The LPGA Tour kicks off its 2009 season on Thursday with the fifth annual SBS Open.  Annika Sorenstam began her final (?) season here a year ago with the first of her three 2008 wins, a two-shot victory over Laura Diaz, Jane Park and Russy Gulyanamitta.  The event runs Thursday-Saturday because of the sponsor.  Being a Korean company (Seoul Broadcasting System), they prefer the final round to air on Sunday back home.

Like most Hawaiian courses, wind is the primary obstacle at Turtle Bay.  When the typical February winds of 15-25mph appear, the course can be challenging.  If they don't (like in 2006), par gets pounded.

The field isn't quite as strong as it was last year, with seven of my top 15 players absent (eight if you want to count Sorenstam).  With the new Priority Status system in place, I'll be highlighting the Last Player In and the First Players Out in the preview box for each event.  This week's cutoff point of 232 is lower than it will be for most tournaments.

Instead of picking a winner and two CYAs, this year I'm going to list my 12 PakPicker entries for the weekly contest at Seoulsisters.com.  From among those 12 choices, I'll keep stats on how many times I picked the outright winner, how many times the winner was listed among my Top 12, and how many Top 10 finishers I listed.  If you don't already play the PakPicker, give it try sometime!  Here's how I see the SBS Open lining up: