ShareThisThere was nothing wrong with the Zurich Classic of New Orleans that ended Sunday with Jerry Kelly winning his first tournament since 2002, when he won twice on the PGA Tour. But let's be clear: The next PGA Tour event and the one following will generate much more enthusiasm among fans.
That's because there's probably no better two-tournament stretch on the PGA Tour. First comes the Quail Hollow Championship at the very strong course of the same name in Charlotte, NC. The Players Championship at the TPC Stadium course in Ponte Vedra, Fla., the Tour's flagship tournament and course, follows.
The courses themselves are interesting enough to get the attention of even the casual golf-watcher. Players have liked Quail Hollow since it first hosted a PGA Tour event six years ago. Most believe the course could host a U.S. Open without much work needed.
If the course is the main reason in attracting a strong field, as the players usually claim, it shouldn't come as a surprise that seven of the top-10 players in the official world ranking as of last week are entered.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, numbers one and two, are entered.
Sergio Garcia, next in the ranking, will play, as will fourth-ranked Geoff Ogilvy. Kenny Perry, he who lost the Masters earlier this month in a playoff, is ranked fifth. He's not playing.
But Perry will tee it up the next week at the Players Championship.
Its formal name, so decreed by the PGA Tour, is The PLAYERS Championship -- caps meant to stress the tournament's significance. But this tournament that some people like to think of as the fifth major -- although it isn't; no tournament is-- doesn't need to force its importance on planet golf.
It's important. It's important.
The course is a winner. Architect Pete Dye made sure of that.
Everybody knows about the par-three 17th with its island green, but the course has many more devilish holes.
The tournament itself gets perhaps the best field in the game. It will be a surprise if any golfers in the top 100 in the world ranking aren't entered. Woods and Mickelson will undoubtedly be there.
Their presence alone makes the next two tournaments a filthy one-two punch. Filthy, that is, in a current use of the word. As in cool, awesome.
Quail Hollow and The Players, whoops, The PLAYERS. Get ready. Here comes a must-watch doubleheader. Filthy, for sure.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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