How To See The New No. 2 As The Restoration Unfolds

   If you've heard about the restoration project currently underway at Pinehurst No. 2 but haven't entirely gotten your head around what's going on and why, there's a new dedicated website -- PinehurstNumber2.com -- that allows you to see what's happening and hear from Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, the men handling the project.

   The site offers fascinating flyovers of different holes, showing how they looked before the project began and showcasing the differences now that the rough has been removed and sandy waste areas have returned alongside fairways. Coore and Crenshaw provide voiceovers explaining the thought process behind the project, offering context to what is an historic restoration.

   The site will be updated as various elements of the project are completed.

   No. 2 is closed until March 4 while work near the greens is completed but much of the work has been done. It will take some time for new natural areas to be weathered in but the overall impact of the course changes will be spectacular. Seeing the before and after images brings into focus how much No. 2 had gotten away from what it originally was and highlights the artistry of Coore and Crenshaw.

  When No. 2 hosts the 2014 men's and women's U.S. Opens, it will be the first Open venue without rough. The idea is to bring back what Donald Ross originally created in the scruffy sandhills, replacing acres of bermuda rough with sandy areas dotted with wire grass, pine cones and pine needles.

   It's a month before No. 2 reopens but you don't have to wait to get a look at it.

Hoping Tommy 'Two Gloves' Gets Another Chance

   Tommy 'Two Gloves' Gainey already knew how cruel golf can be.

    You don't toil all those years on mini-tours, scratching out a living while driving golf's backroads without knowing that the game can have all the charm of a piranha at feeding time.

   But just in case Two Gloves needed a reminder, he got it today.

   Gainey was a stroke out of the lead in the final round of the Waste Management Open in Phoenix standing on the tee of the driveable par-4 17th hole at TPC Scottsdale. That's when golf gave him a pie in the face -- again.

   Two Gloves took that homemade slash of his -- it looks like a man who stepped into a swarm of bees -- and watched his tee shot ricochet of a red stake beside the green and roll into the water. That part wasn't so bad. Gainey had made the gamble of trying to drive the green, knowing he needed at least one more birdie to have a chance to win.

   Then it got worse. He chunked his third shot and watched it roll down the greenside bank and into the same water hazard, taking six figures with it into the little pond. Gainey, whose mind had to be filled with flying monkeys about that time, eventually made a triple-bogey seven.

    The math goes like this: Two closing pars would have gotten Gainey a solo third and $414,800. Instead, he spent $250,100 with his triple bogey and, while $164,700 isn't a bad week's work, it probably didn't feel very satisfying to Gainey, who's trying to make it on the PGA Tour in his second chance.

    Gainey is perfect for the tour because he's not like everyone else. He's homemade, down to earth and as colorful as a box of Crayolas. You can see him grinding, slapping shots with that snake-killing swing of his and treating every shot as if the fate of the world hangs on it.

   He cares, he tries and he doesn't often find himself in the position he found himself with two holes remaining in the Waste Management Open. Maybe it will work out differently for him the next time.

    I'm hoping there is a next time for him.

Can You Handle Kiawah's Ocean Course In PGA Championship Trim?

   If you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to play a major championship course set up just the way it is for the pros, the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort is going to give you that chance.

   In advance of the 2012 PGA Championship coming to the spectacular oceanside course made famous by the 1991 Ryder Cup matches, the resort will set the course up later this summer just as it will be set up for the major championship next year.

   That means 7,606 yards of potentially windswept golf among the dunes alongside the Atlantic. It means firm greens, fiery fast green speeds and the same rough lines and rough lengths as Phil, Tiger and Dustin Johnson will face in 2012.

   The special week will be held Aug. 1-7 this year and will be available at normal golf rates on the Ocean Course.

   “It’s the dream of serious golfers everywhere, whether a scratch or a 30-+ handicap to play one of the world’s great courses in the same conditions as the professionals play it in a major championship,” said Brian Gerard, Kiawah’s director of golf. “During this special week, we’ll give our guests a chance to see how their games compare to the best players in the world."
  
   There will be an ongoing low-net competition during the week with the winner receiving a two-night stay at the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. Players in the challenge must present proof of a certified USGA handicap and play with a Kiawah caddie.

   If you think you’re up to handling the Ocean Course is PGA Championship trim, call 800-576-1570 or go to www.kiawahresort.com/packages/golf.

Bubba Delivers In A Big Way

   At the risk of invoking television ratings numbers, the word from CBS Sports is that Sunday ratings of the final round of the Farmers Insurance Classic/Open/Championship were up more than 50 percent from a year ago.

   What makes that relevant is that Tiger Woods was in the field but not in the storyline in San Diego, unless you count his continuing inability to reemerge on the good side of his latest swing tinkering. It was, instead, a tournament about Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Jhonny Vegas and all those shots of the southern California coastline.

   In other words, someone other than Tiger drew eyes to televisions. Maybe that's an overly simplistic reading on what happened but that's the way it looks.

   That's a good thing. It's a reminder that golf can exist without Tiger, though it's much better when he's explaining all the birdies he made instead of the patience required in making a swing change. We're getting as tired of hearing it as he must be in waiting for it to click in so we can assess the Sean Foley era as compared to the Hank Haney and Butch Harmon eras.

   In the meantime, we got to see Bubba Watson play cartoon golf. That's not a criticism but a nod to the unconventional nature of his sometimes mind-blowing game. He hits it ridiculously long and with a swing that has him leaning and tilting and hitting 300-yard cut shots off the tee. He's fun to watch in the way John Daly used to be fun to watch.

    Watson doesn't fit the tour mold. He's emotional, he's bold and he's as different as the pink shaft in his driver. He makes you pay attention.

   That's what Phil Mickelson does. Guys like that bring a spark with them. They make spectacular things happen, or at least make you think the spectacular might happen.

   The back nine on Sunday was a reminder of how compelling a good golf tournament can be. It had big personalities, big shots and a big audience.

    And it didn't have Tiger at the end.

What If Mickelson Had Made It Happen?

Maybe it looked like a hot dog move Phil Mickelson pulled Sunday afternoon when he sent his caddie, Jim 'Bones' Mackay ahead to the 18th green at Torrey Pines and had him tend the flagstick while Lefty tried to hole a 72-yard wedge shot to force sudden-death with Bubba Watson.

But it was a great moment, a perfectly Phil moment, and that's why he's popular like no one else.

No one else would send their caddie to hold the flag on a wedge shot from the fairway even if they thought about it. But Phil did and he almost pulled off the most talked about shot since he ripped a 6-iron out of the Georgia pine straw last April in Augusta.

Mickelson needed to make a three to tie Watson and he had already laid up with his second shot because he didn't have a club he felt he could get on the green from where his ball was. His hybrid wouldn't clear the pond and his 3-wood would go too far,

So Mickelson took the conservative route and when Watson holed what turned cut to be the winning birdie putt Mickelson had no choice but to try to hole his wedge shot. He walked to the green and read the break from behind the hole like a man who believed he had a legimate chance at holing the shot.

Then he almost did it.

Mickelson explained it by saying he hits the flag a dozen or so times a season with his wedge and, most often, the ball goes skittering away from the hole so he wanted to eliminate that possibility. The very thing happened to Charles Howell III there a few years ago, costing him a chance to win.

As it turned out, Watson won by a stroke, reinforcing the a notion he's growing into his talent, But Mickelson gave everyone watching one of those "are you kidding me?" moments.

He didn't pull it off but he made us believe he might. That's part of his gift.

Finally, A Ray Of Sunshine In The New Golf Season

Maybe it’s the fact the temperature around here has finally nudged 50 degrees, the sun has come calling and you can almost see the blooming forsythia from here.


Or maybe it’s seeing Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson walking Torrey Pines while the Pacific Ocean glimmers in the distance.

It felt this week, for the first time this year, like golf is coming to life again.

That’s not to suggest what Martin Kaymer did in Abu Dhabi last week or Jhonny Vegas did in Bob Hope’s former playground didn’t matter. It did, both for Kaymer’s continuing dominance and Vegas’ bringing the story of Venezuelan golf to light.

But until this week, golf had been held hostage by rules violations, busybody television viewers, a cheating scandal in Europe and the announcements by Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy that they plan to let the PGA Tour’s Players Championship party go on without them in May.

