It's hard to believe we are just nine days from Masters week. This means that one-third of the PGA TOUR season is nearly in the books already.

With the return of Tiger Woods dominating golf news over the last month, I thought I would take a look at a couple of players I feel are sliding under the radar at the moment but trending in the right direction.

These players are David Duval and John Daly. Both of these players have tremendous talent. Both have won major championships and both have had their share of struggles over the last several years. But as I look at their scores and play of late, I think they are both also working their way back towards hoisting a trophy.

Coming into this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, David Duval has played 19 rounds on TOUR this season. Nine of those rounds have been in the 60's, but conversely seven rounds have been 74 or higher. He has made three of six cuts and finished tied for second at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Obviously, David is not having a problem shooting low numbers with nearly half of his rounds in the 60's. If he can manage to keep it around par on the days when he doesn't have his best stuff, he will be in the mix more often than not. Just think, in 2008 he made only five cuts in 20 starts. Last year he made 15 of 22 and finished tied for second at the U.S. Open. He's not far off and I would love to see him get a "W" this year.

Where do we start with John Daly? John's life has been well chronicled and I certainly don't intend to rehash any of his trials and tribulations here. What I do know is this...John has made three cuts in a row on TOUR with one of those resulting in a Top 25 finish. Of the 12 rounds played during this stretch, eight have been par or better with only one real hiccup - a final round 81 at the Mayakoba Classic.

John really caught my attention last week at the Transitions Championship. After two solid rounds to start the tournament, he was safely under the cut line and close enough where a good round on Saturday would put him in contention. He opens the third round with two bogeys in the first five holes and then adds consecutive bogeys at holes 13 & 14 to put him four over-par for the day essentially taking any hopes of winning out of the picture.

At this point, it would be very easy to somewhat "pack it in" for the day and just get to the clubhouse. In fact, the old John might have done just that. BUT, he proceeds to birdie three of the next four holes coming in and finishes at just one over-par for the day. This leaves him tied for 46th, which doesn't sound all that flattering, but on this particular golf course you can make up ground in a hurry and something in the 60's on Sunday would most likely result in another Top 25 finish.

So has John really turned the corner? Only time will tell us that answer, but his actions in Tampa made a strong statement that he's taking his game and his tournament opportunities seriously. If this continues and he gets enough starts on TOUR, I think there's a good chance he regains his exempt status for 2011 and I wouldn't put it past him to pick up a win. Remember San Diego in 2004? He hadn't won an event since 1995, but showed he could still finish it off when he got in contention.