And the New Season Resumes

Yes, it appears humorous to say "resumes" rather than "begins," but such is the conundrum referred to as the wraparound season. The Hyundai Tournament of Champions is honestly the seventh event of the 2014 season... And you could tell. It looks like the gamers came equipped to play.

But it additionally seems as though the Plantation Course turned into keen to make up for ultimate yr. Of the 30 gamers who teed it up, simplest three failed to spoil par:

• Jimmy Walker shot even par
• Jonas Blixt shot 3-over
• Derek Ernst shot 6-over

At the other end of the scoreboard, 4 players are tied for the lead at -7 and 4 more are a stroke back at -6. Webb Simpson, one of the leaders, said the greens were very receptive. And Curt Byrum said the winds weren't from the usual directions, so that had an effect on scoring as well. For those of you keeping track, the exchange winds (from the north) are the scoring winds and the kona winds (from the south) make the course harder. Friday's winds came from the west.

Today I just need to word the players I suppose you need to preserve your eyes on.

Three of the leaders have won in the first 6 tournaments of the 2014 wraparound season:

• Webb Simpson (-7) won the Shriners
• Chris Kirk (-7) won the McGladrey
• Ryan Moore (-6) won the CIMB Classic

To them you can add:

• Zach Johnson (-6) received Tiger's World Challenge

These guys are clearly still in good form from before Christmas.

Obviously all the players at this occasion are winners, and several others (like Kuchar and English and Scott) have performed nicely these days but they are not leading at this factor. That genuinely does not rule them out however, if this turns out to be a scoring frenzy -- and it seems that manner after the primary spherical, particularly for the reason that weather is supposed to improve going ahead -- the lead gamers have a clear gain.

But the guy I think will be the most dangerous this week is Jordan Spieth. (You might have guessed that since I posted his picture! It's from the PGATOUR.com site, obviously.) Here's the reason: Spieth is playing well -- he and Simpson were paired together and were the low pairing on the course -- but he's playing well despite not playing much since the 2013 season ended. He finished 17th at the WGC-China and T16 at Tiger's event... that's it. But here he is, back at the top of the leaderboard and he appears to be very relaxed.

I assume either Webb or Jordan will win it this week. If I had to choose one, it would be Webb simply at the experience area -- that is Webb's 1/3 ride to Kapalua vs Jordan's first -- but I assume it's too near to call. I won't be surprised if Jordan receives his 2nd Tour win this weekend.