but heartbreak playing at Riviera. Four straight missed cuts and seven total missed cuts in eight career appearances. Give Toms credit for stepping up for one more at bat. |
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| 5 LONG SHOTS | ||
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Sergio Garcia Garcia's trip through the European Tour's Arabian swing was a mild bust. He tries his fortune in the U.S. for the first time this year carrying the weight of an extended winless streak. Garcia hasn't played Riviera since 2004 when he placed 20th. Just guessing at his mindset, but Sergio probably sees this week as a warm-up for next week's Accenture Match Play Championship, which he -- being a self-styled match play ace -- thinks he has a decent chance to win. |
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Padraig Harrington In his 2007 PGA Tour debut, Harrington stumbled off the blocks at Pebble Beach, but reached the weekend by the skin of his teeth and posted some good rounds to close things out. This week he gets his first glance at Riviera. Paddy is on a four-week jaunt on the PGA Tour, which ends at The Honda Classic. |
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Robert Allenby Allenby is playing some of the finest golf of his career -- three top-10s in three events so far with a stroke average of 69.05. The Aussie was second behind Tiger Woods in All-Around Ranking in 2006. For all his marvelous consistency, Allenby hasn't won on the PGA Tour since 2001. That was the year he took the Nissan Open title at rainy Riviera. |
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Mike Weir Weir is a two-time champion at the Nissan Open (2003 and 2004). He missed the cut last week at Pebble Beach, where he has previously thrived, but he showed his winning form the week before in Phoenix. |
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Billy Mayfair Mayfair is a real sleeper pick this week. After opening the year with three straight missed cuts, the 40-year-old veteran reversed track at the FBR Open, shooting 66-66-70-65 for fifth place. Mayfair's record at Riviera is excellent. He won the L.A. event in 1998 and picked up T7 and T12 in his last two visits. |
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