WGC-CA Championship: Most Intriguing Stories of the Week

Seventy-seven of the world’s top golfers will descend on Doral’s Blue Monster Course this week for the second installment of the World Golf Championship series. 

Here are the most intriguing stories of the week.

Padraig Harrington

Harrington has, by all accounts, gotten off to an absolutely miserable start to the 2009 PGA season. 

Harrington has made the cut in just one out of the three PGA Tour events that he's entered in 2009.

At Harrington’s last event, the Accenture WGC Match Play Championship, he was defeated by Pat Perez in the first round.  Not really what you would expect from a guy that has won the last two major championships.

Harrington’s slow start in January and early February was not all that concerning, as he was understandably shaking off some of the rust that had accumulated during the long, cold Irish winter.

However, we are now less than a month away from the Masters, which means that, if Harrington has any aspirations of pursuing a "Paddy Slam," he had better start turning his game on pretty quickly.

A good finish this week could provide Harrington with confidence heading into the Masters.

Another dismal performance this week and Harrington will be getting near that point of desperation where he feels as if the walls are closing in him as he prepares for Augusta.

Geoff Ogilvy

Ogilvy is the only multiple winner on the PGA Tour at the moment and has now moved up to third in the World Golf Rankings.

Over the past few years, we have seen Ogilvy display a tendency to go on streaks where he plays as close as one could expect to come to perfect golf.

Ogilvy’s streaks of near perfect golf typically do not last more than a couple of weeks. It's as if the golf gods decide that they have seen enough of this man perfecting a game that was never meant to be perfected.

Ogilvy heads into this week’s WGC-CA Championship as the defending champion.

So, the question is, will Ogilvy’s streak of near-perfect golf extend into this week’s event? 

Tiger Woods is in the field this week, which always makes winning just a little bit more difficult. But let's remember that Ogilvy calmly held off Woods to win this event last year, snapping Wood’s streak of six consecutive victories in the process.

Tiger Woods

Like Woods’s name would not appear on this list. HA! 

There is no story this week that even approaches the amount of intrigue as Tiger Woods’ return to his first stroke play event in nine months.

Woods played just 36-holes at the Accenture Match Play Championship, which was not nearly enough time to get a true look at just how much rust may have accumulated on his game during the nine-month layoff. 

There is no cut this week, so we are assured to see Woods play a full 72-hole event. 

Despite a 54 percent career winning percentage in WGC events, expecting Woods to win his first stroke play event in nine months might be asking a bit too much.

But then again, it’s not like he hasn't shocked us before.

Whether or not Woods wins the event this week is actually somewhat irrelevant. 

Getting a clear view of just where Woods’ game stands and how his knee holds up over 72-holes will be a lot more important this week than whether or not he finishes atop the leader board.

With the Masters just weeks away, the WGC-CA Championship will offer us our first glimpse into whether or not his game might be strong enough to contend at Augusta.