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Colonial field to include Mickelson, more star power

Officials at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial have received commitments from three of the world's top 10 golfers for their May 22-25 event in Fort Worth, with the list headed by Phil Mickelson.

Mickelson, the No. 2 player in the world golf rankings, is a two-time Masters champion and the 2000 Colonial champ. He will be joined in Fort Worth by Southlake resident Rory Sabbatini, the defending Colonial champion who is No. 9 in the latest world golf rankings. K.J. Choi, the No. 8 player in the world rankings, also is on the list of early commitments released today by Colonial officials.

So is John Daly, a two-time major champion who has accepted a sponsor's exemption to play in Fort Worth. Daly last competed at Colonial in 1999.

Mickelson, who last played at Colonial in 2005, heads an initial wave of early commitments that also includes notable names such as Justin Leonard, David Toms, Mike Weir, Bubba Watson, Boo Weekley and Vaughn Taylor.

Colt Knost, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion from SMU, also has given a commitment to compete at Colonial. Knost is a rookie on the 2008 Nationwide Tour.

Peter Ripa, Colonial tournament director, said he was "very excited about the rising star of our event," which drew only one of the world's top 10 golfers to Fort Worth in 2007. By the time tournament week arrives in May, Ripa said he is "very confident" the Colonial field will include at list five participants from the current top 10 in the world golf rankings.

Colonial tickets go on sale March 1. For more information, visit www.CrownePlazaInvitational.com or call 817-927-4280.

_ Jimmy Burch

Brooks enters Nationwide event

Fort Worth resident Mark Brooks, winner of the 1996 PGA Championship, is among the competitors entered in this week's Nationwide Tour event in Morelia, Mexico.

The Mexico Open will be Brooks' first Nationwide start of the 2008 season and only the third of his career. Brooks, 46, last held exempt status on the PGA Tour during the 2006 season. He played in 18 PGA Tour events in 2007, earning $162,839 (204th on the season money list). He also entered two Nationwide events, missing one cut and finishing tied for 37th in the other.

Brooks plans to split his schedule among both tours again this season, playing primarily on sponsor's exemptions at PGA Tour events. Brooks, who joined the PGA Tour in 1983, has earned more than $9 million in his career as a professional golfer. Among his seven victories at PGA Tour events, three came during the 1996 season, when he finished third on the season money list with $1,429,396.

_ Jimmy Burch

Tiger's next target: Ben Hogan

With Sunday's victory at the Buick Invitational, Tiger Woods tied Arnold Palmer for the No. 4 spot on the PGA Tour's career victory list, with 62 titles. Woods' next triumph will move him into fourth place by himself. It will also put him within one victory of the No. 3 man on the all-time list -- Fort Worth golf legend Ben Hogan.

Hogan won 64 tour events during his career. The only golfers with more are Sam Snead (82) and Jack Nicklaus (73).

With the way Woods played in San Diego -- dusting runner-up Ryuji Imada by eight strokes -- it's clear that Woods should catch Hogan this season (probably at or before the 2008 Masters). Nicklaus' mark of 73 titles probably falls in 2009, although it projects to take longer than that for Woods to match Jack's 18 major championships as a professional golfer.

How soon might he catch Snead for the top spot? Probably within three years, if Woods' post-round assessment from San Diego proves valid. After the victory, Woods said he's still "getting better" because he's finally "hitting shots that I never could hit before, even in 2000."

Recall that, in 2000, Woods won the final three majors of that season on his way to completing his "Tiger Slam" at the 2001 Masters. If he's playing at a higher level than he did in 2000 -- and he did nothing in San Diego to suggest otherwise -- it's likely that Woods will challenge for a Grand Slam this season. The 2008 venues set up nicely for him, especially the first two: Woods is a four-time champion at the Masters (April 10-13) and the U.S. Open (June 12-15) will be played at Torrey Pines, the same venue where he won by eight strokes on Sunday to cap his fourth consecutive triumph at the Buick Inviational.

But that's down the line. Next up for Woods: winning two more to match Hogan on the PGA Tour's career victory list. Consider April 13 a reasonable target date for Woods to make that happen.

_ Jimmy Burch

Open preview in January?

Be sure and save the final-round leaderboard from this week's PGA Tour event, the Buick Invitational, if you want an early peek at probable contenders at the 2008 U.S. Open. The Buick field is strong, with both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson making their season debuts in San Diego.

More important, this week's event will be played at Torrey Pines Golf Course. Buick contestants will play 54 holes on the South course and 18 on the North. When golfers return to Torrey Pines in June to play the U.S. Open (June 12-15), all 72 holes will be played on the South course.

The bottom line: Players who do well this week at the Buick Invitational should have the best chance of lighting up the same course when the USGA sets up Torrey Pines for the U.S. Open. With the exception of deeper rough, the course probably will not be that different in June because of its length.

The South course already will play as a 7,568-yard, par-72 layout for PGA Tour participants this week. With that much real estate already in play, it's unlikely there will be much tweaking of the dimensions (read: lengthening holes) when USGA officials begin setting up the layout for their purposes after the final putt drops Sunday.

Also remember this: The last time the USGA brought the U.S. Open to the venue of an annual PGA Tour stop was in 2000, when the Open visited Pebble Beach Golf Links, home course of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That season, Tiger Woods won both events.

_ Jimmy Burch