Mercedes Championships: PGA 2006 Begins

Right, Max. Hawaii, Max. It`s not just that California`s had a run of really wet weather lately (possibly forecasting the rain-delayed 2005 West Coast swing that revivified the age-old debate about indoor golf), it`s that the famous line from Annie Hall---"California, Max", as in, "if we lived in California, we could play outdoors every day, in the sun"---doesn`t apply this week because the PGA Tour kicks off the 2006 season with the Mercedes Championships at the Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii, where the usual weather event comes in the form of trade winds, not steady drenching rains. Every year I talk about what a great tournament this is: TV cutaways to and fro, commercial breaks of beautiful vistas, sun and sea from the course`s tall hills; a solid field of last year`s Tour winners; 400-plus yard drives on the last hole; and the possibility of long money on quality golfers in a small field. Because Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington are not playing (or Ernie Els, by the way, who didn`t win in his injury-shortened 2005) and because there were so many low-ranked winners on Tour last year, this week`s Mercedes is a smaller (28-player), more bargain-filled field than normal. Mickelson and Goosen didn`t do the Silly Season tour like Woods and Harrington, and the latter`s decision to not play in Kapalua is curious as he`s never played in the tournament. Hawaii`s a long flight from anywhere, fine, but it`s a guaranteed paycheck. And I have to figure the islands are sunnier than Ireland this time of year. Hawaii, Padraig. There`s always the flipside to the strength-of-field approach. Maybe the favorites---Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, David Toms and Sergio Garcia---do look more likely to win than 50-1 shots like Jason Bohn, Jason Gore and Ted Purdy. But given that there`s no cut, the pressure is off slightly, and so is the intimidation factor, which is significantly less a factor anyway because Tiger isn`t playing. Even if the world #1 was playing, though, I`d still look at other golfers. Bart Bryant, an unknown, won twice last year: the Memorial and season-ending Tour Championship where he held off guess who? Purdy won the Byron Nelson last May, fending off Singh. As for the course, there are the peaks and valleys of Kapalua, and those trade winds (which are almost always at the players` backs on the last hole, yielding those 400-500-yard drives). The greens can be slick, which might be a factor for the favorite, Singh. Two months doesn`t account for much of an offseason; who can say if Vijay`s come to a happy place with his putter? Jeremy Church covers Nascar for Brian Gabrielle Sports