KAPALUA, Hawaii – The first PGA Tour event of the year in Hawaii hardly resembles a working vacation.

Zach Johnson putted for birdie on every hole, the fifth time in his career that he didn’t miss a green in regulation. Jimmy Walker got in the mix with five birdies in eight holes. Russell Henley and Bae Sang-Moon held their own on another gorgeous day at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

They were part of a four-way tie for the lead Saturday, the largest log jam at the 36-hole mark in the 17 years this winners-only event has been played at Kapalua.

Geoff Ogilvy wasn’t part of the mix, though he might have seen this coming when he spoke earlier in the week about the first PGA Tour event of the year.

“There’s a little bit of rust going on, less than there used to be,” Ogilvy said. “I think in the good old days … they hadn’t hit a shot in a few months and they’d show up and shank their first three shots on the range. They would just cruise into the year, basically. I think that happens a lot less these days.”

There’s not much evidence of it now.

Along with that four-way tie for the lead, 10 players were within two shots of the lead going into the third round, and half of the 34-man field within five shots.

Johnson gets the most attention as the defending champion, hopeful of joining the Aussie duo of Ogilvy and Stuart Appleby as the only back-to-back winners at Kapalua (Appleby won three in a row). He made seven birdies in his round of 6-under 67 and was the first to reach 11-under 135.

Walker, a winner last year on Oahu, was the only player to reach 12 under until confusion over the wind and a little indecision cost him a three-putt bogey on the 17th. He wound up with a 68. Henley recovered from a sluggish start for a 70, while Bae played bogey-free – and birdie-free over the last eight holes – for a 69.

“I think it’s so competitive,” Henley said. “I think the way guys look at it now, it’s a great opportunity to have a good finish and get off to a great start, if not win.”

Johnson got off to a great start last year when he won, his only victory of 2014.

His only bogey on another benign day above the blue Pacific was a three-putt on the eighth hole. He birdied all the par 5s, though the last one required a little more work. Johnson popped up his drive, which still went 294 yards because of the 150-foot drop from the tee to the fairway. He had to pound a 3-wood to get beyond the neck of the fairway, and then he flew his third shot beyond the flag.

Shots like that used to roll off the back of the green. In soft conditions, this one stayed, and Johnson made a 15-foot birdie putt.

“I had a full shot,” Johnson said. “At the same time, usually you’ve got to play 15 yards from the hole. That’s strange and rare, but that’s the way it is. We played a little early today. The ball just didn’t release. You have to pay attention there. As we get more wind the next couple days, I think this place will dry out.”

Walker completed a two-putt birdie on the par-5 15th by making a 6-footer into the grain to take the lead. He hammered his tee shot on the downhill 17th and, adjusting for the drop in elevation over the gorge in front of the 17th green, he figured it was an 8-iron from 170 yards.

The uncertainty was the wind, and not totally convinced of his club selection, he hit chunky and barely got onto the green. He three-putted from 70 feet for his only bogey, and then failed to birdie the 18th.

No matter. He was tied for the lead, in the final group going into Sunday’s third round. That wasn’t all that surprising.

Walker played in Asia in November, and then he played twice in Florida during December. So even though he took his family to Utah over Christmas, he arrived to Maui last week feeling ready to go.

Hideki Matsuyama and Charley Hoffman each shot 66 for the low rounds Saturday, leaving them in the group a shot out of the lead. Hoffman ran off seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch to share the lead, only to hit into the hazard on the 17th for a double bogey. He bounced backed with his seventh birdie of the back nine.

Hoffman was the last player to qualify for this winners-only event with a victory in Mexico in November.

“Second round of the year, just trying to get my feet wet,” Hoffman said. “Made a bunch of birdies, hit a lot of good shots, and one unfortunate swing. You can get away with a few bad swings out here, but not on the 17th hole.”

Canada’s Nick Taylor started the day with a share of 12th, but couldn’t pick up any ground Saturday after carding an even par 73. He dropped into a tie for 24th at 4-under.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Russell Henley found Kapalua to be a lot more fun the second time around.

