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PGA Tour to kick off in Hawaii when 2005 season starts

The PGA Tour will start the 2005 season along the shores of the Pacific Ocean, with the first two stops in Hawaii followed by the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

The tour released its 2005 schedule Tuesday, featuring 48 events that begin Jan. 6 on Maui at the winners-only Mercedes Championships and end Nov. 6 in Atlanta at the Tour Championship.

It will be the earliest date for Torrey Pines in 25 years, a change brought on by a later date for the Super Bowl.

The FBR Open in Phoenix traditionally is played opposite the Super Bowl. It was bumped back one week to Feb. 3-6. The Buick Invitational will be played Jan. 20-23, and tournament director Tom Wilson isn't sure what to expect.

"One of the things I'm not real certain on is the course condition," Wilson said. "It would be nice to have an extra two to three weeks. We'll have to see."

Wilson also is curious to see if volunteer support changes because it is so close to the holiday. And while Torrey Pines usually gets some of the highest television ratings of the year -- the strong field typically includes Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson -- it will be going up against the AFC and NFC Championship games.

"We'd prefer to have it later, for all the reasons I just mentioned," Wilson said.

There will be five weeks where two tournaments are played -- events opposite the British Open, Presidents Cup and the three World Golf Championships.

The Presidents Cup, which ended in a draw two years ago in South Africa between the International team and the United States, will return to Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia on Sept. 22-25.

For the second time in two years, all three WGC events will be held in the US -- the Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa; the NEC Invitational at Firestone; and the American Express Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco.

The tour waited to release the 2005 schedule to finalize two new sponsorship deals. The Barclays Classic will be played June 23-26 at Westchester Country Club, taking over title sponsorship from the Buick Classic; and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans will move to the TPC of Louisiana, taking over sponsorship from Hewlett-Packard.

The only other significant course change is the Booz Allen Classic outside Washington, which will move next year to fabled Congressional Country Club and be played June 9-12, the week before the US Open.

The Canadian Open will be played Sept. 8-11 at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver.

The Masters will be played April 7-10 at Augusta National. The other three majors will be played at Pinehurst No. 2 (US Open), St. Andrews (British Open) and Baltusrol (PGA Championship).
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