And for a winners-only event, it's lacking a lot of star power. After all, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson aren't there (both have skipped this tournament for years). Vijay Singh and Ernie Els aren't playing - they didn't win on the PGA Tour in 2009. Nor did younger stars like Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas.
The door is open this week for dark-horse Player of the Year candidates to get a head start. Maybe Paul Casey or Steve Stricker; perhaps Stewart Cink or Geoff Ogilvy.
Not that Stricker deserves to be considered a dark-horse for POY; he's among the favorites. He won three times in 2009, tied with Mickelson for second-best behind Woods' six wins.
But the 2010 Player of the Year race on the PGA Tour should be more wide-open than it has been in quite a while - assuming Woods doesn't return earlier than everyone expects. Since 1997, Woods' first full year on tour, only Woods, Singh and Padraig Harrington, among those still playing the PGA Tour, have won Player of the Year (Mark O'Meara, now on the Champions Tour, won in 1998; Singh in 2004, Harrington in 2008, Woods in every other year).
But Woods ... well, Tiger has some issues. Singh is coming off a down year, injuries, and turns 47 next month. Harrington was good in 2009, working through swing changes, but failed to win last year (and so is not playing the SBS Championship this week).
Mickelson and Stricker had three wins each in 2009; two-time winners last year were Zach Johnson, Kenny Perry, Geoff Ogilvy, Brian Gay and Y.E. Yang. A couple of true dark-horses are Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler.
If Woods isn't around most or even much of the year, the door seems open for Mickelson to claim his first Player of the Year title. Some pundits make Mickelson the heavy favorite, and he closed strong in 2009. The biggest consideration in predicting the POY winner is what to think about Tiger. First, when will he return? And second, if he returns by, say, The Masters, what will his frame of mind be? Will the scandals have eroded his mental edge, or made his focus and intensity on the golf course even stronger?
Who do you think will be the PGA Tour's 2010 Player of the Year?
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