The International President’s Cup team is also set. Which makes this the perfect time to attempt handicapping this event. The top 20 golfers in the world, plus four choices by the captains, will compete for pride and posterity in November, which makes this one of the premier events in golf.

The President’s Cup is much like the Ryder’s Cup and this year’s captain, Fred Couples, has already reserved one of his choices for Tiger Woods. The No. 1 American golfer, Matt Kuchar, will lead an all-star cast of American golfers including Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson.

There will be five Americans making their first appearances in the President’s Cup including: Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, Nick Watney and Bubba Watson. The younger and less experienced Americans will have their work cut out for them against the more experienced International team.

The International team, led by Jason Day, who has been one of the hottest golfers in the world, especially with the spotlight on him. The International team is hurt by an injury to Tim Clark but they have some of the strongest players in years.

Final Verdict: The Americans are in a perfect position to score the upset this year and bring home the President’s Cup. Youth will be served in this event and the stars will be Matt Kuchar, Bubba Watson and Hunter Mahan for the Amercans and Jason Day for the Internationals.

Luke Donald is the favorite to win the Memorial at +750 in PGA Betting lines.

Justin Rose, last year’s winner, will be defending his title. Rose would love to break out in this tournament and win his first of the year. He currently ranks 27th in the FedEx Cup standings but his best finish this year is third on the PGA Tour. He does have a tie for second in the Tavistock Cup. Rose is not the best first ball hitter among the favorites but he is better than average at getting the ball on the green in regulation.

Phil Mickelson will be the biggest name on the entry list for this year’s event but does he stand a chance? Ryan Moore and Bo Van Pelt may have a better shot at competing for the trophy than Mickelson. Mickelson ranks fifth in the FedEx standings but although he is the big name in the tournament he does not have a shot this year.

Bo Van Pelt has not won a tournament this season but he does have a shot to win his first of the season in The Memorial. Van Pelt is stronger off the tee on the first shot and he is also solid if he gets in trouble. Ryan Moore’s best finish this season is fourth in the Northern Trust but he is overdue for a big win on the PGA Tour. In online free picks get latest PGA memorial betting odds.

In online sportsbook, get Golf Betting Odds for this big tournament closer to the event.

Among the top stars there will be several up and comers to watch for in this exciting kickoff to the summer months of the PGA Tour. A Jhonattan Vegas rank 13th in the money for the year and already has one win. He is out driving his average PGA competitors this year by nine yards and he is also better than average hitting the greens in regulation.

The best golfer to take a chance on is quickly becoming an elder statesman on the tour. Sergio Garcia is destined for a big win in the near future and the Players Championship is as good of a tournament as any. Garcia’s best finish this year was eighth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Another veteran to consider in this year’s Players Championship is Luke Donald. Donald is not a big hitter off the tee but he is excellent saving shots and saving bad plays by hitting the greens in regulation after a bad first shot.

Jim Furyk has struggled this year, finishing in the top ten twice and earning five top 25 finishes. He is a smart golfer who is not a big banger on his first shot but he is deadly accurate off the tee. Furyk is also good for rising to the occasion during an important tournament.

Woods is the favorite at 6-1 to win The Masters in Golf Betting Odds, which have Phil Mickelson next at 8-1.

Woods has struggled with accuracy and reaches greens in regulation a little below the PGA average but he is still banging the ball farther than most PGA professionals. Woods has always been one of the best scramblers in the PGA but he is average this season. Look for Woods to be on the leader board by Saturday of The Masters.

Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and defending champ, Phil Mickelson are all capable of slipping on the green jacket at the conclusion of The Masters. McIlroy has one win to his credit already this season and can never be counted out on this long course that favors the big hitters.

Lee Westwood has struggled this season but he can get healthy with a big win at The Masters. Westwood’s striking has tailed off this season as has his accuracy. The Masters will either be an awakening for Westwood or it will send him back to the drawing board.

Phil Mickelson defends his surprise Masters title this season with a renewed vigor. Mickelson has two top tens this season, including a second in the Farmers Insurance Open. Mickelson is still out driving the competition this season but he has improved on his ability to scramble out of trouble.

Kim enters this year’s tournament as one of the favorites in Golf Betting Odds and with Phil Mickelson entering the event as of March 18, Kim’s online betting odds may be tempting. Kim is coming off of his best finish this season, a sixth place in the Farmers Insurance Open.

Other notable entries for the Shell Houston Open will be Ernie Els, Fred Couples, and Matt Kuchar.

Fred Couples is always a fan favorite but one the contenders to challenge Anthony Kim will be Matt Kuchar. Kuchar is looking strong early and is coming off a fifth place finish in the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship. Kuchar also ranks near the top in the FedEx Cup standings, has made the cut in every event and placed in the top 25 six of his seven events entered.

Tiger Woods normally passes up on the Houston Open because it is the weekend before The Masters. Mickelson was a surprise late commitment to the event and it may be because he wants to find his rhythm as he heads to Augusta the next week. Mickelson scored a second in the Farmers Insurance Open and a ninth in Pebble Beach this season. Mickelson is also striking the ball well, averaging 293 yards.

