5th January 2006
The PGA Tour is back with the season opening winners only Mercedes Championships at Kapalua in Hawaii.
Seeking to become just the second player in history to win this Tournament of Champions, three successive years is Australian Stuart Appleby, the two-time defending champion.
Hardest to beat will be World Number 2 Vijay Singh who heads the betting in the absence of World Number 1 Tiger Woods.
The big hitting Fijian gets his chance to start the year on the right note with Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen joining Tiger Woods on the sidelines in this select field of 28.
Only three players inside the world top 10 will play at Kapalua, Vijay Singh, Spaniard Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott of Australia.
| Game | Odds |
|---|
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| Date | Tournament | 2004 Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 27-30 | Chrysler Championship | Vijay Singh |
| Nov 3-6 | The Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola | Retief Goosen |
| Nov 10-13 | Franklin Templeton Shootout | Hank Kuehne/Jeff Sluman |
| Nov 17-20 | WGC World Cup | England |
| Nov 26-27 | Merrill Lynch Skins Game | Fred Couples |
| Rank | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiger Woods | USA |
| 2 | Vijay Singh | FIJ |
| 3 | Phil Mickelson | USA |
| 4 | Retief Goosen | SAf |
| 5 | Ernie Els | SAF |
| 6 | Sergio Garcia | ESP |
| 7 | Jim Furyk | USA |
| 8 | Adam Scott | AUS |
| 9 | Chris DiMarco | USA |
| 10 | David Toms | USA |
Adam Scott is regarded as the most exciting young Australian golfer since Greg Norman. At the age of 23 years, eight months and 12 days, he became the youngest winner of The Players Championship on the US PGA Tour, an event considered by many to be the game's fifth Major.
Scott is a four-time winner on the US PGA Tour. His initial breakthrough came at the 2003 Deutsche Bank Championship after a second round 62 set up a four stroke win and saw Adam break into the top 20 in the World Rankings for the first time.