Nelson’s Waiting for Masters

He turned 93 last month, but that doesn’t mean Byron Nelson has seen it all. Not yet. He’s waiting for the Masters, where he expects to feel the same jolt of electricity as last year, and the way things are going, that’s just what’s going to happen.

Last year, when Phil Mickelson birdied five of the last seven holes to edge Ernie Els, who had two eagles on the back nine, that was about as good as the Masters gets, thought Nelson.

Now, the two-time Masters champion -- in 1937 and 1942 -- said he believed this year’s tournament could be as good or even better.

“The top players, they’re all clicking right now,” Nelson said. “I’d pick one of the top five in the rankings to win it. The thing of it is, at that place, somebody always gets hot, but I don’t think it’ll be an unknown -- if there are really any of those at Augusta -- who will win this time.”

That top five goes this way -- Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Els, Mickelson, Retief Goosen.

Mickelson’s victory was popular with Nelson, who is close to Mickelson. But at the same time, Nelson said there is another player out there who might be taking his turn in the green jacket -- Woods.

Nelson said Woods is dangerous once again, every time he tees it up.

“He went through that stretch of playing poor golf, at least for him, but I don’t know of any player who didn’t go through a down time,” Nelson said. “All the great players had them.

“People ask me if he’s going to win a major this year. I say ‘Yes,’ but I just don’t know which one.”

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The race for No. 1 continues this week at Bay Hill, where five of the top six ranked players are gathering, everybody except Mickelson. Padraig Harrington moved from No. 8 to No. 6, his best position ever, with his win at the Honda last week.

No. 2 Singh or No. 3 Els can replace Woods at No. 1 if either wins at Bay Hill and Woods finishes third or lower.

Singh must finish no lower than a two-way tie for third to have a chance, and Els has to wind up in at least a two-way tie for third -- though both scenarios depend on the final starting field and the ratings points associated with it, which will also determine what Woods needs to do to keep his No. 1 ranking.

Singh said he isn’t concerned about where he is ranked, at least not now. “It’s going to take care of itself, it’s going to go up and down each week,” he said.

Singh didn’t have a three-putt at the Honda but lost to Harrington on the second playoff hole when he missed a 2 1/2 -foot putt. Singh’s putting average is 86th on the PGA Tour -- 49 spots lower than last year when he won nine tournaments.

Three of the top six players ranked in putting are also three of the top four players in the world rankings: Mickelson is second to Joe Ogilvie, and Els and Woods are tied for fifth.

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Jim Furyk, who sat out five months last year because of a wrist injury and surgery, tied for eighth at Doral and tied for ninth at the Honda -- his first consecutive top-10 finishes since May 2003 when he was fifth at the Nelson and tied for fifth the next week at the Colonial.... There are five teens playing this week at the LPGA’s Safeway International at Phoenix, including 15-year-old Michelle Wie. Also in the field are Brittany Lincicome, 19; Paula Creamer, 18; Aree Song, 18; and Sae-Hee Son, 19. Wie made the cut in all seven of her LPGA events last year and was fourth at the Kraft Nabisco, the first major of the year. Wie has entered the tournament again, which will be played next week at Mission Hills. Annika Sorenstam is the defending champion....

It’s not exactly a battle for club championship of Florida, but the second-year Tavistock Cup does have certain factors in its favor, such as a $1.78-million purse, Els as playing captain of the Lake Nona team, Mark O’Meara as playing captain of the Isleworth team, and a date on the Golf Channel. But whatever real success this IMG-cooked up event generates two weeks from now depends on who else plays, and you can read Woods (Isleworth) and Sorenstam (Lake Nona) all over that. Sorenstam played last year, Woods didn’t.