Key question: Will it be enough to attract Sorenstam and Wie?

Hawai'i will open up the professional golf seasons with a bang in 2006.

The addition of a second LPGA event in February will mean that all three American professional golf tours will begin their 2006 seasons with back-to-back tournaments here.

The LPGA Tour announced last week that the Fields Open in Hawai'i has been added to the 2006 schedule and will be played at the Ko Olina Golf Club, Feb. 23 to 25, the week following the SBS Open at the Turtle Bay Resort.

It will mean a triple-treat for golf fans here and on national television, watching their favorite players tee it up in sunny Hawai'i during the winter months.

The PGA Tour is first off with the champions-only Mercedes Championships, followed by the Sony Open in Hawai'i, the first full-field event.

The seniors take the spotlight the rest of January as the Champions Tour begins its 2006 season with the MasterCard Championship at the Hualalai Golf Club on the Big Island. Next will be the Turtle Bay Championship at the resort's Palmer Course, with Hale Irwin trying to extend his record streak of winning the same event six years in a row.

Jennifer Rosales will defend her SBS Open title at Turtle Bay when the LPGA opens its season Feb. 16 to 18. It will be followed by the inaugural Fields Open in Hawai'i, also a 54-hole event with a $1.1 million purse and scheduled for a Saturday finish.

As a title sponsor, the name Fields might throw you. But it is a Japanese company that mainly began with the distribution of a very familiar parlor gaming machine, pachinko.

So, as far as the LPGA is concerned, it's ka-ching.

Fields, which is now also into the sports marketing business, including the management of sports gyms and professional athletes, has committed to a three-year agreement, according to Hidetoshi Yamamoto, president and CEO.

He said that Fields is thrilled to bring the LPGA Tour back to Ko Olina, which hosted the Hawaiian Ladies Open from 1990 through 1995.

The question everyone's asking is, will Annika Sorenstam, who didn't play when the LPGA returned to Hawai'i with this year's SBS Open, show up now with back-to-back events next year?

"Hopefully, we can attract Annika now that we have two events," said Greg Nichols, Ko Olina's director of golf.

Certainly, the resort has the amenities to make it happen with a first-class hotel and a premier golf course on the same grounds.

It was popular with the golfers when they last played there 10 years ago before the Hawaiian Ladies Open moved to the Kapolei Golf Course.

Nichols is positive about the new agreement now that Ko Olina is under different ownership.

"The sponsors also want to do a significant junior event, much like what we did with the pro-junior golf at the Sony Open," said Nichols, the former head golf professional at Waialae.

He is more excited what the addition of a second LPGA event here will mean. He thinks it will double Michelle Wie's chances of winning a tournament.

"She obviously has a home-course advantage. You always play better at a golf course you're familiar with. So she has an additional shot at winning," Nichols said.

Of course, she first needs to get a sponsor's exemption.

"It's a no-brainer," he said about an invite.

However, there are a few things to keep in mind.

For one, there's no guarantee that the teen phenom will accept sponsor's exemptions to both Hawai'i tournaments. An exemption offer to the SBS Open, where Wie finished tied for second this year, is also a no-brainer.

Not counting practice time, it would mean she could miss at least four days of classes in February because the first and second rounds in both tournaments will be on a Thursday and Friday.

Besides, accepting two of the LPGA seven exemptions she's allowed — even if she turns pro — will leave only five open dates on the dance card of a very popular girl. No wonder Wie wants to play in a few men's events, which don't count toward the seven exemptions.

Based on the pattern of her schedule the past three years, she certainly will leave room open for four events she loves: the Kraft Nabisco Championship, Safeway International, Evian Masters and the Samsung World Championship.

It will be great if she decides to play in both LPGA events in Hawai'i.

Great for the LPGA, great for the tournament sponsors and great for the community.

But as golf analyst Mark Rolfing says with concern, "I don't think that would be good for Hawai'i, good for the tournaments and good for Michelle Wie if she had to turn her back to one of them."

2006 EVENTS

JANUARY

5-8—Mercedes Championships at Kapalua Plantation (PGA).

12-15—Sony Open in Hawai'i at Waialae CC (PGA).

20-22—MasterCard Championship at Hualalai GC (Champions).

27-29—Turtle Bay Championship at Palmer Course (Champions).

FEBRUARY

6—Wendy's Champions Skins Game at Wailea Gold.

16-18—SBS Open at Turtle Bay Palmer Course (LPGA).

23-25—Fields Open in Hawai'i at Ko Olina (LPGA).