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The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am takes place on the PGA Tour this week, the first of two times we'll see Pebble Beach Golf Links this year. Pebble also is the site of the 2010 U.S. Open.

There's a new course in the rotation this year. Monterey Peninsula Country Club replaces Poppy Hills, a move that makes most of the pros happy. (And Monterey should provide some great views for those watching at home, too.) Monterey Peninsula was included in the rota for many years, but the last time the tournament visited the club was 1977.

The new world No. 2, Steve Stricker, isn't playing this week. But the world No. 424, John Daly, is entered. So if you've been on pins and needles wondering if Daly's threat to retire was real, well, rest easy.

The defending champion is Dustin Johnson, who finished third in the Northern Trust Open. Sergio Garcia makes his 2010 PGA Tour debut this week, and Sam Saunders, grandson of Arnold Palmer, gets his second sponsor exemption of the year. Also in the field are Rickie Fowler, Ryo Ishikawa, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Padraig Harrington, last week's runner-up Luke Donald, and J.B. Holmes, who finished tied for third last week.

Check our AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am tournament page for the list of past championship plus more tourney info and trivia.

Who is the best golfer in the world? Tiger Woods, but he's not playing. The best golfer who is playing right now is Steve Stricker, according to the world rankings. By winning the Northern Trust Open on Sunday, Stricker bumped Phil Mickelson down to No. 3 in the rankings, taking over the second spot himself.

Stricker moving ahead of Mickelson isn't just an artifact of the ranking system's math, either. Stricker has earned it. Mickelson finished 2009 hot, but Stricker outplayed him over the course of the year.

In 2009, Stricker and Mickelson both had three PGA Tour wins. Mickelson later won the WGC HSBC Champions, a big win albeit one that didn't count as an official PGA Tour victory. Advantage to Mickelson.

But Stricker had more than twice as many Top 25 finishes as Phil (16 to 7), more Top 10s (11 to 7), won nearly $1 million more, and posted an actual scoring average more than one full stroke better than Mickelson's (69.51 to 70.83). In adjusted scoring - which takes into account course difficulty and strength of field - Stricker still easily bested Mickelson, ranking second to Phil's 28th.

And now Stricker has started 2010 with a 10th, a third and a win. While Mickelson opened the year with two indifferent showings on courses where he usually plays great.

Stricker is a couple weeks away from turning 43, and during the television broadcast one of the NBC announcers suggested Stricker might turn into another Vijay Singh - a victory machine in his 40s. Sure, that might happen, but let's not get carried away just yet.

It's more likely Stricker could turn into another Kenny Perry, who has 11 wins in his 40s. Stricker's Northern Trust Open victory was his fifth in his 40s. Vijay? He has 22.

Of course, Singh had a headstart on Stricker - he's four years and one day older than Stricker. But by the time Singh was the age Stricker is now, Vijay had already won 17 times in his 40s. It's asking a lot of any golfer - it will be asking a lot of Mickelson and of Tiger someday - to match Vijay's post-40 performance.

But any way you look at Stricker's play over the past 14 months, he deserves the No. 2 world ranking that he seized on Sunday.

See also:

• Most PGA Tour wins after age 40

Where will Tiger Woods make his return to golf? The celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com is reporting that Woods will play in the Tavistock Cup March 22-23.

Of all the celebrity gossip sites/magazines jumping on the Tiger Woods rumor train, TMZ.com's reporting has probably been the most solid. It's certainly had its share of reports that turned out to be wrong, however. The Web site claims its source is "someone who works for the Woods family."

Many have speculated that Woods will return at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, two weeks prior to The Masters. The Tavistock Cup is played in the days in-between the Transitions Championship and the Palmer, so it, too, is little more than two weeks prior to The Masters.

The Tavistock Cup is a team event that pits pros representing two of Florida's most exclusive clubs, Isleworth and Lake Nona. The event raises money for charity, but the participants - 10 players for each team - are very well-compensated. The purse in 2009 was $3.5 million.

A Tiger return at the Tavistock Cup makes sense on several levels, not the least of which is that fans are let through the gates on an invitation-only basis. The Tavistock Cup Web site explains the availability of tickets this way: "We are sorry, but tickets are not available to the general public. Only members of Isleworth Golf & Country Club, members of Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, tournament sponsors, and VIP guests are allowed to attend this event."

Woods would be among friends, with a smaller gallery full of rich people like himself, a gallery that is tightly controlled. It makes sense, doesn't it? Certainly more sense than last week's big rumor about a Tiger return at the Accenture Match Play Championship.