FanHouse BenCrane

The PGA Championship begins Thursday, and as has been the case in the three previous majors this year, Tiger Woods is the clear favorite. Despite victories in consecutive weeks leading up to this event, the story is as much about the level of his play as it is about how he won at Firestone Sunday.

The circumstances have been well documented, but for the unenlightened, the Cliffs Notes version: Padraig Harrington led the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by one stroke over Tiger as they made their way to the 16th tee. At some point on the hole the group was put on the clock for slow play, Paddy went on to record an eight on the par 5, Woods carded a birdie, and two holes later he was hoisting the trophy.

As is the case in virtually every tournament he plays, the story line heading into Sunday's round of the Players Championship was Tiger Woods. He had worked his way into the final group, but started the day five shots back of playing partner Alex Cejka, the unlikeliest 54-hole leader. Cejka entered the week ranked 267th in the world, and, at 38, was still in search of his first PGA victory.

But as Woods and Cejka were hacking their way around the front nine -- Tiger needed 38 strokes going out; Alex needed 42 -- Henrik Stenson was putting on a golfing clinic.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- OK, time's up. We can only get so far with patience, waiting politely for Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to start acting like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

The leaderboard after the first round at the Players Championship reads Crane, Mallinger, Johnson, Cejka and Byrd. This is not what we signed up for. It's only the first round, yes, but the PGA Tour really wants to have a major championship of its own, seeing how it doesn't run any of the true majors, and it can't convince anyone with Crane, Mallinger, Johnson, Cejka and Byrd.

Woods went early in the day, shooting 1-under, 71, in what looked at the time like the definition of mediocre on a hard course. Was the round more frustrating or disappointing?

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TPC Sawgrass is supposed to be brutal. It's supposed to be nasty. For heaven's sake, it's supposed to be the fifth major! Well, unless the fairways and greens are soft and the wind doesn't blow.

Ben Crane, who started on the back nine in the first round of the Players Championship, turned at 3-under 33, but went on a tear from there, making five birdies in six holes on his way to a 7-under 65 and the first-round lead. Crane, who hasn't won on tour since 2005, noted after his round that the greens were perfect, "like putting on the hood of your car," and the low scores the first day indicated that.

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Every Monday during the PGA Tour season, Monday Pin Placement will run as a wrap-up of the weekend's action. Basically, we'll focus on what you may have missed while you were out grinding on the putting green.

Yang Holds on in Florida -- Before Sunday, Y.E. Yang was a name most golf fans probably had never heard of. A star on the Japan Tour, Yang is known by American golf fans as the guy who beat Tiger Woods in the 2006 HSBC Championship in China.

It might be time to remember him for more than that.

We continue the report with page four of your FanHouse Media Guide.

• Tim Clark -- t-3 -- Mr. Oh-So-Close, Clark is a guy you would think has won on the PGA Tour and you would be wrong. In his four U.S. Open appearances Clark has been in the top-20 in three, missing the cut in the other. Add him to the list of people that will struggle with the length of Torrey Pines.

• Bobby Collins -- DNP -- The 35-year-old golf pro out of Florida owes his chance of playing in his first U.S. Open to, of all people, Houston Texans' owner Bob McNair, who played in a pro-am with Collins. Bobby presented the idea of sponsoring a golfer and McNair bit, allowing him a chance to continue his pursuit of a life on the professional golf circuit.

• Jordan Cox (a) -- DNP -- Cox, a sophomore at Stanford, will be making his PGA Tour debut this week at the U.S. Open. He can already count it as a successful week as he was seen early Monday morning playing a practice round with idol Tiger Woods, another Stanford golfer.

• Ben Crane -- 62 -- Playing on a medical exemption this year, Crane has been cruising all season, notching three top-10s and is in perfect position to retain his card for next season. Also, plays so slow he makes Sergio Garcia's waggle escapade look like Deion Sanders running the 40-yard dash.

• Ben Curtis -- 30 -- He won the British Open once. He also went to Kent State. These facts are about as exciting as Curtis.

• Chris Devlin -- DNP -- As the 33-year-old Irishman is getting set to play in his first U.S. Open, his parents are trying desperately to find their way to San Diego. "Chris rang us at two in the morning to tell us the good news and we are all really excited," his father John said. Devlin is currently playing the Hooters Tour, where he is 47th on the money list.

• Robert Dinwiddie -- DNP -- Dinwiddie, surprisingly, is from England and is having a productive year on the European Tour, currently 78th on the Order of Merit.

• Luke Donald (above, right) -- t-12 -- For a guy talked about as much as Donald, he's never played well in either of the Open championships. In case he ever has a falling out with golf, he can fall back on an illustrious painting career.

• Nick Dougherty (above, left) -- t-7 -- He's in the field because of his top-10 last year, where he was actually leading after the first round. Another of the young Englishmen expected to do serious things in the golf world.

• Andrew Dresser -- DNP -- Well, what are the chances, a guy I've actually played with in a tournament! Dresser played at Texas Tech and kicked my tail in a Byron Nelson qualifier a couple of years back. He isn't a long hitter but has a pretty flawless short game that will see itself on the PGA Tour in the near future.

Last week, Tiger Woods shared his thoughts on slow play. That led me to wonder if one of the most reviled players on tour, Rory Sabbatini, could hold the solution to the issue that the PGA doesn't seem all that interested in addressing.

Suggesting Sabbatini-style justice for slow-play offenders was a ridiculous idea, I know, but it doesn't change the fact that it's a growing problem for many players.

Coincidentally, Woods was paired with Ben Crane during Saturday's round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Crane is notoriously slow and he's the guy who sent Sabbatini off the deep end during the 2005 Booz-Allen.

Anyway, the enterprising Scott Michaux of the Augusta Chronicle decided to put a stopwatch on both Woods and Crane during the back nine, and although the group finished their round in just under four hours (which is fast for anybody), there was a pretty big difference between players.