world’s best head for wgc doral

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This week’s World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship will feature one of the strongest fields of the 2011 season.

The top-50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) have all committed to compete, including defending champion Ernie Els, World No. 1 Martin Kaymer and six-time winner Tiger Woods.

This year marks just the second time (2009) since 2005 that the top-50 players in the OWGR are all committed and expected to compete. A number of spots still remain up for grabs for players not already qualified.

The top-10 players from the current FedExCup standings, as of Monday, March 7, and any player cracking the top 50 in the OWGR when the updated rankings are released Monday will earn a spot in the field.

TPC Blue Monster at Doral will again serve as the host venue for the world’s best players at the Cadillac Championship, March 9-13.

Germany’s Kaymer, who became the 14th different player to reach No. 1 in the OWGR, returns to the Cadillac Championship for the fourth time looking to improve on his T3 in 2010.

Europeans, led by Kaymer, hold the top-four positions in the OWGR for the first time since 1992 and the Cadillac Championship could provide high drama and movement atop the ranking. Hot on Kaymer’s heels are England’s Lee Westwood and Luke Donald at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, while Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell is No. 4. Donald claimed the season’s first World Golf Championships event at the Accenture Match Play Championship, defeating Kaymer 3 and 2 in the Championship Match.

At No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Woods will look to bounce back from a disappointing first-round exit at the Accenture Match Play Championship on a course he knows well. Woods won the Cadillac Championship the first time it was played at TPC Blue Monster at Doral in 2007.

Phil Mickelson, who claimed the 2009 Cadillac Championship, will arrive in South Florida at No. 6 in the OWGR in search of his third-career World Golf Championships victory. Els enters the Cadillac Championship at No. 12 in the OWGR looking to become the first back-to-back champion since the event moved to TPC Blue Monster at Doral in 2007.

“We’re thrilled to welcome one of the best fields of the year to South Florida for the Cadillac Championship,” Executive Director Eddie Carbone said. “South Florida golf fans are always treated to an exceptional field of the world’s best at this event, but to have all of the top-50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking committed at the deadline is a special treat. We look forward to a memorable week of competition next week at TPC Blue Monster at Doral.”

Among the players who should qualify via their position in the 2011 FedExCup standings are young Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas, D.A. Points and Aaron Baddeley. Vegas, who will be making his World Golf Championships debut, became the first Venezuelan to win on the PGA TOUR when he claimed the Bob Hope Classic in a playoff.

He would become the first Venezuelan to compete in the World Golf Championships. Points claimed his first PGA TOUR victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am while Baddeley ended a nearly four-year winless drought at the Northern Trust Open. In addition to these three, any player that wins this week’s Honda Classic and is not yet qualified should earn enough points to earn a spot in the field.

Among the players currently on the outside of the top 50 in the OWGR who could earn a spot in the field with a strong performance this weekend is Sean O’Hair (No. 54), who is currently in the hunt at the Honda Classic. O’Hair has competed in the Cadillac Championship five previous times in his career, including each of the last three years.

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