PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla., March 9 (UPI) -- World No. 2 Vijay Singh leads the field in the Honda Classic, beginning Thursday at the Country Club of Mirasol in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Singh, the tournament's 1999 winner, is one of three top 10 players entered.
Other contenders include No. 7 David Toms, No. 8 Padraig Harrington, Davis Love III, Chad Campbell, Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk.
Defending champion Todd Hamilton is back. Hamilton birdied the last two holes to finish at 12-under-par 276 and win by a stroke over Love last year.
Tiger Woods, who took the No. 1 ranking from Singh with a win in the Ford Championship Sunday, is not entered. A report on the Official World Golf Ranking Web site says that even if Singh wins the Honda, he will not collect enough points to regain the top spot.
Third-ranked Ernie Els can move up to No. 2 of he wins this week at the Qatar Masters and Singh finishes out of the top 25 in the Honda event.
The Honda winner will collect $990,000.
