World's best at Kapalua

Advertiser Staff

•	2004 Mercedes Championships WHAT: PGA Tour season-opening event featuring 30 of the 2003 tournament champions WHERE: Kapalua Plantation Course (Par 36-37i73, 7,263 yards), Maui WHEN: Thursday-Sunday TELEVISION (tentative): ESPNi2-5:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2-5 p.m. Sunday.

Woods goes off at 7:30 a.m. and Sorenstam at 12:30 p.m. Punahou freshman Michelle Wie tees off somewhere in between, based on her amateurs' draw, along with the 29 other PGA Tour pros who join Woods in the PGA Tour opener Thursday.

"This is very special to have the No. 1 men's player in the world, the No. 1 women's player in the world and Michelle, who is the most exciting junior in the world, all playing on The Plantation Course," said Gary Planos, Mercedes tournament chairman and Kapalua vice president of resort operations.

The resort got more than 13 inches of rain from Wednesday afternoon to Saturday morning. Planos said organizers were worried carts would have to remain on paths through the Pro-Am, but the course drained well enough that they were allowed on the fairways yesterday.

"Mother Nature took care of us the last two days," Planos said. "We're very happy with the way things turned out."

PGA Tour forecasters predict the good weather will remain through Sunday, with relatively light — nothing exceeding 20 mph — trade and Kona winds.

Sorenstam, who represents Mercedes-Benz, will also host a hole-in-one contest Thursday for the 15 teams participating in the Mercedes Dealer Championships National Final. The grassroots, charitable golf program culminates at Kapalua each January.

If Sorenstam or any member of a team gets a hole-in-one, every member of the team wins a Mercedes-Benz C230 Sports Sedan.

Clint Eastwood, Dennis Hopper, Mark Wahlberg and Roger Clemens are among the amateurs who will play in the Pro-Am.

The 2004 Mercedes Championships will benefit Boy Scouts of America, Maui County Council; Friends of the Children's Justice Center; Girl Scout Council of Hawaii; Hale Makua; J. Walter Cameron Center; Ka Lima O Maui; Lahainaluna High School Athletic Department; Maui Junior Golf Association; Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation and The Art School at Kapalua.