A first for Wetterich

Brett Wetterich could hardly keep the smile off his face on Tuesday as he prepared for his title defence at this week's Byron Nelson Championship.

The big-hitting American, who triumphed last year by a shot over South African Trevor Immelman, has never before reaped the benefits of being a defending champion on the PGA Tour.

"Coming out here this morning was nice," Wetterich told reporters at the hosting TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas in Texas. "I got the front row, the prime-time parking spot. That was pretty neat. And then just being able to walk into the champions' locker room and see my name sitting there. That was a pretty special feeling."

The 33-year-old Ohio native, ranked 208th in the world when he claimed his only PGA Tour title, believes he has developed into a much improved player.

"Since winning here, I've been playing pretty steady for a year, and hopefully it keeps carrying over for me," said Wetterich, who made his Ryder Cup debut for the US last September.

Wetterich, who chased world number one Tiger Woods hard in the final round of last month's WGC-CA Championship at Doral before finishing two strokes behind in second place, faces a strong field this week.

Former winners Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh return to action for the first time since the Masters and are among eight members of the world's top 20 taking part.

World number four Mickelson, champion in 1996, makes his first tournament appearance since announcing on Monday he was switching allegiance to swing coach Butch Harmon.

Also playing this week are world number 11 Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Charles Howell III and the Australian trio Nick O'Hern (17), Stuart Appleby (18) and Robert Allenby (19).

The tournament is played over the Cottonwood Valley Course and the TPC at Las Colinas over the first two days before the TPC layout hosts the last two rounds.

This week's tournament will be the first played without the legendary Nelson in attendance. He died in September at the age of 94.