It was a mid-winter cocktail of controversy with a dash of politics thrown in. It was relevant – especially if the spate of television induced disqualifications leads to a rules change – but it wasn’t as compelling as what the game itself can give us.

The good news is there now seems to be a consensus of opinion that disqualifying players for rules violations discovered after they’ve signed their card and had their dinner isn’t fair, especially given the disproportionate amount of television time the stars get as compared to the Roland Thatchers of the world.

The players still need to know the rules and if they mess them up, they should pay the price as Elliot Saltman will after being found guilty of continually mismarking his ball in a European Tour event last year.

But going dimple by dimple in evaluating the inadvertent violation committed by Padraig Harrington two weeks ago helped expose the need to reevaluate what’s happening.

In other words, use a little common sense.

Then again, we’re talking about golf and its rules and rulemakers who treat the game’s 34 rules like the Ten Commandments.

Speaking of common sense, it seems to have gone missing in the situation that will keep Westwood from both The Players Championship and the Wells Fargo Championship here. He’s limited to 10 PGA Tour events – 11 if he includes The Players because it gets special treatment – but he can’t add Quail Hollow without cutting something else out of U.S. schedule. So he’s missing both.

Who wins when the best players in the world can’t play the top events?

If you’re ranked in the top 10 in the world, you should be able to play when and where you want. It’s not my idea but it’s a good one.

There’s all this talk about growing the game and boosting television ratings (though PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is doing his best to downplay ratings now) but there seem to be unnecessary barriers.

Then you see Torrey Pines on television and a leader board with familiar names. You catch a glimpse of Sergio Garcia playing well in Bahrain. You sneak in 18 holes this weekend, knowing it might not be golf weather again around here for a while.

In the bar, you talk about the 7-iron shot you stung from the mud or watch as Tiger settles in over a 20-footer. You wonder if this is the year Anthony Kim wins a major and smile when you hear Amy Mickelson walked 18 holes watching her husband on Thursday.

The Masters is just 10 weeks away.

Getting A Glimpse Into Tiger's Backyard

   Ever imagined having your own private practice facility at home?

   A place where you could slip out the back door, hit a few balls or chip and putt when you wanted?

   Tiger Woods has that now.  Just a little 3.5-acre practice area in Jupiter Island, Fla., with four greens, seven bunkers and more options than Starbucks.

   Woods has posted a glimpse of his new facility on his website --http://web.tigerwoods.com/design/jupiter_island.html -- and it looks like every golfer's dream. It was designed to allow Woods to practice virtually any shot he wants and in varying conditions, including privacy.

   The bunkers are shaped differently and have four different kinds of sand. Let's face it, the sand at Quail Hollow is different than the sand at Royal St. George's.

   He can practice from thick rough, medium rough and, for the days he's hitting it straight off the tee -- no rough. He can practice bump and run shots with a firm green and he can even set up a par-3 course.

  The facility has TifEagle putting surfaces, TifDwarf green surrounds, 419 bermuda fairways and 419 and Celebration bermuda rough.

  As backyards go, it's not bad.

Tiger, Phil Make This Week The Real Start Of 2011

   Officially three weeks old, the 2011 PGA Tour season really starts this week when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson arrive at Torrey Pines for the Farmers Insurance Open.

   Much has been made about the fact Woods has now fallen to third in the world rankings behind Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, who seems to win every time he tees it up, but Mickelson has fallen out of the top five, now occupying the sixth spot.

  Nothing against Johnny Vegas and his orange shirt winning the Bob Hope on Sunday, but getting Tiger and Phil back changes the landscape. Woods is a curiosity now. He didn't win last year and lost a playoff to Graeme McDowell the last time we saw him. Now it's 2011 and a fresh start.

   Suppose Woods wins this week. He will immediately become the favorite to win the Masters in April and there will be plenty of chatter about how he's back. If he wins, it will be interesting to see what the reaction is from fans and what Woods says about it. With no NFL playoffs this weekend, the television ratings will also get close attention if Woods is in the chase.

  If he scrapes it around again, unnecessary alarm bells will ring.

   Mickelson, meanwhile, returns from a so-so week in Abu Dhabi still searching for the form that was missing for a good portion of last season. He needs to jump start his 2011 season and Torrey Pines would be the perfect place to do it.

   It's nice to have them back.

 

  

Westwood Sends A Message

Lee Westwood's announcement this week that he will not play in the Players Championship in May also means the current world No. 1 won't play in the Wells Fargo Championship either.

It's not that Westwood doesn't want to play here but new PGA Tour rules limit him to 10 starts and he's chosen not to make the Players one of them.

If you get a whiff of politics in there, you should.

Westwood's announcement in Abu Dhabi didn’t come as a shock. It had been hinted at for weeks. But it’s a shot at the PGA Tour which desperately wants the Players Championship to be considered the equal of the game’s four major championships.

When No. 1 chooses to skip the event, it stings.

“I’d go over for the Players if I could play in the tournament the week before (the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow), but I don’t want to pitch up at the Players cold, having not played for four weeks since Augusta. So, I’ll play a couple of tournaments on the European Tour instead,” Westwood told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

Because Westwood surrendered his PGA Tour membership in 2008 which required him to play 15 events annually, he’s now limited to 11 events. It was originally 10 events but tour officials offered some wiggle room when it became apparent Westwood may skip the Players.

Westwood plans to play the four major championships, the three World Golf Championship events, Houston the week before the Masters, Honda in Florida between two WGC events and Memphis where he’s the defending champion.

That’s 10.

Allowing an 11th spot for the Players wasn’t enough, not without making Quail Hollow available also.

Though he hasn’t said so officially, Rory McIlroy has indicated he may pass on the Players, as well.

McIlroy is expected to play here as defending champion but he’s not a fan of the TPC Stadium course and, with his starts also limited after choosing not to keep his PGA Tour card this year, McIlroy could be absent from the tour’s sparkly event.

The European Tour also raised its minimum number of appearances to 13 this year.

At a time when professional golf is fighting to maintain its audience, making rules to keep the best players out of top tournaments doesn’t make much sense.

Westwood’s announcement helps bring that into focus.

On Wilson, Warm Weather Golf and Where's Phil?

   Sorting through another golf weekend with patches of snow on the ground:

  -- Nice win for a nice guy. Mark Wilson, winner of the Sony Open in Hawaii, isn't the most recognizable guy on the PGA Tour but he's a guy who seems to have things figured out. He and his wife have worked on various charity projects, lending their time to help others.

   A former North Carolina golfer, Wilson earned his first trip to the Masters with his victory.  If you don't think the Masters is all that different from other tournaments, just look at how quickly first-time qualifiers bring it up.

  -- Even though it wasn't classically Hawaiian last week, watching golf where it's warm and green only adds to the desire to play.

   I know some guys who played over the weekend here despite snow cover on the shady edges of some fairways and greens. I admire the commitment, muddy shoes and all.

   Does anyone around here remember what it feels like to swing a club without being wrapped in sweatshirts and turtlenecks?

   -- Keep an eye on tour rookie Ben Martin, a recent Clemson graduate. He has a chance to have a very good career.

  -- Looking for Philly Mick?

   You can find him playing in Abu Dhabi this week. Being the devoted San Diego Chargers fan he is, wonder what his thoughts are on Ron Rivera coming to the Panthers? Mickelson knows his football. He can take you through the Chargers' depth chart if you ask.

   -- Interesting to see Dustin Johnson issuing a statement denying he's dating Natalie Gulbis. I'm not sure what to make of it but obviously all the chatter made him uncomfortable.

  -- LPGA commissioner Mike Whan made the right call last week when he denied the petition by 15-year old Alexis Thompson to play more than six tour events via sponsor exemptions.

   It's a tough call to make given the budding star power she brings to a tour desperately in need of any attention but allowing her the asked-for 12 spots would undercut the tour qualifying process. She'll still play a relatively full schedule because the Opens don't count toward her six-event limit and by opening Monday qualifying to her, Whan found a way to give something.

