Motivation not a problem for these five in 2009

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Kenny Perry, Troy Matteson, Charles Howell III, Lucas Glover and David Toms all have something to prove in '09.

With the dawn of another PGA TOUR season only a few weeks away, this is the time of year when players began to assess their goals for 2009.

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For some the bar is set at a very high level. Guys like Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington want to win another major. A guy like Tiger Woods wants to win four more majors.

Freshly minted players, like q-school survivors Leif Olson and Derek Fathaeur, have more modest, but just as important goals. They want to play well enough to keep their card and avoid another visit to that the Happiest Six Rounds in Golf, also known as PGA TOUR Qualifying School.

With Christmas fast approaching, it seems like a good time to zoom in on a few players who have something to prove in 2009. For an assortment of reasons, here are five guys who should be motivated to get things going, perhaps as early as Hawaii.

Kenny Perry
The Duke of Elizabethtown had a career year at age 48, winning three times and earning a spot on the Ryder Cup team. The question remains: Does Perry want to work as hard as he did a year ago or will he be content to rest on those laurels and prepare to ride off onto the Champions Tour?

Perry played to some high standards in 2008 and his efforts produced plenty of fruit. He finished No. 5 on the money list with $4.6 million in earnings, both career bests. He doesn't have to worry about qualifying for anything and should make one more round at all the major championships.

His motivation: Proving last year wasn't a fluke and that he can still hang in there with the kids. Maybe he could even get motivated enough to make a run at the 2010 Ryder Cup team.

Troy Matteson
The former Georgia Tech star and NCAA champion began to find his footing again in the Fall Series. Matteson, 29, closed the season with top-tens in the final two events. It was a great sign for a guy who missed 14 cuts -- 10 of them after a tie for second at the PODS Championship until the Fall Series.

The boost in confidence should enable Matteson to more closely resemble the rising star who closed the 2006 season on a tear. Matteson was No. 89 on the final money list with $1.2 in earnings, but can do much better.

His motivation: Encouraged by the success of the Georgia Tech football team, which won an unexpected nine games and beat rival Georgia, Matteson is inspired enough to run through a brick wall. Please stop him -- there are no brick walls in golf -- and point him to the first tee. Don't be surprised if he wins again this spring.

We thought long and hard about which players to include in our list of the Top 100 Players to Watch in 2009. We argued over a few names. Regrettably, we had to leave out some players who were certainly worthy. But we finally got it down to an even 100. Let the countdown begin.

Charles Howell III
Sir Charles never got it going in 2008, coming close to victory only once in the regular season, at the Atlanta tournament. Like Matteson, Howell got things going in the Fall Series with two top-10s, including a tie for third at Turning Stone.

It seems like CH3 has been around forever. He has; Howell is starting his 10th season on TOUR, but won't have 30 candles on his birthday cake until June 20. He's still a young guy with plenty of upside.

His motivation: He needs to get in the mix and win again. The same formula worked in 2007 when he had a great start, won at Riviera, and played his way onto the Presidents Cup team. Encore, encore.

Lucas Glover
Hard to believe it was only two years ago that everyone was crowing about how Glover might be a long-term fixture on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. It didn't happen in 2008. He was never part of Paul Azinger's equation for Valhalla; Glover was No. 105 on the money list with $998,000 in winnings.

Glover didn't play horribly; he missed only six cuts in 26 starts. He just had far too many rounds where the first digit of his score started with a "7" instead of a "6" and wound up with only two top-tens.

His motivation: Glover was happy to see the season end. He didn't even compete in the Fall Series and has used the break to do a little hunting, watch Clemson football games (sometimes with both hands covering his eyes) and work on his game. He's ready for a fresh start. And remember: he's only 29.

David Toms
What a forgettable season. Due to a lower back injury, Toms played only 20 tournaments, was No. 131 on the money list and made less than $800,000 -- his least productive year since 1998. And LSU's football season came unwound with big losses to Alabama, Georgia and Florida, leaving the Bayou Bengals headed for the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta.

Toms is in that over-40 category where things can go squirrely for a lot of reasons. A tweaked back can lead to an unnoticeable swing change, which can lead to bad habits, which can lead to poor results, which can lead to writing tournament directors and asking for an exemption. Toms isn't there yet. Last season was more than likely an aberration, but such a trap door does exist for the unaware.

His motivation: Toms is a guy who takes pride in his ability to compete at a high level. He's won 12 times, played in three Ryder Cups and three Presidents Cups. He'll be 42 in January and could be this year's Davis Love III. Look for him to end a winless streak that is nearly three years long and regain his place of prominence.

Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.