SBS Championship rookie class already quite accomplished

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SBS rookie Paul Casey is playing his first regular season event since the British Open after recovering from a rib injury.

This is one time when a professional athlete doesn't mind being called a rookie.

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Not when it means one of the most exclusive invitations on the PGA TOUR -- a trip to this week's winners-only SBS Championship in Maui, Hawaii.

The only way to qualify for this event is to have lifted a trophy last year on the PGA TOUR. No special exemptions allowed; one had to truly earn this tee time.

So calling the seven first-timers playing at the Plantation Course at Kapalua as rookies might seem a little far-fetched. After all, we're talking about a major champion (reigning PGA winner Y.E. Yang), two rising, young stars (Paul Casey and Ryan Moore), two TOUR veterans who have proven they can go low (Pat Perez and Bo Van Pelt), a gritty Australian (Nathan Green) and a Scot who has gotten better every year (Martin Laird).

Heck, not only can Yang boast he's the only player to chase down Tiger Woods in the final round of a major, he's already won an SBS Championship. That would be the 2002 SBS Championship on the Korean Tour, which was his first career victory as a professional.

Yang, who also won last year's The Honda Classic, has climbed to No. 31 in the latest world rankings, a meteoric rise for someone who was forced to attend q-school to keep his card just 14 months ago. Getting to make his first start in a paradise setting such as Kapalua only seems fitting for the South Korean. Yang, who turns 38 next week, is the oldest first-timer in the field, but that's because he didn't touch a golf club until he was 19.

Laird is the youngest player among the rookies in the field (27), beating out Moore by 24 days. Laird, who qualified by winning the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open, becomes the first Scot to make this elite field since 1999 British Open champion Paul Lawrie.

This won't be Moore's last trip to Hawaii. He won nearly every important amateur title and likely would have won on the PGA TOUR by now if he hadn't battled wrist problems early in his career. He will soon be known for a lot more than being the pro who chose not to take any endorsements until late last season.

Casey also figures to be a fixture in Hawaii during his career. Prior to winning last year's Shell Houston Open, the Englishman already had double-digit victories around the world, had played in three Ryder Cups for Europe and he's now No. 8 in the world rankings. This week marks his return to action since being sidelined after the British Open with a rib injury.

Van Pelt took the most circuitous route to Hawaii, making more PGA TOUR career starts (239) than any other first-timer. He qualified by winning last year's U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Having hit several recorded drives of more than 430 yards during his eight-year TOUR career, he'll love Kapalua's wide, rolling fairways and trade winds.

Despite the fact it took Perez almost 200 starts to win his first PGA TOUR title last year at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, he's known for his quick starts. He's posted a top-10 finish in one of his first two starts in four of the last five years.

You think Green will enjoy the lovely views of the Pacific Ocean this week? This is a guy, after all, who used to work in a crematorium in Australia. In his last trip to Hawaii, he was tied for the lead after 36 holes at last year's Sony Open before finishing 11th.

What's not to like about playing in the TOUR's version of a tournament of champions? Players get a comped room at the Kapalua Ritz-Carlton, better odds of claiming the $1.12 million first prize because there are only 28 players in the field, the guarantee of around $70,000 even if they finish last and a stress-free start because last season's win carries a two-year exemption on the PGA TOUR.

This year, they get an added bonus: An extra week to get used to the new groove rules.

No, being a rookie here is not a bad thing at all. The only thing better at the SBS Championship is to become a veteran.

Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.