Henley made four birdie putts outside 20 feet on his way to an 8-under 65 on Friday, giving him a one-shot lead over Bae Sang-Moon in the opening round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

Henley made his debut last year in the winners-only event that starts the year and never broke 70. The Plantation Course offered up far better scores without the typical wind off the west coast of Maui.

And anytime that Henley feels good with the putter, the two-time winner on the PGA Tour can be dangerous.

“I kept the ball in front of me pretty decent today, and didn’t scare too many chances at bogey,” Henley said. “But my main thing was obviously I putted great and was seeing the lines today. If I can putt like that every day, I would probably have a few more wins.”

Bae kept his focus in so many ways.

He was in Honolulu practicing last week when he learned the South Korean government had denied an extension of his overseas travel permit. Bae has deferred his mandatory military service, and there are questions over how much time he spent at home during this deferral. He has hired a legal firm to sort out the problems, but he caused a stir back home when he was quoted as saying he would not being going back to South Korea. What he meant was that he was not required to be there while the law firm worked on it.

Inside the ropes, Bae looked as if nothing could bother him.

He opened with six birdies in eight holes, was slowed by a bogey on the 11th hole and picked up two more birdies for a 66.

“A little bit hard to focus on my game because I got a little trouble,” Bae said. “But I try to split things. But I don’t want to think about it, the other things on the course. So yeah, I think I did really good today. I really want to the next three days, also.”

Bae is all about a fresh start.

Kapalua still feels like the first tournament of the season, even though the 2014-15 season began in October at the Frys.com Open, which Bae won at Silverado.

“This is new year on calendar,” he said.

Most players have not competed in nearly two months, except those who were at the Hero World Challenge the first week of December or played overseas. Masters champion Bubba Watson played in Thailand to close out his best year ever, and he has been at Kapalua for the last week before his shots counted. He had a 70, a reasonable start, though he has yet to break 69 in 12 rounds on the Plantation Course.

This was the day to do it. It’s rare when the flags aren’t moving, though even a relatively calm day doesn’t make it that easy. The greens are among the largest, and the grain and slope can prove tricky even to the regulars in this winners-only event.

Henley set the pace. Bringing up the rear were Ben Crane and Kevin Stadler at 74, a nine-shot differential from first to worst in a 34-man field.

Jimmy Walker and Patrick Reed, who joined Watson as the only multiple winners on tour last year who are at Kapalua, led a group at 67 that included Scott Stallings, Robert Streb and Ben Martin, who chipped in for eagle on the 18th with a shot that would have gone 20 feet by the hole if it hadn’t banged into the pin.

Matt Kuchar, never far from the hunt, was among those at 68.

Canada’s Nick Taylor carded the first birdie of 2015 en route to a 69 that left him tied for 12th after the opening-round.

JUPITER, Fla. – The rowdiest event on the PGA Tour landed golf’s biggest attraction Friday when Tiger Woods said he would play the Phoenix Open for the first time in 14 years.

The tournament starts Jan. 29 and ends on the Sunday of the Super Bowl, which also is in Phoenix.

Woods also announced on his website he will play the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines a week later. That was no surprise, for Woods has won there eight times as a pro, including his last major in the 2008 U.S. Open.

He has not played the Phoenix Open since 2001. And while Woods has made only three appearances at the TPC Scottsdale, he always generates news. Woods made an ace on the par-3 16th hole in 1997 and was showered with beer cups over the sheer emotion of the moment.

He was criticized in 1999 when he was permitted to let fans move a massive boulder in front of his ball after it had been declared a loose impediment. Also that year, a spectator who had been heckling Woods was found to have had a gun in his fanny pack.

In his most recent appearance in 2001, someone lobbed an orange onto the green while he was putting.

“It will be great to return to Phoenix,” Woods said on his website. “The crowds are amazing and always enthusiastic, and the 16th hole is pretty unique in golf.

This is the time Woods usually starts his PGA Tour season. Torrey Pines and Phoenix have switched spots on the calendar because the Phoenix Open prefers to end on Super Bowl Sunday. It is the biggest day at the tournament, with crowds estimated at over 500,000, is on Saturday.