  
 
  

Byrd Flies High; Time To Fix The TV/Rules Mess

   A few thoughts on a snowy morning about what happened last week in Kapalua:

  -- Jonathan Byrd  has gone back to back, winning his last two starts including his walk-off ace victory in the playoff at Justin Timberlake's Las Vegas event late last year. He now has five PGA Tour victories and if you want start counting, that puts Byrd ahead of many of his more famous colleagues. Camilo Villegas, for example, has three tour wins.

   Byrd doesn't draw attention to himself but his collection of trophies is beginning to do that for him. Until Kapalua, Byrd's wins hadn't come in high-profile events but this win was different, even if it came against a small field. This may be the year when Byrd puts himself in a new class on tour.

  -- Obviously Villegas made a bone-headed mistake when he flipped a divot out of the path of his golf ball last week, earning himself a disqualification at Kapalua. But having a rules breach called in by a television viewer -- it's hardly the first time -- and leading to a DQ is unfair.

    It's unfair because not every player in the field has television cameras focused on his every shot. Most players spend the tournament off camera where any potential rules violations wouldn't be telecast to a television audience. It's an uneven playing field in that regard.

   Tour officials didn't notice the violation and accepted his scorecard. Had they noticed the violation, they could have tacked on two shots before Villegas signed his card and been done with it. Instead, he gets DQ'd because the penalty wasn't assessed until the next day when it was discovered.

   It's not unlike trying to undo what happened in a football game because of a missed call.

   I like the idea that's been tossed out of having a tour official monitor the telecast, almost like a replay official in football. If there are any potential rules questions during the telecast, they can be dealt with immediately. We've all heard the expression 'protect the field.' They should protect the players, too.

  -- Charlotte residents Brendon de Jonge, Webb Simpson and Johnson Wagner get their 2011 seasons started this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Moore, Clanton Capture Player Of Year Honors

   Charlotte's Patty Moore and Rockwell's Cydney Clanton have been honored as 2010 players of the year in their respective categories by the Carolinas Golf Association.

  Clanton, a senior at Auburn, was named women's player of the year for the second straight year. Ranked No. 3 among women amateurs in the latest Golfweek rankings, Clanton won the Women's North and South Amateur last summer. She also played in the U.S. Women's World Amateur team, reached the quarterfinals in the Women's Public Links championship and the round of 32 in the U.S. Women's Amateur.

   Moore was named senior player of the year for the seventh straight time, edging Garner's Pat Brogden in a season-long points race.

   Raleigh's imcomparable Paul Simson was named men's senior player of the year after becoming the first player in history to win the U.S., British and Canadian amateur championships in the same year.

   Fayetteville's David Chung, a junior at Stanford, was named men's player of the year. He won two college events, was runner-up in the U.S. Amateur and is ranked second in Golfweek's national amateur rankings.

Masters, Tiger Now Linked Via Video Game

   The Masters is coming to a video game near you.
 
   The tournament and Augusta National Golf Club will be featured in the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 game scheduled to hit the market on March 29. It is the first time the club has been included in a video game.

   The goal, according to Augusta National chairman Billy Payne, is to expand the game worldwide and to use the club's net proceeds from the game to help fund the Masters Trust Foundation, which invests in golf development programs worldwide.

   "Our desire to help grow the game of golf throughout the world is sincere, and it is that commitment that first led us to EA Sports more than three years ago," Payne said in a statement. "EA Sports, Tiger Woods and the PGA Tour have developed an extremely successful franchise that responds to one of the popular entertainment choices of kids today.

  "We hope our inclusion will foster an appreciation for the history and traditions of the Masters and inspire the next generation of golfers. Equally important is its ability to help further the mission of the Masters Tournament Foundation with the entirety of its proceeds."

   In his time as chairman, Payne was worked aggressively to expand the game worldwide, using the Masters as a way to help raise awareness and interest, particlarly among young people. By including the Masters in Woods' enormously popular video game, it's another way to reach a younger audience.

   It also speaks to Woods' status that Payne and Augusta National chose to work with him and EA Sports after the chairman's pointed remarks about Woods' behavior last spring following the scandal in his personal life.

Tiger Gave Us A Reminder Of What We've Been Missing

   It felt like old times Sunday afternoon watching Tiger Woods play golf.

   At least until Graeme McDowell took the best Tiger could throw at him, answered it and walked away with the kind of dramatic victory upon which Woods has built his career. The Chevron World Challenge may not be a major championship -- there were only 18 players in the field -- but it had Tiger in the last group on Sunday, something that hadn't happened all year, and it provided a rare dose of December golf drama.

   So what did the weekend tell us about Tiger and his game?

   We already knew McDowell has become one of the game's top players and he reinforced his reputation as a man most comfortable on the big stage.

   Woods, though, remains a curiosity. He took a four-stroke lead into the final round, having looked more like the old Tiger than he has in nearly two years, and then the putter betrayed him, his game got scratchy and there were again questions where there had always been answers before.

   If you watched, you were reminded of how Tiger can transform an event. Maybe it's because it's been so long since he was in contention that it felt new and fresh again but it fun to watch him and McDowell duel down the stretch. And when Woods threw what should have been his haymaker -- a little cut 8-iron to within three feet of the cup on the 18th hole that seemed to set up his victory -- it was a reminder of what's gone missing.

   This time, though, Woods didn't win. McDowell poured in a long birdie putt to force a playoff and then did it again to win. This time, it was Tiger who took off his hat, scratched his head, shook McDowell's hand and walked away in second place.

   Does what happened Sunday validate the notion that Woods has lost his intimidation advantage? Or does it mean that his game, obviously on the mend, still isn't where it needs to be?

  There's no question other players don't turn to jelly now when they see Woods on the course. What he had -- both with his game and his presence -- has been lost. It's possible he can regain a measure of dominance with his golf but the last 13 months have bleached away the air of supremacy that came with Woods every time he stepped onto the property at a tournament. That part isn't coming back.

   It had begun to erode before his infamous Thanksgiving accident but it turned into an avalanche over the past year. As he works to rebuild his golf swing with Sean Foley, work that seems to be coming together nicely, Woods also has to reconstruct his aura. That will be tougher than finding fairways, which he seems to be doing again.

   Woods is still fighting old swing flaws, admitting they crept in during the middle of the final round, leading to trouble. But when he needed to make good swings at the end, he made them. That's not something he was able to do until the end of this year. It's not like it was but it's getting better.

   Asked if he felt like Sunday was the end of a disappointing season or the start of his 2011 season, Woods said he wasn't sure. However, he said he's excited about this off-season, a feeling he hasn't had in a while.

   Watching Woods on Sunday, even when he didn't win, was something we hadn't seen in a while. It was a reminder of what we've been missing.
  

Charlotte's Karlsson Up To No. 16 In The World Rankings

   This may not be the height of golf season but there's still plenty going on. Such as:

  -- When new Charlotte resident Robert Karlsson won in Dubai on Sunday, it capped an outstanding season for him and elevated him to 16th in the world rankings. Karlsson hopped a plane back to Charlotte shortly after claiming his second European Tour title of the year and is laying low at home for a while.

   "I'm very happy with this week and the year in whole, actually, winning two times and a second in Memphis where I lost to Lee (Westwood) in a playoff," Karlsson said in Dubai. "If I win twice in a year...it's a pretty good year."

   -- When the Presidents Cup matches are played in Australia in November, the American side will again have a strong local connection, especially on the captain's staff.

     Fred Couples, who's playing in Australia this week, has convinced Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan to again serve as an assistant captain along with Jay Haas, who, like Couples, is a member at Quail Hollow Club. That means Jordan will be down under for a week when the Bobcats are in the early part of their 2011-12 season.

    That shouldn't be seen as Jordan ignoring the team he owns. Instead, it speaks to how much he enjoys team golf competition and understands the special opportunity he's been given.

  -- Charlotte's Johnson Wagner and Mathew Goggin are among the 166 players teeing it up in the finals of PGA Tour qualifying school in Florida this week.

   Play starts at Orange Couunty National on Wednesday with a field that includes, among others, Ty Tryon, two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton and Brett Waldman, Camilo Villegas' full-time tour caddie. It's a six-round grind with the top 25 getting full exemptions onto the tour.

