E-Notes: Tough courses lie ahead for TOUR in Florida

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• The next four events are in Florida, and TOUR professionals will find four difficult courses waiting for them. The Honda Classic starts this week on the Champion Course at PGA National it was the eighth most difficult course on TOUR last year (out of 55). The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook is up next week and it ranked 15th. The TOUR then moves to the Bay Hill course (seventh) and finally Doral (16th).

• Tiger Woods has taken over the lead in the FedExCup points chase following his victory last week. He's the fifth different person to lead the competition in the first eight weeks of the season and the third different player in the last three weeks.

• Brian Gay's victory last week at the Mayakoba Classic at Riviera Maya was his first on the PGA TOUR after 293 career starts. He's the first, first-time winner on TOUR this year.

• Roland Thatcher began the year number two in his category (No. 24), but with the reshuffle scheduled for the end of the last week, he was in danger of dropping a considerable amount. He put on a show on the weekend, though, shooting a course record 61 in Mexico on Saturday before a Sunday 68 to finish T9. He's now 14th following the re-order. The reshuffle occurs throughout the season and rewards players in his category the chance to move up the priority rankings with good play.

• Who made the biggest move in the reshuffle? Rookie Dustin Johnson parlayed his strong play in the first eight weeks to climb from 34th all the way to first. John Merrick moved from 44th to second, while rookie Chez Reavie did nearly as well, jumping from 33rd to sixth.

• U.S. players posted a strong record last week at the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championship. American players posted a 21-12 record in matches against players from outside the U.S. The U.S. players held an 8-7 lead over European players and won by a 13-5 margin over the rest of the International field.