Born in Monroe, a city in the northeastern part of the state, Toms played his college golf at LSU in Baton Rouge. Today, he makes his home in Shreveport, so his popularity with the gallery will come as no surprise.

For the 40-year-old veteran, the 2007 PGA season has shown promise at times - two weeks ago, Toms finished ninth at the Masters - but he's yet to notch a win. With his last victory on tour coming at the 2006 Sony Open, this week figures to be one of his better opportunities to snare a 13th career title. He's getting 12/1 odds to win the Zurich Classic. Sean O'Hair and Lucas Glover are the next heaviest favorites at 25/1.

Toms has found success in the New Orleans-based event before. In 2001, he won what was then called the Compaq Classic, which was played at English Turn. The victory turned out to be a sign of great things to come. Just over three months later, he captured his only career major at the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. And thanks to another first-place finish at the 2001 Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, Toms finished the year as the world's seventh-ranked player.

David Toms - 2007 PGA Results

Toms is currently the world's 19th-ranked golfer, and with a field bereft of stars, he'll be the highest-ranked player in the Zurich Classic. Chris Dimarco (34), Joe Durant (41), Steve Stricker (43) and Glover (48) are the only other top-50 players who have committed.

As for the track, the par-72 TPC Louisiana plays a demanding 7,341 yards, ostensibly giving big hitters an advantage. However, the weather's been dry and warm in New Orleans and more of the same is expected for the weekend. Thus, short hitters like Toms should be able to get some roll off their drives.

In fact, Tim Petrovic won the 2005 Zurich Classic at TPC Louisiana, which played a whopping 7,520 yards back then. Petrovic averages just over 280 yards off the tee, 113th-best on tour.

Still, Toms knows his length off the tee costs him at times. "Golf has become a power game, and I don't know if I've been able to keep up with the big hitters," he told The Times-Picayune. "I say this because I always seem to be the shortest hitter in my group."

Toms has been disappointing in the Zurich Classic since winning in 2001. He finished tied for 47th last year and was cut in both 2005 and 2003.

His 2005 debacle could be of particular concern to backers since that was the only one to be played at TPC Louisiana. Granted, it's worth noting that Toms simply wasn't playing well at the time. He missed the cut at the Masters a few weeks prior and followed up New Orleans with another golfless weekend at the Wachovia Championship. Proof that golf is a streaky game; three straight top-10 finishes would follow that.

In last year's Zurich Classic at English Turn, Chris Couch won for the first time on the PGA Tour by chipping in from 55 feet for par on the 18th hole to win by one shot over Charles Howell III and Fred Funk.

Golf Betting Notes

• On Monday, 33-year-old Boo Weekley chipped in twice on the final two holes to win the weather-delayed Verizon Heritage in South Carolina. If his name rings a bell, that's because Weekley was the same guy who missed a three-footer to win last month's Honda Classic. After losing in a four-man playoff to Mark Wilson, Weekley subsequently missed two of his next three cuts. His bounceback at Harbour Town has earned him a 28/1 shot at the Zurich Classic.
   
• Retief Goosen (6/1) and Ernie Els (6/1) are co-favorites at this week's European Tour stop, the BMW Asian Open at Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club. Goosen's last outing, of course, was a second-place finish (tied with Tiger Woods and Rory Sabbatini) at the Masters. Meanwhile, Els was the runner-up Monday at Harbour Town, one week after missing the cut at Augusta. Els is also a past champion at the event, winning in 2005. Spain's Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño is the defending champion. Of note, the course has a new layout for the 2007 version, with the old 15th hole now playing as the 18th.
   
• According to oddsmakers, Tiger Woods is most likely to win zero majors in 2007. Shocked? Okay, well, that's a little misleading. Woods is at 5/4 to win no majors, 3/2 to win one, 4/1 to win two and 20/1 to win three. He's currently getting 5/2 odds to win the British Open, the same as he's getting to take the U.S. Open.