   -- We get another look at Tiger Woods' rebuilding golf game this weekend in the Chevron World Challenge, his limited-field event that includes Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and others. Woods has shown flashes of spectacular golf but it hasn't been consistent. It will be interesting to see how it looks this weekend.

McIlroy Says No Thanks To 2011 PGA Tour Membership

   An already exceptional year for European golf got a little better this week when young Rory McIlroy announced he will decline his PGA Tour card for 2011, preferring to keep himself based on the European Tour.
 
    That doesn't mean McIlroy won't be at Quail Hollow next May to defend the championship he won but it means he won't be a regular on the PGA Tour next year. He'll still show up for the majors, the World Golf Championship events and a couple of other events but he won't play the minimum 15 events.

   Part of the problem, McIlroy told reporters, was the FedEx Cup playoffs. Essentially, he didn't like being bound to play the playoff events despite the money they offered. So, he'll stay home more, play the big events and take much the same approach as world No. 1 Lee Westwood.

    It's possible Martin Kaymer may also take the same approach though he hasn't said yet if he'll play the PGA Tour schedule full-time next year.

   In talking to reporters, McIlroy said he found himself missing the European Tour while he was here during the FedEx Cup playoffs. If the playoffs aren't important to McIlroy and he would rather maintain his base in Europe, there's nothing wrong with that.

  "I found myself in America last year, especially in the FedEx Cup playoff series, just not wanting to be there," McIlroy told reporters in China last week.
  
   "I started switching on the Golf Channel and watching the Omega European Masters in Switzerland and thinking to myself I would rather be there. After a tough summer of golf I need a break after the US PGA. I had one week this year, and then I found myself back in the States to play three in a row.

  "If you're not playing well in the States it can be a lonely place. But if you're not playing well on the European Tour you still have plenty of mates to hang out with."

Don't Wake Me While The Putts Are Falling

I know you don't want to hear about my golf game but, if you've come this far into cyberspace, indulge me for a moment.

I'm making putts these days.

Not a few of them. A lot of them. I lean over a 15-footer and think it's going in.

That may not be a big deal to you. Maybe you were blessed with the putting gene but I wasn't. My father, it should be noted, carries a long putter and a short putter and often switches from hole to hole, depending on his mood and the amount of break facing him.

I've always wanted to be a good putter, annually making a vow to practice putting more, and it never happens. The practice nor the getting better, which some have said could be related.

But now, just about the time golf season is going into hibernation unless we have a better winter than last year, I'm rolling the rock, to invoke a cliche. It won't last, it never does, but it sure is fun right now.

What changed?

Todd Smith, who's off to Champions Tour qualifying school this week, got tired of watching me three-putt a while back and gave me a simple 1-2-3-4 routine that works. I look at the hole (that's one), look back at the ball (that's two), take it back (that's three) and hit it (that's four).

Teachers will tell you it's not a routine if you have to think about it and it's reached the point where it's almost a habit now. And there's no more comforting feeling in golf that hitting a putt then looking up to see it dead on line, especially if you've got a feel for the speed.

I've marveled for a while now at how my 15-year old nephew, Jake, putts. He hits it, fully believing it's going in every time and when he misses, he doesn't bother to line up the five-foot comebackers. He just stands over them, slams them in and goes to the next hole. He's too young to know better.

Right now, I know how he feels.

No wonder he smiles so much.

Gastonia's Varner Has His Breakthrough Moment

In his junior year at East Carolina, Gastonia's Harold Varner III has been chasing his first collegiate individual championship for a while.

He's looked at teammates who've won tournaments and knew his game could match theirs but Varner didn't have his own trophy.

Until now.

Varner set an East Carolina record this week when he won the Old Dominion-Outer Banks Intercollegiate golf championship at Kilmarlic Golf Club, shooting 20-under par 196 over 54 holes. Varner had rounds of 65-66-66 to lead the Pirates to a 23-stroke team victory as well.

"It was awesome," Varner said of his first individual victory. "It's nice to get that first one so I can start working on the second one."

Varner has been working with his teacher, Bruce Sudderth, on a couple of swing tweaks and they kicked in on the Outer Banks. Varner said he has been practicing two drills to help him keep the clubhead in front of him rather than allowing it to get caught behind him.

When it all came together, Varner poured it on.

"I was looking at a lot of putts going in," Varner said. "I played one stretch from near the end of the first round through the start of the second round 9-under par for nine holes. When you look at people who win, they have a stretch like that where they don't miss."

Varner and the Pirates are finished with their fall schedule but will return to competition in January.

Charlotte Caddie Comes Up Aces In Las Vegas

Perhaps PGA Tour caddie Adam Hayes, who lives part-time in Charlotte, should spend more time in Nevada.

Hayes was on Vaughn Taylor's bag both times the Augusta, Ga., player won the Reno-Tahoe Open and Hayes was shouldering Jonathan Byrd's clubs last week when the former Clemson star won the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open in Las Vegas.

That meant Hayes had the best seat in the house when Byrd aced the fourth playoff hole to beat Martin Laird and Cameron Percy.

"It was pretty awesome just to be part of something like that," Hayes said after returning to Charlotte.

It's believed to be the first time a tournament on a major golf tour was won by an ace in a playoff. Just to get there, Byrd had to do something almost as dramatic -- birdie three of the last four holes to get into the playoff.

In regulation, Byrd birdied the 204-yard, par-3 17th hole to get to 21-under par, enough to get in the playoff. Little did Byrd and Hayes know what was coming.

In the playoff, Byrd parred the 17th the first time through, lipping out a 15-footer that could have won the tournament for him there. When they returned in the gathering darkness for the fourth extra hole, Hayes and Byrd knew exactly what they needed to do.

Byrd pulled a 6-iron, just as he had the two previous times he'd played the hole in the past hour, and left his natural right to left shot work for him.

"I knew we could win it on that hole," Hayes said.

He just didn't know it would happen so dramatically.

"I knew it was going right at the hole but when it went in, it was unbelievable," Hayes said.

It took a moment for Byrd, Hayes and everyone else to know what had happened. It was so dark they couldn't see the hole clearly and there was almost no gallery around the green. The few who were around the green started jumping and cheering and it became clear Byrd had just won his fourth PGA Tour event.

"He has the potential to be a top 20 player on tour," said Hayes, who has worked with Byrd for more than two years. "He just needs something to push him there. Maybe this is it."

Member-Guest Uniforms: There Are No Winners

Having just spent a terrific weekend playing in the Providence Country Club member-guest tournament, I have one question:

Why do two grown men -- who aren't required by Ryder Cup rules to do so -- wear matching outfits?

Is it a team unity thing? Really?

It's one thing for both of you to show up wearing khaki shorts and a white shirt purely by chance. That is, after all, the standard dress code on the golf course. A man can't have too many white shirts. Just ask Marty Hackel. Or maybe not.

But it should be by chance, not by design. You outgrow cute when you start shaving.

Member-guests are fun (even if you don't make a birdie in 45 holes like me), which I suppose explains why guys think dressing like twins is a good idea. Maybe if my partner and I had worn matching outfits, we'd have finished better than third in a six-team flight, but our wives would have found somewhere else to be rather than the Friday night party with us.

Of course, if I could have made a few more putts on the quick, pure greens, I may have dressed like John Daly as one participant did. Thankfully, his partner toned it down and dressed like Rickie Fowler.

One more thing about member-guest events. Why is it that guys can bring a 12 handicap into the event, shoot even par and think no one figures them out? Maybe I need more strokes.

Or maybe I need a team uniform the next time.

Winners, Losers From The Ryder Cup

Checking out the winners and losers from what turned into a spellbinding Ryder Cup:

WINNERS
-- Luke Donald and Ian Poulter. They thrive in the team competition, posting a combined 6-2-0 record. It seemed whenever the European team needed a boost, one of them provided it.

-- Graeme McDowell. If you thought his win at the U.S. Open was a fluke, he showed it wasn’t.

-- Rickie Fowler: It’s rare that a guy can be winless in the Ryder Cup but come out looking better than when he went in. That’s what Fowler did with his four-birdie finish to earn one-half point in Monday’s singles. He showed some serious game when it mattered the most.

-- The 2012 matches at Medinah. Two years away and the anticipation is already building.

