KAPALUA, Hawaii -- The list of activities more enjoyable than playing golf on a tropical island has to be quite short -- although it probably includes other activities on a tropical island.

But on Friday at the Mercedes Championships, a day packing more wind than your rich aunt, and on a layout like the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort, which can be more confounding than a Medicare drug prescription application, golf felt like, well, a job.

Though probably not to Brad Faxon, who gave himself a late Christmas present this week by teeing it up in the PGA TOUR’s season-opening event less than four months removed from major knee surgery. True, his scores of 82 and 78 on the par-73 Plantation Course might have been more painful than the torn anterior cruciate ligament he finally had to have repaired (with an assist from a tendon take from a cadaver … no dead man walking jokes, please). But he’s here, he’s playing golf, and he’s grateful for the chance to enjoy a true perk after his victory at last July’s Buick Championship.

While a few prominent names skipped this $5.4 million luau, Faxon arrived here Dec. 29 and undertook his tournament preparations the next day, which coincided with his hitting his first full shots since he had his right knee repaired Sept. 13. Faxon, who hurt his knee in late 2003, hadn’t played a round of golf since Labor Day.

Friday was truly a day of labor, but no one operated under the kind of handicap Faxon was working under – though Bart Bryant, Fred Funk and Wes Short Jr. all showed up here with their own health issues. Mind you, Faxon wasn’t complaining. But you can’t blame him for lamenting his lack of preparation.

“I just haven’t had a chance to play any golf,” said the 44-year-old Rhode Island resident, whose win in Cromwell, Conn., was a popular one in front of a partisan gallery. “You have to be creative here. You have to see and visualize shots. It would be hard if it were the middle of the season. You wouldn’t want to come here with four months off like I did.”

True, but that’s the examination in front of the 28-player field this week, and Faxon, for one, isn’t frustrated by the difficulty of the conditions.

“Some people like the first tournament being easy, getting your feet wet. I think the better players are ready for anything and would want tougher conditions,” he said.

Not necessarily.

Brad Faxon had three birdies in a stretch of four holes on Friday. (Grayson/ WireImage)

“It’s hard out there. I like to ease into the year,” said reigning U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell.

Faxon couldn’t ease into anything. He estimates his health at 80 percent, but wouldn’t use his leg as a crutch to make excuses, even though walking the hilly Plantation Course is one of the most arduous physical tests on the PGA TOUR.

“I’m not standing over a shot thinking my leg hurts,” he said. “If that were the case I wouldn’t be here."

“He’s not quite fully healthy, but you couldn’t tell,” said Faxon’s caddie, Brian Smith. “I was surprised he was ready to go (this week). It took a lot for him to be here. He didn’t complain. He just went out and played.”

In the final analysis, one might think Faxon would regret the decision. Hardly.

“I’m pretty happy with the way I feel,” he said. “I would like to have hit the ball better, but none of this is a negative. I mean, it’s good to be here and playing golf again.”

Well, it beats a lot of other things, tropical locale or not.