TOUR Insider: Kapalua
By Dave Shedloski, PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent
KAPALUA, Hawaii -- "Hit it low into the wind, try to use the wind and slope when it's helping you, and put yourself in position on the greens to be able to go after a few putts."
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So did Scott Verplank, erudite as he is engaging, sum up his playbook at Kapalua Resort's Plantation Course, where on Thursday the PGA TOUR once again begins its season with the $5.5 million Mercedes-Benz Championship, the prestigious tournament reserved strictly for winners of the previous year.
Verplank, 43, makes it sound easy, but he showed the TOUR Insider on Saturday how well he applies his strategy. Playing his first round of golf in more than a month and just four weeks removed from surgery on his right thumb, the veteran from Edmond, Okla., knitted together a fairly tidy 3-under-par 70 amid heavy trade winds gusting to 35 miles per hour while dragging along a contingent that included a couple of nosy journalists, his caddie Scott Tway, his son, Scott, and a family friend.
Listen, for as talented as players like Verplank appear on television or from the best vantage point along he ropes, they are even more impressive from the middle of the fairway -- from which Verplank seldom strays, by the way. He might not have the power and flash of Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, but he is so very good, highly skilled, with a wonderful short game, a balanced swing and a marvelous disposition. He is a true professional in all regards.
Speaking of straight shots and riding the wind, the second FedExCup season should be gliding along on a nice little tailwind after a successful first run. Tiger Woods, absent this week but omnipresent in golf's big picture, won the inaugural FedExCup during a campaign that proved intriguing while players and fans began to understand the nuances of a new competition.
There was something to build on there, so, to paraphrase Robert Frost, it behooves players to turn to their affairs.
As such, look no further than Vijay Singh, this week's defending champion. At age 44, the elegant Fijian is as fit as ever after undertaking a new exercise regimen that he hopes will net him more than the two victories he collected in 2007. Swing changes he initiated late last year should have congealed by now, since Singh has no doubt hit a couple of hundred balls (we jest; it's probably more like a million), since THE TOUR Championship, his last official domestic start.
"I feel a lot stronger now than I did last year," Singh, who has finished in the top five at Kapalua seven of nine years, said. "The trainer I have now (Jeffrey Fronk) is 41, and his body looks like he's 21. There's no reason why I shouldn't feel as strong as he is or as he feels. We're not even worrying about the age. We're just worrying about how the body tone is, how the body is feeling. Age does not matter at the moment, it's absolutely just a number, and we don't even consider that. I'm pretty big size-wise, and if I get my body in good shape and in good tone, I think the size itself is going to make a big difference to how far I can hit the ball and how long I can stay out there and be competitive."
Singh long ago deciphered the unique challenges of the 7,411-yard, par-73 Plantation Course, which more than any venue this side of a British Open layout demands discipline, distance control, and command of a wide variety of shots.
More than 16 inches of rain fell on the Maui track in early December, but it has dried out nicely and is in superb condition. So is the defending champion. We'll soon see who else is primed for the 33-week regular season followed by four playoff events -- three of which precede the Ryder Cup while THE TOUR Championship has moved to two weeks after.
Buckle your chinstraps. The road to the Grind Slam, as the TOUR Insider likes to refer to the Playoffs for the FedExCup, is paved with trials and tribulations, and, as always, should be fascinating drama.
FEDEXCUP POINTERS
• There are 25,000 points available this week in the FedExCup competition, including 4,950 reserved for the winner. Of nearly equal importance is the $5.5 million purse. In this Ryder Cup year, earnings determine the eight automatic bids for the U.S. team instead of points based on top-10 finishes. Captain Paul Azinger then fills out the team with four wild-card selections, two more than available to previous U.S. leaders.
• First-time competitors at the Plantation Course in the Mercedes-Benz Championship number 11, about a third of the field, which is pertinent information when you consider that Sergio Garcia, the 2002 champion, is the only man to win at Kapalua in his debut.
• Singh, with a record 18 wins after age 40, will be 45 in February, and he isn't about to slow down. However, don't look for him to play 25-plus events like he has in years past. Singh says he will still maintain an ambitious schedule, but will "pick and choose" more judiciously in '08 and try not to play more than three weeks in a row.
• Verplank could well qualify automatically, but Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger has to give strong consideration to the gritty veteran regardless of where he finishes in the U.S. team standings, not only because he is 10-3-1 in team competition, but also because of his toughness. Verplank twice had to have a cortisone shot in his aching thumb to finish the season -- including right before the Presidents Cup, where he went 4-0. The first of those shots he had before the British Open. It began wearing off, unfortunately, in the middle of the PGA Championship, where he was in contention throughout.
• He's non-exempt again in 2008, but don't think we won't see a lot of John Daly this year. And he might be more competitive. Daly plans to work with Butch Harmon, who is helping Phil Mickelson reconfigure his game for a run at more majors. Daly was planning to meet with Harmon this week to get ready for the Sony Open in Hawaii. "It's something I should have done maybe a long time ago, but I was too stubborn," Daly said recently.
• Early arrivals seen Saturday on the Plantation Course included Chad Campbell, Joe Ogilvie, Rory Sabbatini and Steve Stricker, who has won back-to-back Comeback Player of the Year Awards.
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