LOSERS

-- Television: It was tough enough with the matches being played five hours ahead of East Coast time in Wales but the bad weather, the Monday finish and football season made it a challenge just to keep up with what was – or wasn’t – happening. Too bad. It deserved better.

-- Corey Pavin. The American captain said it before the matches started – players win the cup, captains lose it. His low-key style was the opposite of Colin Montgomerie’s emotional leadership. Fair or not, he didn’t have the same sizzle as Paul Azinger two years ago.

-- Sun Mountain. That’s the company that made the rain suits that leaked so badly that a PGA official bought new suits for the U.S. players in the merchandise tent during play. The leaks were blamed on all the stitching on the suits which included the players’ names on the back. That was a terrible – and tacky -- idea.

-- Phil Mickelson. For whatever reason, he doesn’t get it done enough in the Ryder Cup, going 1-3 this time. His 17 losses are the most in Cup history, surprising for a guy who would seem to thrive in the matches. He said losing his first three matches was the most disappointed he's felt.

Couples Wants, Deserves Ryder Cup Captaincy

Like so many other players in the field at the Ensure Classic at Rock Barn Friday, Fred Couples wanted to know what was happening at the Ryder Cup in Wales.

Bernhard Langer, who was in the mix to be a captain's pick for the European team, said he was glad to be playing in the North Carolina sunshine rather than the rainy mess in Wales.

Tom Kite recalled his seven Ryder Cup experiences as a player and his captaincy at Valderamma in Spain in 1997 when rain also disrupted the proceedings.

Couples, meanwhile, liked hearing that the format had been altered due to the weather and that every player would be on the course on Saturday. He believes the Ryder Cup should be like the Presidents Cup where all the players play rather than creating awkward decisions about who sits and who plays in the Ryder Cup.

On Sunday, Couples turns 51 and he's had a great career but he still wants one thing -- he wants to be the U.S. Ryder Cup captain. He captained the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup team last fall and he'll do it again next year in Australia.

That's great but it's not the Ryder Cup.

Couples deserves to be Ryder Cup captain in 2012, though it may be unlikely given his Presidents Cup commitment.

"Sure," Couples said Friday when asked if he wanted to captain the Ryder Cup team. "But if it doesn't happen, I'll take my two chances with the Presidents Cup as a great time and a great honor and go from there."

When the PGA of America sits down to pick its next Ryder Cup captain, Fred Couples should be the easy answer.

Ryder Cup Pairings: Is U.S. In Trouble Already?

When U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin announced his pairings for Friday morning's four-ball matches to start play, he went with three solid and unsurprising teams and one real shocker.

It was no surprise that Pavin matched Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson; Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker; and, Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar.

The eye-opener was Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson together. They're both rookies with a lot of nervous energy that could work well or blow up. Obviously, Pavin is counting on it to produce magic.

It also meant sitting Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan in the morning along with rookie Rickie Fowler and Zach Johnson. That's the tough part of captaining a Ryder Cup -- telling four guys they can't play during each of the first four sessions.

Here's my take on the opening set of matches (on at 2:30 a.m. on ESPN if you're up that early/late):

-- Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson vs. Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer: Talk about a strong start. The Phil-Dustin pairing has been in the works for a while. They get along, they play long-ball and when they get on a roll, watch out.

They're going up against a formidable pair of Europeans, who aren't likely to make many mistakes. Westwood hasn't played a tournament in about two months but reportedly made eight birdies in a practice round at Celtic Manor. Tough to pick a favorite in this one.

-- Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar vs. Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy: You get the feeling European captain Colin Mongomerie is banking on the boys from Northern Ireland to be his stallions this weekend. This is a match the Europeans expect to win. Cink is sneaky good in these events, though, and he'll be a perfect calming influence for Kuchar.

-- Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker vs. Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher: This is a must-win for the Americans. Woods and Stricker were invincible together in the Presidents Cup last fall and need to be that way again if the U.S. is to retain the Cup. Woods gets good vibes playing with Stricker but both have struggled with their putting in recent weeks. That's a concern. A loss in this match could be potentially devastating for the U.S.

-- Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton vs. Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington: Could the two pairings be more different? The Euros have two classic grinders while the U.S. is throwing out power and emotion. This one could swing wildly in either direction. How will Watson and Overton handle the moment? Can Harrington find his missing form? I give the edge to Europe in this one.

It's important for the U.S. to stay even or get a lead early. At first glance, getting out of Friday morning tied 2-2 would feel like a win for the Americans.

Five Ryder Cup Questions With Paul Azinger

Paul Azinger, captain of the victorious 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team be part of ESPN’s 11-hour coverage on Friday. Before heading to Wales, Azinger talked with me. about what happened two years ago and what he expects this time.

Q: You had 12 PGA Tour wins including a PGA Championship. Where does being captain of a winning U.S. Ryder Cup team rank among your career achievements?

Azinger: It’s head and shoulders above anything else I ever experienced. To take on a leadership role and to represent the United States and those players, it was a gift, really.

Q: You had great success by putting players into four-man pods during the Ryder Cup, matching players with similar personalities. Is that evidence of how influential a captain can be in these matches?

Azinger: I believe the captain can set the tone and create the environment. My priority was to give them ownership. I didn’t feel it was my priority to dictate anything to them.

I asked them to prepare in small groups. I told them there are no short cuts to success but they were the best in the world.

I also told them to be aggressive and to show off for the crowd. I told them they were all big boys and I wasn’t going to be holding their hands.

Q: Do you agree with the perception that the U.S. is an underdog entering these matches?

Azinger: I do believe we’re underdogs for numerous reasons but not because of one glaring reason or one player. We’re playing in a different time zone and they’ll definitely have a home-course advantage.

I think our selection process got our best players there. I can’t argue to take one guy off our team but you could argue that you could take two players off the European team to put two others on.

Q: Some people questioned whether Tiger Woods belongs on the team. What do you think?

Azinger: I saw what some fans were thinking but he absolutely belongs. He’s the No. 1 player in the world. Colin Montgomerie was criticized for leaving the No. 7 player in the world off his team. When (Woods) is not at his best, he still beats virtually everybody.

Q: What are the three things that you’ll be looking closely at as the matches get underway?

Azinger: The first thing is the height of the rough. We have assembled what I think is the longest-hitting Ryder Cup team ever but they maybe aren’t the most accurate team. If the rough is high, it will neutralize their power.

The second thing is the significance of a good start by the American team. If that doesn’t happen, the hole they dig may be too deep.

And third, whoever is behind, I’ll look to see what kind of adjustments they make and will they be enough.

Area golfers advance in Mid-Amateur

Steve Harwell of Mooresville advanced to the round of 16 in the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship with a 1-up victory Tuesday against Tom Krystyn of Denver, Colo., at Atlantic Golf Club in Long Island, N.Y.

Harwell will face Anthony Barrera Wednesday. Barrera advanced with a 6 and 5 victory against Charlotte's Brent Landry.

Rick Cloninger of Fort Mill also advanced, defeating Brian Atkinson of Chicago 1-up. Cloninger will face Greensboro's Scott Harvey Wednesday.

-- Ron Green Jr.

Four Locals Advance In US Mid-Am

Charlotte-area players continue to make a strong showing in the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship with four of them advancing into the second round of match play at Atlantic Golf Club on Long Island, N.Y.

Mooresville's Steve Harwell rolled to a 6 and 4 victory over Tripp Davis of Norman, Ok., the most lopsided victory for local players on Monday.

Charlotte City Am champion Brent Landry advanced by defeating Michael Brown of Cheltenham, Pa., in 19 holes; Huntersville's Joe Jaspers moved on with a 3 and 2 win over Tom Weikmeister of Grand Rapids, Mich.; and, Fort Mill's Rick Cloninger stayed alive with a 3 and 2 win over Robert Gregorski of Appleton, Wisc.

Charlotte's Nolan Mills failed to advance, falling to Bill Jeremiah of West Grove, Pa., 6 and 5.

Play continues on Tuesday.

Locals Make Strong Showing At U.S. Mid-Am

The 64-player match-play bracket in the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship this week bears a strong local presence.

Nolan Mills and Brett Landry of Charlotte, Joe Jaspers of Huntersville, Rick Cloninger of Fort Mill, S.C., and Steve Harwell of Mooresville each survived the windy weekend conditions in Bridgehampton, N.Y. to earn spots in the match-play bracket.

