Pre-tournament notes: Mitsubishi Electric Champ.

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Condon/PGA TOUR

Defending champion Fred Funk will not have the chance to play for his title this week due to a knee injury.

FUNK UNABLE TO DEFEND TITLE
With defending champion Fred Funk idled by a knee injury, it marks the second consecutive Champions Tour event where the defending champion will be unable to defend his title. Jim Thorpe, the 2007 Charles Schwab Cup Championship winner, did not defend his crown last October after failing to qualify for the event. Prior to Thorpe, the last player to be in this position was Hubert Green at the 2003 Long Island Classic when he was sidelined following cancer surgery.

Watson

WATSON IN FIRST OFFICIAL START SINCE SURGERY
After undergoing left hip-replacement surgery last Oct. 2, Tom Watson will make his first start in a full-field tournament since last August's Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. Watson won twice in 2008 and returned to action at last week's Wendy's Champions Skins Game in Maui, where he teamed with Jack Nicklaus.

Watson will also be seeking his first official title in the Aloha State. All-time, he is 0-32 (0-22/PGA TOUR, 0-10/Champions Tour). He has come close to victory several times, however. On the PGA TOUR, he finished second at the Sony Open in Hawaii in 1998, seven strokes back of John Huston. He also tied for third in the event in 1986 and was solo third in 1973. On the Champions Tour, Watson lost in a playoff to Dana Quigley at Hualalai in 2005.

PATE RETURNS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE MAY
Tom Watson will not be the only player trying to come back from surgery. Jerry Pate, who captured last year's Turtle Bay Championship, will be making his first start since last May's Senior PGA Championship in Rochester, N.Y. Pate played just one round before injuries cut short his season after 10 events. He later underwent left-shoulder surgery as well as left-knee surgery in the summer. This will be his first start since his surgeries.

HOCH AND JACOBSEN SIDELINED WITH INJURIES
Scott Hoch, a two-time winner in 2008, will miss the event due to a sore left wrist that plagued him during portions of last season. Hoch posted consecutive victories early in the year at the Allianz Championship and The ACE Group Classic in Florida. Peter Jacobsen, who was sidelined much of last year after undergoing right knee-replacement surgery, is out of this event due to a recent shoulder injury.

Irwin

CAN IRWIN RECAPTURE HAWAII MAGIC?
No current player on the Champions Tour has enjoyed the success Hale Irwin has enjoyed in the state of Hawaii. A two-time winner of this event (1997, 2007), Irwin's 2007 victory was the 45th of his Champions Tour career -- 16 victories more than Lee Trevino, the closest to him on the all-time wins list. Irwin has won 19 of his 45 events after the age of 55, and his victory on the Big Island in 2007 came at 61 years, 7 months, 18 days, making him the sixth-oldest winner in Champions Tour history. His 2007 victory was also was his ninth official win in Hawaii and 12th victory overall. In addition to his two victories in the season-opening event, Irwin won the Turtle Bay Championship six times -- five in succession from 2000-05 (no event in 2004). He also claimed the 1981 Hawaiian Open on the PGA TOUR. Irwin's three unofficial wins in Hawaii came at the 1999 Senior Skins Game at Mauna Lani and the 2001 and 2002 Senior Skins Game at Wailea. Irwin's all-time career earnings in Hawaii are $4,205,831.

QUEST FOR 2009 CHARLES SCHWAB CUP BEGINS HERE
First started in 2001, the Charles Schwab Cup is a season-long, points-based competition to determine the Champions Tour's leading player. Points are awarded to top-10 finishers each week, with double points going to the winners of the major championships as well as the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship winner. The competition has seen three double winners, including 2008 champion Jay Haas, who also won in 2006. Hale Irwin (2002, 2004) and Tom Watson (2003, 2005). Should that recent tradition of winning every other year continue, then perhaps Loren Roberts (2007 champion) is in the driver's seat for 2009 -- or can Haas become the first player to repeat as champion?

Sluman

NEW FACES DOT FIELD
Among players making their debuts at this event are Jeff Sluman, Andy North and Bruce Vaughan. All three posted their first Champions Tour victories in 2008. Vaughan earned a berth for the next five years by winning the Senior British Open last July at Royal Troon. A total of seven players have claimed the title at Hualalai in their first attempt. Loren Roberts (2006) was the last to do so. Others to accomplish the feat are Orville Moody (1984), Peter Thomson (1985), Dave Hill (1988), George Archer (1990), John Bland (1996) and John Jacobs (1999).

FIELD INCLUDES FOUR FORMER WINNERS
This year's 34-man field includes just four former champions -- Hale Irwin (1997, 2007), Gil Morgan (1998), Tom Kite (2002) and Loren Roberts (2006).

