PGA slate begins with Mercedes-Benz Championship

Jan 8, 2009 - 12:43 PM KAPALUA, Hawaii (Ticker) - It may be time for shoveling snow and recovering from the holiday season for most of the country, but it's time for golf on the PGA Tour.

The $5.6 million Mercedes-Benz Championship starts Thursday and marks the beginning of another season. A total of 33 players will be in the field for this winners-only event.

With Tiger Woods still working his way back from knee surgery, the focus will be on some of last season's breakthrough players to see if they can build on their momentum.

One player to keep an eye on is Anthony Kim, who won the Wachovia championship and AT&T National and earned $4,656,265. He capped his season with a standout performance in the Ryder Cup that included a thrashing of Sergio Garcia in a Sunday singles match.

Daniel Chopra of Sweden is the defending champion. Last year, Chopra defeated Steve Stricker in a four-hole playoff after the duo finished regulation tied at 18-under-par. The win was Chopra's second tour title and it turned out to be his only top-10 finish of the 2008 season.

Chopra's victory also continued a recent trend here, as he became the seventh consecutive foreign-born player to win the event.

Vijay Singh won in 2007 to snap a streak of three straight victories by Australian Stuart Appleby. Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia were winners in 2003 and 2002 respectively.

The Plantation course at Kapalua plays at 7,411 yards and is the only par-73 track on this year's PGA Tour schedule.

First prize is just over $1 million and a win also guarantees a spot in the field here next season.