Nelson, Colonial fields appear loaded.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

FORT WORTH, Texas _ The numbers change hourly and will continue to until commitment deadlines for golfers to secure spots for the Fort Worth-Dallas stretch of the 2002 PGA Tour.

But one thing is clear from the early returns: Area golf fans should expect to see a stronger collection of top-tier talent than they did a year ago, when the touring pros performed their North Texas Two-Step.

And that's saying a mouthful, because the fields for last year's Verizon

Byron Nelson Classic and MasterCard Colonial were among the strongest assembled outside the major championships in 2001. But, as of Tuesday, the defining digits for 2002 look even better.

If you factor Tiger Woods into the mix _ and you should because the Masters champ is expected to announce his Nelson commitment within the next 48 hours _ the projections for May days in Fort Worth-Dallas have rarely looked sunnier.

Of the top 38 players on this week's PGA Tour money list, 36 have confirmed tee times at the Nelson or Colonial. A year ago, you needed to troll just 31 spots before finding the third absentee from local events (28 of 31).

In terms of global significance, 18 of the top 23 players from the world golf rankings are expected to compete. A year ago, it was 18 of the top 25.