Jonathan Byrd's 5-year-old son walked off the plane and into Maui's Kahului Airport, saw the promotional signs featuring his father, and came to a reasonable conclusion: TaylorMade Burner SuperFast Driver + Fairway Package
"Dad," he said. "I think you're famous."
"At least for this week I am," said Byrd, the defending champion at the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which begins Friday.
The holidays are over and warmer weather is on its way, even if it's not yet around the corner--that's what the TOC means to fans. To players in the field, it's the first true indication they've made it, in many cases despite long odds.
Jhonny Vegas didn't speak a word of English when he moved to America a week before his 18th birthday after he tied for sixth place at the 2002 Callaway Junior World at Torrey Pines. He lived and worked with his coach in Houston, honed his game playing college TaylorMade Burner SuperFast Driver + Fairway Package at Texas, and won the Bob Hope in a playoff last year.
Harrison Frazar, 40, nearly quit golf after a series of injuries and was even plotting which 2011 tournament would be his last. Then he won for the first time in Memphis, securing a ticket to golf paradise (the Masters) and plain old paradise (Maui).
Much of this year's Kapalua preamble has centered on who is not here. Of the 39 players who qualified with official, PGA Tour-sanctioned victories last year, only 28 are playing. That makes the field even smaller than the most elite gathering of the year, the 30-man Tour Championship, which decides the FedEx Cup.TaylorMade Burner SuperFast Driver + Fairway Package
Steve Stricker (sixth) and Webb Simpson (10) will be the highest ranked players at Kapalua's Plantation Course because others, like top-ranked Luke Donald and U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, are recharging after a busy 2011, and gearing up to start their season in Abu Dhabi in three weeks. Others still, like Dustin Johnson and Brandt Snedeker, are coming off injuries.
Tiger Woods, who will open his season in Abu Dhabi, didn't qualify for Kapalua, and even if his win at the (unofficial) Chevron World Challenge last month had gotten him here, he likely wouldn't have come. He won a duel with Ernie Els on the Plantation Course in 2000, but he hasn't played TaylorMade Burner SuperFast Driver + Fairway Package here since he tied for third in 2005.
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