This week marks the third of four World Golf Championship events, and it will be played at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, California. The top golfers in the world will be teeing it up Thursday, with the exception of Ernie Els. The number one golfer in the world, Tiger Woods, will lead the awesome field once again. Woods was last seen at the Presidents Cup two weeks ago in single action against Retief Goosen. Woods lost the match, but his United States team was victorious.
Tiger has won the American Express Championship three times since its debut in 1999, including the inaugural event played at Valderrama. Woods went on to set the tournament record in 2002 by finishing at an astonishing 25-under-par. Tiger also won the event in 2003. Other than Tiger, Mike Weir and Ernie Els are the only ones to taste victory in the event. Weir won in 2000, with Els winning last year. The event was cancelled in 2001 due to the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
The qualifications for the event are very simple. The top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings are eligible to play the American Express Championship, as well as the leaders of the official money lists and orders of merit of the six Federation member Tours not otherwise eligible via the Ranking. Needless to say, the field is one of the strongest in all of golf.
Following Tiger in the world rankings are Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson. Singh had a very lackluster Presidents Cup two weeks ago and obviously wasn’t at the top of his game. That being said, Vijay has four victories on the PGA Tour in 2005. The last of these victories was the Buick Open in July. Singh has three top-five finishes in the American Express Championship, with his best coming in 2003 (T2).
Phil Mickelson, on the other hand, was very dominant in the Presidents Cup. He and Chris DiMarco went 3-0-1 as a team, and Lefty notched another win in singles competition. Mickelson won three times before The Masters and then went into a mini-slump. The slump ended when Mickelson won the PGA Championship in August. Lefty is ranked third in both the world rankings and PGA Tour money list.
As always, Retief Goosen slides in after the “Big Four”, or “Big Three” in this case. Goosen has had an excellent past couple months, winning three times worldwide since the first of August. The Goose is very close to moving ahead of fellow South African Ernie Els into fourth on the world rankings list. Goosen capped off his great play at the Presidents Cup. He teamed with Adam Scott to go 3-0-1 in team competition and earned another point with an impressive singles win over Tiger Woods.
The other remaining members in the top ten playing this week include Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Chris DiMarco, Angel Cabrera, and Kenny Perry. Cabrera just recently moved into the top ten for the first time in his career after having a wonderful 2005 so far. As I mentioned earlier, DiMarco and Scott played great in the Presidents Cup and will be favorites this week. Kenny Perry had a rough start to the Presidents Cup before finally getting a win in his singles match.
Another golfer to keep an eye on this week is Colin Montgomerie. Monty started 2005 as the 80th ranked player in the world. It looked as though his best days were behind him. That was far from the truth, however, as Monty has made a resurgence this year. He finished second in the British Open in July and won the Dunhill Links Championship on the European Tour this past weekend. Monty will come into the week on a roll, but his best finish at the American Express Championship is a tie for 20th in 1999.
The golfers are just half the battle as always. The event will be held this year at Harding Park Golf Course. This course has been around for quite some time, but it has recently been renovated. The renovation improved the course greatly, and it should be very popular at week’s end. The course measures 7,086 yards and par is 70.
The 17th and 18th are very different on paper, but both are tough in their own unique way. The 17th is a 164-yard par 3. It is the shortest par-3 on the course, and it looks easier than the others from the tee. However, prevailing winds could easily change the outcome of the tee shot. The green isn’t the toughest around, but it’s fast and will test the golfers all week. This hole will give up quite a few birdies, but there will also be some bogeys if the field tries to get greedy.
The finishing hole is also the signature hole at Harding Park Golf Course. It is a 468-yard par 4 that doglegs left around Lake Merced. It is a must for the golfers to place their tee shots in the fairway. The players that miss the fairway off the tee will be struggling to save par from the outset. The players that do find the fairway in the right position will have a decent chance at birdie. The green slopes back towards the fairway, forcing approaches that come up short to roll back towards the players. This hole is very tough from tee-to-green, and par will definitely go a long way in determining a winner.
Last week, I picked Adam Scott to win the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro. Scott barely made the cut and had a below-average finish. My “sleeper” pick, on the hand, had a very good week and nearly won. Shigeki Maruyama finished in second, two shots behind K.J. Choi. This week, I’m picking Retief Goosen. The Goose always seems to play well when the field is strong, and I think this week will be his time to shine and move up to fourth in the world rankings. My “sleeper” pick is Ian Poulter. Poulter has flown under the radar for most of 2005, but he is very talented and capable of winning any event.
The weather for the American Express Championship should be a little cooler than golfers have been accustomed to as of late. There is no chance of rain on the forecast so far, and hopefully things will stay that way. The highs should be in the upper-60s and low-70s. The field will be playing for one of the richest purses in golf. The winner will walk away with a little more than $1 million.
The World Golf Championship events have been very good for golf so far, and this week should be no different. Nearly all the top-50 golfers in the world will be playing, and the course is fairly new to championship golf. The field is strong, the money is good, and the weather should be nice. That mixture usually adds up to incredible golf. The WGC-American Express Championship can be seen this week on ESPN and ABC at the following times:
Thu 2:00-6:00pm ET ESPN Fri 2:00-6:00pm ET ESPN Sat 4:30-7:00pm ET ABC Sun 1:30-6:00pm ET ABC
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