Mills is the most unlikely of the group to advance because until last Thursday, the Charlotte real estate executive wasn't in the field. He got a call on Thursday telling him a spot had become available if he wanted to play and, after shooting 7-over par in two qualifying rounds, Mills moved on to match play.

The match-play bracket is being played at Atlantic Golf Club on Long Island.

SAS Championship As Good As Advertised

This is my first visit to the SAS Championship at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary and it's as good as I've been told.

It's not a major championship -- the Champions Tour already has too many of those -- but it feels like a big event. The course is strong enough to challenge the players, there's plenty of room for people to move around and the whole thing feels right.

Part of the charm of the Champions Tour is that it's a smaller version of the PGA Tour, allowing fans to get closer to the players. There's a comfort level that's hard to come by at big tour events. At the SAS Championship, everything feels relaxed and comfortable.

It's too bad football season smothers golf because this time of year is ideal golf time. The SAS Championship had a terrific field this week and good-sized galleries. It was hot Friday and Saturday but it finally felt like fall on Sunday.

And if you were at the SAS Championship, it was a nice place to be.

Els Into The Hall Of Fame: It Was Automatic

Ernie Els got what he deserved this week -- a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

There's a solid case to be made against inducting players still in the relative prime of their careers into Halls of Fame but, that aside, Els was a lock to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I voted for him.

He's been among the game's best players for the better part of two decades, winning three major championships, threatening in many more and piling a collection of trophies from around the globe. Could he have won more had he spent less time hopscotching the globe and settled in one place? Probably but he chose a jet-lagged path and he's made the most of it.

His record shows 18 PGA Tour victories including two U.S. Opens and a British Open as well as more than 40 other worldwide wins. Once he turned 40, the threshold for Hall for membership, Els' selection was a foregone conclusion.

Els got the official word in a phone call two weeks ago but didn't tell anyone, even his family "because I knew my daughter, she wouldn't be able to keep it quiet," he said. He broke the news to them Monday night before heading to Atlanta.

A win in Atlanta at the Tour Championship would probably lock down the player of the year award for Els, stacking it on top of his early-season wins.

"Obviously, this makes the year," Els said. "It makes you feel very good about what you've done. You'd like to think you could have done more and can still do more but, obviously, (I'm) very, very honored to be inducted."

Els wil be enshrined May 9, 2011 along with Doug Ford, Jock Hutchison and former president George H.W. Bush. Ford and Hutchison was selected in the veterans category while Bush was honored in the lifetime achievement category.

More Masters TV; Lehman Gets Nice Honor

Sorting through the shag bag:

-- If you can't make it to the Masters in person next year, you're going to be able to see more of it on television.

Tournament officials announced they will extend coverage by one hour on Thursday and Friday -- from 3 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. -- on ESPN. I'm just glad the Masters doesn't go wall to wall like too many events do. It's one of the ways the Masters remains special.

-- Nice move to honor Tom Lehman with the Payne Stewart award. Lehman has been one of the game's good people for many years and he seemed genuinely touched to receive the award given for sportsmanship, integrity and giving back.

-- Commissioner Tim Finchem said the PGA Tour's television ratings for 2010 are down two percent from 2009. Finchem pointed to the absence of Tiger Woods early in the year, huge ratings for the Winter Olympics and strong NFL ratings as contributing factors to an early dip in the television numbers.

-- Finchem said he expects some form of designated tournaments to be adopted at a November board meeting but he declined to get into specifics. The commissioner said several options are on the table for a plan that would push players to add tournaments they don't traditionally play once every four years.

"We're looking at different ways to accomplish what we want to accomplish," Finchem said.

-- The FedEx Cup playoffs may get tweaked again but no decision has been made. Here's why more changes are needed:

Steve Stricker entered the playoffs in second place, is the only player with three top-10 finishes in the three events, and he's fallen to fourth in the points.

A Two-Week Race To The End Of Golf Season

The professional golf season has two meaningful weeks left before it submerges again, waiting to surface in HD images from Kapalua next January.

Sure, there are tournaments to be played in the PGA Tour's Fall Series, the place where guys go to save their tour cards against weaker fields but they're lost under football season, the baseball playoffs and the new season of 'Mad Men.'

The next two weeks, however, have plenty to offer, particularly around here where the Champions Tour is making its two-week tour through the SAS Championship in Cary and the Ensure Classic at Rock Barn in Conover.

The primary attention is on the Tour Championship at East Lake, which begins Thursday with 30 players chasing the $10-million FedEx check someone will win. My guess is Matt Kuchar wins the playoffs, capping a storybook season for the Georgia Tech kid. He reinvented his golf swing a few years back, making it flatter than west Texas, and he's become one of the world's best players.

That's what happens when we spend most of our time watching and wondering what's happening with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Suddenly, here's Matt Kuchar doing what they have typically done. And right beside him, there's Dustin Johnson, who has the season's most compelling story.

This is the fourth year of the FedEx Cup playoffs and they still haven't created the wow factor tour officials wanted. Are they better than what came before them? Sure, but then, before the playoffs the season just gradually faded away like Chris DiMarco. Regardless of who wins this weekend, it won't be the chatter around the office on Monday morning unless Phil shoots 58 to win.

The Tour Championship is just a prelude to the Ryder Cup, which, to me, is the most entertaining event in golf alongside the Masters. Match play is fascinating, especially in the Ryder Cup, which is golf's version of a daytime soap opera.

I still like the Europeans to win but I'll hold off a prediction until next week.

If you're around Cary this weekend or around here next weekend, it's worth a ride to check out Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer, Jay Haas and the Champions Tour guys. After a few down years, the Champions Tour has bounced back in a big way. Couples is a huge part of it, of course, but the 50-somethings still have some magic.

Dustin Johnson: Closing In On Player Of The Year

If the vote were taken this week, Dustin Johnson is my player of the year.

I'm leaving a little wiggle room because it's possible Matt Kuchar, the leader prior to the BMW Championship, could nail it down next week with a victory at the Tour Championship at East Lake, a place with which he's very familiar.

Johnson, though, has become a compelling figure for both his golf and the way he's handled a borderline nightmare season. The Sunday meltdown at the US Open would be enough to mentally cripple most guys but not Johnson. Then the wrenching events on the 72nd hole at the PGA Championship could have destroyed him.

Instead, Johnson kept grinding, showed he could shake it off and now he may win the big $10 million prize next week in Atlanta.

Even if he doesn't, he's won an immense amount of respect for his game and his handling of a potentially devastating season.

If the question is where does golf go if Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods don't return to their former glory, the answer may be Johnson. With his power, he's capable of dominating almost any course. He's not the best wedge player in the world but he's good enough and sure to get better.

Before the Open and PGA, Johnson was a tough guy to get a read on. The talent was apparent but he's quiet and, therefore, he didn't jump out as a character. After his summer of discontent, Johnson has emerged as a star and an increasingly popular one.

When the American team heads to Wales in three weeks, Johnson is going to be central to captain Corey Pavin's plan for keeping the Ryder Cup. There's plenty of speculation that Pavin will pair Johnson with Mickelson. Regardless of who Johnson is with, he'll be impossible to ignore.

Fowler A Ryder Cup Risk -- But Worth It

Captain Corey Pavin said he went with a gut feeling in naming 21-year old Rickie Fowler to the U.S. Ryder Cup team, the most surprising of his four captain’s picks announced Tuesday.

He picked Fowler over Lucas Glover, Anthony Kim, Ben Crane, Ryan Palmer, Charley Hoffman and who knows how many others for the final spot on the squad. That’s assuming that Tiger Woods, Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson were virtual automatics.

By the way, did anyone seriously think Charley Hoffman was going to make the team based on one great putting Sunday?

The Fowler pick is a risk. He still hasn’t won on the PGA Tour and when he’s been in contention – most notably the Waste Management Phoenix Open – he played it safe which seems contrary to his style.

But it's a risk worth taking.

Pavin now has two players – Jeff Overton is the other – who have never won a PGA Tour event. Is that a big deal? Only if the U.S. loses in which case everything is a big deal.

