ESPN Golf Blog

Posted by Nathan Easler

Titled "The Greatest Show on Grass," this week's PGA Tour stop at the TPC Scottsdale has become the highest-attended golf event in the world. Last year, more than 538,000 people walked through the gates.

The big ticket is No. 16, the 162-yard par-3 where nearly 20,000 fans will gather to cheer raucously and drink at the biggest golf party of the year. No. 16 has been completely enclosed for the first time so that players and fans alike can sense a full-stadium feel. The course is fittingly called the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale.

All the showstoppers
The FBR Open welcomes its favorite Arizona State Sun Devil, Phil Mickelson, to his first tournament of 2009. The former All-American has won twice here and finished second to J.B. Holmes last year after losing in a playoff. Lefty has made nine top-10 finishes in 19 appearances at the Stadium Course, including five top-10 finishes in the past six years. Surprisingly, Mickelson failed to even make the cut in 2007.

Golf fans will be treated to the best field of this early PGA Tour season this week. By creating some outstanding early pairings, FBR Open organizers made sure the party would get started quickly. Headlining the Thursday/Friday pairings will be Mickelson, the local fan favorite and No. 4-ranked player in the world. He'll be paired with Sony Open champ Zach Johnson and Justin Leonard. Before the 2008 Holmes/Mickelson playoff, the previous playoff here was in 1996, when Mickelson beat Leonard, who had been his playing partner.

Taking second billing will be the group of No. 10-ranked Camilo Villegas, Mercedes-Benz champion Geoff Ogilvy and the sneaky-hot Mike Weir, who has six top-10 finishes in his past eight events. No. 9 Anthony Kim will return from a shoulder injury after being a late scratch at the Bob Hope Classic. The 23-year old young gun will be paired with surging 48-year-old veteran Kenny Perry and the underrated but always dangerous Stewart Cink.

Set them up to watch them fall
In addition to massive crowds, a defining characteristic of this week's event is the friendly long-range putting conditions. You should expect the fired-up masses to cheer wildly as the long birdie putts begin to drop on Thursday. Of 54 courses, the TPC Scottsdale ranked first for putts made beyond 25 feet and second for putts made beyond 10 feet.

Mr. Holmes, I presume?
In winning last year's event, Holmes finished tied with Mickelson at 14 under. It took only one playoff hole for Holmes to finish off Lefty; J.B. bombed a 359-yard drive off the tee at the 438-yard, par-4 18th hole. The drive set up a wedge to the green and led Holmes to his second FBR Open title in three years.

For the week, Holmes averaged more than 316 yards off the tee to lead the field in driving distance, besting the field's average by more than 32 yards. Another amazing stat: Holmes hit 43 out of 56 of his drives longer than 300 yards. This clip of 77 percent of drives longer than 300 yards dwarfs the field average of 19 percent. Long drives or not, we can expect some low scores this week as the course ranked 36th out of 54 courses in difficulty last year.

The Sunday stadium (other than Raymond James)
Here is a quick look at the 16th hole at the TPC Scottsdale. There will be plenty of shots televised, with instantaneous roars from the crowd at this par-3. If history holds up, we may be due for an ace.

A big stage calls for big players
For your fantasy foursomes this week, I recommend a squad that combines the pedigrees making their 2009 PGA Tour debuts along with a few of the standouts from the early-season tourneys.

The starters: Camilo Villegas, Stephen Ames, David Toms, Luke Donald

Next in line: Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson, J.B. Holmes, Webb Simpson

Send comments, suggestions and corrections to Nathan.J.Easler@espn.com.