Transitions: Somehow, the leaderboard is strong

Five of the players in the top 10 heading into the weekend at the Transitions Championship have won major championships and a sixth is the No. 2-ranked player in the world. Nine of the 10 have won PGA Tour events.

For a tournament that falls between a World Golf Championship event (the WGC-CA Championship) and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, could it reasonably expect anything better?

The major winners: Padraig Harrington leads, Jim Furyk and Retief Goosen are among four tied for second, Steve Elkington is tied for sixth, and David Toms is tied for ninth.

Steve Stricker, world No. 2, is tied for sixth.

The only player in the top 10 without a PGA Tour victory is Bubba Watson, who is tied for second.

Rounding out the top 10 are Carl Pettersson, Jeff Maggert and Jonathan Byrd, all of them past winners.

-- John Strege