Els set for title defense as PGA Tour heads to Florida

Mar 4, 2009 - 7:56 AM PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida (Ticker) - With the West Coast Swing behind it, the PGA Tour heads to Florida to begin the monthlong buildup to The Masters as the Honda Classic starts on Thursday at PGA National.

The biggest news out of the first month and a half of the season has been the return of Tiger Woods. The world's top-ranked player made his return to competitive golf at the WGC Match-Play last week and was dispatched in the second round by Tim Clark.

It was Woods' first appearance since undergoing knee surgery shortly after winning the U.S. Open at Torrey Pine in June. He was noticeably rusty at times and that was to be expected. Woods will be notably absent this week and that is likely fine with the rest of the field.

It certainly gives defending champ Ernie Els better odds on pulling off a repeat.

Last year, Els came from three strokes back to eventually edge Luke Donald by a stroke. It was Els first win on the PGA Tour as well as his first triumph in the U.S. since 2004.

Els has had a solid start to the new season. He finished tied for fifth at the Match Play, winning three times before getting knocked off by Stewart Cink in the quarterfinals. Els also recorded a top-10 finish at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship where he tied for eighth.

Other former champions of this event that are teeing it up this week include Padraig Harrington, the 2008 PGA Tour Player of the Year, Vijay Singh and Fred Couples.

PGA National plays 7,241 yards and par-70.

First prize at this $5.6 million event is $1.008 million.