KAPALUA, Hawaii – Jan. 5, 2005 – An impressive number of rookies earned their way into this week's Mercedes Championships with stellar play in their first year on the PGA Tour.

Four of those players, Zach Johnson, Ryan Palmer, Andre Stolz and Vaughn Taylor, demonstrated how good the Nationwide Tour's Class of 2003 really was, as they took immediate advantage of their shot in the big leagues with victories. One journeyman, Todd Hamilton, made years of hard work on the Asian tours pay off with two victories in 2004, including the British Open at Royal Troon in Scotland.

These five players will join 27 other PGA Tour winners from last year, which includes nine of the top 11 players in the Official World Golf Ranking to compete for the winner's prize of $1.060 million ($5.3 million purse) as well as the traditional Tiffany Trophy and the keys to an all-new 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLS500 sedan.

For all of them, playing in the PGA Tour's season-opening Mercedes Championships at Kapalua's Plantation Course will be a new, exciting experience.

"I'm going to try to have a good time. My family is going," said Hamilton, who also won The Honda Classic in 2004. "But I want to get a good start. This year as a rookie was very important to me. There is no reason why you can't make your sophomore year important too. You want to get off to a good start. I've got a busy off season, so I'm not going to sit at home and not do anything. There might be some guys that probably don't touch a club for a month before that tournament. I can't do that. I enjoy playing golf. I'll still be hitting balls and practicing."

Todd Hamilton's rookie season included winning the Claret Jug. (Getty Images)
For Palmer, who won the Funai Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort in 2004, the reward of earning a spot in the Mercedes Championships is multiplied by the fact that he'll have some of his Nationwide Tour friends with him at Kapalua.

"The fact I'm even playing in the Mercedes Championships says a lot," said Palmer, who was sixth on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2003. "To go out my rookie year and win shows you how good the Nationwide Tour really is. I'm pretty good friends with Zach (Johnson) and Andre Stolz. They are great guys and they are fun to be around. Our wives are friends too, so we'll all be having a really good time.

"All I know about the course is what I've seen on TV. This will be the first week. And I've had a lot of time off back home. I'll probably be playing some new irons, so we'll see how my game is. It should be a challenge. I'm wondering how I'm going to do. It is a great way to start the year, though. It should be a lot of fun."

For Vaughn Taylor, winner of the 2004 Reno-Tahoe Open, the Mercedes Championships is about having a good time and playing well. But it's more than that too. He looks forward to meeting some of the elite players on the PGA Tour.

"Guys like Tiger (Woods) and Vijay (Singh) -- I've never played with them. I haven't even met them before," said Taylor, who was 11th on the Nationwide Tour's 2003 money list. "I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking to enjoy the experience. It's a great opportunity to get off to a good start for the year."

Source: PGA Tour