If the suspicion always existed that Darren Clarke's game was admirably suited to the US Tour, then his seasonal debut would appear to back it up.
The 35-year-old's third-place finish in the Mercedes Championship - behind winner Stuart Appleby and last year's money winner Vijay Singh - earned Clarke a cool $400,000, put him in third place on the new US Tour money list and rocketed him to first place on the European Ryder Cup table based on world points. Not a bad few days work at all, you'd agree.
Although his haul of world ranking points propelled him to first in that table which ultimately should lead to a place on the European team for the Ryder Cup in Detroit in September, it didn't move him up the actual world ranking. Clarke stays at 12th, one place behind the tournament winner Appleby - who jumped four places to 11th - and two behind Padraig Harrington, who won't start his year's competitive play until next month.
Interestingly, Singh, who finished outright runner-up in Hawaii, improved his world ranking average to 9.95 - the highest of the Fijian's career. Singh's 9.95 points average is just 4.22 behind Tiger Woods (the only American to finish in the top-five in Kapalua), who this week celebrates his 231st consecutive week in the world number one position.
For Clarke, his debut in the Mercedes bodes well for his decision to play more frequently in America this season. Clarke intends to play up to 16 times Stateside this year and, this week, competes in the Sony Open in Honolulu where Ernie Els is the defending champion and 23 of the 30-man field from last week play.
However, it is the presence in the field of 14-year-old Michelle Wie - playing on a sponsor's invitation - which is likely to create most anticipation, certainly for the first two rounds.
Appleby's win by one shot over Singh - making it two victories from his last four appearances in competition - makes him the highest ranked Australian in the world rankings, at 11th, but also reaffirmed his new-found ability to carve out wins. It was the fifth win of his career on the US Tour and, following on from his win in the Las Vegas Invitational last October which booked his place in Hawaii, marks him out as a form player.
But even Appleby doesn't know what has made the difference. "What did I do in Vegas that got me across the line? What did I do the previous weeks even when I came second and didn't win? What was that? It was just, 'Never give up, stick to your guns, do what you're doing, play smart, let the cards fall where they do.'
"Sometimes it's intangible things in golf. There's not really one super secret that's got me across the line. Sometimes it's just like bunches of little blocks, and you keep putting these blocks together, and all of a sudden you've got something. You've got a distinguishable feature.
"Working on your weaknesses in your game, physical weaknesses, mental weaknesses, I've looked at all of those, and I've seen areas where, 'Yeah, I think I can do better there. What's the shot that lets me down? What's the shot I struggle with?' Work on that. You're only as strong as your weaknesses, so really try to tighten them up."
Appleby has also intimated he might pick the brains of his Florida neighbour Woods on how to stay in the winning zone. "It's something that I really should do," he conceded. "I've always been an advocate of asking someone that you admire and someone who has gone where you want to go and ask them questions. It's certainly not about pride, because you can learn a lot. You never know what you're going to get. Maybe he won't tell me anything either.
"But I constantly want to refine things and to get better. You look at someone like Tiger, who has a great swing. David Toms, Davis Love, those three guys there. I think everybody on the tour looks to those swings as something very repetitious and very functional."
Meanwhile, the European Tour - headed by Padraig Harrington - swings back into action this week for the South African Open, at Erinvale in Cape Town. The event is co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour, and among the heavy hitters heading to the Southern Hemisphere are Colin Montgomerie and Lee Westwood. Trevor Immelman defends his title.
The Irish contingent is relatively small. Paul McGinley kick-starts his season and is joined in the field by former Irish amateur champion Ciaran McMonagle from Dunfanaghy and Dubliner Peter Lawrie, who is seeking to follow on from his good play of last season when he won the tour's "rookie of the year" title.
Mark McNulty, formerly of Zimbabwe but now an Irish citizen and playing under that flag, is also in the field.
