David Toms will miss the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic. Even without him, the New Orleans tournament claims to have its strongest field in years.

Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk and Retief Goosen are among the players set to tee it up starting Thursday at TPC Louisiana.

Plus, Nick Watney is back to defend his title as Zurich Classic champion. Last year's victory was the first of Watney's PGA Tour career. He carded a 69 in the final round to beat Ken Duke by three strokes.

So far this year, Watney has struggled a bit. He's 73rd in FedEx Cup points. He hopes returning to the site of his greatest accomplishment will provide a spark to get him back on track.

Watney's thinking about the past and hoping to repeat it.