Woods has work to do at Sawgrass

THE passing of the peerless Seve Ballesteros at the weekend has overshadowed everything else in the game of golf to such an extent that it seems almost disrespectful to discuss anything else.

But life goes on and this is a big week given that the Players Championship, beginning at its traditional home at Sawgrass on Thursday, has long since been regarded as the fifth major.

Tiger Woods, today an unimaginably high number eight in the world rankings, returns after injury for his 14th successive appearance in the event. Oddly enough, he has captured the title only once, in 2001, when he holed a monster 60ft putt on the final day for a birdie on the famous island 17th green.