The PGA Tour season gets underway this week at the Frys.com Open, the first time the tour has gone to a wraparound season. And while the field might not look that strong on paper, odds are that will change. The tournament has three players from the Presidents Cup (Hideki Matsuyama, Angel Cabrera and Marc Leishman - along with assistant captain Davis Love III). It has two from the top 50 in the world (Matsuyama at No. 30 and defending champion Jonas Blixt at No. 34), and one player who was at the Tour Championship (Billy Horschel). How might that change? A year ago, eight PGA Tour members took part in an exhibition in Turkey called the World Golf Finals, held the same week as the Frys.com Open. In exchange for a release from the tour, they agreed to play the Frys.com Open at least once over the next three years. Those players were Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose, Hunter Mahan, Charl Schwartzel, Webb Simpson and Matt Kuchar. Frys.com Open president Duke Butler recalls a similar situation nearly 30 years ago. The PGA Tour granted releases to four players to play the Australian Skins Game in 1985 when it was held the same week as the Houston Open. The players agreed to play Houston at least once over the next few years. Those players could be called headliners - Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros and Greg Norman. The next year, the Houston Open included Nicklaus in his first start since winning the Masters for his sixth green jacket, one of the most popular wins in golf. Four of the five Canadians with full time status on the Tour are in the field this week - Graham DeLaet is taking the week off after his solid performance for the International team last week at the Presidents Cup. After missing all 14 cuts in 2012, Mike Weir played the weekend in 9 of 22 starts. He failed to earn enough money to retain his full Tour status so he's cashing in his second of two career lifetime earnings exemptions to play the full year in 2014. Stephen Ames, who turns 50 at the end of April and will be eligible to play on the Champions Tour, also cashed in a career lifetime earnings exemption to play on Tour this year. Brad Fritsch is back for year two but he almost didn't make it. After finishing 129th on the FedEx Cup standings which gave him conditional status for the coming year, the Ottawa-area golfer missed the cut in the first three Web.com Tour Finals events. Needing a top-5 result to retain his full status, Fritsch put on a final round charge in the final event to finish in a tie for second. "I wish I didn't leave it to the last round, but, at the same time, I can take a huge boost of confidence from knowing that I had to shoot four under or better (Sunday) and I did exactly that," Fritsch told the Ottawa Citizen's Gord Holder. Fritsch also confirmed he will play in the World Cup of Golf in Australia at the end of November, teaming up with David Hearn. COURSE: CordeValle Golf Club (7,379 yards, par 71). PURSE: $5 million. Winner's share: $900,000. TELEVISION: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 5-8 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m.). CANADIANS IN THE FIELD: Stephen Ames, Brad Fritsch, David Hearn, Mike Weir NOTES: Sweden's Jonas Blixt won the then-Falls Series event for his first PGA Tour title. This year, the tournament kicks off the new 2013-14 PGA Tour season. ...Billy Horschel and Gary Woodland are the only Tour Championship qualifiers in the field. Horschel finished 16th in the FedEx Cup standings, and Woodland was 23rd. Brad Fritsch is back on the Tour with full status after finishing in a tie for second at the Web.com Tour Championship two weeks ago. ...Mike Weir, a past champion of this event (2007), is using his second of two career money list exemptions to play a full season this year. ...Stephen Ames, who will be eligible to join the Champions Tour in 2014, is also using his career money list exemption to play this season. ... International team members Angel Cabrera, Hideki Matsuyama, Marc Leishman are the only Presidents Cup players at CordeValle. ...Thirty-nine of the 50 graduates via the Web.com Tour Finals are in the field including all four winners of Finals events - Trevor Immelman, Andy Svoboda, Seung-Yul Noh and Chesson Hadley. ...For the first time, the winner of this event will receive a spot in the Masters. COURSE: Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (6,246 yards, par 72). PURSE: $2 million. Winner's share: $300,000. TELEVISION: Golf Channel (Thursday, 12:30-3 a.m., 1-3:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 12:30-3 a.m.; Sunday, midnight-3 a.m.). NOTES: This is the second event of the Asian swing and it will feature the largest purse in the tournament's four year history. Inbee Park rallied last year to beat fellow South Korean player Na Yeon Choi by two strokes. The top-ranked Park, defending a title for the first time in her career, swept the first three major championships of the season and has three other LPGA Tour wins this season. ... Stacy Lewis, who has three victories this year including the Women's British Open, comes into the event after finishing second last week in China. She expressed her frustration on Twitter over the behaviour of Chinese fans who cheered when she missed putts in the final round. ... Norway's Suzann Pettersen will be back in action this week following a three-week break after her win at the Evian Championship last month. Pettersen is also preparing for back-to-back title defenses coming in Korea and Taiwan the following two weeks. COURSE: Prestonwood Country Club (7,240 yards, par 72). PURSE: $2.1 million. Winner's share: $315,000. TELEVISION: Golf Channel (Friday, 2-4:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 3-5 a.m., 2-4:30 p.m.; Monday, midnight-2 a.m.). NOTES: Six-time major champion Nick Faldo is making his third Champions Tour start - his first in the United States. He also played in the Senior British Open in 2007 and 2009. ...There are eight members of the World Golf Hall of Fame in the field, including Faldo. The others are Hale Irwin, Colin Montgomerie, Curtis Strange, Larry Nelson, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, and Tom Kite. ...There has never been a playoff at the SAS Championship - the only current Champions Tour event that has played the first 10 years without an overtime session. COURSE: Oceanico Victoria Golf Club (7,209 yards, par 71). PURSE: $2.71 million. Winner's share: $452,375. TELEVISION: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.). NOTES: Ireland's Shane Lowry beat England's Ross Fisher by a stroke last year. ...Matteo Manassero, at No. 31 in the world, is the highest ranked player in the field. Francesco Molinari, Martin Kaymer, Miguel Angel Jimenez, David Howell, Nicolas Colsaerts, Thomas Bjorn and Paul Lawrie are also entered COURSE: Panther and Bobcat courses at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla. CANADIANS IN THE FIELD: Jennifer Kirby, Ashley Sholer, Jessica Wallace, Erica Rivard, Danielle Mills, Kirby Dreher, Natalie Gleadall, Angela Buzminski, Brogan McKinnon (a), Nicole Vandermade NOTES: 195 hopefuls will attempt to continue their quest towards an LPGA Tour card. The top 80 will advance to the final stage, to be played the first week in December. All other players who complete 72 holes will receive Symetra Tour status for the 2014 season. ...Stage I medalist Laura Gonzalez-Escallon is one of 61 amateur golfers competing in the qualifier this week. ... Wake Forest alum and current Ladies European Tour rookie Cheyenne Woods, the niece of Tiger Woods, is also in the field. ...University of Texas standout Madison Pressel, the 2011 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, is the sister of LPGA Tour pro Morgan Pressel. COURSE: Dorado Beach Resort, East Course, San Juan, Puerto Rico COURSE: Haesley Nine Bridges Golf Club, Jeju Island, South Korea. COURSE: The International, Amsterdam. CANADIANS IN THE FIELD: Phil Jonas, Rick Gibson, Jean Laforce (alternate), Bill Hardwick (alternate) COURSE: NorthStone Country Club, Huntersville, N.C. CANADIANS IN THE FIELD: Sean Bozuk, Cam Burke, Albin Choi, Robbie Greenwell, Mackenzie Hughes, Wil Mitchell COURSE: Hermitage Golf Course, Nashville, Tenn.