Woods played only nine times worldwide last year because of surgery to his back and lingering issues. In his return after four months off, he tied for last in the Hero World Challenge in Orlando, Florida.

Woods is working with a new coach. He has slipped to a No. 34 ranking and he is still not guaranteed a spot in the first World Golf Championship of the year at Doral for the top 50 in the world.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Nick Taylor is still reaping the benefits of being a winner on the PGA Tour.

A three-stroke victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship in November not only provided the Canadian with a nice payday and security on golf’s premier circuit, it also qualified him for this week’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

So while people in his home country suffer through a January deep freeze, Taylor will be playing high level golf in balmy Hawaiian temperatures.

“(The victory) still hasn’t set in. Hopefully sooner rather than later,” Taylor, who was born in Winnipeg and grew up in Abbotsford, B.C., said Thursday. “But trying to figure things out in Maui is a good thing.”

Taylor earned US$720,000 for his 2014 victory, and, more importantly, a two-year playing card on the PGA Tour. He’s part of a group of six Canadians with status on the PGA Tour this year. Graham DeLaet, Mike Weir, David Hearn, Roger Sloan and Adam Hadwin are the others.

The victory wrapped up a whirlwind season for the 26-year-old. He started the year with a few starts on PGA Tour Canada, and then a number of tournaments on the Web.com Tour before earning his PGA Tour card.

“Everything that happened were good things, but it has been so exhausting. There will be some rust this first week or two, but in the long run, I needed some time off,” said Taylor, who returned to Abbotsford over Christmas. “This week is very relaxed, it’s the best-case scenario to start the season.”

The Tournament of Champions, which begins Friday at Kapalua’s Plantation Resort, features a small field of 34 golfers and no cut. Even if Taylor, the lone Canadian, finishes in last place, he’ll walk away with approximately $60,000.

It’s a far cry from the money he used to play for.

Taylor’s rise to the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour could be traced back to his success on PGA Tour Canada. It allowed him to jump to the Web.com Tour, then the main tour, very quickly.

PGA Tour Canada president Jeff Monday said Taylor’s victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship validated the model that was instigated when the PGA Tour took over the old Canadian Tour.

Monday said that PGA Tour Canada members always knew following a path like Taylor’s was a possibility, but to actually see it done just confirmed their beliefs.

“When you think about it, Nick was on PGA Tour Canada in September of 2013 and just over 13 months later, he’s winning on the PGA Tour,” he said. “When you step back from that for a second, you realize that’s pretty good stuff.”

Taylor, a former Team Canada member who was once ranked as the top male amateur golfer in the world, hasn’t let any of his recent success go to his head.

“Coming out as the No. 1-ranked amateur, there’s great expectations a lot of times and it’s hard to live up to them,” said Monday. “But everyone I’ve talked to says Nick hasn’t changed one bit.”

“He’s a quality young man, and anyone he meets he will influence them, including kids,” added Scott Simmons, the CEO of Golf Canada. “I would certainly call him a role model we could all be proud of.”

Taylor seemed ready for the challenge of being golf’s newest Canadian ambassador.

“It wasn’t until recently that people across the country recognized what I did on the PGA Tour. If people across the country are looking up to me now, it’s great. I’ll try to do my best,” he said.

Taylor’s goals for 2015 changed after his victory. He’s now free to choose his schedule without worry, and he’s gotten into a number of larger tournaments like the PGA Championship, which will be his first major as a professional.

He’s also got his eyes on the Rio Olympics in 2016.

“I need to slowly try to build up some world-ranking points, but that would be pretty amazing,” he said.

For now, Taylor is enjoying the moment. Seeing how far he’s come, he said it’s hard not to.

“I think for me, personally, I’m ahead of the game,” he said. “There’s so much luck involved, you never know when you’re going to win. It’s been a crazy few months and I’ve exceeded expectations so far.”

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Tim Clark plans a return to Torrey Pines, this time to compete with his long putter rather than to make a passionate protest of the rule to ban them.

