With the Florida swing (and its WGC climax at Doral) now behind us, this figures to be a less-than-inspiring week on three continents - though the LPGA at least brings together a strong field at the Safeway International.  Of course, as we have seen already this year, lesser fields do not always mean lesser drama...

PGA Tour:  Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Site: TPC Louisiana  -  Avondale, LA
Yards: 7,341 yds     Par: 72    
Defending: Nick Watney  273   (beat Ken Duke by 3)
Field:   World Top 25: Steve Stricker (4), Jim Furyk (9), Padraig Harrington (11), Stewart Cink (13) and  Zach Johnson (20)   Other Notables: Mark Calcavecchia, Chris DiMarco, Retief Goosen, Davis Love III, David Toms and Mike Weir

Notes: This is the event’s third visit to the Pete Dye-design TPC Louisiana, having moved there after 16 years at the Jack Nicklaus-designed English Turn in 2006..........The tournament made one final visit to English Turn in 2006 after Hurrican katrina badly damaged the TPC..........New Orleans is one of the PGA Tour’s older stops, dating to Gene Sarazen’s one-shot victory over Lighthorse Harry Cooper at the Metairie Country Club in 1932..........Hall-of-Famers Cooper, Henry Picard, Jimmy Demaret, Lloyd Mangrum and Byron Nelson all won on the City Park municipal layout prior to 1950, while Casper, Nicklaus, Player, Trevino, Watson, Ballesteros and Crenshaw all claimed the title during a 26-year run (1963-1988) at Lakewood Country Club..........Then rookie Kyle Reifers set the TPC course record with a 64 in 2007..........Indicative of the event’s weaker new millennium fields is the fact that 2007 winner Nick Watney was the fifth champion in the last six years to make New Orleans their first career win.

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European PGA Tours:  MAPFRE Open de Andalucia

Site: Aloha Golf Club  -  Andalucia, Spain
Yards: 6,881     Par: 72    
Defending: Lee Westwood 268   (beat Fredrik Andersson-Hed and Phillip Archer by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: Lee Westwood (20) and Martin Kaymer (25)   Other Notables: Thomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, David Frost, Paul Lawrie and Jose Maria Olazabal.

Notes: While most of the E Tour’s top stars are taking the week off following several weeks playing in Florida, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer are scheduled to make the trip home in time to play..........Westwood fortunately finished his Sunday round at Doral before the rains came and presumably made a timely getaway; Kaymer was on the 18th hole and thus had to layover until Monday..........This event was played from 1992-2000 under the name Turespana Masters rotating among a number of sites and claiming Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez (twice) among its winners..........The host Aloha Golf Club, a well-thought-of 1975 Javier Arana design, sits in Nueva Andalucia’s “Golf Valley” and is flanked closely by a pair of well-known Robert Trent Jones layouts, Los Naranjos and Las Brisas, the latter having hosted the 1989 World Cup under its former name, the Nueva Andalucia Golf Club..........Jose Maria Olazabal, who has missed the last seven months with severe rheumatic pain, has entered on a late sponsor exemption, and will surely be the center of attention as a favorite son and past champion.

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Sunshine Tour:  Chainama Hills Zambia Open

Site: Chainama Hills Golf Club – Lusaka, Zambia
Metres: 6,578     Par: 72
Defending: Steve Basson 206  (beat Lindani Ndwandwe by 1)
Field:     World Top 25:   None  Other Notables: Desvonde Botes, Trevor Moore, Des Terblanche.

Notes: Stuck largely by itself as the only Sunshine event in March, the Zambia Open will draw among the weakest fields of the year, with few of South Africa’s current stars even in the country at present..........The event dates to the late 70s, with virtually all of its early winners being U.K. pros fleeing south for the winter..........South African Steve Basson is actually a two-time defending champion, having won at the Nchanga Golf Club in 2006 as well..........The host club is probably called the Chainama Hills Golf Club; it appears most frequently on the internet with this spelling, though the Sunshine Tour website lists it alternately (presumably by mistake) as “Chinama” and “Chimama.”

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LPGA Tour:  Safeway International

Site: Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club (Prospector course)   -  Superstition Mountain, AZ
Yards: 6,662 yds     Par: 72    
Defending: Lorena Ochoa  270   (beat Suzann Pettersen by 2)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Rolex Top 10 except Ji-Yai Shin (7), plus every top 30 regularly competing in America   Other Notables: Laura Davies, Meg Mallon, Liselotte Neumann

Notes: Dating to 1980, this is one of the LPGA’s longer running, more-prestigious events, including Hall-of-Famers Betsy King, Pat Bradley (twice), Patty Sheehan, Karrie Webb, Annika Sorenstam (thrice), Se Ri Pak and Juli Inkster, plus notables Jan Stephenson, Beth Daniel, Liselotte Neumann and, on fou straight occasions from 1994-97, Laura Davies..........This was world number one Lorena Ochoa’s first win of 2007, and provided a foreshadowing of the entire season as she edged world number two Suzann Pettersen by two..........Has been at the Nicklaus-designed Prospector course at Superstition Mountain for four years after a 17-year run at the toney Moon Valley Country Club, and before that a four-year visit to the Arizona Biltmore Resort..........With Safeway ending its sponsorship of the event after this season, the future of this high-end event is presently uncertain.

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Champions Tour:  Ginn Championship Hammock Beach Resort

Site: Ocean Course at Hammock Beach  -  Palm Coast, FL
Yards: 7,113 yds     Par: 72    
Defending: Keith Fergus  204   (beat Hale Irwin and Mark O’Meara by 1)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Charles Schwab Cup to 20 except Fulton Allem (16)   Other Notables: Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin, Sandy Lyle, Larry Nelson, Gary Player, Nick Price, Dave Stockton, Curtis Strange, Lanny Wadkins, Tom Watson, Ian Woosnam and Fuzzy Zoeller

Notes: Another typically strong Champions field assembles at the Nicklaus-designed Ocean course, a solid, wind-exposed track capable of presenting a touch more challenge than some of the tour's more "relaxed" tests..........Most notable among the “Other Notables” is Tom Watson, making only his second official start of 2008..........Seventy-two-year-old Gary Player is making his fourth start, and why not?  He’s equaled or bettered his age three times in nine ’08 rounds, and only been higher than 75 once.

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Elsewhere…
After taking a month off to recover from jetlag after visits to Central America and Australia, the Nationwide Tour recommences at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open, played at Le Triomphe Country Club in Broussard.  The European Challenge Tour, meanwhile, begins a three-week swing through South America (jointly sponsored by the Tour de las Americas) at Argentina’s Abierto del Centro, the European Seniors make their maiden visit to the Azores for the Azores Senior Open, and the Omega China Tour visit Xiamen for the Dell Championship.