Players to Bank On at Colonial

By GOLF CHANNEL Newsroom

Tiger Woods doesn’t play the Bank of America Colonial. Hasn’t since he tied for fourth in 1997.
 
He’s not too fond of Colonial Country Club. Has indicated that it’s outdated and doesn’t suit the “modern player.”
 

Tiger’s biggest qualm with Colonial is that it takes driver out of his hand. The layout totals 7,054 yards, but is filled with doglegs and double doglegs, and requires precision off the tee, usually in the form of fairway wood or long iron.
 
Of course, Woods hits less than 57 percent of his fairways and ranks outside of the top 150 on tour in driving accuracy, so the conservative approach isn’t the worst option.
 
Phil Mickelson is the only member of the "Big 4" in this week's field. In addition to Tiger's absence, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els are not making the short trip from Irving, Texas, site of last week's EDS Byron Nelson Championship, to Ft. Worth.
 
Singh last played in 2002 – which may have something to do with that Annika thing. And Ernie Els hasn’t played here since 1996.
 
But the Colonial is not without some recognizable names. Eighteen of the top 30 players on the Official World Golf Ranking are on hand. And many come for the Colonial challenge.
 
“Sure, you can’t hit driver every hole, but who says you have to?” questioned Texan Justin Leonard. “I certainly don’t think this golf course is outdated. It’s a nice break from a lot of the golf courses that we play.
 
“Now, do I think we should play these kinds of courses every week? No. But I think we should play more golf courses like this where it’s more of a strategy and you do have to work the ball around and do those kinds of things.”
 
Colonial’s list of past champions includes, among others: Sam Snead, Cary Middlecoff, Billy Casper, Tom Weiskopf, Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Price, Tom Watson, and, of course, Ben Hogan.
 
Hogan won five times at Colonial, and the venue is nicknamed “Hogan’s Alley.” He is renown as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, ball-striker of all-time, so it should come as little surprise that he won so many times on a “shot-maker’s” course.
 
“It’s a great old course. It’s not lost to the test of time,” said 2003 champion Kenny Perry. “It doesn’t hold a back seat to anything.
 
“And there’s so much tradition and history here.”
 
Perry is just one of several players who have a history of passing the annual exam that is Colonial Country Club.
 
Five for the Title:
 
Kenny Perry
Perry has made 14 cuts in 15 career starts in this tournament. In addition to his 2003 triumph, he tied for second in 2002 and tied for 12th in his title defense a year ago. He prevailed two years ago – flying under the radar that was focused on Annika Sorenstam – with a tournament record 19-under-par 261. He shot a course-record-tying 9-under 61 in the second round en route to victory. But, as Perry points out: “There was no wind, and they were having to water the greens to keep them alive from the heat and humidity. And the conditions were just perfect for scoring.” Normal Texas conditions returned last year and Steve Flesch won with an 11-under 269 total – ending some of the speculation that Colonial had indeed become outdated for the modern player.