Transitions Championship Preview and Picks

Course vitals
Yardage: 7,340
Par: 71
Designed by: Larry Packard (1967).
Bunkers: 75
Water Hazards: 9
Green speeds: 11-feet.
2010 difficulty rank: 12
Defending Champion: Jim Furyk
Course record: 62, Jeff Sluman (2004), Mark Calcavecchia, 2007.

Key Back nine holes

509-yard par five 14th: With three par-threes on the back nine -- all of them at least 200-yards -- it magnifies the importance of scoring on the par-fives. The 14th is the last real good scoring opportunity coming in, as 16-18 played more than a half stroke over par in total last year. Even the par three 15th -- which ranked as the sixth easiest hole last year -- played slightly over par.

475-yard par four 16th: The numbers from a year ago pretty much tell it all: 33 birdies, 302 pars, 78 bogeys, 25 double bogeys, five triple bogeys or worse. With water all the way down the right side, finding the fairway off the tee is of paramount importance.

Foursome Picks

Justin Rose, 33-1. It's been a solid but unspectacular early part of the year. The Englishman has posted the following results this year: T12, T13, T25, T9, T17, T42. In 20 stroke play rounds, he's posted just two above par. Has played well at Innisbrook in the past with a T13 last year, T14 in '08 and three more top-30 finishes in his three other appearances.

Geoff Ogilvy, 33-1. A very similar start to the year for Ogilvy with three top-25s, a T49 last week and cut at Pebble Beach. Still, he's only posted two rounds over par in 15 stroke play rounds. He was cut in 2005, but in four other starts here he's posted no worse than a T28 and has two top-10s.

Stephen Ames, 50-1. Yes, it was an opposite field event but Ames' T3 in Puerto Rico last week was his best result on Tour since a T6 at the Transitions last year. It was also his first top-five since winning the Children's Miracle Network Classic in the 2009 Fall Series. In seven appearances here he's never been cut and has posted a pair of top-10s and a top-20.

John Senden, 80-1. So he's been cut in half of the tournaments he's played this year. We'll put that out there first. But he's also posted two top-25s along the way and it's a very much a metaphor for how he's played at the Transitions. He's been cut twice to go with a T28 and a pair of T2s.

Longshot: Charlie Wi, 125-1. After frittering away a chance to win the BMW Championship during the PGA Tour playoffs last fall, Wi's best finish has been a T18. In that span he's only been cut twice -- unfortunately the last two times he's played -- but he's played well in four appearances here: T20, T4, T23, T43.