Week 1 Approach Shots: Mercedes-Benz Champ.

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LET'S GET STARTED: The 2009 PGA TOUR season begins this week with the Mercedes-Benz Championship. The event is at a familiar setting, The Plantation Course at Kapalua, the only par-73 venue on this year's schedule.

Quick Facts

WHAT: 1st of 37 regular-season PGA TOUR events WHEN: Jan. 8-11 WHERE: Kapalua (Maui), HI COURSE: Plantation Course at Kapalua TV: 6 p.m.-10:30 p.m. ET, Thursday-Sunday, GOLF CHANNEL RADIO: 5 p.m.-11 p.m. ET, Thursday-Sunday, PGA TOUR Network (XM 146/Sirius 209) WHAT'S AT STAKE: $5,600,000 purse ($1,008,000 for winner) FEDEXCUP POINTS: 500 for winner KEY LINKS: Tee times | Leaderboard SHOT TRACKER | Tournament page VIDEO: Opening Shot

A year ago, Daniel Chopra defeated Steve Stricker in a four-hole playoff after the two finished regulation tied at 18-under. The win was Chopra's second TOUR title, with his first coming a few months earlier when he won the 2007 Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro, a Fall Series event.

For the last three seasons, Chopra has been the model of consistency, finishing 54th, 48th and 52nd on the money list. He has also qualified for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup in each of the first two seasons.

This week, a field of 33 players will be competing for the 500 FedExCup points that go to the winner and the $1,008,000 first prize.

By winning a year ago, Chopra, a native of Stockholm, Sweden, who grew up in India, became the fifth consecutive international player to win this event. Spain's Sergio Garcia began the streak in 2002, followed by South Africa's Ernie Els in 2003. From 2004 to 2006, Australia's Stuart Appleby was the winner, with Fiji's Vijay Singh winning in 2007.

PLAYER NOTES: Two-time TOUR winners Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas will begin their seasons in Kapalua, a first for both players. The two will be paired together during the first round, a precursor to the 2008 BCS National Championship Game, which will kick off that night featuring their alma maters -- the University of Florida (Villegas) and the University of Oklahoma (Kim).

Kim is coming off a fourth-place finish in the 2008 FedExCup, highlighted by victories at the Wachovia Championship and the AT&T National, and $4,656,265 in earnings.

Villegas capped off a highly successful 2008 season ranked second in the FedExCup standings, including victories in the last two PGA TOUR Playoff events (BMW Championship and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola).

Singh capped a banner year on the TOUR by hoisting the FedExCup at the conclusion of the 2008 season. He'll begin his quest for another FedExCup title this week, where he has been nothing less than dominant over his career. Of his last nine starts at the event, he has amassed seven top-five finishes -- including a victory in 2007 and runner-up showings in 2004 and 2006.

Winning the Mercedes-Benz Championship has traditionally sparked an outstanding season for the winner. Out of the last 17 winners at the season-opening event, Chopra is the only one who failed to advance to THE TOUR Championship, the fourth and final event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

Chopra returns in 2009 to defend his title at Kapalua. His win in 2008, his only top-10 finish of the year, came just two starts after his inaugural TOUR victory, at the 2007 Ginn sur Mer Classic.

ON-COURSE OBSERVATIONS: PGA TOUR Network correspondent Fred Albers is on the scene at Kapalua for this week's satellite radio coverage (XM 146/Sirius 209). Reports Albers:

"The Plantation Course sets up well for the big hitters on TOUR, and their advantage may be even bigger this week. We had a lot of rain here in the last few days, so the place will play longer than its advertised 7,411 yards.

"With the wind and club selection, I think it takes some experience to win here, but Daniel Chopra blew that out of the water with his playoff win over Steve Stricker last year. I was just looking at some stats from year. Not surprisingly, Chopra led the field last year in putts per greens in regulation, and that is a nice stat to have because these greens are large. These are among the largest greens on TOUR, and avoiding three-putts is absolutely vital this week.

"Even though Stricker is not in the field this year, he's a good example of how medium hitting, smooth-putting guys like Zach Johnson and Justin Leonard can do well here."

Weather forecast for Mercedes-Benz Championship

THURSDAY, Rd. 1 FRIDAY, Rd. 2 SATURDAY, Rd. 3 SUNDAY, Rd. 4 Mostly sunny Temp: 82 high/64 low Isolated showers possible Sunny Temp: 82 high/65 low Isolated showers possible Partly cloudy Temp: 79 high/65 low   Showers Temp: 77 high/64 low Strong winds with rain

DTN/Meteorlogix is the official weather provider of the PGA TOUR. For more information, click here

Welcome back!

Several notable veterans returned to their winning way on the PGA TOUR in 2008 to guarantee a return trip to the season-opening event in Kapalua reserved for winners of the previous year's tournaments. Here's a look at three of those veterans:   Davis Love III: A 20-time TOUR winner (with his last coming at the 2008 Children's Miracle Network Classic) is making his first visit to Kapalua since a tie for fourth in 2007. In all, Love has eight top-10 finishes in 12 appearances at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, including a victory in 1993.   Ernie Els: He is the winner of the 2008 Honda Classic and returns to the Plantation Course for the first time since a tie for third in 2005. Els has seven career starts in Kapalua, with four top-three finishes in his last five starts. He was second in 2000, tied for third in '01, won in '03, tied for 21st in '04 and tied for third in '05.   Stewart Cink: His victory at the 2008 Travelers Championship punched his ticket to the Mercedes-Benz Championship for the first time since 2005, when he tied for fifth.

OPENING DRIVE: The Opening Drive for the FedExCup begins this week in Kapalua.

On Thursday, the Opening Ceremony will be televised live on GOLF CHANNEL (3:30 p.m-4 p.m. ET) with Mark Rolfing as emcee. Rolfing will be joined by PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, Mercedes-Benz USA Vice President of Marketing Steve Cannon and Gary Planos from Kapalua Land Company.

A ceremonial ancient hula will be performed with traditional dancers followed by a performance of the national anthem by singer-songwriter Josh Kelley.

A ceremonial tee shot will be hit by former NFL quarterback John Elway. Academy Award-nominated actor Greg Kinnear will be the Honorary Starter, announcing the first tee times of the day, starting with Marc Turnesa, playing as a single.

The U.S. military will have a strong presence with Coast Guard Station Maui acting as the Color Guard and the Army's 25th ID Aviation performing a flyover with three Blackhawk helicopters. This event launches the third season of the FedExCup, the PGA TOUR's season-long points competition.

KODAK CHALLENGE: A first-of-its-kind competition for PGA TOUR players will officially crank up at the Plantation course.

The Kodak Challenge celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA TOUR. The Kodak Challenge offers $1 million to the winner There will be one designated Kodak Challenge Hole at 24 different PGA TOUR tournaments in 2008, with this week's featured hole the 663-yard 18th hole.

Players, who must play at least 18 of the holes during the season to be eligible, will count their lowest score relative to par on the Kodak Challenge Hole made during an official competition round. The player, with the lowest cumulative score in relation to par at the end of the challenge, wins.

For more on the Kodak Challenge, click here.