TOUR Insider: Sony Open in Hawaii

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Paul Goydos experienced a life-changing event at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii. That's no exaggeration.

Paul Goydos' victory in last year's Sony Open in Hawaii was his first TOUR victory in 11 years. (Garcia/WireImage)

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"Changing equipment or changing golf balls doesn't really mean anything to me," the garrulous veteran said last week at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua Resort in Maui. "What's going to change my life is good play."

Goydos' life changed drastically last year at Waialae Country Club near Honolulu when he defeated a couple of young guns, Luke Donald and Charles Howell, by one stroke for his second PGA TOUR title and snapped a victory drought stretching back more than 10 years.

The performance was a springboard to a season in which he played in all four majors for the first time since 1996 -- the year he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational -- and qualified for all three World Golf Championships.

He's a bit nervous as his return to Oahu approaches for the $5.3 million Sony Open in Hawaii, which begins Thursday at Waialae Country Club, a par-70 layout of 7,068 yards. Goydos hasn't defended a title in quite a while, so that weighs on his mind. The native Californian's best finishes came early in the season, never finishing higher than 30th after the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Four majors netted four missed cuts.

"I'm at an age where I just hope my game shows up," Goydos, who has four top-10 finishes at Waialae CC, says philosophically. "But I'm looking forward to going back and playing a good tournament against a good field. I have good vibes. I just want to have my game better this week than it was last week so I can maybe get my year going again."

Goydos, 43, knows the key is ball striking. Though putting proved crucial down the stretch -- as it usually does in any golf tournament -- it was driving accuracy that paved the way. He hit more than 70 percent of his fairways in shooting 14-under 266. "Waialae is a very difficult golf course for driving," he says. "I put myself in position to score, and it worked oTwenty-two of the 31 men who competed in the Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua Resort are entered in this week's Sony Open in Hawaii. That includes defending champion Paul Goydos and past winners Jim Furyk (1996) and Vijay Singh (2005). Furyk (3) and Singh (10) are among four top-10 players in the field. The others are Steve Stricker (5) and K.J. Choi (9)."

Jim Furyk pointed out that just because the first two events are staged in Hawaii doesn't make them similar, with the exception of both courses covered in Bermudagrass. Wind, weather patterns and terrain dictate wholly different approaches to strategy and mindset.

"I think (last) week (was) a test of scoring, getting the ball in the hole," Furyk said. "(This) week is a little bit more of a test of ball striking because you've got to hit it so straight at Waialae to play. You'll really need to drive the ball well and hit a lot more iron shots. (At Kapalua) it's all feel. You're hitting shots from 200 yards with a 7 iron and you're hitting shots from 150 yards with a 5 iron at times. It's feel and knowledge and kind of getting used to the golf course. (Waialae) will be a little bit more of a test."

FEDEXCUP POINTERS

• So who is tournament-toughened for this week? Twenty-two of the 31 men who competed in the Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua Resort are entered in this week's Sony Open in Hawaii. That includes defending champion Paul Goydos and past winners Jim Furyk (1996) and Vijay Singh (2005). Furyk (3) and Singh (10) are among four top-10 players in the field. The others are Steve Stricker (5) and K.J. Choi (9).

• Fred Funk's season is starting out splendidly. Winner of the inaugural Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya, Funk is embarking on the second week of a four-tournament run in the 50th state that he is calling the "Hawaii Slam." Funk, 51, competed in the Mercedes-Benz Championship last week, and follows the Sony Open with two Champions Tour events -- the MasterCard Championship and the Turtle Bay Championship on Oahu, where he is the defending champion.

• Funk isn't the only Champions Tour member in the field. Jeff Sluman, who won the 1999 title, the first sponsored by Sony, returns for his 22nd appearance, tied for the most frequency of starts with Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger, the 2000 winner. John Huston and Jerry Kelly are other former champs in the field.

• The Sony Open in Hawaii, in its 10th year, represents the first full-field event of the season, with 25,000 FedExCup points available. The winner gets 4,500 points. Are points important this early? You decide. Last year three men who finished in among the top four at the Sony Open -- Charles Howell III (T2), K.J. Choi (T4) and Steve Stricker (T4) finished among the top 15 in the FedExCup regular season.

• Not many players at the Mercedes-Benz Championship made drastic changes to their equipment line-ups. Perhaps Howell and Rory Sabbatini made the most significant moves. Sabbatini, second at Sony in '06, switched from Nike to Adams Golf. After a long relationship, Howell parted ways with Callaway Golf and now is playing Bridgestone equipment and ball.

• New equipment or not, Howell should be watched closely this week. His six starts at Sony have netted four top-15 finishes, including three in the top 4. Azinger leads the field with 10 top-10s followed by Furyk and Jeff Maggert with five and Singh and Goydos with four apiece.

• There's no Michelle Wie in the field for the first time in four years, but diminutive Hawaiian star Tadd Fujikawa, who turns 17 on Tuesday, is back after last year becoming the second-youngest player in TOUR history to make a cut. This year he is playing as a professional.

• Twenty-eight players are making their debut at Waialae CC, which is hosting a PGA TOUR event for the 44th straight year. Reigning U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera headlines that list. Rookies in the field number 23, including 10 from the Nationwide Tour and 13 of the 14 Q-School grads. In all, 24 of the 25 graduates from the Nationwide Tour are entered; only Welshman Richard Johnson, who won the '07 money title, is absent.