Greenbrier Classic 2011: Tournament Preview, Pairings and Tee Times

The second edition of the Greenbrier Classic starts tomorrow, Thursday July 28, at the Old TPC Old White TPC in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Stuart Appleby is the defending champ and is back to defend his title.

In its first edition last year, the leader board had so many players in the red that you could have sworn they were playing from the green tees.

Appleby won by shooting a 22-under, including a 59 in the final round, which was only the fifth 59 in PGA Tour history.

One thing is for sure. The course Appleby and the rest of the field will face this year will be very different from the one last year.

The Old TPC will display a different look. The renovations on the course are expected to reduce the large amount of red numbers on the leader board.

Among the changes to the course are the reseed with Tyee creeping bentgrass to the greens and the altered or new tee boxes that expand the par-70 course by 243 yards to a new total of 7,274 yards.

Also, about half the fairways have been narrowed and a fairway bunker was added to the ninth hole.  Shooting a 59 this year will be very difficult to say the least.

The tournament will kick off at 7:00 am EST from holes No. 1 and No. 10. The second round of pairings will start at noon EST.

Taking a look at the threesomes, the highlight has to be the one by Phil Mickelson, defending champ Stuart Appleby and Tom Watson teeing off at 7:40 am from hole No. 10.

Phil Mickelson had his reset before the British Open. He is my favorite to win here. He comes from finishing tied for second after the incredible last round surge and looms large over this field. He has the added incentive that he can take over the FedEx Cup points lead with a win.

Appleby, since winning last year, has only one top 10 finish, a 10th place tie at the Honda Classic this year. He has missed the cut in nine of his last 12 tournaments. The other three results are a DQ, a withdrawal and a 16th place. This could be another early exit for him.

The pro emeritus at the Greenbrier, Tom Watson, made a commitment to Greenbrier owner Jim Justice that he would play here last year and he has kept that promise. He will play here even though the Senior US Open starts tomorrow as well.

Right after them at the same hole, Anthony Kim, Ryan Palmer and Webb Simpson tee off at 7:50 am. These three should certainly hit the leader board this weekend.

Kim, ranked 62nd in the world, is on many short lists of young, promising American golfers. After a fifth place tie at the British Open he got DQ this past weekend at the RBC Canadian Open for signing an incorrect card.

He was not playing in the weekend anyways. After a promising opening round of 69, he shot 81 on Friday and was on his way to missing the cut. He is looking for a big rebound this weekend.

Looking to get a bump in their rankings are Palmer and Simpson, ranked 52nd and 53rd respectively. Palmer comes from two bad outings in the European Tour and looks to replicate his second place finish at the Byron Nelson to achieve that.

Simpson has not played since the British Open when he finished tied for 16th. Before that, he finished tied for eighth at the AT&T and tied for seventh at The Memorial. He is one to look for here as I expect at least a top 10 for him.

At 12:40 pm from tee No. 1 we have an interesting group with Davis Love III, Sergio Garcia and John Daly. This is a group of veterans who have done well lately and can surely give this tournament a run to the top of the leader board.

Sergio Garcia, who is my second favorite to win this tournament, comes fresh off his great showing at the British Open finishing in a tie for ninth. He had that great final round there and finished in second place before that at the BMW. He had finished tied for seventh at the US Open, so he is carrying some momentum to this tournament.

Davis has seen his ranking soar to 92nd thanks to his 11th place tie at the US Open and ninth place tie at the British Open along with a 12th place tie at the John Deere. He has been playing some of his best golf in that span. Look for the Ryder Cup Captain to have a nice showing this weekend.

John Daly is fresh off his first top 10 finish since 2005 with his ninth place finish last week at the RBC Canadian Open. Before that he has nothing to show for, so he should be looking to build on it.

A group by players that have been close lately tees off at 1:20 pm from No. 10. Charles Howell III, Andres Romero and Kyle Stanley.

Howell is my third favorite to win this weekend. He is the dark horse here. He has not played since finishing tied for 28th at the British Open. But before that he was fifth at the John Deere and tied for third at the AT&T and the FedEx St Jude. Lookout for Mr. Howell.

The other two have top three finishes lately. Argentinian Romero comes from finishing third last weekend at the RBC Canadian Open and sixth at the Travelers Championship. And Stanley had a second place finish in the John Deere.

Other notables threesomes tee times are at 7:40 am from tee No. 1, Viking Classic winner Chris Kirk, Brian Gay and two-time US Open winner Retief Goosen. And at noon from No. 10, last year’s second-place finisher Jeff Overton, Cameron Tringale and Michael Connell.

Go here for a complete review of the tee times and group pairings.