KAPALUA - Zach Johnson admits the Kapalua Plantation Course doesn't exactly fit his game.

The 2007 Masters champion is on Maui for the $5.6 million, winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship, one of six golfers from last year's field among the 31 playing this week. Ranked 182nd on the PGA Tour in driving distance

at 275.7 yards, he knows the 7,411-yard layout may be a little long for his liking.

''I don't know, I doubt it, I don't think so, necessarily,'' Johnson said Monday on the way to his first practice round at Kapalua in 2009 when asked if the Plantation Course was an ideal match for him. ''It can. It is condition-based, it is wind-based, it is rough-based, it is certainly green-speed-based for me. I mean, for me, if someone were to describe a golf course that fits me, I would say it is pretty tight with some good rough and fast greens.

''(The Plantation Course) can have that. These fairways are fairly generous, which is OK because the lies are never flat. If you putt good here - it is hard to make putts - but if you putt good here, anybody can win.''

On a breezy Monday, Johnson said he was rooting for the traditional trade winds to kick in. His best statistical category in 2008 was driving accuracy - he was No. 4 on tour at 73.91 percent.

''I don't want no wind,'' he said. ''If there is no wind, I want a lot of rough. If there is no rough, I would prefer some wind.''

The 2008 season, which included a victory at the Texas Open when he shot 62-64 on the weekend to win by two strokes, was a bit of a downturn after his breakthrough 2007. Johnson finished 53rd on the PGA Tour money list last year after four straight top-40 finishes, including eighth in 2007 when he won the Masters and the AT&T Classic and took home $3.9 million.

The 2008 season ended a fairly steady climb up the ranks.

Johnson graduated from Drake University in 1998 with a degree in business management. He spent 1998 and 1999 on the Prairie Golf Tour, winning three times. He moved up to the Nationwide Tour in 2000, but struggled and then went to the Hooters Tour in 2001 and 2002, winning the final three events in 2001 and Player of the Year honors. In 2003, he won twice on the Nationwide Tour, taking the money title and Player of the Year honors.

In 2004, he won once on the PGA Tour and made 24 of 30 cuts to start a string of money-list finishes of 19th, 39th and 24th before his No. 8 finish in 2007.

Last season ended with earnings of $1.6 million, but only three top-10 finishes and seven top-25s in 25 starts. Johnson missed the final three tournaments of the four-week FedEx Cup playoffs when he finished 131st on the points list.

''I had six weeks off after New York-New Jersey (for The Barclays tournament) because I couldn't play the rest of the FedEx Cup and I had some obligations, weddings and that sort of thing,'' Johnson said. ''So I had six weeks off to retool and revamp and repolish and that is when I sat down and said, 'What are we going to do next year?' ''

Before the end of 2008, he got together with what he calls ''Team Johnson,'' a group that includes swing coach Mike Bender and mental coach Morris Pickens, and mapped out a strategy for 2009.

''So the fundamental changes, mental changes, I said, 'Let's do that now and play four out of the last five (tournaments),' '' Johnson said. ''That is exactly what I did. So the end of 2008, I met with my coaches, like a summit type of thing, and it was good. It was heated at times, opinions flying around the room, but it was exactly what I wanted. It was very healthy, and it was very candid.

''The beauty of that, all of my guys, all of Team Johnson, if you will, get along great. They are all passionate about it. They are all opinionated, passionate, and I would say, you know, just caring.''

The summit meeting produced ''three goals throughout the year,'' Johnson said. ''I don't stick to the numbers, they do it for me. The goals stay the same, but the objectives of how to get those goals change a little bit.''

Johnson appears ready to roll - his 2009 season will begin with an 11:10 a.m. tee time Thursday, paired with Greg Kraft.

''I'm encouraged,'' Johnson said. ''I thought the end of last year my game was really, really good.''

Johnson will face a par-73 layout that has four par-5s, including the lengthy 663-yard finishing hole.

''For me, I'm not going to be able to go through the par-5s and get there in two every week,'' he said. ''So for me, par-5 percentage, birdie conversion is a big thing for me every year. In order to do that, my wedge game has to be good. And putting is one of the goals. So scrambling, par-5s, and putting. That's the best way I can explain it.''

Johnson has played the Mercedes twice before, tying for 23rd in 2005 and tying for 20th in 2008. He has broken 70 at Kapalua just once, with a 67 in last year's second round. That followed an opening 76 and he never really got into contention.

He wants to change that this week, and hopes the meeting of the minds at the end of last year was the start.

''I had my swing coach, putting coach, mental coach, and, obviously my caddie, Damon (Green),'' Johnson said. ''They are all totally different personalities, but we are on the same path. It's awesome. Some of those guys are players also. So having that is obviously a benefit, but also leads to some other things, some opinions, some heavy opinions. It's just a matter of figuring out where those guys are coming from and how it suits me and where I can complement it in my game.''