With rain expected to be a familiar sight during this week's Bob Hope Classic, Pat Perez is hoping that the wet conditions may improve his chances of defending the title he claimed last year.

The TaylorMade golf clubs user collected his maiden PGA Tour victory when taking advantage of a final-round slip-up by Steve Stricker 12 months ago to win the title by three shots.

But history is not on his side for a successful defence, as Johnny Miller remains the only player of all time to win the Bob Hope Classic in back-to-back years, while Perez has also struggled to make the adjustment to the new groove regulations.

Chipping and getting his golf ball to stop have been particular problems for Perez since moving away from the square grooves he has always played with, but he feels that the expected wet conditions may help to offer him better control.

The 33-year-old said: "The soft conditions will definitely help it out here. The ryegrass, I'm used to that, so I know how it goes through the grass.

"I don't really have a whole lot of expectations, just try to hit some good shots. This tournament's really just about putting anyway.

"The greens are in phenomenal shape. That's not going to be a problem. It will just be a matter of standing water in the fairway."

This year's Bob Hope Classic is being played at the La Quinta Country Club in California and a number of other stars are expected to challenge in the third PGA Tour event of the 2010 season.

Canadian Mike Weir won the tournament in 2003 and finished third last year so is expected to go close, while 2007 victor Charley Hoffman also has a good track record in the tournament.

Meanwhile, many of the European Tour's biggest stars are set to kick-off their 2010 seasons at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship.

A year ago Paul Casey enjoyed a one-stroke success over Martin Kaymer and the Nike golf clubs user is looking forward to overcoming an injury-interrupted 2009.

Casey struggled with a rib problem and missed virtually all of the second half of last season.

However, he said: "I feel hungry to play a lot of golf. The time away has fuelled my desire and I can't wait to get back to winning ways.

"I've been doing a lot of work over the winter to get back up to my peak and I'm looking forward to getting back out onto the course and hopefully mounting a strong challenge."

Rory McIlroy has set his sights on victory as he bids to achieve three main goals this year.

The Northern Irishman, who plays with the Titleist 909D2 golf driver and Titleist Pro V1x golf balls aims to break into the top five in the world rankings, turn more tournament challenges into wins and be battling at the head of the leaderboard in the four majors.

McIlroy only collected one victory in 2009 at the Dubai Desert Classic, but feels that he was in good positions at a number of other tournaments to have achieved more.

Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia is also set to compete in Abu Dhabi despite having completed little practice in recent months with his TaylorMade Tour Burner golf driver because of a wrist injury.

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