The PGA season is already underway -- I know, we can't believe it either -- and we'll spend the next nine months in golfing heaven. But which storylines will dominate the year? What will we be talking about in Augusta, on Independence Day, and at East Lake? We've got your answers right here, friends. We start with the obvious, so we can get it out of the way:

1. Tiger's coming back. Yes, yes, yes, Tiger's returning, greatest player in the game, blah blah blah. You know it'll be the dominant story in golf, if not all of sports, when he steps back onto the first tee on Thursday of the Masters. Let's move on.

2. Anthony Kim: The real deal? David Feherty calls him "the best young golfer I've seen since Tiger." No pressure there, AK, none at all. How will Kim bear up under the weight of being golf's Next Great Hope?

3. Paddy's stake. The reigning two-time major champion is Padraig Harrington, and he'll be going for the "Paddy Slam" (ouch) at Augusta. Regardless of who's in the field, winning a major is a phenomenal achievement, winning two in a row almost unthinkable. But everything's reset now, so can Paddy handle Augusta for the first time?

4. Golf on TV. How much is too much? How much is not enough? When even AK admits that he uses golf as a good nap aid, maybe it's time to reassess our sport's television presence. What can be done? Hell if I know, but the status quo is never a good idea.

5. U-S-A! U-S-A! The Ryder Cup last year was nothing less than a rebirth of American golf. We got ourselves a few new stars here stateside, and perhaps a resurgence of interest in the sport. It'll be interesting to see how golf can hang onto the fans who tuned in to see pony rides and Valhalla celebrations.

6. Vijay Part Deux. Not since the days of Wally Pipp has someone capitalized so effectively and definitively on a co-worker's absence. Everybody lathered praise on Vijay Singh last year as he stormed his way through the FedEx Cup. Will the sweet-swingin' Fijian have enough in the tank for an encore performance?

7. Economic woes. The PGA signed up quite a few sponsors to contracts that end this year and next. How many of those sponsors are going to be shelling out the coin to stay in the game? The 2010 and 2011 schedules could have more holes than a 24 storyline.

8. Babes on tour. All too often, Tour newbies look stamped straight out of the usual upper-crust, stiff-upper-lip mold, capable of only the most basic of human emotions. Not so now, and it'll be interesting to see how these (relative) newcomers to the national scene reshape the face of golf. Will Boo Weekley bring in hordes of golf-crazed Southerners? Will Kim rally the frat-boy population? Will Camilo Villegas bring in hordes of Hannah Montana-age girls? (Sweet heaven, let's hope not. That way leads to bad AK-Camilo fanfic, and nobody needs that.)

9. Phil vs. Steve. You may be sick of the Steve Williams-vs.-Phil Mickelson feud, but the rest of the world isn't quite as golf-savvy as you are, you Devil Ball reader you, which means we'll be hearing about this nonsense from the moment that Phil and Tiger share a tournament to -- well, to the moment Phil wins another major, probably. And let's not forget the subplot here -- fading Phil, as Ark notes in a column. How much time does Phil have left to compete in majors, really?

10. Power of the People: The twin surges of John Daly and Tiger Woods were shots across the snooty bow of The Powers That Be in golf, but outspokenness and personality are all too often the exception rather than the rule in this game. However, with the new crop of golfers comes a new emphasis on fun over etiquette; guys like Boo Weekley, J.B. Holmes, Hunter Mahan and AK are demonstrating that you don't have to have a country-club soul to succeed at this game.

All right, your turn. What do you see as the big storylines for 2009? What storyline -- besides you-know-who's return -- would you like to see go away?