PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla., May 5 (UPI) -- The sport of golf will find itself at a possible crossroads Thursday with the opening of the Players Championship in Florida.
A field of 144 competitors will challenge the Stadium Course at TPC-Sawgrass, and recent developments have brought about a stirring of the winds of change.
A week ago there was a sudden upheaval in the sport with Tiger Woods turning in perhaps the worst performance of his professional career -- an event that coincided with spectacular efforts from two of golf's newest stars. Now it must be determined whether that was a brief blip on the radar or the start of a trend.
Woods missed the cut for only the sixth time in his 13 years as a pro, shooting a 79 in the second round of the Quail Hollow Championship. Rory McIlroy, who turned 21 this week, finished off that tournament with a 10-under 62 that gave him his first victory in the United States.
Also Sunday, Ryo Ishikawa shot a 58 on the Japanese Tour.
Ishikawa will not be present at the Players this week, but McIlroy will be on hand in a bid to win his second in a row. Phil Mickelson, Masters champion and the runner-up to McIlroy last week, has been installed as the pre-tournament favorite. Jim Furyk and Ernie Els, both two-time winners this year, are also threats to capture one of the sport's most coveted titles.
At the center of it all will be Woods, still reeling from the collapse of his personal life, the scandal that has gone with it and his subsequent struggles on the golf course.
His practice rounds have not gone well this week, and he will be playing a sand-and-water-infested layout on which he has not had a Top 10 finish since his victory at the Players in 2001.
If Mickelson wins this week and Woods does not finish among the Top 5, Mickelson will pass Woods and claim the No. 1 spot in the world rankings.
That change alone would be a major revolution in the sport that could be on the verge of a new era.
