Changes Punctuate Tournament

The new-old Bob Hope Chrysler Classic begins its annual 90-hole teardown of Indian Wells, Tamarisk and Bermuda Dunes on Wednesday, so there’s nothing new there. On the other hand, there are few new wrinkles in the Hope.

First--and this will be of utmost interest to the 128 pros in the field--the prize money has been raised $600,000 to $4.1 million.

Second, the tournament has been moved back to its normal mid-January position on the PGA Tour calendar.

Third, it’s a better field than usual.

And for that, you can count the presence of Phil Mickelson as the primary reason, because he’s usually not a part of the Hope--he has played it only once since 1994. But Monday, there was Mickelson, out on the Palmer Course with Curtis Strange, playing a practice round.

The good news was no one had to show Mickelson how to hold a club, always a possibility because he hasn’t played an official tour event since August.

Last year, Mickelson had his fifth multiple-victory season. He won twice, had three top threes and earned a career high $4.4 million. Although his record in majors still shows no victories, Mickelson challenged in two. He was second to David Toms at the PGA Championship and third at the Masters, where Tiger Woods won.

Of course, Woods isn’t here because he never plays the Hope. But Jerry Kelly is. Last week’s winner of the Sony Open at Hawaii, Kelly tried to practice Monday but had to give up because of fatigue.

Besides Mickelson, some other important names in the field include Toms, David Duval, Jesper Parnevik, Justin Leonard, Fred Couples, John Daly, Steve Elkington, Mark Calcavecchia, Paul Azinger and Arnold Palmer. Joe Durant is the defending champion and won $630,000 with a tour-record 36-under-par.

If nothing else, the Hope will serve as a coming-out party for some of the younger players who are held in high regard, such as Charles Howell III, Paul Casey and David Gossett.

But there also are 37 new tour cardholders in the field, including three-time Buy.com Tour winners Chad Campbell and Heath Slocum. It also includes Boo Weekley, the 28-year-old from Milton, Fla., who already is making a name for himself by playing in tennis shoes (to protect his feet) and foul-weather pants (to help stop an itch).

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Hope Classic

What: Bob Hope Chrysler Classic

When: Wednesday though Sunday.

Where: The Palmer Course at PGA West, Tamarisk, Indian Wells Country Club.

Prize money: $4.1million ($720,000 to the winner).

Defending champion: Joe Durant, 65-61-67-66-65--324.

TV: Wednesday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m., ESPN; Thursday, noon-3 p.m., ESPN; Friday, noon-3 p.m., ESPN; Saturday, noon-3 p.m., Channel 7; Sunday, noon-3 p.m., Channel 7.