KAPALUA, Hawaii, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- The 2008 PGA Tour season begins Thursday with the playing of the first round of the Mercedes-Benz Championship on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
Stephen Ames, coming off a season in which he won for the third time on the circuit, will hit the first ball of the year at the Kapalua Plantation Course.
Advertisement
The season-opening event is for players who won on the PGA Tour in 2007 and has a field of 31.
The field includes Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and 2007 comeback player of the year Steve Stricker. Masters champion Zach Johnson and U.S. Open winner Angel Cabrera also will play in the 72-hole tournament.
Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and British Open champ Padraig Harrington will not take part.
