SAN ANTONIO – Phil Mickelson has decided to play the Texas Open next week. That means the three-time Masters champion would play both Texas events before he arrives at Augusta National for the first major of the year.

Mickelson has not played the Texas Open since 1992. It now is played on the AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio.

It’s the second straight year the Valero Texas Open received a top player at the last minute. Rory McIlroy played last year and was runner-up to Martin Laird.

Mickelson prefers to play before majors. He previously has said he would play the Shell Houston Open, which is the week before the Masters. He had been undecided on the Texas Open.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Tiger Woods withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational Tuesday because of persistent pain in his back, creating even more uncertainty for golf’s No. 1 player with the Masters only three weeks away.

And that’s if Woods can even play in the Masters.

“I personally called Arnold today to tell him that, sadly, I won’t be able to play in his tournament this year,” Woods said on his website.

“I would like to express my regrets to the Orlando fans, the volunteers, the tournament staff and the sponsors for having to miss the event. Unfortunately, my back spasms and the pain haven’t subsided.”

He also tweeted the following.

Called Arnold today to tell him that sadly I won’t be able to play. Back spasms and the pain haven’t subsided. http://t.co/7F8LDAV2Ff

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) March 18, 2014

Woods had to withdraw after 13 holes of the final round at the Honda Classic three weeks ago because of what he called back spasms and pain in his lower back. He tried to defend his title the following week at Doral, only for his back to flare up again in the final round. He closed with a 78, the highest Sunday score of his PGA Tour career and the first final round without a birdie.

After a week of rest and treatment, he didn’t feel fit to play Bay Hill, where he is an eight-time winner, including the past two years.

“I am certainly sorry that Tiger is not able to play,” Palmer said. “Quite obviously, we will miss having him here this week. He called me to tell me that his back was still giving him a lot of trouble and he didn’t feel he should play. I told him I understood and wished him well.”

This is only the second time that Woods has not played Bay Hill. He also missed in 2010 when he sat out more than four months during the scandal in his personal life.

The Masters, which is April 10-13, is the only major Woods has never missed.

“It’s too early to know about the Masters, and I will continue to be evaluable and work closely with my doctors,” Woods said. “I feel badly that I won’t be able to play in this great tournament this week.”

Woods first showed signs of back pain at Bethpage Black at The Barclays in 2012, which he attributed to a soft bed at his hotel. He felt twinges during the final round of the PGA Championship last year, and when his back bothered him in the final round of The Barclays two weeks later, he said it was unrelated.

This has been the longest sustained problem with the lower back. “A bad back is no joke,” Woods said at Doral.

Woods is off to the worst start of his 18 years on tour.

At Torrey Pines, where his eight victories included a U.S. Open, Woods shot his highest score on American soil with a 79 to miss the 54-hole cut. He tied for 41st in the Dubai Desert Classic a week later for his worst finish in that event.

Woods had said he spent his offseason working on his body and didn’t spend enough time on his game, so it was troubling for him to then deal with yet another injury. He shot a 65 in the third round of the Honda Classic before having what he described as back spasms similar to The Barclays last year.

At Doral, he was only three shots out of the lead going into the final round and in the penultimate group when he said an awkward stance while playing out of a bunker on the sixth fairway of the Blue Monster caused his back to start hurting again.

“That’s what set it off and then it was done after that,” Woods said at Doral. “Just see if I could actually manage … keep the spasms at bay.”

Woods had said at the start of the Florida swing that he was taking a look at his schedule leading up to the Masters, though he never made it clear if he intended to add another tournament. Woods rarely gives a “yes” or “no” to questions pertaining to his plans.

He has never played the week before any major except for the PGA Championship.

In 2010, after revelations of extramarital affairs, Woods had gone 145 days without hitting a meaningful shot when he arrived at Augusta National. He opened with a 68, his lowest first-round score ever at the Masters, and wound up in a tie for fourth.

Swing coach Sean Foley said he would not read too much into how Woods can prepare for the Masters if he can play.

“I’ve been coaching on tour long enough now to know that Tuesday doesn’t affect Wednesday. There’s no rhyme or reason to performance,” Foley said in a telephone interview. “Tiger is always about the majors, and he’s solely about the majors now. He’s got to do the right thing. He’s just doing the right due diligence about it.”

