Am I the only Jones out there who doesn't think golf when he thinks Irving, Texas? Probably not. Fact is, a Bill Parcells press conference regarding Terrell Owens is likely more engaging than any presser we'll get from the Byron Nelson Championship this week.

To say nothing of John Travolta playing J.R. Ewing in the movie Dallas. Is this true? Is John Travolta still alive? I think he's in a pod circling the space station, grinning about something only he knows what, maybe black gold, oil that is, oh wait, wrong theme song....

The golf news of the week is that with his win at the Wachovia Championship, Jim Furyk is now ranked #5 in the world. This means Ernie Els is out, a remarkable turn of events because now the much anticipated Big-Five-way playoff in each of the majors can't happen, because now it's six. This means Pat Reilly is thinking copyright: Super Six. I called it first, he says. No, that won't happen. He's busy, and Super Six is lame. But it does raise the question of how far down the rankings the golf world will go to create competition among its top players where it doesn't consistently exist.

What it really means is Furyk isn't going to hit a putt with expedience any time soon. The good news is J Lo is playing Sue Ellen.

Here's this week's picks for the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Odds are from WillHill.com:

Take Ernie Els (12-1), 1/3rd unit. In his last six tournaments he has three top-10s, dating to Doral. Maybe more importantly, he has three top-10s in his last three trips to Irving, Texas.

Take Camilo Villegas (80-1), 1/3rd unit. Maybe we got a little excited about this guy. He missed the cut last week. He putts too much. But he's got the talent to win any day and he's an SNL skit waiting to happen.

Take Bart Bryant (100-1), 1/3rd unit. Don't forget about this Texan. He missed the cut last year. T48 in '04. Putting is a mess; moustache is not. The kind of equilibrium I like in a 100-1.

In the head-to-head, take Els to finish higher than Adam Scott (10-11), 2 units. I don't think the Big Easy is going to be out of the top five for long, even as Scott is coming off a strong showing at Quail Hollow.

Jeremy Church is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League. Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Jeremy_Church.htm