A little jet lag won't keep Fowler from Kodak Challenge battle

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Rickie Fowler led the Kodak Challenge standings for a large chunk of 2010 but finds himself one shot back heading into the season finale.

So what if he's playing five weeks straight? In three different countries across 10 different time zones, to boot.

Merritt

Rickie Fowler isn't going to hand Troy Merritt the Kodak Challenge title -- and its $1 million prize -- without a fight.

So he took the high-speed train to Shanghai and flew home from China after the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions was over on Sunday night. Fowler eventually landed in the United States about 11 a.m. ET on Monday (which was roughly 11 p.m. in terms of his body clock).

The jet-lagged Fowler will be in Orlando today to prepare for and play in the Children's Miracle Network Classic, which is the final event of the PGA TOUR's Fall Series. It's also where the Kodak Challenge -- and its winner-take-all prize -- will be decided.

Baddeley

Thanks to an eagle on the par-5 16th at TPC Summerlin during the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, Merritt currently owns a one-stroke lead over Fowler and Aaron Baddeley in the Kodak Challenge. The year-long competition is based on a player's best cumulative score on any 18 of the 30 holes selected.

The only other player with a mathematical shot at the Kodak Challenge is Tim Petrovic -- and he would need to make an eagle to tie Merritt, as the scores stand now. A Merritt birdie this week, though, woud eliminate Petrovic.

"If it wasn't for Kodak I probably wouldn't be playing because of the schedule I just came off of flying back from China," Fowler acknowledged before he flew home. "Like I hoped for some time off but with Kodak and being one shot back from Troy, I'd like to go and give him a little bit of a challenge and see if we can get into a playoff.

"But if not, I wouldn't mind seeing Troy walk away with the Kodak Challenge. We'll go and have some fun and try to make a birdie."

The two players have had some back-and-forth banter about the competition on their Twitter accounts of late.

"Actually I've been in his ear since about the middle of July," Merritt said. "'I'm making a move. Here I come.' He said, "All right, bring it on.' We've been having fun with it for several months now. ... He's a great kid, and he wants to win obviously just as much as I do. So it'll be probably a pretty good finish.

"There will be some fireworks, I'm sure."

As much as the Kodak Challenge is on his mind, though, Merritt has other concerns this week at the Children's Miracle Network Classic. He enters the tournament ranked No. 121 on the money list -- some $37,470 ahead of Troy Matteson, who holds down the 125th and final exempt spot.

"I'm out here just because I love the game," Merritt said. "I love to have fun with it, and knowing that I'm in great position to keep my card and great position to win the Kodak Challenge, you really can't ask for much more. I think the only other way the week would be even greater is if I won the tournament.

"So we'll take baby steps, and if we achieve all three, we achieve all three, but just the first two would be nice."

Like Fowler, Baddeley also had to make a significant choice this week -- although part of his motivation was the chance to move up on the final PGA TOUR money list and finish off the season with a win. So the Aussie is playing in the Children's Miracle Network Classic rather than at home in the JBWere Masters in Melbourne.

The chance to win the Kodak Challenge is a nice bonus, though.

"It is a big chunk of change," Baddeley said. "... Definitely adds some spice to it for sure. I know like the last couple weeks, like in Vegas, like I knew making that putt would tie the lead. So I was pretty excited. And then Troy made eagle as well, so obviously he got in front by a shot."

The Kodak Challenge hole on the Magnolia Course at Walt Disney World Resort is the 17th, a demanding 485-yard par 4. The hole was the third-most difficult a year ago -- yielding one eagle, 29 birdies, 184 pars and 55 scores of bogey or higher.

"It's a tough tee shot," Merritt said. "It looks like a narrow area from the tee box, and you have to get it far enough right to make sure you don't get blocked out by the trees on the left. It's a good hole. I mean a 3 there is playing some good golf."

Both Baddeley and Merritt said they've heard rumors in recent weeks that tournament officials might move the tees up to make the 17th driveable and the finish more exciting. All indications from the rules staff, though, are that the hole will play as a two-shot par 4.

"If it were up to me, we would be playing from the middle of the 16th fairway at about 550 yards, par 4, but 485 is a good little middle," Merritt said.

In the event of a tie in the Kodak Challenge on Sunday, a playoff will be held on the 17th hole with competition continuing there until a winner is declared. Tournament officials are prepared to place lights on the hole, if necessary.

Merritt may be in the driver's seat right now but Fowler spent more time leading -- or tied for the lead -- in the Kodak Challenge than any other player this year. As he kept making the well-timed birdies, Fowler started to play more and more attention to the season-long competition.

"I think I was leading, I'd say, halfway and held my lead so mid-part of the year was when I thought I'd try to see if we can make some birdies," Fowler said. "It's worked out. Troy just has had a few good holes the last few weeks."

Fowler likes the concept of the Kodak Challenge because everyone has a chance -- regardless of their position on the money list or how they finished in the FedExCUp race.

"It's fun," Fowler said. "Obviously, anyone can get in. You just have to make birdies on a certain hole. You've got guys from different sides of the money list with me being more towards the front, Troy's more towards the back and Baddeley is towards the middle of the pack.

"It gives everyone a shot at $1 million."