By Rob Bolton
PGATOUR.COM Fantasy Columnist

The Hyundai Tournament of Champions is the most difficult event on the PGA TOUR for which to qualify, so it only makes sense that it is held in the incomparable beauty only the Plantation Course at Kapalua can provide.

This is the 14th edition of the winners-only event that serves as the lid-lifter for the 2012 season. However, for the first time, it begins on Friday. It joins the Deutsche Bank Championship as the only tournaments with a scheduled Monday finish.

Twenty-eight of the 39 qualifiers are in the field at Kapalua, 12 of which are first-timers. The only former champion scheduled to compete is defending. Jonathan Byrd outlasted Robert Garrigus in a two-hole playoff a year ago.

Scores well under par are prevalent in Maui but that’s primarily due to the fact that Kapalua is a par 73, the only of its kind on the docket. Greens that average a TOUR-high 8,000 square feet predictably have been the easiest to hit in each of the last four years. During that stretch, the track has sat inside the top six in both birdie average and actual scoring average. So, it’s not so much a putting contest as it is an aerial assault to pile up birdie opportunities.

Severe elevation changes and trade winds out of the northeast all week will help the Plantation Course play shorter than the 7,411 yards on the scorecard. There is but a whiff of a chance of rain on the weekend with the more serious threats occurring before and after the tournament. High temperatures will hover at 80 degrees all week.

Click here to see the ranks in the forums… http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/563899-power-rankings-hyundai-tournament-of-champions/#entry4023923