Roundtable: Players worth keeping an eye on in 2010

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After a rough PGA TOUR season, Adam Scott's strong finish in Australia makes him one to keep an eye on in 2010.

Editor's note: The 2010 PGA TOUR season starts this week at the SBS Championship in Kapalua, Hawaii. As we prepare for the new season, our PGATOUR.COM writers are weighing in on five burning questions going into 2010. Today's question: Which player will you keep an eye on in 2010?

Sean O'Hair
Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
This will be the year that Sean O'Hair takes his place with the big boys. A three-time winner on TOUR, he's a tough guy who has overcome numerous on-course heartaches.

O'Hair lost the 2008 PLAYERS Championship down the stretch and he was victimized by one of Tiger Woods' dramatic comebacks at Bay Hill in 2009. But his bounce back at the Quail Hollow Championship five weeks later let the rest of the world know that he's not going anywhere. It seems like the 27-year-old has been around for a long time; O'Hair actually joined the TOUR in 2005.

He had nine top-10s in 2009 -- look for him to contend even more often this season and possibly even win a major championship. He was a threat at East Lake for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola and contributed mightily to the victorious U.S. effort in the Presidents Cup. So when Corey Pavin begins to assemble a Ryder Cup team, O'Hair should be right there.

Rickie Fowler
Craig Dolch, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
Rickie Fowler has superstar written all over him. He has the looks, a brash attitude and, most importantly, the game to stamp himself as a rising star on the PGA TOUR.

Just look at what he did in cameo appearances this year: He lost in a playoff at the Frys.com Open in just his second start as a pro, notched another top-10 finish in Las Vegas and also lost in a playoff on the Nationwide Tour when he was still an amateur. Fowler had the confidence to help him make it through q-school in his first try and he got another chance to hang out with the stars when he received an invitation to play in Greg Norman's Shark Shootout.

For most rookies, the hardest part is getting enough starts to get your game rolling in your first full season. But because of Fowler's pedigree, he will get enough sponsor's invitations to carry him until he earns his star status by starting to win. It won't take long.

Adam Scott
Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
I considered Nick Watney, who grabbed his second win in 2009, as well as Ernie Els and Mike Weir. All great candidates, even if two are on comeback trails.

But I decided to go with Adam Scott. The end was the beginning for him. At least that's the way it seems. A strong finish in 2009 that included his first win in his native Australia and top-10s in his last three starts on the European Tour should produce a solid start for 2010 for a guy with major game, who struggled through a well-documented tough breakup and swing meltdown in 2009. He pulled it back together and had a great run leading up to the holidays.

Jason Day
John Maginnes, PGATOUR.COM Contributor
Take your pick of the guys who could still be in college. Rickie Fowler, for one, is primed and ready to stake his claim to PGA TOUR greatness. But there is another kid named Jason Day who has a little more seasoning and perhaps a little more game -- if that is possible.

The PGA TOUR has yet to get a glimpse of what this young Australian is capable of doing when he is 100 percent. In 18 starts in 2009, his second on TOUR, Day only missed three cuts and had two top-10s -- tying for second at the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular and finishing solo fourth at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Furthermore, Day has handled the crush of media attention and the expectations that come with it.

He has spent the last couple of years flying under the radar. I wouldn't expect that trend to continue much longer.

Michael Sim
Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
Don't look for Michael Sim to be in awe of his surroundings as he returns to the PGA TOUR -- look for him to contend.

His encore appearance should be more productive for the young Aussie who was nothing short of phenomenal on the Nationwide Tour in 2009. He earned Player of the Year honors after winning three times in his first 12 starts and going on to set a single-season earnings record. The 25-year-old Sim has matured into an extremely complete player -- he ranked first in putting, second in total driving and fifth in greens in regulation. His scoring average of 68.81 was a Nationwide Tour record and Sim ended the season 50th in the Official World Golf Ranking -- the best ever for a Nationwide Tour player.

His three-win promotion came too late for Sim to really show what he can do on the PGA TOUR but given the entire 2010 season, he could make his mark.

Rickie Fowler
Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM Site Producer
I'm a little leery of a rookie having success right away -- new courses, the rigors of travel, etc. -- but there are two reasons I like Fowler.

First, he played in six TOUR events in 2009 and finished in the top 10 in two of them, including a playoff loss at the Frys.com Open. Second, he is long off the tee (he averaged just over 300 yards) and good on the green (eighth on TOUR with 28.25 putts per round).

He also has a little bit of the "it" factor going for him -- that unexplainable thing we like to call the intangibles. Whatever it is, Fowler's got it. No rookies won on TOUR in 2009 for the first time since 1998, but I think that will change with Fowler next season and it wouldn't surprise me at all if Fowler won more than once.