Kraft Nabisco Championship - Rancho Mirage, CA

                         CURRENT LEADERBOAD          THURSDAY TEE TIMES

      WEDNESDAY INTERVIEWS:     OCHOA     SORENSTAM     PRESSEL     CREAMER

- He Didn’t Fly All This Way To Rest:  Last week in Spain, Jose Maria Olazabal returned from a seven-month rheumatism-induced layoff to finish tied for 61st at the Open de Andalucia.  Understandably, the 42-year-old Olazabal downplayed expectations going in, indicating that it was only a test run, and that he surely wasn’t fully recovered yet.  But evidently he considered the test successful, for after announcing on Sunday that "The pain was more bearable today then earlier in the week,"  he was soon on a plane to Texas and entered in this week’s Shell Houston Open.  All of which raises the obvious question: as a two-time champion, and a man who clearly knows the mysterious ins and outs of Augusta intimately, might he be joining the Masters field next week?  When asked that upon leaving Europe, Olazabal was non-commital, saying only “I've got clothes packed for two weeks just in case and we'll see how it goes."  So assuming that he’s able to successfully complete the Houston Open, which is the better bet: Olazabal doesn’t enter the Masters or, say, Lorena Ochoa chooses to withdraw from the Kraft Nabisco?

- Speaking Of Comebacks...:  Another man even further along on the comeback trail is France’s Thomas Levet, whose playoff victory at that same Open de Andalucia would have looked extremely unlikely back in 2006.  At that time, the former European Ryder Cupper and playoff loser at the 2002 Open Championship was battling vertigo and, quite literally, unable to stand up.  But Levet managed to get back into action by May of 2007, even logging top-10 finishes at the late summer Dutch Open and Johnnie Walker Championships, and now, less than a year later, he is once again a winner.  As competitive as it is out there, you’ve got to tip your cap.

- Youth Did The Serving:  And then there is 19-year-old Englishman Oliver Fisher, who helped Levet’s chances greatly by bogeying the 72nd hole in Andalucia, then also bogeying the first playoff hole (as Levet parred) to really give the Frenchman a boost.  Fisher played a full schedule on the 2007 European Tour as an 18-year-old and hardly overwhelmed, logging but a single top 10 (a T9 at the Johnnie Walker Championship) en route to finishing 109th in the Order of Merit.  But at Fisher’s age, the learning curve is a steep one, and thus far in 2008, he’s finished T9 at the New Zealand Open and T11 the following week in Abu Dhabi, in addition to his runner-up in Andalucia – all of which adds up to occupying 32nd position in the Order of Merit and 195th place in the Official World Ranking.  Just another young star to keep an eye on…

- Quotable:  “A good season for me would be several wins, a few majors and just being the best player out here.” - Lorena Ochoa Annika Sorenstam on her 2008 prospects