The PGA Tour visits Trump Doral this week for the WGC-Cadillac Championship. The field is limited to only the top players in the world and is normally a harbinger to identify the players that will contend at the Masters in five weeks.
The field may find the course a bit different from the past as the Blue Monster has undergone an extensive renovation in the past 12 months.
Tiger Woods is the defending champion this week, but he is a possible no-show due to back spasms that forced him to withdraw from the Honda Classic last Sunday. He has won this event seven times in the last 14 years, since it became a WGC event.
Seven wins in this event and on this golf course in 14 years results in some very positive memories.
Woods has only made two starts on tour this season and they have both been somewhat less than spectacular. A T-80 at the Farmers Insurance Open and his withdrawal from the Honda do not bode well for the No. 1 player in the world. He would normally only play this week and again in two weeks at the Arnold Palmer Invitational prior to heading to Augusta.
The 2013-14 PGA Tour season is 35% complete and Woods has not played eight full rounds of golf.
Will his lack of competitive rounds force him to add a tournament in Texas?
The second story line this week is the rebound of Rory McIlroy, who led through 54 holes at the Honda Classic. He faltered on Sunday, however, posting a two-over par 74 and lost in a playoff to Russell Henley.
After a less than stellar 2013, McIlroy has been trending upward, since winning the Australian Open last November.
Can he rebound and get in contention at Doral this week?
A PGA Tour event has been held at Doral since 1962 and the list of past champions is impressive. Some of the shine had worn off Doral, enter Donald Trump to the rescue. He commissioned Gil Hanse to renovate the iconic Blue Monster and the players will be seeing an entirely new golf course this week.
Hanse did extensive work to the greens to restore this classic and bring Doral into the 21st century.
How will the players respond to the new design?
Justin Rose skipped the Honda Classic to rest his sore shoulder and is a past winner at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
Adam Scott made just his second start of 2014 at the Honda Classic and finished T-8. This golf course should suit his game and he could be among the leaders on Sunday.
Phil Mickelson did not make the cut last week at the Honda Classic and should be looking for redemption this week. He won here in 2009 and in six starts this season has one missed cut, one withdrawal and no top-10 finishes.
Will this be the week that Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson find their way back to the winners circle?
An elite field will be on hand for the WGC-Cadillac Championship. It will be interesting to see how the players react to the new design and who will emerge as an early favorite heading to Augusta National.