Wednesday 8 October 2014 15:43, UK
Jimmy Walker faces a new challenge this week as he prepares to defend a PGA Tour title for the first time in his career.
The 35-year-old landed his maiden title in his 188th start at last season's Frys.com Open, the first event of the PGA Tour's "wraparound" schedule.
Walker went on the win both the Sony Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in an outstanding breakthrough campaign, which he capped by making his Ryder Cup debut.
He gave a good account of himself in a losing cause at Gleneagles, but Walker is over the disappointment and returns to the Silverado Resort in Napa, California in a positive frame of mind.
"I've never been in a position on the PGA Tour to defend," he said. "I don't think I've been in position to defend anywhere.
"It's nice to be in Napa. If you can't enjoy this place, you need to get out of here.
"It's always nice to start quickly and play well. I couldn't have scripted it any better the first couple months of the season and it would be nice to do that again, obviously.
"I feel like I've got a good formula going but I'm always continuing to try to get better, and looking at the stats for last year, where can I improve, what can we do, as far as that goes."
But while Walker is aiming to build on his superb form over the last 12 months, Australian Jarrod Lyle is determined to revive his career as he makes his first PGA Tour appearance since 2012.
The 32-year-old has recently recovered from his second battle with leukaemia, and he scraped through qualifying after failing to secure a sponsor's invitation.
Lyle missed three cuts in his four appearances on the Web.com Tour over July and August, and he now has 20 starts to earn the $283,825 he needs to extend his medical exemption for the rest of the season
He already has a sponsor's exemption for next week's Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, and he had also expected an invite to the season-opener.
But when it did not arrive, he travelled to California, shot a six-under 66 in Monday's qualifying and then survived an eight-man play-off for four spots to get in.
Live coverage of the first PGA Tour event of the season begins on Thursday at 10pm on Sky Sports 4.