Clark has accepted the new rule outlawing the anchored stroke required for the putter he has used the last 17 years. This is the last year before the rule goes into effect, and Clark isn’t about to waste it by tinkering with a new club or a new stroke. He wants to play good golf.

That said, he already is thinking about the change and he’s not willing to share his solution.

“I’ve got some pretty good ideas, but I’m not going to tell you just in case they try to ban those,” Clark said with a laugh. “But I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on it. I’m not as concerned as I was maybe at the start of last year because I think I’ve figured something out now and I’ll be fine. But I’m not going to spend my time practicing it now while I’m trying to play tournaments this year with what I’ve used.

“Once they tell me it’s done, then it’s done. Then it will be easier to change.”

He said he will stop at the Scotty Cameron putting studio in the San Diego area after the tournament to work on some putters that fit his ideas. Otherwise, he sees 2015 as a time to build on a year in which he won the RBC Canadian Open and lost in a playoff to Bubba Watson at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

Clark is starting his year at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions for the first time in four years. It’s a good spot to be, and even though he is among the shortest hitters in golf, the expansive Plantation Course at a par 73 doesn’t bother him.

Zach Johnson, not known for his length off the tee, won last year. Besides, Clark learned long ago to play to his strengths. Even though Watson could hit the ball some 80 yards longer, when they played a par 5 in a playoff at Shanghai, Watson didn’t think he had an advantage because of Clark’s short game.

Part of that short game is putting, and that part is about to go through a significant overhaul.

The USGA and R&A – and by extension, Golf Canada – proposed the new rule on anchored strokes at the end of 2012, and at a players’ meeting at Torrey Pines with the USGA a few months later, Clark showed up even though he wasn’t playing the tournament. He became the face of protest for the dignified manner in which he argued against banning a stroke that had been around for some 40 years, and for the damage it would cause for recreational players.

The PGA Tour took a stand against the rule, though it was adopted, anyway.

Clark said it affected his game at the start of last year until he realized the change was inevitable.

“Eventually, I realized you’ve got to stop worrying about it and just go out and play golf,” he said. “And I did that, and that’s probably why I was able to win in Canada. I didn’t have that worry in there. Like I say, my thought is to come out and be a better putter. Stop worrying about what’s happened and what’s going to happen and come out and be a better putter.”

Another past RBC Canadian Open champion, Carl Pettersson, also uses a long putter that he presses against his sternum. So does Adam Scott, a former No. 1 in the world, and Kevin Stadler. Others, such as Keegan Bradley, used a belly putter. Bradley switched to a conventional putter at the Hero World Challenge last month.

“I think the belly guys are going to find it pretty easy,” Geoff Ogilvy said. “But the guys who have split hands, like Stads, Scotty, Timmy, that’s different. That’s a big change. Putting attached from your belly and moving it away, it’s not that big of a change. You lose your security blanket, but it’s effectively the same stroke.”

Scott gets the most attention because he won the Masters – the first Masters champion with an anchored stroke – and because of his prominence. But he didn’t change until 2011. Clark made the switch when he was in college and hardly anyone was using the club known as a broom-handle putter.

For the last 17 years, he has not placed his hands together on the club. The left hand has been high on his chest, the right hand at his waist.

“In my case, I’ve never gone back and forth. I found something I felt comfortable with,” Clark said. “Obviously, there are weeks I putted terribly. It wasn’t a case of changing putters, it was a case of working on it.”

Abbotsford, B.C.,’s Nick Taylor, who became a first-time PGA Tour event winner in 2014, paid a visit to Chilliwack Golf Club during the Tour’s off season for the Nick Taylor Challenge.

What is the Nick Taylor Challenge you ask? Well, anyone who wanted to challenge Nick to a contest could come out to the club and test their skills against the former Team Canada member.

Contestants had the option to challenge him to a putting, chipping or full swing contest. Anyone who beat Nick in the first challenge moved on to Round 2, where Nick got to decide what shot to hit. Check out the fiery competition in this video.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Hunter Mahan is a Californian and predictable when it comes to his PGA Tour schedule on the West Coast. He has played Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach and Riviera every year dating to 2007, a streak that probably will end.