SAN DIEGO, Calif.  – The United States Golf Association (USGA) has announced Torrey Pines Golf Course, in San Diego, Calif., will host the 2021 U.S. Open Championship.

The selection of the club’s South Course marks the return of the national championship to Torrey Pines, site of the dramatic playoff victory by Tiger Woods over Rocco Mediate in the 2008 U.S. Open, one of the most memorable in the championship’s history.

The dates for the 2021 U.S. Open are June 17-20.

“The USGA is proud to bring the U.S. Open back to Torrey Pines, the site of one of the most memorable and compelling national championships in history, thanks to Tiger and Rocco,” said Thomas J. O’Toole Jr., USGA president. “As in 2008, we are excited to partner with the City of San Diego to bring golf’s most democratic major championship back to such a great public venue. The San Diego area embraced the 2008 U.S. Open and we are seeing the same enthusiasm for the return of the U.S. Open in 2021. We have a great partner in the City of San Diego and this community loves golf.”

Torrey Pines, a 36-hole, city-owned facility, hosts more than 100,000 rounds annually on the North and South Courses.

“Bringing the U.S. Open back to Torrey Pines is significant in many ways,” said Daniel B. Burton, USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman. “In 2021, the players and spectators have an opportunity for a world-class experience as evidenced by the tremendous success of the 2008 championship.”

The selection of Torrey Pines for the 2021 U.S. Open marks the second time that the South Course will have hosted the national championship and its third USGA championship.

In the final round of the 2008 U.S. Open, Tiger Woods, playing with a leg injury, holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force an 18-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate. Woods again birdied the 18th hole the following day to tie Mediate, and he won in 19 holes for his third U.S. Open title and 14th major championship.

“I was excited to hear that the U.S. Open was returning to Torrey Pines,” said Woods, a three-time U.S. Open champion. “I think it’s great, when the USGA can, to play the U.S. Open at a public course. The last time it was there, it was an amazing event. There was a huge turnout, it was really well run and the fans were excited and very supportive. It was a great atmosphere.

“I’ve been fortunate to have played well there and have great memories of the course. I was pretty young when I first went there with my dad during the old Andy Williams tournament. It was one of the few pro events I got to see. I wanted to watch some of the So Cal guys like Mark O’Meara and John Cook play.

“I think it’s a great decision returning to Torrey. It’s a very special place to me.”

The first USGA championship on the South Course at Torrey Pines, the 1998 U.S. Amateur Public Links, featured a pair of future major champions in the 36-hole final. Trevor Immelman, of South Africa, defeated Jason Dufner, 3 and 2. Immelman went on to win the 2008 Masters, while Dufner captured the 2013 PGA Championship. That championship drew an APL-record 6,300 entries, a mark that still stands.

William P. Bell and his son, William F. Bell, designed the golf courses at Torrey Pines, which opened in 1957. Prior to being shaped for the golf courses, the land was part of Camp Callan, a naval training center. Bell’s son finished much of the initial design after his father’s death. Rees Jones completed a redesign of the course in 2002. The courses take their name from the Torrey Pine tree, which is native to the area and to Santa Rosa Island and is distinguished by its clusters of five pine needles.

Torrey Pines has been home to a PGA Tour event since 1968, with winners including seven-time champion Woods, three-time winner Phil Mickelson, two-time champions Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Billy Casper and Johnny Miller. The 2014 Farmers Insurance Open, played on the North and South Courses at Torrey Pines, was won by Scott Stallings on Jan. 26.

The facility also hosts the San Diego City Amateur Golf Championship every June and the Junior World Golf Championships every July.

The 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course will be the 13th U.S. Open played in the state of California and will mark the fifth site in the upcoming eight U.S. Opens that is open to the public. Future U.S. Open sites are: Pinehurst Resort & Country Club (Course No. 2), Village of Pinehurst, N.C. (2014); Chambers Bay, University Place, Wash. (2015); Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club (2016); Erin Hills, Erin, Wis. (2017); Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southampton, N.Y. (2018); Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links (2019); and Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, N.Y. (2020).

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jay Monahan was promoted to deputy commissioner of the PGA Tour on Tuesday, the first indication of a possible successor to Tim Finchem.

Finchem was the last person to hold that position until he was appointed PGA Tour commissioner in 1994.

