Golf Channel Contributor John Hawkins is at Innisbrook this week for the Transitions Championship. After Tiger’s injury on Sunday at Doral, John’s odds for Tiger at Augusta National have not changed. However, he does think he is better than 12 to 1 anyway in part because he has not finished three straight events on the PGA TOUR since 2010 and has not won since 2009. The leg issue may be a chronic issue because he keeps getting left leg injuries whether it is his knee or his achilles tendon. Things have changed with Tiger.
Between Bill Haas and Justin Rose, John thinks that Rose is more ready to win a Major. Rose finished tied for 4th in the 1998 Open Championship as an amateur and has been able to reinvent himself competitively since 2010 as he has been able to go from a player who cannot convert 54 hole leads to a player who can win big events. He had a chance to win the 2007 Masters where he held the first round lead as well.
When he thinks about the Copperhead Course, he wonders how a course can have such diverse champions in Jim Furyk and Gary Woodland. It does not penalize any style of golf and rewards good performance. It is a tree-lined course but it is not too penal and the greens are incredibly difficult but not unfair. This week’s course is a great venue and one of the most underrated courses on the PGA TOUR. Many players also feel that this is the best stop of the Florida Swing.
A lot of eyes are on Luke Donald in 2012 as he is trying to follow up an amazing 2011 and this is especially true because he has now lost the #1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking to Rory McIlroy. Donald would be helped by a win anywhere but especially in The Masters where he finished T4 last year.