SLUMAN LOOKS TO EXTEND STREAK
Jeff Sluman comes into this event with a streak of 25 rounds of par or better. The all-time Champions Tour record is 37 by Loren Roberts in 2006-2007, but should Sluman post three more here, he could move into third place all-time in that category. Larry Nelson had 32 in 2000. Lee Trevino (1992), Bruce Summerhays (1995), Raymond Floyd (1995) and Bruce Fleisher (2002) all had 27 consecutive at some point in their careers.

GILDER STREAK ENDS
Since he is no longer an exempt player for this tournament, Bob Gilder's streak of 122 consecutive Champions Tour events comes to a close. However, Gilder can still continue to add to his streak of consecutive-eligible events should he play at February's Allianz Championship in Florida. Prior to missing this event, the last one he missed was the 2004 Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn.

Doyle

DOYLE ENJOYS THE ISLANDS
When Allen Doyle finished as the runner-up to Fred Funk last year, it was his third consecutive top-10 finish in the tournament and his seventh top-10 overall in this event, tying him with Raymond Floyd, Al Geiberger and Chi Chi Rodriguez for the most in tournament history.

14TH APPEARANCE FOR IRWIN
When he tees it up this week, Hale Irwin will be playing in his 14th consecutive Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, the best current streak among players in the field. Allen Doyle will be making his 10th straight start in the tournament.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS FOR HAAS
Jay Haas, the 2007 Champions Tour Player of the Year, comes into this year's tournament with a string of nine consecutive sub-70 rounds at Hualalai and has finished tied for third, tied for fifth and tied for third in his three career appearances.

FIELD INCLUDES FOUR PLAYERS AGE 60-PLUS
This year's field includes four players age 60 and over, led by 73-year-old Gary Player, who has beaten his age three times in this event and matched it one other time. Joining Player are 63-year-old Hale Irwin, 62-year-old Gil Morgan and 60-year-old Allen Doyle.

Zoeller

SIZING UP THE LEADERS AFTER 36 HOLES
In the previous 25 tournaments, the player who has led or been tied for the lead after 36 holes has won the tournament 16 times. However, in the last five years, only Hale Irwin (2007) was a Saturday leader who went on to triumph. Fuzzy Zoeller (2004), Dana Quigley (2005) and Loren Roberts (2006) all rallied from three strokes back for victory, and Fred Funk came from one stroke back in 2008.

ROBERTS IS A BIRDIE MACHINE
In his three starts at the Hualalai Golf Course, 2006 winner Loren Roberts has made 63 birdies and two eagles in 162 holes and is a combined 56-under par. Roberts set a new Champions Tour standard in 2006 when he finished with rounds of 63-67-61 for a total of 25-under 191, which set the Champions Tour record in relation to par. He also set an all-time record with 26 birdies in a three-round tournament. During this run, Roberts has birdied No. 4 in every round all three years.

A HEAD START
Winning the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai usually guarantees a spot among the top-30 money winners at season's end, but victory in the season-opening event doesn't always translate into more wins later in the same season. Jack Nicklaus is the only former winner not to finish in the top 30, but at the time he was playing a very limited schedule and made just six starts the year he won.

Stadler

SUCCESS IN OPENERS
Several players in this week's field posted wins in the first event of the year when they competed on the PGA TOUR, including Craig Stadler and Tom Watson -- each of whom won twice. Stadler won the 1980 Bop Hope Classic and the 1982 Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open, while Watson won the 1978 Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open and the 1984 Seiko-Tucson Match Play Championship. In addition, Jerry Pate (1977 Phoenix Open), Gil Morgan (1983 Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open) and Tom Kite (1991 Infiniti Tournament of Champions) all won the first event.

THEY'VE HAD SUCCESS IN HAWAII
Five former Sony Open in Hawaii winners are in this field: Andy Bean, John Cook, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin and Bruce Lietzke.

HUALALAI INFORMATION
The Hualalai Golf Course has ranked as the easiest course on the Champions Tour in the last six years, with an average score of under 70 during that period -- including 67.981 in 2006, the lowest in tournament history. During 2008, three of the holes were among the five easiest on the Champions Tour. No. 4 was the easiest, followed by No. 10. Hole No. 7 was the fifth-easiest. One year earlier, No. 10 was the easiest, as it was in 2006.

TOP PLAYERS
Dana Quigley is the leading money winner at the event, with $1,079,446 to his credit. Hale Irwin is second, with $965,187 and Gil Morgan is third, with $720,967.

GEIBERGER ONLY ONE TO DEFEND
Al Geiberger is the only player to successfully defend a title at this tournament. He defeated Bruce Crampton and Chi Chi Rodriguez by three strokes in 1992 and then edged Jim Dent by two strokes in 1993. Both victories came at LaCosta Country Club.

FIELD INCLUDES FORMER BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC WINNERS
As the Bob Hope Classic celebrates its 50th year this week, the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai field includes several former winners: Craig Stadler (1980), Bruce Lietzke (1981), Keith Fergus (1983), Jay Haas (1988), John Cook (1992, '97) and Tom Kite (1993). Scott Hoch (1994) and Peter Jacobsen (1990) also won but are not in this week's field due to injuries.