Phil Mickelson faces an intriguing challenge on Thursday when he opens the defence of the Mercedes Championship which marks the beginning of the 1999 USPGA Tour.
After being staged since 1969 at La Costa Resort in California, where Mickelson also triumphed in 1994, the event has moved to the Plantation Course at Kapalua, on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
The Mercedes will be followed by a new tournament, the Sony Open, which is also being played in Hawaii. Also new to the USPGA Tour schedule are the three World Golf Championship events and one of these, the NEC Invitational at Firestone, will run against the Reno-Tahoe Open, another addition to this season's schedule.
The Mercedes event is limited to the 35 winners of official "regular" American tournaments last year, but there will be two absentees. Lee Westwood, who captured the Freeport McDermott Classic last April as a non-member of the tour, has decided not to compete. Olin Browne, winner of the Greater Hartford Open, has also withdrawn because of close-season arm surgery.
The other challengers, including 1997 champion Tiger Woods, will be competing for a purse of $2.6 million, of which the winner will receive $468,000. In capturing the title 12 months ago, Mickelson shot a final round of 68 for a onestroke victory over Woods and Mark O'Meara who finished with sparkling 64s.
At 27 years, six months and 26 days, it made Mickelson the second-youngest player since 1960 to win 12 tournaments. Jack Nicklaus was aged 24 years, seven months and 30 days when he captured the 1964 Portland Open, his 12th tour title.
"I began to question myself last year and it was important that I was able to handle the pressure," admitted Mickelson, who ended 1998 with official earnings of $1,837,246 which brought him sixth place in the final money list. His victory in the Mercedes also helped him to claim the "King of the Swing" title which is awarded to the leading money-winner on the so-called West Coast Swing.
The Plantation Course at Kapalua becomes the fourth venue to be used in the 46-year history of the opening event of the US tournament season. When known at the Tournament of Champions, its first home was the Desert Inn CC in Las Vegas from 1953 to 1966; then it was played at the Stardust CC close by, in 1967 and 1968 before it moved to La Costa the following year.
Interestingly, four of the last seven events have been decided by play-offs. Particularly memorable was the victory by debutant Woods in 1997 when he almost had a hole-in-one on a sudden-death par-three against Tom Lehman. But Steve Elkington holds the distinction of having had two sudden-death victories in the event, in 1992 when he beat Brad Faxon and in 1995 when Bruce Lietzke was runner-up.
Gene Littler was the tournament's first multiple winner, capturing it in 1954, 1955 and 1956. Then came Jack Nicklaus with victories in 1963, 1964, 1971, 1973 and 1977, followed by Arnold Palmer (1962, 1965 and 1966), Gary Player (1969, 1978) and Tom Watson (1979, 1980 and 1984).
The tournament record is held by Calvin Peete with a 21-underpar aggregate of 267 at La Costa in 1986, when he beat O'Meara by six strokes.
Meanwhile, the 20th season of the US Seniors' Tour will not start until January 17th with the staging of the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai. It promises to be a notable season for the fact that Watson will swing into action on September 4th, when he celebrates his 50th birthday.
Another fascinating prospect is the attempt by Hale Irwin to become the first competitor to win the Senior Player of the Year title for a third successive year. Lee Trevino gained the award in 1990, 1992 and 1994. Then there is the milestone which Miller Barber will reach when he plays his 500th official tournament. Barber has played in 489 events.
Finally, there is the challenge for Japan's Isao Aoki of becoming the first player on either the regular or senior American tour to pass $1 million in tournament earnings for a fifth successive season.
Official World Tours Money List For 1998: (US unless stated): 1 D Duval $2,680,489; 2 V Singh (Fiji) $2,398,782; 3 T Woods $2,077,197; 4 J Furyk $2,054,334; 5 L Westwood (Eng) $2,022,213; 6 M O'Meara $2,014,039; 7 H Sutton $1,838,740; 8 P Mickelson $1,837,246; 9 D Love III $1,703,001; 10 C Montgomerie (Scot) $1,684,449; 11 J Leonard $1,678,864; 12 F Couples $1,678,837; 13 J Huston $1,565,307; 14 J Parnevik (Swe) $1,525,543; 15 D Clarke (Ire) $1,420,065; 16 E Els (SA) $1,419,494; 17 M Calcavecchia $1,409,278; 18 J Ozaki (Jap) $1,336,083; 19 S Stricker $1,313,948; 20 G Day $1,292,022.
