Last Updated: Thu, 08 May 2008 15:48
Tiger Woods will not be at the Players Championship this week, but that will not make it any easier to win, according to Jim Furyk.
The world number one has been forced to miss the Sawgrass event, unofficially dubbed the fifth Major, as he his recovering from knee surgery, but Furyk insists that does not mean that the pressure is off.
Furyk, ranked seventh in the world, said: "I don't think we look at this event and say, 'He's not here, now I have a better chance of winning.'
"You worry about yourself and your own game and getting yourself ready. I'm not really looking at the field."
It is a sentiment backed up by Open champion Padraig Harrington, who said: "It doesn't change my approach. I've got to play my own game.
"If it comes down to it on Sunday and you're playing the 18th hole and you're a shot behind or a shot ahead, it doesn't really make any difference who's on the other side of the tee.
"It's going to be just as hard to beat that player as anybody else because if they're there, they're probably playing the best golf of their life."
However, one player who appears to be more relaxed ahead of the tee-off is world number two, Phil Mickelson.
"When he's in the field that's the first thing you look at on the leaderboard - what did Tiger shoot, where does he stand," he said.
"That's obviously going to be different when he's not in the field. You don't have that thought."