|
Tournament Stats:
Pods ChampionshipMarch 3 - 9, 2008
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: Mark Calcavecchia
List of Champions & Scores
Results & Scores of 2007 PODS Championship
Box Score of 2007 PODS 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 (Mark Calcavecchia in the 3rd round in 2007 & Jeff Sluman in the 1st round in 2004)
Tournament information:
This will be the 8th 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 year secured PODS as a title sponsor. Unfortunely because of a change of management at PODS, they have decided to drop sponsorship after this week. When the tournament first started in 2000, it was the first time that a full 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:
May seem hard to believe but this week the 2008 PGA Tour FedEx Cup season is a quarter of the way finished, wonder who is panicking over FedEx Cup points.Couple of things, first because of some changes the tournament sponsor has deceded to leave again leaving the tournament in search of a new sponsor for next year. As Mick Elliott writes in the Tampa Tribune, this is a familiar scenario as the tournament looks for it's fourth title sponsor in just eight years.
Big buzz will surround both Ernie Els and Mark Calcavecchia this week. First for Els he finally got the monkey off his back with his win at the Honda Classic. Still it wasn't what you call a complete victory as he finished 45 minutes earlier and watched as others fell away. Even though its a big "W" in the record books, many will be looking for Els to prove himself my winning in a more conventional manner.
The other news is how good Calcavecchia played last week. He shocked a lot of people with his one shot win last year but people should know that Calc is great on Florida courses. Last year he came to the PODS playing terribly and looking to regain his putting stroke, he did and that is the reason for the win. This year he comes into the PODS with the momentum of almost winning last week. Still that could of tired him out, he could of won the event if he didn't get such a bad break on the 15th hole when his bunker shot rolled off the green and into a hazard, leading to a double bogey. Still we have to take a good look at Calc this week, his game is sharp and he should play well.
The field is good with Els, Calcavecchia playing along with Stuart Appleby, Steve Stricker, FBR winner J.B. Holmes, Mercedes winner Daniel Chopra, AT&T winner Steve Lowery, Bob Hope winner D.J. Trahan, Mayakoba winner Brian Gay. A bit of a disappointment is two-time winner K.J. Choi not playing, he is getting ready for a trip to Korea next week and play in the Ballantines Championship.
Last but not least, Fred Couples will be making a rare start in this event that he played in the first year finishing T14th and never coming back. Couple will be making his first start since being named the 2009 U.S. Presidents Cup captain and you know he will have a lot of folks that will want to meet with him.
Here are some things to look for this week:
|
Many wondered if the difference from playing in October or March made a big difference, yes the course was more lush and the rough was tougher, but March winds made this a bit tougher. Difference wise, last year the course played to a 72.005 average while in October of 2006 it played to a 71.812 average. But in October of 2005 it played to a 72.229 average so the change of months really didn't make it harder or easier. Still the Bermuda grass will be healthy and look greener and lusher. It will be easier to attack, of course mother nature will have the main say on this if it's windy.
Here are some of the secrets that it will take to play well this week at the Pods Championship:
-
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. - Florida is always windy, 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 seven 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. six of the seven winners were in the top-ten in greens hit with the last five winners, Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, Carl Pettersson, K.J. Choi and Mark Calcavecchia finishing the week T2nd, T1st, T3rd, T5th and T9th in greens hit.
- So look at all of these facts and you can come to the conclusion that good ballstrikers ruled the roost. This is not your typical Florida type of course because the fairways are tight, the rough will be tall with tough putting surfaces.
- Number of putts is also important when you consider that six of the seven past winners were in the top-ten in this stat. Calcavecchia was 3rd averaging 27.25 putts per round last year.
