Wednesday Preview - Hyundai Tournament Of Champions

We're back! After a a month away, we finally have some honest to goodness golf to be played this week. It's still incredibly cold and snowy in my part of the world, but for the PGA Tour winners in 2014, they get to start their season in beautiful Maui. Tough job.

Course: Plantation Course at Kapalua, measuring close to 7,500 yards. The length is very misleading, however, as elevation changes causes the course to play a lot shorter. A mixture of big hitters and accurate shooters have contended over the years, so the fact that it is a long course serves no advantage. The players with the hot putter will be the ones who contend. As long as the winds stay down, the winner could be close to 20 under par.

Strength Of Field: D. While the event features winners from the 2014 calender year, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer are skipping the event. There were a lot of great players last year that did not win on the PGA Tour who won't be a part of the event. Bubba Watson and Jason Day are your big names. Not really a superstar field, but hey, it's golf, so I'll be tuning in anyway.

Extra Tidbits: Kapalua has become a mainstay on the PGA Tour, as this is the 17th straight year the course will host the winner's only event...The first round will begin on Monday, a rare occurrence on the PGA Tour. This is to avoid the NFL playoffs and the College Football Championship, which should begin an hour after the final round ends...Prior to the beginning of the wrap around schedule last year, the PGA Tour rookies began their season at the Sony Open in Hawaii. This year, we have one rookie in the field - Nick Taylor, who won in the fall series.

Fantasy Four:

Bubba Watson - Top ranked player in the field. While the course doesn't play as long as its posted yardage, Bubba should be able to overpower a few holes and hit a few drives over 400 yards. His putter can be streaky, so whether or not he wins will depend on how he's rolling the ball.

Jason Day - Is set for a break out season as long as he remains healthy. Expectations are high, and everyone will be looking at his performances in Hawaii to see how ready he is for the 2015 season. Every facet of the game is good enough to contend at Kapalua.

Geoff Ogilvy - Two time winner of this event. Won last year for the first time since 2010 after struggling mightily on Tour. Expectations should be low for the rest of the year, but his experience on this course should give him an added advantage over several of the first timers.

Angel Cabrera - Has not really played well since his victory last season, but seeing as this is a limited field event, he's worth a look. Big hitter, so he will be able to shorten several of these holes significantly. Form means nothing for Cabrera, as he can get hot quickly. Wants some good performances to make another Presidents Cup.