SAWGRASS DIARY

Immelman is flagging  since Masters victory -LIFE HAS been good to Trevor Immelman since his US Masters win, even if results since then haven't. "My game has gone kind of sideways since then, which has been disappointing," observed Immelman, on the eve of The Players, a tournament which is as close to being a major without actually attaining that status.

Since getting Zach Johnson to don the green jacket on his shoulders at Augusta, Immelman has played in two tournaments - the Byron Nelson and the Wachovia championship - and missed the cut in both of them.

"I think for me, right now, I need to get some time away (from golf) and just think about how I am going to start building again from here," said Immelman.

One of the problems Immelman has found himself facing is the number of Masters flags arriving at his home in Orlando, with requests to sign them. Up to 40 a day! "I never had to deal with that before. Those are adjustments I'm going to have to learn to deal with . . . also, once you win a major, your expectation level rises. I've never played well when I had too high expectation, because I want to win too badly rather than going out there and free-wheeling a little bit."

History not on Mickelson's side

HISTORY IS all against Phil Mickelson. In the previous 34 years of The Players, no defending champion has retained the title . . . five players have won the championship more than once, but not in consecutive years: Jack Nicklaus is the only three-time winner (1974, '76 and '78), while two-time winners include Steve Elkington (1991 and 1997), Hal Sutton (1983 and 2000), Fred Couples (1984 and 1996) and Davis Love III (1992 and 2003).

• RICHARD Johnson, of Wales, is one of 14 players making his debut in The Players. The Cardiff native earned his place in the field after topping last year's Nationwide Tour money list. His fellow first-timers are: Ryan Armour (US), Soren Hansen (Denmark), Matt Jones (Australia), George McNeill (US), John Merrick (US), Jeff Overton (US), Andres Romero (Argentina), Kevin Stadler (US), Richard Sterne (South Africa), Nicholas Thompson (US), Johnson Wagner (US), Charlie Wi (Korea) and Tim Wilkinson (New Zealand).

Garcia needs to get back in groove

COULD SAWGRASS provide redemption at last for Sergio Garcia?

Ever since his play-off loss to Padraig Harrington in last year's British Open at Carnoustie, the Spaniard has endured a horrible time on the golf course. His world ranking has dropped from eighth to 18th in that nine-month time span, and his only top-10 finish - on either the US or the European Tours - was a tied-seventh finish in the Qatar Masters in February. His best-place on the US Tour this year is a tied-15th in the CA-WGC championship in Doral in March.

So, can the mainly good vibes of Sawgrass bring him back to his best? At least he knows it is a course where he traditionally plays well. After three sub-par rounds, Garcia was in the final group in the final round in 2006 (before shooting a finishing 78 to eventually claim 14th position); while, last year, he was the hottest player over the weekend with rounds of 67 and 66 to move up to second, behind Phil Mickelson.

His previous best finish was fourth in 2002.

Tennis elbow not a concern

PADRAIG HARRINGTON is wearing an elbow brace this week to offset any concern he has about a recurrence of tennis elbow. "It's just something that comes back whenever I start playing again. I can feel it, but it doesn't affect me and is nothing to be worried about," said Harrington, who is also undergoing daily physiotherapy for the problem.