Week 1 Approach Shots: SBS Championship

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The 2010 PGA TOUR FedExCup season gets underway this week with a stellar group of 2009 TOUR winners gathered at The Plantation Course at Kapalua for the SBS Championship.

TV/Radio (all times ET)

TV: GOLF CHANNEL (Thur., 3:30-8 p.m. ET; Fri./Sat., 6-10:30 p.m. ET; Sun., 6-10 p.m. ET) RADIO: PGA TOUR NETWORK - Sirius 209, XM 146, PGATOUR.COM (Thu., 3-8 p.m.; Fri./Sat., 5-11 p.m., Sun, 5-10 p.m.)

Weather

Partly cloudy on Thursday, and sunny skies rest of the week. Highs will reach into low 80s.

Kodak Challenge

This week's Kodak Challenge hole is the par-5, 663-yard 18th at the Plantation Course at Kapalua. • More on Kodak Challenge

Key links

• Video preview | Tee times • Inside the Field | Course

Leading the way is defending champion Geoff Ogilvy, who rolled to a six-stroke victory in 2009. The Australian is one of six international players who has won the last eight SBS Championships. This week, Ogilvy is also one of the nine international players in the 28-man field hoping to keep the winning streak alive, a group that includes Masters champion Angel Cabrera (Argentina) and PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang (South Korea).

A year ago, Ogilvy defeated Anthony Kim and Davis Love III on his way to the first of two 2009 titles. He also won the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona six weeks after his season-opening victory.

Ogilvy went on to finish 13th in the FedExCup and made the International Presidents Cup team for the second time. His Accenture Match Play Championship win was his third World Golf Championships title, to go with wins at the same tournament in 2006 and the 2008 CA Championship.

Winning the SBS Championship has traditionally sparked an outstanding season for the champion. Of the last 18 winners at the SBS Championship, 2008 champion Daniel Chopra is the only player who failed to advance to THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, the fourth and final event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

Ogilvy is seeking to become the first back-to-back winner at the event since Stuart Appleby won three consecutive titles from 2004-2006. Besides Appleby, five players have won the SBS Championship in back-to-back years: Lanny Wadkins (1982-83), Tom Watson (1979-80), Arnold Palmer (1965-66), Jack Nicklaus (1963-64) and Gene Littler (1955-57).

Ogilvy, incidentally, became the fifth player to record all four rounds in the 60s (67-68-65-68) since the tournament moved to The Plantation Course in 1999. The others on the list are David Duval (1999), Jim Furyk (2001), Ernie Els (2003) and Tiger Woods (2005). In two prior trips to the SBS Championship, Ogilvy had never posted a sub-70 round.

Columnists' predictions

Each week, PGATOUR.COM columnists will predict the winner. Here are their picks for the SBS Championship. Columnist Pick Comment Stan Awtrey DUSTIN JOHNSON: Johnson is the longest hitter in the field, which always helps at Kapalua. He's competed here once and knows what to expect from the conditions. Johnson is a fast starter who is prone to making batches of birdies. Craig Dolch RETIEF GOOSEN: The two-time U.S. Open champion's career has undergone a mini-renaissance after lean years in 2007 and 2008. Not to mention, he has a pair of fourth-place finishes here in four starts. Melanie Hauser GEOFF OGILVY: I thought about Nick Watney, but settled on the defending champ, who always plays well early in the year. Plus, Aussies have won four of the last six (three in a row by Stuart Appleby). John Maginnes ANGEL CABRERA: The reigning Masters champ is long and plays well in the wind. That's a great recipe for success at Kapalua.

MORE PREDICTIONS: Expert picks | Power Rankings | Play our FREE fantasy game

Bolton's fantasy selections

Fantasy columnist Rob Bolton will provide his Yahoo! picks as a starting point for you every week. Use the advice and opinion from his Power Rankings and Fantasy Insider to assist in determining lineups changes throughout each tournament. Group Starters Bench Group A Ryan Moore Stephen Ames Group B Dustin Johnson, Geoff Ogilvy Lucas Glover, Nick Watney Group C Matt Kuchar Angel Cabrera

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MAJOR WINNERS PRESENT: All four major champions from 2009 are in the field this week. They are Cabrera, who won a playoff over Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell to win the Masters; Lucas Glover, who won the U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park's Black Course in New York; Stewart Cink, who defeated Watson, a five-time British Open winner, in a four-hole aggregate playoff to win the British Open; and Yang, who won the PGA Championship to become the first Asian to win a major championship.

FIRST-TIME WINNERS TOO: There were just seven first-time winners on TOUR in 2009, and all are making their first trip to Maui for the SBS Championship. The first-time winners are Pat Perez (Bob Hope Classic), Y.E. Yang (The Honda Classic and PGA Championship), Paul Casey (Shell Houston Open), Bo Van Pelt (U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee), Nathan Green (RBC Canadian Open), Ryan Moore (Wyndham Championship) and Martin Laird (Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open).