Jimmy Walker goes into this week’s Frys.com Open in California in uncharted territory as he will be defending a PGA tour title for the first time following victory at last year’s event.

The 35-year-old ,who is fresh from his exploits at last month’s Ryder Cup where he put in a credible performance as his American side were defeated by their European counterparts, will be looking to start the new season in similarly explosive fashion to the last when he secured his maiden PGA title 12 months ago.

It kickstarted what was a fantastic season for the American as he went on to win two more events in the early stages of the campaign, coming out victorious at the Sony Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

The victories went a long way to securing his place at Gleneagles and Walker knows how important it would be to have a fast start again.
“It’s always nice to start quickly and play well,” he said. “I couldn’t have scripted it any better the first couple months of the season and it would be nice to do that again, obviously.”

The Oklahoma man is the 15.00 joint-favourite to win the event for a second consecutive time in what is a strong field. Ryder cup team-mates Matt Kuchar and Hunter Mahan will also be competing as well as victorious European Lee Westwood. Kuchar is the other man at 15.00 to win on Sunday.

With the field being so strong for what is the first PGA tour event of the season, Walker knows he has to be on top of his game and has been meticulous in his preparations.

“I feel like I’ve got a good formula going but I’m always continuing to try to get better, and looking at the stats for last year, where can I improve, what can we do, as far as that goes,” he added.