Mahan’s wife, Kandi, is expecting their second child in the middle of that stretch. He knew he could count on the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. After that, it’s up in the air. His plan is to not have one.

“I’m just going to play my schedule and make adjustments from there,” Mahan said. “It’s too hard to figure out.”

He is scheduled to play the Phoenix Open, Farmers Insurance Open, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the Northern Trust Open. He is not expecting to play them all.

“Whenever the baby falls is where he’s going to fall,” Mahan said.

Give him a choice, and the one tournament he would hate to miss is Riviera.

“I love that place. I love that golf course,” Mahan said. “It’s the end of a four-week stretch. It’s the one tournament I want to be in good shape. I enjoy it and really want to win there.”

But baby comes first. Remember, Mahan was leading the 2013 RBC Canadian Open when he left after 36 holes because his wife went into labour.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – David Duval is joining Golf Channel as a studio analyst for some of the biggest tournaments, giving him a voice in the game at a time he can no longer rely on his health.

He will make his debut in two weeks at the Humana Challenge, where he shot 59 in the final round 15 years ago during his rise to No. 1 in the world.

Duval said Tuesday he does not consider this a step toward retirement from the PGA Tour. The 2001 British Open champion has been coping with injuries the better part of the last decade and has not had a full-exempt card on tour since 2011.

“It’s a way to be involved in the game I love so much and to learn another facet of it,” Duval said from his home in Denver. “I think I can be a voice of the players, too, because it’s a current voice. Let’s see what happens and where it goes.”

The Golf Channel schedule should allow him to remain active for the few tournaments he can enter on his limited past champion’s status and whatever exemptions he is offered. He plans to play the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am next month.

Still, this represents a big transition for a player who once was one of the strongest rivals to Tiger Woods at his peak.

Duval did some TV work at the U.S. Open in 2012 at Olympic Club and has dabbled in television at some of the majors, along with the BMW Championship last year when it was held in Denver. Golf Channel plans to use him as a studio analyst for its pregame and postgame shows with Brandel Chamblee for the majors, World Golf Championships, FedEx Cup playoffs, The Players Championship, Florida swing and Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup.

“As a former world No. 1 and a major champion, he brings so much added perspective to this team,” Golf Channel executive producer Molly Solomon said. “He makes the team stronger. We’ve been talking to him for a year about this. We found we could create a schedule where he could continue to play.”

Duval is regarded as introspective and well-read, and at times self-deprecating.

“Most of all, I value his candor,” Solomon said. “Thoughtful conversation about golf is compelling television.”

Duval’s last victory was the Dunlop Phoenix in 2001, the year he won the British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. His game took a mysterious turn for the worse a few years later with a series of injuries, a drop in confidence and a run of swing coaches. He pledged last year that he would stop asking for exemptions, and while he said it was important to honor that commitment, he made it on the assumption he would be in good health.

He spent the second half of last year coping with a strain in his right elbow that led him to withdraw three times.

A move to television, whether that becomes a full-time job or allows him to talk and play, was intriguing to him.

“It gives you a new perspective,” he said. “We’re constantly told this as players, but you realize it even that much more how much TV people are partners. The hours the folks put in is staggering. There are long days and lots of homework and preparation that you don’t think about when you’re playing. It’s exciting and fun to do this now.”

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Predictions are a dangerous business, especially in golf.

How many could have guessed that Tiger Woods, No. 1 in the world and coming off a five-win season, would play in only nine tournaments, finish only four of them and plunge to No. 32 in the world because of injuries?

Or that Bubba Watson, who had gone 38 events without winning, would finish 2014 as highest-ranked American?

Or that Nick Taylor would become the first Canadian to win a PGA Tour event in five years.

Instead, the start of a new year at Kapalua allows a look into the future – not what will happen, but at five highly anticipated events.

THE MASTERS:

Already the highlight of any year, this will be the first time since 1991 that a player showed up at Augusta National with a chance to complete the career Grand Slam. That was Lee Trevino. And it wasn’t much of a chance. Trevino was 51, and he never seriously contended at Masters.

