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Woods conspicuous by his absence from Nissan Open

Ernie Els is one of several overseas stars launching their US campaigns for this year at the Nissan Open this week, but they won't be testing themselves against world No. 1 Tiger Woods.

Woods is a conspicuous absentee at Riviera Country Club, one of the few venues that he has played frequently without posting a win.

Although Woods has shrugged off dark speculation that he decided to give the US$5.2 million tournament a miss in order to protect his seven-tournament US PGA Tour winning streak, it is true that his absence is felt by his fellow pros.

"Absolutely," said Els, who opened his season this year with a tie for third at the Qatar Masters and a runner-up finish at the Dubai Desert Classic.

"Whenever Tiger plays he basically shows up with his game and he is basically effective," Els said. "So it changes a little bit. We've got a great field here, but, yes, it makes it a little bit different with Tiger not being here."

Eight of the top 13 golfers from the Official World Golf Rankings are playing this week, including Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington, who have never played the tournament and Phil Mickelson, who hasn't played it since 2001.

World No. 4 Mickelson won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Sunday after disappointing mid-field finishes in his first two starts of the year.

"It wasn't that big of a change in how I was playing," Mickelson said of his convincing win at Pebble.

"I just didn't get the putts to go in the first couple of weeks. And then I spent some time, four or five days working on it, and got dialed in with the line and the speed, and made a number of putts on those greens that could be challenging at times. So I was very pleased with the way I played. But I felt like I was close the whole time," he said.

Mickelson, too, said he was a little sorry not to get a chance to tackle Woods.

"I love competing against him," Mickelson said. "I'm sorry he is not here. We have an incredible field though. This is one of the strongest fields we'll see all year."

Top-10 players entered this week include world No. 2 Jim Furyk of the US, third-ranked Adam Scott of Australia, sixth-ranked Goosen of South Africa, No. 7 Vijay Singh of Fiji and No. 10 Harrington of Ireland.

Goosen is making his US season debut, as is Spain's Sergio Garcia, while Scott is returning from a five-week break that followed his runner-up finish at the Mercedes-Benz Championships.

"I'm hoping they're rusty like I was when I first started," Mickelson said. "But I doubt that will be the case. I saw the way Ernie was playing early on, over in the European Tour ... his game is pretty sharp. I know he's going to be hungry for a victory. And he plays well on this golf course. I expect the others, as great players as they are, to come and play well."

In fact, Goosen already has a win under his belt this year, at the Qatar Masters.

All of the players will face a Riveria course different from the rain-soaked version of recent years.

"It seems like we might have firm greens this year, and they've really got a lot of speed on them," Els said. "So that should make it a bit more difficult for us. But I think less rough will give us better shot making to the greens."

"I think it's definitely going to be a week to go out there and play as hard as you can," said South African Rory Sabbatini, the defending champion.
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