PGA Golf odds have not yet been posted for this event.

Each golfer plays heads up against their opponent with the winner advancing to the next round and the loser taking a long plane ride home. The event is set up with brackets and four regions as the golfers play down to a final four and then a championship game.

Tiger Woods has announced he has entered the event; he has won three times and finished second once. Woods last victory came in 2008 over one of this year’s high seeds, Stewart Cink.

Defending champ Ian Poulter is one of the favorites also in the event. Poulter beat Paul Casey in the Accenture Match Play last year. Casey has finished second the last two years of the event and is also a yearly favorite at this point.

Seeding and regional draw are critical in this match play event. The golfer with a high seeding is not necessarily a favorite in this event. Potential match ups for the match play event are Tiger Woods versus Thomas Bjorn, Phil Mickelson versus Brendan Jones and Graeme McDowell versus Heath Slocum.

Potential upset match ups could be Charlie Hoffman upsetting Luke Donald, Bill Haas over Hunter Mahan and can Stewart Cink take down the defending champ Ian Poulter in an upset?

The entries for this year Phoenix Open reads like a who’s who of the elite PGA tour golfers. Tiger Woods hasn’t played this event for several years but Phil Mickelson has always enjoyed this event. Don’t expect Mickelson to contend in this event but it is important that he make the cut and have a good showing.

Matt Kuchar is the favorite coming into this event. Kuchar has been on the leader board for every event this year and has three top ten finishes in three events. In 13 rounds of golf in 2011 Kuchar has not shot worse than a 70 in three tournaments and is 51 shots under par for the year. An amazing start for Kuchar that could lead to bigger and better things.

Anthony Kim is another golfer looking to show well in the desert sun. Kim is ranked 26th on the money list after two tournaments and he is looking for his first breakout tournament. Kim has yet to find his big stick early this PGA season but he has done well to scramble when his driver has failed him.

Especially the way the majors lined up at Tiger-friendly venues such as Augusta National, Pebble Beach, St. Andrews and Whistling Straits, Nicklaus knew it was a possibility.

As a pro, Woods had won four of his first nine Masters and had blasted the field by a record 15 shots the last time in the U.S. Open. He had won the last two Opens at the home of golf by a combined 13 strokes. Usually in spectacular fashion, the first three places have provided Woods with half of his 14 majors.

Of this year’s majors, it was assumed Woods would win one or two at the least and move inexorably closer to Nicklaus. With prediction, 2010 was called the Year of the Tiger, suggested the Chinese Zodiac.

A pair of T4s at the Masters and the U.S. Open was the closest he came to winning major No. 15, performances that were amazing considering the state of his game and his mind. Not winning a golf tournament was Tiger Woods’s most notable news in 2010.

Woods remains the biggest fish in world golf, although he may not be world No.1, however several factors are likely to count against him playing in the Open. At the expense of the Masters came the decision to schedule the Open the week before the Presidents Cup. Woods is managed by IMG, which owns and operates the Australian Masters.

It would be the first victory for Woods since his accident Thanksgiving night last year. He does have a history of success in this event. He won consecutively in 2006 and 2007. He was rehabbing a knee injury in 2008 that kept him out that year.

The goal set forth by Tiger has always been to improve his game from one year to the next. Most would think his non winning year would be an obvious measure of failing to reach that goal. He views things in a different manner. In a press conference on Tuesday held at the site of the tournament, Woods stated ” As a golfer, I learned more this year than any other year and as a person, infinitely more.”

Going through a very public divorce and toughing out a season that has seen him drop to 68th on the money list did not give Woods reason to grade himself as failing.
second and one hundredth.

The question in all golf circles has to be, can he get back to his winning ways? English golf pro Ian Poulter tends to think so. While hitting practice balls on the driving range Tuesday, Poulter recalled a time not long ago when Tiger was the top ranked player in the world and the gap between first and second was greater than second and one hundredth.

The focus appears to have changed back to gold amongst the media. With that focus changing, Woods aims to get his golf game back to the level that made him the best in the game.

The tournament is the final World Golf Championships event of the season.

Last year, the then-No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, playing together in the final group, battled to the end, with Mickelson taking the title.

He shot a three-under 69 in the final round to earn a one-shot win over the hard-charging Ernie Els, who shot a 63 in the final round. Woods was four-over par after eight holes, but managed to come back to shoot a 72, leaving him tied for sixth place.

Of course, much has changed for both players since then, as Woods has gone through personal problems, a winless season, and, most recently, losing the No. 1 world ranking to Lee Westwood on Monday. Westwood is still fighting a leg injury.

Mickelson, who has continued to support his wife and mother in their battles with breast cancer, was diagnosed with a psoriatic arthritis. He said the arthritis “quickly spread from his ankle, finger and wrist to his hips, elbows and shoulders.”

The 40-year-old has won just once since leaving Shanghai with the trophy last year.

Golf Channel has live coverage from midnight to 4 am ET on all four days.

The PGA Tour heads to Florida for the final event of the Fall Series, the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, next week.