“This step is being taken to further strengthen our organizational structure, enhance our management coordination and ultimately to continue to deliver on three key pieces of our core business – driving benefits to our players, growing the charity support in the communities where we play and doing our part in golf to help grow and protect this great game,” Finchem said in a statement. “Jay’s new role in this key leadership position will help continue our momentum.”

Finchem, who completes 20 years as commissioner on June 1, signed a four-year extension through 2016. That would make him the longest-serving commissioner since the tour broke away from the PGA of America in 1969. He will be 69.

Monahan played college golf at Trinity, and he earned a master’s degree in sports management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He previously worked for EMC in sponsorship and branding, at IMG as head of the Deutsche Bank Championship and as an executive vice president at Fenway Sports Groups.

He joined the tour in 2008 as director of The Players Championship and most recently was promoted to chief marketing officer, placing him in charge of corporate marketing and sponsor relations, one of the most critical positions on tour.

His appointment as deputy commissioner takes effect April 1.

Finchem agreed to his most recent four-year extension in 2012 after one of the more challenging economic periods of the tour. And, even while Tiger Woods was struggling through a collapse in his personal life and with leg injuries, Finchem negotiated a nine-year television deal with NBC Sports and CBS Sports.

But he suggested two years ago he probably wouldn’t stay after 2016.

“I never rule out possibilities,” Finchem said in January 2012. “But the likelihood is this will probably be it for me. There’s other things I want to do.”

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jason Day has withdrawn from the Arnold Palmer Invitational because of an injured thumb.

This is the second straight tournament in which Day pulled out because of the thumb injury. He says he first injured it at the Match Play Championship, which he won in late February. Day won the Match Play and went to No. 4 in the world.

The 26-year-old Australian previously withdrew from a World Golf Championship at Doral because of the injury.

It was not immediately known where or if he would play again before the Masters. Day is considered one of the favorites for Augusta National this year. He finished two shots out of the playoff last year at Augusta, and was a runner-up in 2011.

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – More than seven years without a victory. A trip to Augusta National riding on the outcome. A three-way tie for the lead going into a daunting three-hole closing stretch called “The Snake Pit” on the Copperhead course of Innisbrook.

John Senden was trying to keep his mind off all of that Sunday in the Valspar Championship.

The finish will be hard for him to forget.

Senden chipped in for birdie from 70 feet on the 16th hole, one of only two birdies in the final round at the toughest hole on the course. He followed that with a 20-foot birdie putt to build a two-shot lead, then made it tough for Kevin Na to catch him with perfect pace on a 40-foot putt on the 18th that left him only a tap-in for par.

Senden closed with a 1-under 70 and had enough strength left to hoist a trophy he said felt like 50 pounds.

“I didn’t turn my phone on because I know there’s going to be 4,000 messages,” Senden said. “It feels good to do it again after seven years. Lot of good things to come.”

One of them is next month – the Masters.

The 42-year-old Australian was No. 123 in the world and his only hope of returning to Augusta National for a third straight year was to win. That didn’t look likely after opening with rounds of 71-72, leaving him in the middle of the pack. He had a bogey-free 64 on Saturday to get back into contention, then closed it off on a wild and windy final round with Innisbrook as tough as it had been all week.

“If I could just stay in the moment, I knew I was swinging well enough to give it a shake,” Senden said.

Na recovered from an atrocious finish to his front nine – including a double bogey when he missed a 3-foot putt – to make it interesting. He nearly drove into the water on the 16th and escaped with par. He holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 17th to get within one shot. But his pitching wedge out of the first cut of rough on the 18th hole sailed long, and 40-foot birdie putt to force a playoff never came close.

Na closed with a 72 and finished one shot behind.

“I knew coming into today that I felt like if I shot par I had a chance to win,” Na said. “If I break par, I felt like it was going to be a lock.”

He did neither, though his runner-up finish was his best PGA Tour result since he won in Las Vegas toward the end of the 2011 season. And there were no issues with pace of play that brought Na the wrong kind of attention – again – on Saturday.

Senden finished at 7-under 277, the third straight tournament on the Florida swing won with a single-digit score under par.

Scott Langley, hitting superb shots to account for the wind, didn’t hit a green over the final four holes and still managed to save par on three of them. The one bogey on the 16th hole, when he went long of the green from the middle of the fairway, proved costly.

Langley was the only player who shot par or better all four days. He closed with a 70 to finish alone in third.

