Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - PGA TOUR - THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP, TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida - Phil Mickelson was battling Sean O'Hair down the stretch last year when the famous island green did O'Hair in.

O'Hair, the third-round leader, was two behind Mickelson heading to the 17th. However, he dumped two balls into the water to tumble down the leaderboard and secure the Players Championship title for Mickelson.

Lefty closed with a three-under 69 to hold off Sergio Garcia, who birdied four of the last five holes to shoot 66 and finish two back.

As usual, there is a stellar field headed to the TPC Sawgrass this week. World No. 1 Tiger Woods continues his rehab from knee surgery, but 24 of the top-25 and 45 of the top-50 players in the world will be on hand this week.

The field includes 44 of the last 45 tournament winners on the PGA Tour as well as 24 major champions. It will also be a diverse field with 55 of the 144 players coming from outside the United States.

U.S. Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples, the 1984 and 1996 winner, got into the field late as Will Mackenzie backed out while recovering from knee surgery. Couples will tee it up at Sawgrass for the 25th time.

The Golf Channel will have six hours of coverage each of the first two days, while NBC takes over for the weekend and will have five hours of action each day.

The PGA Tour heads back to Georgia next week for the AT&T Classic. Zach Johnson downed Ryuji Imada in a playoff for the title last year, his second win at the event and third in the state of Georgia.

EUROPEAN TOUR

ITALIAN OPEN, Castello di Tolcinasco Golf & Country Club, Milan, Italy - Weather plagued the Italian Open last year, shortening it to 54 holes for the fourth time since 1998.

Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano didn't mind the foul weather. He birdied the second playoff hole to fend off Markus Brier for the win.

The win was the third in three years on the European Tour for Fernandez- Castano. He closed with a seven-under 65 to match Brier at 16-under. Brier shot 68 in the final round.

Both players were fortunate to get into a playoff as Nick Dougherty had run out to three-stroke lead after nine holes. However, he was done in by a pair of bogeys on the back nine.

For the second straight year, this event is being played opposite the Players Championship on the PGA Tour. There is just one player ranked in the world top-50, No. 48 Robert Karlsson, in the field this week.

This will be the fifth straight year the tournament is held at the Arnold Palmer-designed Castello di Tolcinasco Golf & Country Club. Six of the last nine champions here have been first-time winners.

The Golf Channel will have just 90 minutes of action the first two days, then four hours of play on Saturday and Sunday. The European Tour jumps to Ireland next week for the Irish Open, where native son Padraig Harrington won in a playoff last year.

LPGA TOUR

MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILL, Kingsmill Resort & Spa (River Course), Williamsburg, Virginia - Suzann Pettersen returns this week to defend one of her five titles from 2007.

Pettersen is looking to regain that winning form as she has two top-three finishes in seven starts this year and her worst finish was a tie for 30th at the HSBC Women's Champions.

However, most of the focus will be on the world Nos. 1 and 2, Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam. They will be in the field together for the fifth time this year.

Ochoa, with five victories already this year, has won each of the first four times both players were in the field. Sorenstam has finished second at two of those events and ninth at another.

Sorenstam has won twice this year, but Ochoa was not in either field. Both will be looking for their first win at this event, though Ochoa has shared second three times in the five years of the tournament.

ESPN2 will have two hours of coverage for the final three rounds this week. The LPGA moves to New Jersey next week for the Sybase Classic, where Ochoa is the two-time defending champion.

NATIONWIDE TOUR

FORT SMITH CLASSIC, Hardscrabble Country Club, Ft. Smith, Arkansas - Jay Williamson went low last year to pick up his first Nationwide Tour win.

Williamson opened with a one-under 69, then went 66-66-63 over the final three rounds to hold off Justin Bolli and Garrett Willis by a single stroke.

It was the first win for Williamson in 339 PGA Tour-sanctioned events. However, he will not be on hand to defend his title.

Hardscrabble Country Club is one of the shortest courses on the Nationwide Tour and has seen two players shoot 10-under 60.

There is no television coverage this week. Next week, the Nationwide Tour heads to South Carolina for the BMW Charity Pro-Am, where Nick Flanagan claimed the second of his three wins last year.