Early focus will be on Mickelson

The final stop in the PGA Tour's swing through Texas kicks off today with the start of the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. The big question being asked in golf writing circles as play begins is whether Phil Mickelson can win and replace Tiger Woods as the world's top-ranked player.

It will take a victory by Mickelson to leapfrog ahead of Woods, but it wouldn't be surprising if he pulls it off and becomes the world's No. 1 golfer for the first time in his career. Mickelson likes "Hogan's Alley" and has two titles, 2000 and 2008, to prove it. He also has demonstrated an ability to shoot low scores at Colonial, having broken double digits under par three times in 13 starts. His final-round 63 in 2000 ties his lowest-ever score in a final round of a PGA Tour event.

Even so, he'll have to contend against a strong field that includes FedEx Cup top 10 players Jim Furyk (No. 2), Tim Clark (No. 5), Dustin Johnson (No. 7), Ben Crane (No. 8) and defending champion Steve Stricker (No. 10). Other notables in the field are Kenny Perry, Paul Casey, Stewart Cink, Lucas Glover, Y.E. Yang, Ian Poulter, Vijay Singh, Hunter Mahan and Jason Day.

"The only way to do it is to win here and there is a very strong field here," Mickelson said on the eve of the tournament. "Fortunately it's on an a golf course that I have played well on in the past and that I enjoy. And I'm looking forward to that challenge and that opportunity to overtake the top spot."

Colonial is a shot-makers' course that includes 12 doglegs. It requires strategy and often takes the driver out of the hands of the bigger hitters. Historically, it has favored experienced players over younger ones. Since 1996 all the champions have won an average of 10 PGA Tour events. The biggest exception to that norm was Sergio Garcia when he won in 2001 to register his first PGA Tour victory.

So far the Texas swing of the PGA Tour has produced three champions in their 20s: Anthony Kim (Houston Open), Adam Scott (Texas Open) and Day (Byron Nelson Championship). So it will be interesting to see if a fourth young gun can rise to the occasion this week. The Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial will be telecast by the Golf Channel (today-Fri., 2-6 p.m.) and CBS (Sat.-Sun. 3-6 p.m.).

Woods, who announced yesterday on his website that he will play in next week's Memorial tournament, has reigned as the No. 1 player for the last 259 weeks and for 601 total in his career.

Information from ESPN.com, PGATOUR.com and GolfObserver.com contributed to this post.