Robert Garrigus started the final round with a one-shot lead, and that didn’t last long. His tee shot on the third hole bounced off a lawn chair and against a tree, leading to a double bogey. He made another double bogey on No. 6 and went out in 41. And he went 26 holes without a birdie. By the time he made a birdie, it was too late. Garrigus, now 0-4 with at least a share of the 54-hole lead, had a 75 to tie for fourth at 4 under.

“I know what I’m not going to be doing next year – fishing,” said Garrigus, who figures he caught three dozen large-mouth bass this week. “I’m going to bring a damn chain saw out to the place and cut a few trees down. I kept hitting it behind them all day. I just didn’t get any breaks.”

Will MacKenzie ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn and closed with a 69. He tied for fourth with Luke Donald (70) and Garrigus.

Justin Rose had five bogeys over seven holes in the middle of his round and shot 74, a disappointing day for the world’s No. 7 player who had started the final round just three shots out of the lead. In a fitting end, he missed a 4-foot birdie putt on his last hole.

Senden last won a tournament at Royal Sydney at the end of 2006 in the Australian Open. Earlier that year, he picked up his first PGA Tour win at the John Deere Classic. He didn’t imagine going more than seven years until his next win.

“It’s something that makes you believe more than you can get it done again, rather than just once and thinking back then in `06, `Was it a flash in the pan?’ I don’t believe so,” Senden said. “But now it makes me feel (validated) from the John Deere.”

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask. and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont. both had top-10 finishes. The pair finished tied for eighth at 2-under par 282. DeLaet jumped 30 spots up the leaderboard Sunday thanks to a 3-under 68. Sang-Moon Bae (67) was the only player with a better final round.

Stephen Ames of Calgary finished 7-over par and tied for 65th spot.

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Robert Garrigus missed two short putts on the back nine and had to settle for a 1-under 70 and a one-shot lead Saturday in the Valspar Championship.

Garrigus opened with back-to-back birdies and stretched his lead to four shots through five holes. But he missed a 4-foot par putt on the 13th hole, and ended his round by missing a 3-foot par putt on the 18th.

He was at 8-under 205, one shot ahead of Kevin Na.

Na received a bad time on the 13th tee, and was so deliberate that the final group was two holes behind along the back nine.

John Senden shot a 64 and moved up 32 spots into third, only two behind. Justin Rose had a 69 and was three behind.

Canada’s David Hearn (71-70-70) is 2-under and is tied for 11th heading into the final round.

Graham DeLaet is tied for 38th (75-68-71) at 1-over with 10 players including Stephen Ames (72-70-72).

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Robert Garrigus can’t recall a better performance going into the weekend. And his golf has been pretty good, too.

Garrigus spent most of the practice days fishing in the lakes of Innisbrook, catching nearly three dozen bass. As for his day job, he bagged 10 birdies over two days and delivered the best score of the tournament, a 5-under 66 on Friday, to build a three-shot lead in the Valspar Championship.

His only other PGA Tour victory was a little more than an hour away at Disney, and Garrigus offered a simple explanation.

“It’s the fishing,” he said.

Garrigus didn’t play a single practice round the year he won Disney. He arrived at Innisbrook on Monday and fished that evening, most of Tuesday and then for about five hours Wednesday without ever looking at the Copperhead course.

“I think that puts me in a good frame of mind because I’m clear and not thinking about anything, just going out and having some fun,” he said.

His golf has been plenty fun.

Garrigus, one of the longest hitters in golf, has made birdie on all of the par 5s both rounds. That has contributed mightily to being at 7-under 135, three shots clear of Kevin Na going into a weekend with a Masters spot potentially up for grabs.

Only five of the top 22 on the leaderboard already are eligible for the Masters.

Na had a 68, while the group four shots behind included Pat Perez (71), Matteo Manassero (70) and Justin Rose (68), who is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7. Matt Every shot a 71 in the afternoon and joined them at 3-under 139.

The three-shot lead is the largest through 36 holes in the 14-year history of this tournament.

Garrigus is about the only player who has made it look easy, even though he felt as stressed as anyone on the Copperhead course, regarded by many as perhaps the best tournament course in Florida.

Even though the weather was close to perfect _ only a breeze in warm sunshine _ only 17 players broke 70.

