Week 18 Approach Shots: THE PLAYERS Championship

One of the best venues in all of golf will be in the spotlight this week as THE PLAYERS Championship is again contested at TPC Sawgrass' PLAYERS Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. This is the 29th consecutive year the venerable Pete Dye-designed course plays host to an international field that features 29 of the top 30 players in the latest Official World Golf Ranking.

TV/Radio (all times ET)

TV: GOLF CHANNEL (Thu.-Fri., 1-7 p.m.); NBC (Sat.-Sun. 2-7 p.m.) RADIO: PGA TOUR NETWORK - Sirius 209, XM 146, PGATOUR.COM (Thu.-Sun. 12-7 p.m.)

Weather

The skies should be clear on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, but they are calling for isolated thunderstorms on Saturday. Temperatures may hit the 90s on Friday and Saturday. Updated weather info

Key links

• Expert picks | Tee times • Rankings | Fantasy Insider • Inside the Field | Course

A year ago, Henrik Stenson came from five strokes behind on the final day, played bogey-free golf on Sunday, shot a final-round 66 and rolled to a four-shot victory, his second PGA TOUR win. The victory by Sweden's Stenson was the third by an international player at this event in the last four years. Spain's Sergio Garcia won in 2008, with Canada's Stephen Ames taking the title in 2006. The only U.S. winner in that period was Phil Mickelson, in 2007.

"(THE PLAYERS) has ... tradition and history, and I had watched it a lot before I came over and played it the first time, and I think that goes for everybody that's a keen golfer," Stenson said. "Especially if you're a professional golfer, from whatever corner of the world you come from, you will have seen this event and know what great history it's got and what great champions you've got from the past."

Stenson has made four consecutive cuts at TPC Sawgrass. Besides his win a year ago, Stenson also tied for third in 2006. In those four tournaments, he has five rounds in the 60s and 11 at par or better.

"It's a course I love playing, and it's even sweeter to return as defending champion," Stenson said. "And I will try my hardest to have a good week this week, and I could be the first one to go back-to-back, I guess."

At the time of his win, Stenson moved to No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Entering this week's tournament, Stenson is ranked 18th. His top PGA TOUR finish this season was a tie for 33rd at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. In five international starts in 2010, Stenson's top performances are a pair of ties for eighth -- at the Dubai Desert Classic in February and the Volvo China Open last month.

THE PLAYERS Championship dates to 1974 when Jack Nicklaus won the first tournament. The event permanently moved to Ponte Vedra Beach in 1977 and found a home at TPC Sawgrass five years later.

TPC Sawgrass' PLAYERS Stadium Course annually ranks as one of the most-difficult venues on the PGA TOUR, making scoring on the four par 5s -- Nos. 2, 9, 11 and 16 -- even more important at THE PLAYERS. No player has taken advantage of those four TPC Sawgrass holes over the years more than Tiger Woods, who is a cumulative 92-under-par.

The 18th hole at Sawgrass ranks as the second most-difficult PGA TOUR finishing hole since 1983 (with a minimum of 10 years being played). The leader is English Turn Golf and Country Club, which previously hosted the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The par-4 hole played to a 17-year average of 4.368. The par-4 18th at TPC Sawgrass has a 4.358 average in 27 tournaments. The 18th holes at the Bay Hill Club, Doral Golf and Country Club's Blue Course and Cog Hill Golf and Country Club round out the top five.

There were 80 birdies made on the par-3 17th hole during the 2009 PLAYERS, the greatest number since players made 81 there in 2004. Only seven times in the tournament's history at TPC Sawgrass has the 17th yielded 80 or more birdies during the tournament. The most came in 1987, with 114.

PLAYER NOTES: World No. 1 Tiger Woods continues his 2010 season at THE PLAYERS, his third event of the season following the Masters Tournament (tied for fourth) and last week's Quail Hollow Championship (missed cut).

Phil Mickelson, who won the Masters Tournament earlier this season, and finished second last week at the Quail Hollow Championship, has encountered mixed results in 16 previous PLAYERS appearances. He has collected six top-25 finishes, highlighted by his 2007 victory. He has also finished outside the top 30 nine times.

Jay Haas and Bill Haas will become the first father-son combination to compete at THE PLAYERS Championship in the same year when they tee it up this week. Jay earned his spot in the field by virtue of his victory last fall at the Champions Tour's Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, while Bill qualified via his 2009 money-list position. The start will be Jay's 29th at THE PLAYERS, the most in tournament history, breaking a tie with Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw. The 56-year-old's best finish was a tie for second in 2003. The oldest player to ever make a PLAYERS cut is Julius Boros, who was 55 when he played the weekend in 1975.

Bolton's Yahoo! selections

Fantasy columnist Rob Bolton will provide his Yahoo! picks as a starting point for you every week. Use the advice and opinion from his Power Rankings and Fantasy Insider to assist in determining lineups changes throughout each tournament. Group Starters Bench Group A Phil Mickelson Luke Donald Group B Jim Furyk, Rory McIlroy Kevin Na, Henrik Stenson Group C Ian Poulter Paul Casey

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Columnists' predictions

Each week, PGATOUR.COM columnists will predict the winner. Here are their picks for THE PLAYERS Championship. Columnist Pick Comment Stan AWTREY JIM FURYK: Who's playing better: Furyk or Phil? This week the money is on the local favorite, who is on the verge of a career year. Craig DOLCH BEN CRANE: Pete Dye's courses usually reward a more plodding approach. Crane has finished in the top six each of the last two years here. Melanie HAUSER RORY MCILROY: Why not? He's still grinning about that 62 and doesn't have a dang thing to lose freewheeling it this week. Could easily have gone with Padraig Harrington who closed with a 68 last week, which means things are seriously coming together. Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and even Tiger, Phil and Rickie Fowler were thoughts. Gut? The kid with the curly hair on the quirky course. John MAGINNES TIGER WOODS:Let me be the only one to pick the No. 1 player in the world. Why? Because he is the No. 1 player in the world.

Did you know?

While Tiger Woods won the 2001 PLAYERS Championship, he's never been an 18-hole, 36-hole or 54-hole leader of the event.

What the winner gets

A win this week at THE PLAYERS Championship will earn the following benefits: • Fully Exempt for the remainder of 2010 and the next five years. • 600 FedExCup points (TOUR members only). It took 354 points to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup in 2009 and 494 to reach the Deutsche Bank Championship. • A spot in the following events in order of play: 2010 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, 2010 Memorial, 2010 AT&T National, 2010 PGA Championship, 2010 WGC-Bridgestone Inv., 2011 SBS Championship • If a U.S. player, 1,710,000 points towards making the 2011 Presidents Cup team. • If it is a second victory for a player since last June 4, a spot in the U.S. Open