Groups we're watching: Bridgestone Inv., Round 1

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All times eastern.

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Padraig Harrington, Scott Verplank, Darren Clarke
Tee time: 8:41 a.m.
Tee: No. 1
Total TOUR wins: 11
Why you should watch: Harrington makes his first PGA TOUR start since winning the British Open earlier this month at Royal Birkdale. Consider this: Harrington has 10 TOUR starts this season. In those 10 starts, he has five top-fives and seven top-25s. It's hard to imagine he won't be a factor this week. Verplank comes into this week with four consecutive made cauts including three top-30 finishes. The best of those was a tie for eighth at the Stanford St. Jude Champiponship in early June. Clarke is making his 2008 PGA TOUR debut this week. He has enjoyed some success on the European Tour this year with a win at the Asian Open. He's also won at Firestone CC in 2003 and he finished third there in 2001.

Henrik Stenson, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els
Tee time: 12:15 p.m.
Tee: No. 1
Total TOUR wins: 51
Why you should watch: In seven PGA TOUR starts this season, Stenson has three top-10 finishes, including a tie for third at the British Open earlier this month. His lone TOUR win also came at a World Golf Championships event, the Accenture Match-Play Championship in 2007. Mickelson has seven top-20 finishes in his last nine TOUR starts, including a win at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in May. He also won the Northern Trust Open back in February. All Els has done is win The Honda Classic and post two other top-10s in 10 TOUR starts this year. He tied for seventh at Royal Birkdale, by the way.

Kenny Perry, Andres Romero, Stephen Ames
Tee time: 1:21 p.m.
Tee: No. 1
Total TOUR wins: 16
Why you should watch: In case you happen to be living under a rock for the past couple of months, Kenny Perry has been playing pretty well. He was villified for missing the U.S. and British Opens, but his other results are hard to ignore. Perry has won three times in his last six starts, with two other top-10s sprinkled in. Romero won in New Orleans earlier this season, but has escaped the spotlight since. He has not finished in the top 30 since at tie for eighth at the Masters. Ames, meanwhile, has found the spotlight recently, with three top-10s in his last six starts. However, he is coming off a missed cut last week at the RBC Canadian Open.