John Daly was not among them. He was struggling with what he called the yips with his putter when he got to the 16th hole. Daly put three shots in the water, shanked a 7-iron, duffed a chip into the bunker and made a 12. With a double bogey on the last hole, he shot a 90, the highest score of his PGA Tour career.

David Hearn (70) of Brantford, Ont., sat in a tie for 12th at 1-under par, while Calgary’s Stephen Ames (70) was in a group at 22nd at even par.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., shot a 68 to improve on his first-round score of 75 to jump into a tie for 35th at 1 over. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., did not make the cut.

For all his birdies, Garrigus was especially satisfied with one par.

He pulled his tee shot well left on the 16th hole, the most dangerous tee shot at Innisbrook. The ball went deep into the pines, and Garrigus decided to take on a tiny gap in the trees with a 5-iron.

“I probably hit one of the top-five shots of my life there on 16 out of the trees,” he said. “Hit a low, cut 5-iron, then rose it up over the pine tree and cut it 40 yards and hit to 10 feet. That’s just one of those shots that when you’re playing good and everything is rolling, you kind of expect it. It was a lot of fun to try it, and to pull it off was even better. I’ve spent half my life in the trees. I’ve had a lot of practice.”

He missed the putt, but was more than happy with par.

As for the rest of the golf course, he picked up another birdie on the par-3 15th with a long putt, and one on the par-4 ninth with a 20-foot birdie down the hill.

Rose feels as if his shoulder injury is in the past, except for answering questions about it. He loves the Florida swing because the courses demand so many different shots, and Innisbrook might require the most.

The U.S. Open champion was struggling in the first round until he finished birdie-birdie to salvage a 71. He carried that momentum into the second round, and despite a bogey on No. 6 from being out of position off the tee, and a soft bogey on the par-3 eighth, he felt much better ending with a birdie.

“I got some momentum going today,” Rose said. “I worked my way into the tournament early. To finish strong with my round yesterday I think helped give me some momentum into day. … It’s exactly how I needed to flow into the tournament.”

Perez was the first player to reach 5 under for the tournament until he missed two drives well to the left. One was in the trees at No. 6, the other went out of bounds on No. 7. Both led to double bogeys, though Perez didn’t get down on himself.

“Just move on and keep going,” he said.

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Matt Every made the best of the worst conditions Thursday at Innisbrook. Danny Lee, finally, seems to be playing good golf in any weather.

They were among a four-way tie for the lead after the opening round of the Valspar Championship, a day so challenging that 3-under 68 was the highest score to lead after the first round in the 14-year history of this event.

Pat Perez and Greg Chalmers also had 68s to share the lead.

Every was the only one among the leaders to play in the morning, when the temperatures were in the mid-50s and felt even colder because of a strong wind. He had three birdies on his last four holes, all of them about 15 feet or longer, and was five shots better than he would have hoped when he teed off.

“I would have been satisfied with 2 over today,” Every said. “It was tough. This morning you couldn’t feel your hands. The wind was brutal.”

The temperature warmed under full sunshine in the afternoon, though that only helped a little. Only three players broke 70 in the morning, with the average score nearly 3 1/2 shots over par. Eight players broke 70 in the afternoon, and the average for the day turned out to be 72.6.

Lee was in the last group, and how he got to Tampa Bay explains why he was one of the leaders.

The former U.S. Amateur champion had missed every cut this year, and six straight dating to the OHL Classic in Mexico last November. That changed last week in the Puerto Rico Open, when he posted all four rounds in the 60s to finish second to Chesson Hadley.

That got him into the field at Innisbrook, and Lee kept right on rolling.

He ran off three birdies in five holes to start his round and was the only player all day to reach 4 under with a birdie on the par-5 first. He dropped his only shot on No. 6 when he failed to get up-and-down from the bunker.

“I gained a lot of confidence after last week playing with the finish in Puerto Rico,” Lee said. “It really helped me a lot with that confidence stuff, and I’m hitting it really well right now. My ball striking is the best it’s ever been, especially with the putting. I got the new claw grip – still working great, which is fantastic.”

Only 25 players managed to break par.

Matteo Manassero, who didn’t break 74 in four rounds at Doral last week, was in the large group at 69 that included Nicolas Colsaerts and Bill Haas. Russell Knox, who lost in a four-man playoff two weeks ago at the Honda Classic, was in the group at 70. John Merrick made bogey on his last two holes for a 70, while Peter Uihlein made birdie on two of his last three holes, including a 35-foot putt on his last hole, for a 70.

