This week marks a special week for me. It is the first week that I get to write for The Sand Trap, and it is also time for the Player’s Championship! That is right, this tournament has been my favorite tournament since I can remember, and it is no different this year. The Masters is right around the corner, but as most people know, the PGA players treat The Player’s Championship as the “unspoken” 5th major.
The field at the Player’s Championship never lacks for star power, and this year is no different. The top 50 players in the world will come together for the first time in 2005, and they’re all looking to keep that ranking going into The Masters. After this week, the top 50 will all be exempt for the first major of the year, just two short weeks away. You can bet they will all be pushing that much harder to do well this week.
The European Tour heads to Indonesia for the Enjoy Jakarta Standard Chartered Indonesia Open. It is the innaugural even being held at the Cengkareng Golf Club in Jakarta, Indonesia. Colin Montgomerie leads a field that is somewhat hampered by the coinciding Players Championship. The field does include Monty’s Ryder Cup teammate Paul McGinley and other of the Asian Tour’s top players.
The Dinah Shore Tournament Course is the setting for this exciting four-day event. Beginning in 1972, this event became a major in 1983. This event is an invitational, and in the past year the top LPGA Tour pros and a few fortunate amateurs have earned the right to compete for the glory of an LPGA major. The pros are going after the $1.8 million purse that goes with it.
The oldest sports museum in the United States is getting a worthy addition in the near future in the form of the “Arnold Palmer Center For Golf History.” Slated for completion in 2008, the center will honor the man who was the first to win a U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open and a U.S. Senior Open.
Vijay Singh hit a 7-iron into the water at the 18th hole and Kenny Perry walked away with a two-shot victory at the Bay Hill Invitational. All was not lost for Singh, as he reclaimed the #1 spot in the world over a struggling Tiger Woods, who finished at -1 after an unusual – and lengthy – week.
Although Lorena Ochoa 
Lorena Ochoa finished with a 1-under 71 today and sits at -13 after 54 holes of golf. A double-bogey on the 16th hole cost Ochoa a commanding lead, but her one-stroke advantage has the top players in the world chasing her into the final round tomorrow.
After Saturday, one thing is for sure… things will be busy on Sunday. From the