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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

Four players have changed their lives by earning their first PGA TOUR victory this year.

Ryuji Imada came into Atlanta with 14 rounds in the 60s in 2007. (WireImage)

Maybe winning the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play wasn't a big deal for Henrik Stenson, but Mark Wilson's Honda Classic victory was huge.

Two of the four first-time winners this year had never finished in the top 125 on the money list. They don't need to worry about that for a couple of years.

Winning on the PGA TOUR is the dream. Every person on the range at TPC Sugarloaf lived that dream quietly on driving ranges and putting greens throughout their youths.

Every year, we have unlikely winners on TOUR. We have already had a couple this year. It very well may happen again.

What does a PGA TOUR victory mean to a player? For players like Boo Weekley (Verizon Heritage), Mark Wilson (Honda Classic), Nick Watney (Zurich Classic of New Orleans) and Charley Hoffman (Bob Hope Chrysler Classic), they were unable to properly express their emotions immediately following their victories.

On a more tangible front, a victory on the PGA TOUR comes with more perks than a paycheck pushing $1 million. It is well-known that a PGA TOUR victory comes with a two-year exemption.

In addition, all PGA TOUR winners are members of the TOUR for life. Although the limited exemption is not one that players would like to rely on after their total exemption runs out, it does produce great stories every year.

Jose Coceres and Tommy Armour III are using their limited access to great benefit this year.

With that membership comes a dues free membership to all the TPC Courses. After five years, a player is fully vested into the best retirement plan in sports.

Finally, a victory usually means a financial windfall from sponsors and exposure that most players can only imagine.

Since the AT&T Classic made the move up I-85 to its home at the TPC Sugarloaf in 1997, only two players have earned their first career victory at this event. As a matter of fact, this tournament seems to have brought out the best in the stars of the day throughout its history.

Jack Nicklaus won here back to back in the early 1970s. Hale Irwin hoisted the trophy twice in the 1970s as well.

Major champions like Tom Kite, Tom Watson and John Daly also won at the old Atlanta Country Club. However, the last year the tournament was held at the famed venue, it was Paul Stankowski pulling off the rare double, winning back-to-back weeks on the Nationwide Tour and the PGA TOUR.

In a matter of two weeks, he went from Lafayette, La. to Augusta National.

In recent years Tiger, Phil and David Duval have all won the AT&T Classic. The task of winning a PGA TOUR event for the first time is monumental.

Camilo Villegas nearly won the Honda Classic earlier this year. The win would have given the Colombian a two-year TOUR exemption. (WireImage)

However, few regular PGA TOUR events can boast so many major championship winners among their list of champions. Steve Elkington and Lee Janzen have the opportunity to add their names to that list on Sunday.

Zach Johnson, the last first-time winner in Atlanta, is looking to add his name for the second time.

For Ryuji Imada, Camilo Villegas and the others who are in the mix on Sunday, the task ahead is considerable. History may be against them.

However, history was against Zach three years ago. Heck, history was Zach's foe a month ago, and he managed to keep it at bay and don the Green Jacket.

Careers could be permanently altered on Sunday in the rolling hills of north Georgia, or we could see the resurrection of an old champion.

Weeks like this hold some of the best scenarios of the year for the true golf fan. With so many different stories in contention, it should be quite a finish.