Andrea threatens to gatecrash Players Championship party

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida, May 10 (Reuters) Although Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh are the dominant figures on the 2007 PGA Tour, Tropical Storm Andrea could have a bigger impact on this week's Players Championship.

The storm's westward advance across the Atlantic Ocean has led to forecasts for scattered thunderstorms for all four rounds at the refurbished Tournament Players Club Sawgrass.

Traditionally held in late March, the Tour's flagship event has been put back for the first time to early May to help create fast, firm-running conditions on the mounded, par-72 layout.

Since last year's tournament, a sub-air drainage system has been installed under every green and the fairways have also been upgraded with a new base of sand to improve drainage.

These measures are likely to be tested to the full if this week's weather forecast proves accurate.

''Welcome to sunny, dry, warm Florida,'' PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said with a smile during a news conference yesterday.

''Andrea will be with us for a few more hours at least.

''The good news is we did make the decision to move ahead with the re-infrastructure of the golf course to hopefully put it in the condition where we can deal with more moisture. That concept will now get some testing in the next 48 hours.'' Finchem conceded the irony of rain arriving in Florida after a year of relative drought for a later Players Championship date in the calendar.

''It hasn't rained in a year, it might as well rain this week,'' he jested. ''We never said it doesn't rain in May, we just said the patterns are different.

''It's not going to rain as much and, when it rains, you don't usually get a system. You usually get build-up and maybe a thunderstorm.'' Regardless of the forecast, Masters champion Zach Johnson is prepared for a week of fast-running conditions at Sawgrass.

''The greens seem to be a little more firm than the actual speed, but that's not going to be an issue,'' he said. ''They'll be fast come tomorrow and especially come Sunday.

''This golf course is all wind and rain-based, in my opinion. I don't know if it's going to be any harder or any easier.

''But if the fairways are going to roll out, it's going to be that much more difficult.'' World number one Woods, whose only victory at Sawgrass came in 2001, would prefer the Stadium Course to run firm and fast.

''When it's soft, you're just basically throwing darts,'' said the 31-year-old American, who has won three times on the 2007 PGA Tour.

''The fairways get so much wider, the slopes on these greens become irrelevant and you just fire at the flags.

''With the course firmer and faster, you have to play a proper shot in order to get the ball close. You can't just go out there and fire at a flag.'' Traditionally, the Stadium Course has been among the fairest of tests in golf and a venue where the shorter hitters have just as much chance of winning as the big guns.

Popular American Fred Funk, the straightest driver on the PGA Tour and also one of the shortest, became the oldest Players champion in history with a one-shot victory in 2005.

However, the power hitters have also flourished with Fred Couples (in 1984 and 1996), Davis Love III (in 1992 and 2003) and Woods all winning the tournament unofficially dubbed the fifth major.

''Anyone can win here,'' Woods said. ''That's the beauty of this golf course with all the angles. We're all playing from about the same spot.

''There really is no advantage to taking out driver and bombing it down there because of the trouble and also how everything pinches in.'' The Stadium Course has been lengthened to more than 7,200 yards since Canada's Stephen Ames won last year's title by a commanding six shots. The tournament, featuring 48 of the world's top 50 players, starts today.

REUTERS TB SSC1049