It's Arnie's event this week at Bay Hill and Tiger has won it an unprecedented 6 times. Get ready for all hell to break loose if he makes it 7, even though it is a weak field after the last 2 WGC events. Stephen Ames is our lone Canuck
The women are the opposite with 22 of the top 25 on hand out in Industry California, next week is their first major, the Kraft Nabisco which if you didn't know is also a major for thousands of America's gay women although for some reason it seems to be a story that is taboo to the LPGA and the media covering it. Not sure why in this tabloid era, it is one of the year's highlights on the lesbian calender.
We have five Canucks in the field, Kane, Sharp,Richdale, Sherlock and Meldrum
Congrats by the way to Annika Sorenstam on the birth of her son.. Sorenstam announced the birth Monday on Twitter about an hour after the baby was born. She said in her tweet, "SURPRISE! I went into labor today & William Nicholas McGee was born at 6:33 PM. I'm well. Will is hanging in there fine for being 27 weeks."
Sorenstam and her husband, Mike McGee, already have a daughter they named Ava.
Meanwhile 2 of our PGA tour guys Chris Baryla and Matt McQuillan drop down to the Nationwide tour in Louisiana and the Canadian Tour continues in Columbia..
Finally Miguel Jimenez hosts in Malaga, Spain and has Olazabal and Quiros in the field supporting him. Most of the Euro big boys are off or in America getting ready for their run at the Masters on April 7..
Here is a summary with notes from AP..
PGA Tour,
The Arnold Palmer Invitational tees off Thursday with only three of the top-10 players in the world competing. Though two of the three are still among the biggest draws in golf.
World Nos. 5 and 6, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, will headline the field at Palmer's event. They will be joined by reigning U.S. Open champ and world No. 4 Graeme McDowell.
Woods has won this title six times, including four straight from 2000-03. Mickelson claimed the crown in 1997 and was runner-up to Woods in 2001, while McDowell shared second place in 2005.
Last year, it took an extra day, but Ernie Els walked off with this title for the second time. There was a weather delay on Sunday that pushed play into Monday morning. After a delay on the re-start on Monday, Els closed out a round of one-under 71, which was good enough for a two-shot win over Kevin Na and Edoardo Molinari.
Els had led by one at the start of the round, but former British Open champion Ben Curtis fell back with a two-over 74 that left him at minus-seven. Els, who also won this event in 1998, was coming off a win two weeks earlier at the WGC-CA Championship.
In the 45-year history of the event, only three non-Americans have won this title -- Els (1998, 2010), Vijay Singh (2007) and Rod Pampling (2006). Nearly 40 non-Americans, including the three previous winners, will be in the field this week at Bay Hill.
Canucks Stephen Ames
LPGA TOUR
KIA CLASSIC, Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms, City of Industry, California, AP - A strong field will be on hand for the Kia Classic, which will be the final tune-up for the year's first major on the LPGA Tour. Karrie Webb goes for her 3rd straight win.
With the Kraft Nabisco on tap next week, 22 of the top-25 players in the world are scheduled to play at Industry Hills this week.
Among that group along with Karrie Webb will be Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Cristie Kerr and Angela Stanford. They were the top-five finishers last week and they will try to take the title from Hee Kyung Seo.
The 24-year-old Seo ran away with the inaugural title last year as she won by six strokes. She was the only player to break par all four rounds. Seo earned her first tour win in just her eighth start on the LPGA. To top it off, she was playing as a sponsors invite.
Current world No. 1 Yani Tseng will defend her title next week at the season's first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Canucks : Alena Sharp, Lorie Kane, Lisa Meldrum, Samantha Richdale, Stephanie Sherlock.
EUROPEAN TOUR
OPEN DE ANDALUCIA, Parador de Malaga Golf, Malaga, Spain AP - The European Tour heads to Spain for the first time this year, but the event will be without its defending champion.Louis Oosthuizen, who later last year went on to win the British Open, cruised to a three-stroke win at the Open de Andalucia with four rounds of 67 or better.
However, Oosthuizen announced Monday that he would be unable to defend his first European Tour title. He has been battling an eye infection since the WGC-Cadillac Championship two weeks ago.
Four of the six winners before Oosthuizen will be in the field this week though. Spaniards Miguel Angel Jimenez, the 1998-99 winner, and 1997 champion Jose Maria Olazabal will headline the field, while Jimenez is once again promoting the event.
Spain's Alvaro Quiros, the 21st ranked player in the world, will be the highest ranked player in the field.
The European Tour heads to Morocco next week for the Trophee Hassan II, where Rhys Davies claimed his first tour title last year.
NATIONWIDE TOUR
CHITIMACHA LOUISIANA OPEN, Le Triomphe Country Club, Broussard, Louisiana, AP - The Nationwide Tour has its first stop in the United States this week with the Chitimacha Louisiana Open. Fabian Gomez fired a seven-under 64 in the final round last year to runaway with a six-stroke win at Le Triomphe Country Club. He was one of six players that broke par in all four rounds last year.
Gomez will not be on hand to defend his title though. However, four former winners are slated to compete this week. They are Bubba Dickerson, Gavin Coles, Brett Wetterich and Paul Claxton.
The season's first two winners -- Mathew Goggin and Brenden Pappas -- will also play this week.
After a two-week break, the Nationwide Tour will return to action April 14th with the Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae, where Kevin Chappell won last year.
Canucks : Matt McQuillan, Chris Baryla, Jon Mills, Richard T Lee, Andrew Parr
CANADIAN TOUR
PACIFIC COLOMBIA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP, Guaymoral Country Club, Bogota, Colombia, AP - The Canadian Tour remains in Colombia again this week for the Pacific Colombia Tour Championship.
Cody Slover earned a hard-fought, one-stroke win last week at the Barranquilla Open. He was the only player to finish in red figures.
Like last week's event, the TLA and the Canadian Tour are co-sanctioning this tournament.
After having Qualifying Tournament's in Florida and California, the Canadian Tour will return to action in early May in Mexico.
Bryan Angus
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