FanHouse KevinStreelman

Golf season starts tomorrow, which means it is time to actually start thinking of the best game with dimples. While the giants take a nap, others will play at the Mercedes Championship, and golf will be around the rest of the year. FanHouse spent a couple of minutes thinking what is to come in 2009. Here is what transpired.

It all starts tomorrow, people. The 2009 PGA season gets underway at the Mercedes Championship. Except that four of last year's champs -- who also happen to be the four best players in the world -- won't be there. Tiger, Sergio, Phil and Paddy are skipping out on the free trip to Hawaii, although I suspect the other 33 players in the field aren't complaining.

Last season, Anthony Kim and, to a lesser extent (because we've known about him for a while ... and because Brinson has some worries), Camilo Villegas emerged as "the latest young golfer who will supposedly challenge Tiger Woods." And to be fair, both had a lot success. While they continue the seemingly impossible task of supplanting Woods atop the rankings, there are other young players hoping to do the same. The difference: we haven't heard much about them. Until now, anyway. Here's a look at five guys to watch as '09 unfolds.

Other media guides pour out a little as we near the end of the FanHouse Media Guide.

• Scott Sterling -- DNP -- His first season on the PGA Tour, Sterling's made only seven cuts in 13 events, with his best finish a tie for 36th place.

• Richard Sterne -- DNP -- Just 26, Sterne has won three European Tour events since turning pro in 2001. His tie for 25th at the Masters this season was his first made cut in a major.

• Kevin Streelman -- DNP -- A Q-School graduate who played on the Gateway Tour last season, Streelman's made just nine cuts in 16 tournaments this season, A Duke graduate, Streelman was paired with Tiger Woods in the third round of his third PGA Tour event, shooting a 75 to Tiger's 66.

• Steve Stricker -- 5 -- He has always said the U.S. Open is his best chance to win a major because he is used to hitting his drives in the rough. Stricker won Tour Comeback Player of the Year the last two seasons and if he wins it again, I'm starting an investigation into it.

• Chris Stroud -- CUT -- Yikes, an abysmal year for Stroud so far in 2008, he's made just four cuts all season, missing the weekend in his last six tournaments.

• Toru Taniguchi -- CUT -- Taniguchi has played in three Masters, five U.S. Opens and five PGA Championships, never making the cut in any of them. Also, his blood type is O.

• Nick Taylor (a) -- DNP -- Taylor, a recent graduate at Washington, got an exemption into the Canadian Open, a tournament he thought would be his first PGA Tour start. Turns out qualifying for the U.S. Open will be his warm up and is good experience for the rest of the year. "This is a pretty good warmup for the Canadian Open. I wasn't expecting it, but it's pretty cool." Priority mix-up, aisle five.

• Michael Thompson (a) -- DNP -- The 2007 U.S. Amateur runner-up was playing a great Masters this year, trying desperately to be the only amateur to make the cut. As he addressed his birdie putt on 15, the ball moved and he called the penalty on himself. The penalty led to a bogey there, which derailed his round and left him on the outside looking in on the weekend. Oh well, Thompson earned a ton of respect from the rest of us.

• Peter Tomasulo -- DNP -- Tomasulo is having a "ready for one break" year on the Nationwide Tour, ranked 38th on the money list and in need of a few top fives or a win. Also, he lists "Talladega Nights" as his favorite movie, a decision I'm hoping was made as a dare from his buddy that is still crashing on his couch.

• David Toms -- t-5 -- Toms is from Shreveport, Louisiana and at the FBR Open last year I kept screaming "Herby K's, Herby K's!" at him after his tee shot on 17. Toms smiled, acknowledged me and probably felt a slight rumble in his stomach. If you don't know what Herby K's is, your life has one more mission.

Today is just a formality for the 70 or so other players in the field because Tiger Woods is going to win the Buick Open, his first tournament of the season. And while that's what golf fans have come to expect from Eldrick, there's another interesting -- even if not nearly as amazing -- story coming out of Torrey Pines: Kevin Streelman.

Streelman led early in the week while Woods was getting reacquainted with his day job, and he played alongside Tiger and Stewart Cink in Saturday's round. But Streelman, unlike his playing partners, has never been in a Ryder Cup, or, for that matter, won a PGA Tour event.

He's a career minit-tour player who survived three rounds of Q-school last fall just to get to this point. Streelman was the third alternate heading into the Buick, and didn't find out he was in the field until a few minutes before his Thursday tee time. All he did was sprint to the first tee and get around in 67 strokes.

But the story gets better; CBS analyst Gary McCord, a former tour player who is a member at Whisper Rock in Scottsdale, Arizona, noted that he's seen Streelman around his home course. Whisper Rock is full of PGA Tour players, so that's not necessarily all that shocking, but McCord pointed out that Streelman wasn't a member; he was a caddie.

Amazing. By all accounts, Streelman sounds like a swell guy, even if he did go to Duke. And if he puts together one more solid round today, he could earn a top-10 finish, which will go a long way in helping him solidify his status on tour.