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Royalty, or at least a distant relative of royalty, was tops of the field in the 2009 Mercedes Benz Championship held at the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Hawaii.  Geoff Ogilvy of Australia, who is a distant relative of Britain’s royalty family, took home the $1.12 million winners share by firing a final round 5 under par to finish the tournament at 24 under par, 6 strokes ahead of Anthony Kim and Davis Love III.

There was a time on the last day of the tournament where Ogilvy appeared in danger of losing his grip, as the lead fell to 1 stroke in the middle of the last round.  "I've never had a six-shot lead before. It's a pretty uncomfortable feeling, to be honest with you," Ogilvy said.  It seems as though this potentially bothered Ogilvy but he settled right in for the back nine of the final round and pulled away.

The course this field was playing on is located in always beautiful Hawaii, and is rated the 50^th (out of 54) most difficult courses on the PGA tour.  Ogilvy got off to a good start in the first round, with conditions that were favorable with light to medium winds and occasional rain.  Another noteworthy event from the first round, other than the young and older stars struggling (Camilo Villegas and Vijay Singh), was John Elway’s long smash of a ceremonial drive at 350 yards to kick off the season.

Round 2 of the tournament was marked by yet another solid round from Ogilvy and a shifting in the winds that occurred on the back nine.  This change in conditions did not seem to affect the top of the leader board as D.J. Trahan also came on strong with the lowest round of the day, a 66.  With a 1 shot lead heading into round 3, Ogilvy would need to pay particular attention to the conditions on Saturday and keep up his good play.  Not only did Ogilvy keep up his good play but he indeed stepped it up further with a dazzling 8-under 65 in round 3.

          Ogilvy was now in good position to close out the tournament on the final round.  The course was wet from rain prior to the final round which softened the conditions a bit.   Despite struggling to start, Ogilvy regained the form displayed throughout the weekend and pulled away for good to start off his season on the right foot.  Ogilvy himself felt most comfortable and that he played his best golf of the weekend on the back nine of the final round, and it could not have come at a better time.  This was a tremendous way to start the year and for the former U.S. Open champion, a great confidence booster heading into the next tournament.