Fowler has been making cuts but no noise since his second-place finish in The Memorial more than three months ago. However, Fowler had a 7-1 career record in the Walker Cup, which speaks to his knack for match play.

Fowler gives Pavin five rookies on his team but that may not be a huge issue considering the European team has six rookies.

I can see Pavin pairing Fowler with Phil Mickelson in much the same way Paul Azinger put Kim and Mickelson together two years ago. Other than risking a charisma overload, it would give Fowler a Ryder Cup veteran alongside in Wales.

Others have suggested Mickelson with Dustin Johnson. Not bad, either.

It's a fresh canvas for Pavin, considering how different this Ryder Cup roster is from the last one. Only one pairing at Valhalla -- Mickelson and Hunter Mahan were together in the Saturday afternoon four-ball match -- can be dupllicated at Celtic Manor.

Unless Pavin just likes to be contrary, he'll put Tiger with Steve Stricker because both of them like it that way and they laid waste to the International team together in the Presidents Cup.

Would Pavin dare put Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson together for one match? Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson are ideal complements to the newcomers.

This is likely the first of many Ryder Cup teams of which Fowler will be a part. If he can handle wearing the team uniforms, he can handle the golf.

A month ago, the European team looked like an overwhelming favorite. Not anymore.

And The Four US Ryder Cup Captain's Picks Are...

On Tuesday, it's Corey Pavin's turn to be second-guessed, not that the past couple months of his Ryder Cup captaincy haven't been on the turbulent side.

The whole Tiger Woods question has been silly and Pavin managed to fuel the fire whether he meant to or not. Now he has to pick four players to complete his Ryder Cup team and, no matter how justifiable the picks may be, he's going to criticized for at least some of his choices. It's the nature of the beast.

His counterpart, Colin Montgomerie, got roasted last week when he picked Edoardo Molinari, Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington because it meant he left off Paul Casey, the eighth-ranked player in the world, and Justin Rose, the 23rd-ranked player. But if he left Harrington off the team -- admittedly the three-time major champion hasn't played well in a while -- it would have provoked some criticism

Then again, whatever Monty does provokes criticism from the British press.

Pavin is getting plenty of advice so he doesn't need mine but if I were adding four players to this Ryder Cup team, here's who I'd add:

-- Tiger Woods.

He's the No. 1 player in the world. He belongs on the team.

Maybe he hasn't cared about the Ryder Cup as much as some players in the past but he'll care this time. I don't buy the notion that he'd be a distraction in the team room. I think guys want him there. If you could have Tiger Woods playing for your team, you'd take him, too.

-- Zach Johnson.

A virtual lock, I'm thinking. He's been super-steady all year. He won at Colonial, he tied for third at the PGA Championship and he's made nine straight cuts entering this week.

He can partner with a variety of different players, he's a good putter and he belongs.

-- Stewart Cink.

After a really slow start to the season, Cink has played better the past couple of months. He's had three straight top-20s coming into this week and he's among the most experienced players on Pavin's list.

With a roster that includes rookies Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar, Cink brings seasoning. That will come in handy in Wales.

-- Fred Couples.

It's a long shot, for sure. But what Freddie brings goes beyond his golf, which has been outstanding this year. He brings camaraderie. He brings that Freddie vibe.

He's played a million of these team events and he captained the President's Cup team last year. if Pavin goes predictable, Couples will be playing the Champions Tour at Rock Barn the first weekend in October. If he goes unpredictable, Rock Barn's loss will be Pavin's gain.

So who does that leave out?

It leaves out Lucas Glover, who was inside the automatic qualifying line until the end. Personally, I want him to make it but he missed the cut at the PGA , withered with the lead over the final nine holes at Greensboro and missed the cut last week at The Barclays. The good news is Pavin spent two hours watching Glover play in Thursday's pro-am outside Boston and Glover was striping it.

It also omits Anthony Kim, who desperately wants to make the team and would have had he not had thumb surgery in the spring. Since returning after the PGA, Kim's game hasn't been sharp enough, which is understandable. It's really hard to leave him off but maybe Pavin take steal a page from Monty's captain's manual and add Kim as an assistant, similar to the role Sergio Garcia has on the European team this year.

Rickie Fowler will be a Ryder Cup player, just not this year. Bo Van Pelt deserves consideration. Ben Crane. Justin Leonard.

Captain Pavin has options. It's a question of which ones he chooses.

Can The PGA And Wells Fargo Event Co-Exist?

Now that the 2017 PGA Championship is official, there are a few things to consider. Among them:

-- It will look and feel very different from the Wachovia/Quail Hollow/Wells Fargo Championship if for no other reason than it will be played in August. It's going to be hot, humid and crowded.

The PGA isn't afraid of heat. It was over 100 at Southern Hills in Tulsa a few years ago and it's going to be a blast furnace in Atlanta and Kiawah Island the next two years. The larger worry here in 2017 may be afternoon thunderstorms, which if they get cranked up on a consistent basis can be a serious problem.

One of the charms of the PGA Tour event here is the weather. Even if it's warm, it's not dead of summer hot. It's easy to be outside. It will sweatier work to watch golf in 2017.

Plus, there will be thousands more spectators. There's no definitive word yet on how many fans will be on site daily but it's likely to be in the 45,000 range, a bump of 10,000 over the maximum on site during the Wells Fargo Championship.

-- Quail Hollow president Johnny Harris believes the club can keep its PGA Tour event if a sponsor is willing to sign on but it will mean moving it away from Quail Hollow in 2016 and 2017. He's suggested Pinehurst No. 2 as an option and, on the surface, that's a good idea. There are a million details to consider -- would Pinehurst even be interested is one, corporate hospitality sales are another -- but keeping the PGA Tour and its date here long-term is worth pursuing.

Word is PGA Tour officials weren't thrilled by the PGA announcement on Tuesday but they couldn't have been surprised. If there was a surprise, it's that the news of the deal finally being done didn't leak sooner. It wasn't completed until recently but it's been in the works for months.

-- There is some concern that the Wells Fargo Championship will feel devalued now that there's a major championship on the calendar. I don't think so.

It's one of the special events on the PGA Tour schedule and long before it rolls around next May, the focus and the excitement will be redirected at what's here, not what's coming. One of the reasons the PGA is coming to Quail Hollow is because of what's there now. If anything, the PGA announcement should enhance the spring tournament.

-- If you're wondering, ticket sales and volunteer sign-ups are years away. Corporate sales don't typically start more than three years out and tickets usually go on sale after that.

If you're considering calling the Wells Fargo Championship office to get on any early list, don't. They run the PGA Tour event and have nothing to do with the PGA Championship at this point.

'This is a big deal:' Charlotte to host major in 2017

Saying "Charlotte deserves this. Quail Hollow deserves it," PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka officially announced today that Quail Hollow Club will host the 2017 PGA Championship.

The Wells Fargo Championship will continue through 2014, but club president Johnny Harris said there have been no discussions about extending the PGA Tour event
though it remains a possibility.

Gov. Bev Perdue and Mayor Anthony Foxx were among the political leaders who attended the announcement.

"This is a big deal in North Carolina," Perdue said.

Said Tiger Woods, the world's top-ranked golfer: "Quail Hollow is an outstanding golf course that has the qualities to host a major. This is Charlotte's first major, and the people there, and in the surrounding areas, understand and appreciate great golf."

- Ron Green Jr.

If The PGA Comes To Quail What About...?

When it becomes official on Tuesday that Quail Hollow will host a future PGA Championship -- most likely in 2017 -- it will answer one question but raise others. Among the question that remain are:

-- What happens to the Wells Fargo Championship?

If Wells Fargo or another corporation wants to keep the tournament going beyond 2014 when the current contract expires, that could happen. But first a sponsor must agree to extend the tournament and that's not likely to happen until after the next round of television negotiations between the PGA Tour and the networks are complete.

The 2014 expiration date is as long as any tour event is locked in right now so the Charlotte event isn't staring at a deadline that other events don't have. Some aren't locked in that long. Greensboro was thrilled last week to announce an extension with Wyndham to 2012.

