By Scott MacLeod, via Flagstick Golf Magazine (www.flagstick.com)

Where do the #1 players in golf congregate?   Apparently it’s not reserved for Major championships and World Golf Championship events anymore. At least that is what you might believe if you catch the action at the Transitions Championship this week.

The decade-old event has had a meteoric rise on the PGA Tour player-preference scale for a number of reasons but that is likely lost on most golf fans who simply know that World #1 Martin Kaymer, current #1 in the Fed-Ex Cup Points race Mark Wilson, and 2010 Fed-ex Cup winner Jim Furyk are all in Palm Harbor, Florida this week.

Furyk is the defending champion and he will be joined in the brigade attempting to best the Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Resort by last week’s winner Nick Watney along with five other players who have already won on the PGA Tour in 2011: Jonathan Byrd (Hyundai Tournament of Champions), Rory Sabbatini (The Honda Classic), Johnson Wagner (Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun) , Bubba Watson (Farmers Insurance Open) , Mark Wilson (Sony Open in Hawaii, Waste Management Phoenix Open). Furyk’s win returned him to the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour after a winless drought of 2 years, 7 months, and 21 days. It began a run that saw him three tournaments in 2010 culminating in the FedEx Cup title and the 2010 PGA Tour Player of The Year Award.

Kaymer, making his first appearance at this tournament, leads the international contingent, all getting them games ready for The Masters in a few weeks. Joining Kaymer will be England’s Paul Casey, Spain’s Alvaro Quiros, Sweden’s Peter Hanson, Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa, and 17-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero. Each of those players ranks within the top 55 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

With a late entry John Huston completes the parade of champions at the Transitions with every past winner in the field. Last year defending champion Retief Goosen came the closest to ever repeating with a 5th place finish.

Furyk’s four rounds in the 60’s was the first time it had been done by a winner since 2004 when Vijay Singh pulled off the feat. K.J. Choi also won the event with four sub-70 scores in 2002. 

Of course you can’t discuss the Transitions Championship without addressing the Copperhead Course itself. It is a fearsome foe that can tear up even the best of golfers. In 2010 Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa (the 19-year teenager will be making his 3^rd appearance in the Transitions this week) went from striping the ball on the range to firing a big score on his opening nine on his way to an early exit.

Other youngsters in the field this week, like 2010 U.S. Amateur Champion Peter Uhlein who is playing on a Sponsor’s Exemption, hope to avoid the same fate but that is tough task for even the most skilled players. 

As a player you need to look no further than the Greens Superintendent, Ryan Stewart, as an indication of what you will be dealing with at Innisbrook. Stewart it no stranger to tough courses having spent three years working at the famed and fearsome Carnoustie Golf Links. You can see that influence at the 13^th hole on the Copperhead Course were Stewart revamped a bunker in 2009 with stacked sod as deep as a golf cart against the bulkhead.

Each year the course has ranked in, or near, the top ten for highest scoring average on the PGA Tour with a median score well over par on the par 71 layout. It has some very narrow spots with heavy penalties for golf balls struck off-line. No less than seventy-five bunkers (the largest guards the green on the signature double-dogleg par five, 15^th hole) and nine water hazards mark the course that features up to eighty feet of elevation change.

Playing a prominent role in that resistance to scoring has been the final three holes, dubbed the “Snake Pit.” Any player who can get past them in a cumulative score near even par will greatly improve their chances of winning. Both Retief Goosen (2009) and Jim Furyk (2010) did just that in their respective wins, each playing the trio in even par cumulatively through four rounds. 

One winner will hoist a trophy this week and earn almost a million dollars but not without taking a few lumps courtesy of the Copperhead. 

For the poolies my dark pick of the week is Stephen Ames. The veteran is coming off a tied for third on Puerto Rico and finished in a tie for 6^th here last year. Also watch for Nick Watney to continue his winning streak; he finished 4^th in 2010. 

2011 Transitions Championship

Dates: March 14-20, 2011

Where: Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club (Copperhead Course); Palm Harbor, FL

Par/Yards: 36-35—71/7,332

Field: 144

FedExCup points: 500

Format: 72-hole stroke play

Defending Champion: Jim Furyk

Purse: $5,500,000; Winner’s Share: $990,000

This report provided to GolfWRX.com by Canada’s Flagstick Golf Magazine (www.flagstick.com)