Rory McIlroy is 25.

Not only has Boy Wonder captured the last two majors, he probably should have had a green jacket by now. He had a four-shot lead going into the final round in 2011 before he imploded into a series of blunders on his way to an 80.

The only potential distraction is his day in court over a lawsuit involving his former management company. The trial is scheduled for February.

If history is any indication, don’t read too much into his form during the road to the Masters. The last time one player faced so much scrutiny at the Masters was Woods in 2001 when he was going for an unprecedented sweep. Woods heard whispers that he was in a slump because he went six straight tournaments without winning at the start of the year. Woods then ran off three straight victories, culminating with another green jacket and his place in history.

THE U.S. OPEN:

There are more compelling elements at the U.S. Open than the Masters. But the U.S. Open doesn’t whet the public’s appetite in the cold of winter with the Masters commercial that made you wish April could get here tomorrow.

This year delivers back-to-back majors where someone can join the most elite group in golf with a career Grand Slam – McIlroy at the Masters, Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open. Mickelson already had one crack at it last year at Pinehurst No. 2 and he never broke par. Lefty is in great shape physically – the public will get its first look at him in two weeks – and even at 44, he believes he will have multiple chances.

His next one will be a course no one knows. The U.S. Open goes to Chambers Bay outside Seattle, an expansive, links-looking course that hosted the 2010 U.S. Amateur but nothing of significance at the professional level.

And something else brand new for the U.S. Open – Joe Buck and Greg Norman will be calling the shots. This marks the debut of Fox Sports in major championship golf.

RETURN OF TIGER:

Woods hasn’t confirmed where he will start his 2015 campaign, but if there is one tournament to gauge his progress, mark down the Cadillac Championship at Doral.

Torrey Pines is always a good measure too – Woods, an eight-time champion at Torrey, missed the 54-hole cut last year in a sign of what was to come. But the international stars – McIlroy, Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose – are not likely to be anywhere on the West Coast. For the first time, a true test for Woods is more than the golf course. It’s the field.

The first big gathering will be the Honda Classic, and while Woods was runner-up three years ago, he has never won at PGA National.

That’s what makes Doral such an interesting tournament as it relates to Woods. All the stars will be in Miami, and while Doral has undergone significant changes ever since Donald Trump bought it, Woods is a five-time winner on the Blue Monster.

RYDER CUP CAPTAIN:

America usually has a new Ryder Cup captain by now. Now it has a task force.

The next meeting of this illustrious group is not until the first week in February, and it’s anyone’s guess when it will select the 2016 captain for Hazeltine. Tom Watson didn’t work out in a loss last September in Scotland that was ugly on many levels. Fred Couples is popular with the players and 3-0 as captain in the Presidents Cup. Then again, it’s a little easier to beat an International team playing under a manufactured flag than a European team playing for its tour.

The pendulum was swinging toward the Americans before the fiasco at Gleneagles. The best thing the task force can do is not overthink this.

ST. ANDREWS:

It’s always a special year when golf’s oldest championship returns to St. Andrews, especially when it’s time to say goodbye. This year that honour belongs to Tom Watson, playing in his final British Open, the only man to claim the claret jug on five courses (but never St. Andrews).

And it’s a chance for Watson to be remembered for what he can do with a club in his hand on a links course, instead of driving a cart at Gleneagles.

MADISON, Wis. – Steve Stricker has had surgery on a bulging disk in his lower back to alleviate recurring issues in his hip area.

Mario Tiziani, Stricker’s brother-in-law and agent, says the one-hour surgery Tuesday was successful and that Stricker will be away from golf for at least eight weeks.

The 12-time tour winner won’t be missing much. Stricker already plays a reduced schedule, and he was not likely to play in 2015 until the Florida swing.

The 47-year-old Stricker rested for nearly four months before playing the Hero World Challenge and Franklin Templeton Shootout. While he felt good, tests showed Stricker would continue to have problems with his hip and quadriceps without surgery.