On the tee
PGA Tour
Arnold Palmer Invitational
Site: Orlando, Fla.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Bay Hill Club and Lodge (7,157 yards, par 70).
Purse: $5.8 million. Winner's share: $1,044,000.
FedEx Cup points: 25,000. Winner's share: 4,500.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 2-5 p.m., 7:30-10:30 p.m.) and NBC (Saturday-Sunday, 1:30-5 p.m.).
Last year: Vijay Singh won the second of his two 2007 titles, closing with consecutive 67s for a 2-shot victory over Rocco Mediate. With his 31st PGA Tour victory, Singh tied Harry "Lighthorse" Cooper of England with the most by a foreign-born player. Singh has 19 wins since turning 40.
Last week: Sean O'Hair took advantage of a stunning collapse by Stewart Cink to win the PODS Championship, closing with a 2-under 69 to energize his young career and earn a trip to the Masters. O'Hair also won the 2005 John Deere Classic.
Notes: Tiger Woods is making his first start since winning the Match Play Championship for his fourth straight PGA Tour victory and sixth overall win in a row, counting his own Target World Challenge in December and the European Tour's Dubai event early last month. After sweeping the 2000-03 Bay Hill titles, winning by a tournament-record 11 strokes in 2003, Woods tied for 20th, 23rd, 46th and 22nd in his last four starts. The 1991 U.S. Junior winner at Bay Hill, he has 63 PGA Tour victories, 1 more than Arnold Palmer and 1 behind Ben Hogan for third place on the career list behind Jack Nicklaus (73) and Sam Snead (82). … Ernie Els, the 1998 winner, withdrew Monday because of fatigue, two weeks after winning the Honda Classic for his first PGA Tour victory in 3½ years. … Phil Mickelson won the 1997 tournament.
On the Web: www.pgatour.com
LPGA Tour
MasterCard Classic
Site: Huixquilucan, Mexico.
Schedule: Friday-Sunday.
Course: Bosque Real Country Club (6,876 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1.3 million. Winner's share: $195,000.
TV: None.
Last year: Meaghan Francella won the rain-delayed tournament in her sixth career LPGA Tour start, beating two-time defending champion Annika Sorenstam with a birdie on the fourth hole of a playoff in a Monday finish.
Last event: Lorena Ochoa ran away with the HSBC Women's Champions in her '08 debut, beating Sorenstam by 11 strokes in Singapore on March 1. Competing for the first time since winning the ADT Championship in November, Ochoa finished at 20-under 268. The top-ranked Mexican star has 18 career LPGA Tour victories.
Notes: Sorenstam is skipping the tournament. … The event is the first of three LPGA Tour events this year in Mexico. The Corona Championship is next month in Morelia, and the Lorena Ochoa Invitational will be played in November in Guadalajara. … Ochoa and Violeta Retamoza are the tour's lone Mexican members.
On the Web: www.lpga.com
Champions Tour
AT&T Champions Classic
Site: Santa Clarita, Calif.
Schedule: Friday-Sunday.
Course: Valencia Country Club (6,959 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1.6 million. Winner's share: $240,000.
TV: Golf Channel (Friday, 5:30-7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 11:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m., 5:30-8 p.m.; Sunday, 12-2:30 a.m., 5:30-8 p.m.; Monday, 12-2:30 a.m.).
Last year: Tom Purtzer won the event for the second time in five seasons, beating Loren Roberts with a 17-foot birdie on the fourth hole of a playoff.
Last week: Bernhard Langer outlasted 2007 winner Jay Haas in the Toshiba Classic, birdieing the final hole of regulation to force a playoff and winning with a birdie when Haas missed a 4-footer on the seventh extra hole. Langer has 2 victories in nine career Champions Tour starts.
On the Web: www.pgatour.com
European Tour
Ballantine's Championship
Site: Jeju Island, South Korea.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Pinx Golf Club (7,345 yards, par 72).
Purse: $3.08 million. Winner's share: $512,830.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 8:30-11:30 a.m.).
Last year: Inaugural event.
Last week: India's Arjun Atwal won the Malaysian Open for his third European Tour title, beating defending champion Peter Hedblom of Sweden with a par on the second hole of a playoff at Kota Permai. Atwal also won the 2003 event at The Mines.
Notes: The tournament is the first European Tour event in South Korea.
On the Web: www.europeantour.com