Hawaii Swing: 2010 TOUR season begins in 50th state

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WEEK 1: SBS Championship, Kapalua, Hawaii (Jan. 4-10)
MORE: Inside the field | Inside the course | Player previews | 2009 recap

WEEK 2: Sony Open in Hawaii, Honolulu (Jan. 11-17)

Since 1999 when the then-Mercedes Championship moved from its previous venue at La Costa in Carlsbad, Calif. to The Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui, the PGA TOUR season has opened in Hawaii. With the first full-field event of the season, the Sony Open in Hawaii, scheduled for the following week, it was a natural move, allowing those players who qualified for both events to spend two weeks on the islands.

SBS takes over for Mercedes-Benz as the new sponsor of the season-opening, champions-only event in 2010, but the course hosting the tournament remains the same. The Plantation Course has been kind to international players in recent years; in fact, the last eight winners of the SBS Championship have been foreign-born players, including Australia's Geoff Ogilvy last year. The last American-born winner was Jim Furyk in 2001.

Americans have fared slightly better recently at Waialae Country Club, with Zach Johnson the third U.S. player to win in the last seven years.

Waialae has hosted the event since 1965. While other courses have grown bigger over the years, Waialae has actually shrunk. In 1965 when Gay Brewer won in a playoff, it played to 7,234 yards; last year, the course measured 7,044 yards.

One of the big benefits to winning the Sony Open is that it guarantees the champion a spot in both Hawaiian events the next year.

"Starting your year in these two destinations," Johnson said after winning at Waialae last year, "is pretty awesome."

The Hawaii Swing is the first of four on the PGA TOUR in 2010. Click here to learn more about the PGA TOUR's "swings".