O'Hair to defend at Transitions
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2009 Transitions Championship | Preview | 18 Mar 2009
The PGA Tour stays in Florida this week for the Transitions Championship at the Larry Packard designed Innisbrook Resort Golf and Country Club’s Copperhead course at Palm Harbor near Tampa on Florida’s west coast.
The event has a new name in 2009 after two years as the PODS Championship, four years as the Chrysler Championship and three years as the Tampa Bay Classic. Transitions is an optical company specialising in lens that automatically change colour in different light.
Sean O’Hair returns to defend a title he won last year, while two time winner K.J. Choi, Kenny Perry and the improving Jim Furyk are others who are considered favourties to do well.
Choi won his two titles at this course in 2002 and 2006. His last couple of events this season have been nothing too special but earlier he was closing in on his best form. Back on a golf course where he plays well he is a chance to win his third event at Copperhead.
O’Hair is playing with remarkable consistency at present and for what it is worth he has his game in much better shape now than it was when leading into his victory last year.
Perry is having a great season to date with a win in Scottsdale and several other good finishes, He has done well enough when he has played at Copperhead to be confident of continuing his current good form this week.
Furyk has played this event on just one occasion, missing the cut when he did. He has only played four events this season but showed last week at Doral that he is approaching his best.
Nick Watney chased Phil Mickelson all the way last week at Doral, eventually finishing runner up and could improve on his rather average record at this event this week. His win at Torrey Pines and his great effort last week tell the story of a man very much in form.
Steve Stricker is playing very solidly in recent weeks and arrives this week with the positive memory of a last round of 66 in this event last year. He was a very good 13th last week.
The Australian contingent is headed by Adam Scott, Rod Pampling and John Senden with Senden having finished runner up in each of his last two visits to the event.
Amongst the other Australians, Mathew Goggin, Stuart Appleby, last week’s runner up Jason Day, "Nick O’Hern":/players/2820-nick-ohern, Nathan Green, James Nitties, Peter Lonard, Greg Chalmers, Aron Price, Marc Leishman, Jarrod Lyle and Stephen Leaney are in the field Also teeing it up is New Zealander Michael Campbell, still seeking to complete his first event since the Alfred Dunhill Links event in October.
