PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. Nikola Jokic Nuggets Jersey . -- The PGA Tour season began five months ago. The new year is two months old. And yet theres something about the Honda Classic that makes Tiger Woods and a collection of stars feel as though its all about to get underway. "I think once we get to Florida, I think were all thinking about our way to Augusta," Woods said. Six tournaments remaining before the Masters, the first major of the year, and this is now serious business. It shows in the strength of the field at PGA National, with seven of the top 10 players from the world ranking. The last time Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott competed in the same tournament was the BMW Championship near Chicago last summer. Thats how it was a generation ago, when some of golfs top players either rested or played overseas early in the season, and then showed up in tropical conditions at Doral to start the official road to Augusta National. Woods has plenty of work to do based on his early performance -- a missed 54-hole cut at Torrey Pines in his lone PGA Tour start this year, followed by a dismal performance by his standards at the Dubai Desert Classic, where he tied for 41st. He conceded that he spent most of his winter break working on his body instead of his golf. Since returning from overseas earlier this month, Woods said he has spent most of his time working on his short game. Woods isnt the only player coming off a substantial break. Scott, the defending champion at Augusta, hasnt competed since the Sony Open in Honolulu. He spent the following week on the Big Island, surfing and playing a few casual rounds with his buddies, then killed time on the couch or doing anything not related to golf until it was time to get back to work. He plans to play three of the next four tournaments. "After three weeks I kind of felt like I needed to start swinging again and started to get the itch, but I think I timed it pretty well because Ive had a nice couple weeks of intense practice before getting here and a week of playing with some mates before that," Scott said. "I feel like Ive had a nice preparation, but this is a very tough test, and its probably not the ideal one to float back in off after an extended break." PGA National looks to have as much blue (water) as green (grass), and the course is converted into a par 70 at 7,140 yards for the Honda Classic. Michael Thompson won last year at 9-under 271. It wouldnt seem to favour Mickelson, who has not played PGA National since he was an amateur. Mickelson missed the last two weeks because his kids were on spring break, spending some of that time skiing and some of that playing golf. He did not want to fly out from California for one tournament next week at Doral, so he added the Honda Classic. "The greens are really immaculate," Mickelson said. "If you get hot with a putter, you can make a lot of putts. But I do like the golf course. Ive always liked Nicklaus-designed golf courses. I know this course he renovated or redesigned years ago, and its a wonderful test of golf, and I think thats a real credit as to why such a strong field continues to come here." This is only the third time Woods has played the Honda Classic as a pro. He rallied with a 62 in the final round in 2012 to finish behind McIlroy, and then struggled off the tee -- particularly on the sixth hole -- a year ago when he tied for 37th. McIlroy has his own set of memories from PGA National, not all of them good. Even though he won in 2012 to become No. 1 in the world for the first time, he followed that by playing 26 holes last year before walking off the course with his game in disrepair and his business affairs not much better. McIlroy said it was a mistake to quit, something he wont ever do again. But the 24-year-old from Northern Ireland is in a better frame of mind this year. He is comfortable with his equipment. Hes engaged. He has settled into his own management (though he still is going through a legal battle with his old firm). And he is playing like the guy everyone expected to be the biggest threat to Woods. "Im in a better place," McIlroy said. "And I feel like when my game is in a good place, everything else can sort of fall in line with that. It makes me feel more comfortable about everything." Custom Denver Nuggets Jerseys . -- Fresh off their surprising run in the playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers have signed head coach Terry Stotts to a multi-year contract extension. Tyler Lydon Jersey . Span, Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche had two hits apiece as Washington won the final two games of the series. The Nationals improved to 3-7 against Atlanta. They increased their division lead over the Braves to 1 1/2 games. http://www.nuggetsproshop.com/Alex-English-Nuggets-Jersey/ . Bookies were offering odds of 13/1 before kickoff that the home team Houston Dynamo would prevail by three goals to nil.Kimi Raikkonen says he has been pleasantly surprised by Ferraris form this weekend at Suzuka. The Finn has qualified third for Sundays Japanese GP, beaten by the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton by just three tenths of a second.While Ferraris form has been much improved in Japan compared to their modest showing in Malaysia last week, Raikkonen himself is enjoying something of a resurgence. After suffering resounding defeats to team-mates Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso over the last two seasons, the former world champions latest defeat of Vettel comes in the wake of three successive fourth-place finishes. Raikkonen currently heads his Scuderia colleague by seven points in the standings.Brundle doubts Vettel stayYou always feel like you want to improve here and there, Raikkonen told Sky F1. We suffered understeer here, which hurts a lot in the first sector when there are a lot of fast corners, but you always feel like if you get it perfect you can go much faster but its not often you can say l got it perfect. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. But it was good today although obviously we want to go better.Ferrari have selected nine sets of soft tyres, more than any other team, for this weekends event and Raikkonen believes the stability has benefited their track performance. Ted Kravitz gives his thoughts on Saturdays qualifying session at the Japanese Grand Prix. Carmelo Anthony Jersey. It doesnt harm, thats for sure. I mean its always more easy when you have more sets of the same compound so you can fine-tune a little bit but obviously in qualifying theres not an awful lot that you can do that is correct or not.The Finn added: Positively surprised how well the cars been behaving and how quick its been. Obviously its been a bit tricky to get the right balance but its been pretty good and so far so good but obviously third is not exactly what were looking for but I think were pretty close. It was not too bad.The F1 title run-in continues with the Japanese GP, live only on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. The race begins at 6am on Sunday. Watch the whole race weekend with a NOW TV week pass - £10.99, no contract Also See: Brundle doubts Vettel stay The Formula 1 Gossip Column ' ' '