Let me interrupt your regular schedule of Rays, Bucs, Lightning and USF coverage to bring you some news about an event that doesn't involve teams but still takes place in the Tampa Bay area. The event I'm talking about is the PGA Tour's annual stop in the area, known as the Transitions Championship. This is a full-fledged PGA Tour event with big name players stopping by. The event is held at the Innisbrook Resort and Hotel, which has a pretty spectacular golf facility.
Last year's event had some weather trouble with rain delaying the final round a few hours. I attended the final round last year, or at least the portion before the weather delay. The course is always in fantastic shape and is generally noted as one of the top courses on the PGA Tour each year and favorite of many of the players, and last year was no different. Part of the draw of these tournaments for fans is the accessibility of the players. Most sign autographs if you're into that, but you can stand literally just a few feet from them as they warm up on the range or strike a tee shot. It's a golf fan's dream in our own backyard.
Many organizations around town have cheap or free tickets, so if you're looking for something to do this week, be sure to consider stopping over at Innisbrook. You can stop in the Owl's Nest (Hosted by Hooters) which was the location of a bizarre event a few years back. During a delay, John Daly went in there, signed some autographs and then grabbed ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden to caddy for him the rest of the round.
The big names set to tee it up include Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh, Bubba Watson, last week's winner Nick Watney and 2010 Transitions Championship winner Jim Furyk.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.