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Tournament Stats:
Pods ChampionshipMarch 8 - 11, 2007
Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course)
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Par: 72 / Yardage: 7,230 Purse: $5.3 million with $954,000 going to the winner
Defending Champions: K.J. Choi
List of Champions & Scores
Results & Scores of 2006 Tampa Bay Championship
Box Score of 2006 Tampa Bay Championship
Tournament facts:
Tournament Record:266 (Vijay Singh in 2004)
54-Hole Record:
199 (K.J. Choi in 2002)
36-Hole Record:
131 (K.J. Choi in 2002)
Low round of tournament:
62 (Jeff Sluman in the 1st round in 2004)
Tournament information:
This will be the 7th Pods Championship, with the first one being played in 2000. The tournament was formally called the Tampa Bay Classic and then changed in 2003 to the Chrysler Championship, which after last year's event discontinued the relationship. The 2001 event wasn't played because of the 9/11 tragedy. With the advent of the FedEx Cup series, the Tampa Bay Championship was chosen to fill in the empty week left with the transfer of the Players Championship to May. Even with a short turnaround (less than six months) and the loss of a sponsor, the tournament moved and last month secured PODS as a title sponsor. When the tournament first started in 2000, it was the first time that a full time PGA Tour event was held in the area since the St. Petersburg Open, which was held between 1930 and 1964. The course was the home of the mix-event JCPenney Classic, which ended in 1999.Course information:
The Copperhead course was designed by Larry Packard and opened in 1974. It was restored in 1999, two years after it was purchased by Westin Inc, The goal of the restoration project was to regain the shot values and still challenge today's longer-hitting PGA Tour players when Innisbrook hosts PGA Tour events. The plan involved refurbishing all 18 greens, restructuring many of the bunkers, removing some trees around the greens to improve air movement and sunlight, and clearing out undergrowth between fairways. The length of the golf course is the most visible change from 7,087 to 7,230 yards by the addition of tournament tees on five holes. A reported $500,000 was spent and the course re-opened just in time for the 1999 JCPenney Classic.The Buzz:
This event has come a long way in such a short period of time. When first launched in 2000, it replaced the mix-team JCPenney Classic which was popular among those that played in it but for the general public it was luke-warm at best. The event started with dreams of being a top-notch event on the PGA Tour and now with it's move into March, the dreams are becoming reality. Of course things also weren't easy holding an event less than five months later, plus the organizers had the big problem of replacing Chrysler as the title sponsor. But with Pods signed up for the long haul, things are in place.
Last week's win by Mark Wilson gives journeyman players a reason to fight. Wilson has been a professional for tens years, going to Q-school each year since and really hadn't made much of a name for himself. Until he won, Wilson wasn't really that well know and now his life is about to drastically change. He has played this event two times previously and both those times were under tough conditions because he was fighting to save his PGA Tour card. This week will be the first time that he will be able to play in this event and not have to worry about making cuts, making dollars and doing things to keep his card. Wilson can now play knowing that he is a winner on the PGA Tour and thrive to get that next win much faster than ten years.
Here are some things to look for this week:
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Many will say, boy it's only been 17 weejs since we last played at Innisbrook, what could change. They would be dead wrong.
A lot has changed, even though the course will be playing the same way it did in October. When played before the course was tees, fairways and rough were all Bermuda 419 with the greens TifEagle. After enduring the summer heat, the course was brownish/green in color with very short rough. But with the cold of weather, help is needed to keep the Bermuda grass healthy and green so courses in Florida resort to overseeding with rye grass which helps not only make it greener, but lusher. So in one way the course will be easier to attack, but also have longer rough making trips off the fairway more of an adventure than it was in October. Here are some of the secrets that it will take to play well this week at the Pods Championship:
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Key stat for the winner:
Accuracy is more of a premium than it was in October now that the rough has been overseeded and is more lush. - Unimportant stat: Look for 41 of the top 50 finishers from last year's event to return, as these players will have not only the knowledge of the course but the shortest in times between events to help there games.
- One thing that will play differently than back in October is the wind. Look for that to play havoc on the players who haven't had to play Innisbrook under windy conditions
- All the par 5s are within reach of the average player and even though the course is over 7,200 yards this won't present much of a problem, look for lots of greens to be hit.
- In looking at the six champions of this event, four of them have this in common. They were in the top-five in driving distance, and the bottom quarter of the fairways hit category. five of the six winners were in the top-ten in greens hit with the last four winners, Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, Carl Pettersson and K.J. Choi finishing the week T2nd, T1st, T3rd and T5th in greens hit.
- Number of putts is also important when you consider that five of the six past winners were in the top-ten in this stat.