This is a big week for Uihlein, a European Tour member, who is No. 73 in the world. He has only two more tournaments to try to get into the top 50 in the world and become eligible for the Masters.

Justin Rose, at No. 7 the highest-ranked player in the world at Innisbrook, Luke Donald and 20-year-old Jordan Spieth were among those at 70.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont. shot even par 71.

Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont. opened with a 1-over 72, as did Stephen Ames of Calgary.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask. was 4-over-par on the day, he shot 75.

More cold was expected Friday morning before the warming trend returns the rest of the week.

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Being back at Innisbrook is enough to make Jordan Spieth wonder if his entire season boiled down to three holes.

One was a two-putt par. The other was a tough flop shot from 50 feet that he knocked in for birdie on the 17th hole. The last one – perhaps the most important – was a bunker shot to 7 feet and a par putt on the final hole for a 1-under 70 to tie for seventh.

That was worth $148,893.

That was enough money to give him special temporary membership on the PGA Tour, key for earning a full tour card. Before holing out that chip, Spieth was projected to be $195 short of temporary membership, and who knows what would have happened if he didn’t nail it down that day at Innisbrook.

“The last three holes on Sunday here were three of the biggest holes I played all last year,” the 20-year-old Spieth said Wednesday. “I mean, none of the rest of it possibly would have happened if wasn’t able to hole a flop shot on 17 and got up-and-down out of the front bunker on 18.”

The “rest of it” turned out to be far more memorable than his tie for seventh in what is now called the Valspar Championship.

A playoff win at the John Deere Classic (after holing a bunker shot on the 72nd hole). A 62 in the final round at TPC Boston while playing with Phil Mickelson to secure a spot in the Tour Championship. A captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup, making him the youngest American ever in the matches. Seventh place in the FedEx Cup.

Spieth was reminded of the significance when he was flipping through channels Tuesday night and saw highlights of his finish from Innisbrook.

“I gave more fist pumps than I did at the Deere,” he said about his par putt on the 18th hole. “It was pretty cool to watch, and it was one of the biggest stretches that I’ve ever played.”

Spieth has different issues this year. He received plenty of sponsor exemptions before becoming an instant PGA Tour member with his win at the John Deere Classic in July, and he is eager to return the favor to tournaments who helped him out. That could lead to a busy year now that he’s in all four majors – he’ll make his debut in the Masters next month – and already has played three World Golf Championships this season.

He’s among those drawn to the Valspar Championship because of the quality of the Copperhead course, regarded by some as the best tournament course in Florida. It doesn’t feel like Florida with its subtle changes in elevation and tree-lined fairways.

“Very old school,” Harris English said.

The tournament has some new life to it after going without a sponsor last year. Minneapolis-based Valspar took over as the title sponsor through 2017 and is trying to inject some life into a tournament that has to work harder than other events on the Florida swing.

The Honda Classic is helped by so many top players having moved to West Palm Beach, such as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. Doral is now a World Golf Championship. Next week is Bay Hill, run by Arnold Palmer.

Innisbrook is missing some of the top-ranked players – Justin Rose at No. 7 is tops from the world ranking – it has plenty of quality through the ranks in English, Spieth, Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Louis Oosthuizen.

“It’s been one of my favorite venues on tour for a while,” Rose said.

Most of the players already have one eye on the Masters, which is a month away. This is the time of the year when players start sneaking up to Augusta National to see the course, knowing it won’t play anything like it will on April 10 the first day of the tournament.

Furyk feels like Innisbrook is good preparation – not because of the conditions, but because of the thinking involved.

“Thinking your way around the golf course is still good preparation,” he said. “I’d say the one thing here, you do get a lot of greens that have quite a bit of pitch and slope to them, especially back-to-front, and so you have to hit some putts here that feed to the hole. … That helps a little bit in getting ready for Augusta.”

Spieth already has been to Augusta twice – once last fall on a trip that can best be described as the ultimate doubleheader (Pine Valley one day, Augusta National the next) and then a few weeks ago. He also recalls going to a Monday practice round at the Masters after a college event while he was at Texas.

“Definitely the only practice round tournament I’ve ever been to watch,” he said.