Deutsche Bank Championship preview: Tiger Woods in a sexy threesome

If there’s one big consolation for having my schedule ruined by the Deutsche Bank’s later start, it’s the prospect of the big three charging round the field in the opening rounds. How often do we get to see Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh stand tall (ish) together on 18 tees?

If any guys should know how to deal with the negative effects of playing against the Tiger circus it’s his initial partners this week. Heck, they’ve got circuses of their own.

With Tiger’s price hovering just below 3 there’s a temptation to take him on, but it’s wise to resist. A defending champion coming off two wins in a row, hopefully fully rested from the “exhaustion” of playing in the Tulsa oven: it’s hard to find a negative. The biggest is that skipping the Barclays showed disinterest in the FedEx Cup. I think he was doing the playoffs, as well as himself, a favour in allowing at least the notion of competition to creep in. I don’t think he is throwing himself into the three-in-a-row finale to come second, and my stats illustrate what rude form he is in at the moment. Taking accuracy off the tee out of the equation, because I don’t think it’s going to be so important this week, he tops the table for overall performance.

He will likely face some stiff competition from at least one of his playing partners. I’m hoping at last to see a fag-end glimmer of Mickelson’s promised “summer of fun". It’s never too late to see Lefty tweak the Tiger’s tail and he has clearly been playing himself back into form, with 7th place last week. On raw stats the picture is clouded by poor putting, but he improved that dramatically last week, particularly in the final two rounds. A poor opener apart he would have been even higher than 10th for the flat stick, which would have looked great next to 2nd for greens on regulation. The only real negative is that, unlike Tiger and Singh, Mickelson has no course form.

There is an argument that this is not going to be so important this year, because of “significant” changes to TPC Boston (would you believe it’s been shortened!). But a lot of the changes were simply to make the course “blend more naturally with the New England setting” and David Toms for one says it’ll still favour the long hitters. One key change, though, is that while the bunkers have been halved, those that remain are much wider and deeper, making them harder to get out of.

So I still think those who know the course have an edge. That would usually include Singh, but he’s having a rotten time of it right now. He’s never come lower than 4th in three outings here, but then he was a three-time winner and defending champion last week and look what happened there (his second missed cut in a row).

Overall, the competition should be keener this week because 50 players face elimination from the next round. And if anyone really does have his eye on the gargantuan first prize pension, he can’t afford to give too much away either, and that includes Mr Woods himself.

Adam Scott has to figure on course form (he won the inaugural event) and his game seems to be on the upswing. But he’s still got work to do on his irons and putter, which were poor last week.

K J Choi is a great competitor and is touted by some as the biggest threat to Woods - he should have won last week. But past form and his stats suggest this week might be a bit more of a challenge.

Justin Rose has 4th and 3rd here and nowadays can generally be found hovering around the top slots. His certainly has the right profile for the course, particularly 14th for putting and 7th with his irons. We simply await the emergence of that vital extra ingredient, the mystical winning mindset. On another course Ian Poulter would have been my preferred Englishman, but his relatively poor driving puts me off.

Jim Furyk’s a big maybe. He seems to be getting over his back trouble but has never sparkled here.

Geoff Ogilvy is not over-flattered by his bare stats, but 6th at the PGA Championship and 4th last week suggest he could be a big threat. He was 5th for putting and 8th for distance off the tee last week. Oh, and he came 5th here in 2003.

Rory Sabbatini has no course form, but a 2nd and 3rd in his last three tournaments ring some bells.

On my current stats Hunter Mahan has to be considered. His all-round performance, aside from accuracy, puts him up with Woods. The only negative is the way he flagged badly last Sunday. Charles Warren was a letdown last week too, but still boasts stats to challenge Tiger’s, especially distance and irons. And Camilo Villegas might be worth a punt. He’s had his moments recently, is good off the tee, and currently ranks 5th for greens in regulation.