| NOTES | | | Tiger Woods returns to the course as the third World Golf Championships event
kicks off Thursday at Firestone Country Club. Hunter Mahan collected his
first WGC title at this event last year after firing a six-under 64 in the
final round. The victory was Mahan`s third on the PGA Tour, and he is still
looking for No. 4. Mahan`s 64 helped him rally past third-round leaders Ryan
Palmer and Sean O`Hair. Palmer managed a one-under 69 to take second, while
O`Hair struggled after a pair of early birdies and finished alone in fifth at
minus-eight. The bigger story last year was the struggles of Woods. The
seven-time Bridgestone winner had his worst finish as a professional (tied
for 78th) his worst final round score as a pro (77) and his highest score in
relation to par (18-over 298) as a pro. Woods was still clinging to the No. 1
spot in the world rankings at the time, but has since tumbled to 28th in the
latest rankings. This week, Woods is playing for the first time since
re-injuring himself at the Players Championship. He was first injured during
the third round of the Masters, but completed the tournament. Woods tried to
return at the TPC Sawgrass, but lasted only nine holes before limping off.
Only Woods knows what kind of shape he is in, so it will be interesting to
see if he can complete 72 holes. Woods has already committed to the PGA
Championship next week, so he obviously feels healthy enough to get through
both tournaments. The 77-player field includes 49 of the top 50 players from
the last world rankings. The only player skipping the tournament is Tim
Clark, who has been battling an elbow injury since the Masters. Golf Channel
has four hours of coverage on Thursday and Friday, before CBS takes over with
four hours of action on Saturday and five hours on Sunday.
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