ELMSFORD, N.Y (January 4, 2010)- After a brief winter hiatus, this week marks the start of the 2010 professional golf season. The PGA Tour gets underway in Hawaii, beginning January 7th, with the SBS Championship at the Kapalua Resort on the island of Maui. Only 2009 PGA Tour winners are eligible for this event, and the field of 28 players includes U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, who conquered the rain at Bethpage Black in June.

Met Area natives Marc Turnesa and Johnson Wagner, both of whom are past MGA champions, are entered in the field for the Sony Open in Hawaii, the season’s second event, which is set to begin January 14 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. Wagner and Turnesa, both first-time PGA Tour winners in 2008, struggled in 2009 but look to rebound in 2010 after gaining another year of experience out on Tour. Although plagued with a back injury last season, Turnesa is looking forward to the upcoming events: “My goal for this year is to improve on all of my statistics. This includes driving accuracy, distance, greens in regulation and putting - all areas that I want to improve my numbers.” Fellow Met Area native J.J. Henry also looks to have success in 2010 after a solid 2009 campaign in which he had his second-best earnings finish in his nine years on Tour.

When the Nationwide Tour kicks off its season in February, former Met Open champion Andrew Svoboda of Larchmont, N.Y., and former Long Island resident Keegan Bradley will both get a taste of Tour life in 2010. Svoboda and Bradley qualified for the Nationwide Tour via PGA Tour Q-School and have their first chance to tee it up in 2010 at the Nationwide season opener at the Michael Hill New Zealand Open in Queenstown, New Zealand, beginning January 25th.

Meaghan Francella will be joined on the LPGA Tour this year by Diana D’Alessio and rookie Nannette Hill of Pelham, N.Y. Both D’Alessio and Hill earned conditional LPGA status, while Francella has full playing privileges. The season begins February 18 at the Honda PTT LPGA Thailand in Chonburi, Thailand.