If the PGA Tour event were to continue, it would have to move at least one year (2017) because of the grass situation. They'll play a full bermuda grass golf course in August for the PGA. They play on overseeded rye in May for the tour event. They can't get the bermuda grown in early enough to play it in May and they can't kill out the rye and get the bermuda in well enough to be ready in August. The solution: Play elsewhere at least one year.

-- What about the greens?

When Phil Mickelson complained about the greens this year, he got the attention of many people. Course architect Tom Fazio has been on site and there are some changes in the works. There will be gentle changes to a couple of greens for next year but more dramatic changes likely down the line.

-- Will Quail stick with bentgrass greens?

Maybe the question is will any course around here stick with bentgrass greens much longer given the way the heat has tortured them this summer. Quail, like other courses, will look at other grasses including the new strains of bermuda. The club has the luxury of growing different grasses on practice greens to see how it does. Right now, getting the disease-plagued greens back in good shape is the priority at Quail Hollow.

-- How will a PGA Championship be different from the Wells Fargo Championship?

There will be more infrastructure, which means more corporate suites, a significnatly expanded merchandise area and, generally, more of just about everything. The PGA of America logo will be prominently displayed, a difference from the understated style of the tour event at Quail Hollow.

There won't be any questions about whether the top players will be at Quail Hollow. The PGA Championship annually has the strongest field of the four majors.

Here's Hoping The Heritage Is Just Getting Started

The official announcement today that the Heritage Classic will be played in 2011 is excellent news.

It doesn't draw the strongest field on tour but it has become, to use Davis Love III's words, an iconic event on the PGA Tour with its images of the lighthouse, Calibogue Sound and the Harbour Town Golf Links. Losing the Heritage would have been a huge loss for the PGA Tour.

There's still the significant issue of securing a title sponsor for 2012 and beyond, an effort that is ongoing, but locking down the 2011 date buys time to do that. Will a company decide it's worth the investment? Hopefully, but these are different times, in case you hadn't noticed.

The Heritage won't immediately follow the Masters next year but it will fall on Easter week, which should help the attendance while making getting a restaurant reservation even more difficult. In 2012, assuming the tournament continues, it will move back to the week after the Masters where it's a perfect fit.

It will be played the same week at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf Champions Tour event in Savannah, Ga., next year, awkward bit of scheduling with two big events within a one-hour drive of each other. It's even closer if you're going by boat.

If you've ever attended the Heritage, you know why it's special. It's small, relaxed and the way a golf tournament should be. It's a pleasure to watch golf there. The crowds are good but it's never hard to see the action. The setting is superb and it falls at the perfect time for the island, the tour and the players.

It's been played 42 straight years at Harbour Town. I hope that's just the beginning.

Welcome To The Future: Cell Phones At Tour Events

A few thousand fans were gathered around the 18th green Sunday afternoon at Sedgefield Country Club as Arjun Atwal prepared to knock in the six-foot putt that won him the Wyndham Championship and something interesting happened.

Not a single cell phone rang.

Last week was the first official test of allowing cell phones -- or mobile devices as the signs on site called them -- into a PGA Tour event and it came off just fine. The silent buttons worked.

Cell phones ring at every PGA Tour event whether they've been allowed in or not. Fans bring them in and use them. By saying it was okay -- and using concession areas as acceptable places to take and make calls -- the Wyndham Championship took a gamble that phones wouldn't interrupt play.

They didn't.

That doesn't mean it won't happen at future events but it didn't happen last week.

My guess is the tour will give it another try somewhere this fall and, perhaps as early as next year, allow cell phones into events.

I'm enough of a traditionalist that the idea initially bothered me but I know we live in a different time. I carry my cell phone with me most places I go just in case I need it. Even on the golf course, though not always.

As Mark Brazil, the Wyndham tournament director and one of the people who promoted the idea, said, just because one person doesn't want cell phones at a golf tournament doesn't mean they should tell others they can't have them if they're not disrupting play.

Talking to several players about it last week, none seem bothered by allowing the phones in. They figure fans are bringing them anyway because they see -- and occasionally -- hear them. Times have changed. The tour has to change with them.

Tell a potential spectator he can't have his phone with him for the five or six hours he's going to watch a golf tournament and you're going to lose some spectators. That's not in anyone's best interest these days.

Will Tour Reshuffle Leave Hilton Head Out In 2011?

One question has been answered about the 2011 version of the PGA Tour's annual stop on Hilton Head Island -- it won't be played in its traditional spot the week after the Masters.

A second question remains: Will it be played at all?

Multiple outlets have confirmed that in 2011 the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio will be played the week after the Masters, taking the spot that has belonged to the event played at Harbour Town for years. If the Hilton Head event isn't the week after Augusta, when will it be played?

There are indications it will be played two weeks after the Masters -- April 18-24 -- if the PGA Tour and local organizers can finalize a deal to assure the tournament can continue. It has been without a title sponsor since Verizon announced it would end its agreement with the tournament after the 2010 event.

Simon Fraser, chairman of the Heritage Classic Foundation, was quoted recently saying the organization has secured enough money to assure the event will be played next year but he wouldn't say when. Tournament director Steve Wilmot was unavailable for comment late Thursday.

Next year, the calendar allows for three events between the Masters and the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow, one more than in recent years. That means that San Antonio and New Orleans will fill two spots but the middle one remains undetermined.

It has led to speculation that the Wyndham Championship, being played in Greensboro this week, could work its way into the mid-April spot if the Hilton Head tournament does not continue. Wyndham Worldwide announced this week it has extended its title sponsorship of the Greensboro event through 2012.

The PGA: Memorable For All The Wrong Reasons

I know Dustin Johnson did it to himself. The rules, strange as golf rules can be, were handed to him before the PGA Championship began and he didn't bother to read them. That doesn't make him different from most of the pros who tee it up week to week but it led to his awful gaffe Sunday at Whistling Straits.

The local rules were reportedly even taped to mirrors in the locker room to remind players to pay attention because Whistling Straits -- one wildly different place -- has more bunkers than can be counted and and everyone was forewarned.

But the way the PGA Championship ended was a mess and there was plenty of blame to pass around. Johnson is the guy who suffers the most though he deserves credit for taking questions and explaining what happened, no matter how embarrassed and angry and frustrated he must have felt. He could have skulked away but he didn't and, in the weird way sports works, he has thousands more fans today than he did two days ago.

But there's something about Whistling Straits that seems just too contrived for my taste. It's beautiful to look at but it strikes me as borderline goofy. It's the only place where I've covered a golf tournament and they handed out medical reports detailing how many spectators were injured trying to watch the action while climbing the manmade dunes.

It has a terrible finishing hole and the bunkering is over the top. Hundreds of them are on the course for effect, not actually considered to be play. That's why most of the bunkers aren't manicured and why Johnson didn't realize he was in a bunker on Sunday afternoon, since it had been filled with spectators moments earlier.

Here's another question: If you're going to have a rules official walking with the final group, shouldn't that person be there to advise a player if he's in a hazard? Especially at Whistling Straits, where no one's quite sure where the bunkers end and the rest of the course begins?

Johnson would have been wise to ask, obviously, but he didn't.

There was nothing wrong with what the PGA of America did in penalizing Johnson two strokes for grounding his club in a hazard. They followed the rules.

But the whole thing felt like a mess. The week started with the ugly Corey Pavin-Jim Grey episode and it ended with Martin Kaymer winning a tournament that will be remembered for what happened to Dustin Johnson.

It gave Whistling Straits a little piece of golf history. But not the kind anyone or any place can feel good about.

Harris "Optimistic" Quail Will Land A PGA

Quail Hollow Club president Johnny Harris said Saturday that he is optimistic that the club can soon finalize an agreement with the PGA of America to host a future PGA Championship though no agreement has been reached.

"We continue to have active discussions and we're optimistic but nothing has been consummated," Harris said.

The club has had a long-standing interest in hosting a major championship and the 2017 PGA Championship is the next available open date on the event's schedule. Quail Hollow would also be open to hosting the Ryder Cup matches though the next open date on American soil is in 2024.

Harris and others from Quail Hollow visited Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis., on Thursday, site of this year's PGA Championship.

PGA of America officials have visited Quail Hollow to study its viability as host of a major championship and were satisfied it could handle the infrastructure necessary for a major.

A future PGA Championship would not necessarily mean the end of the annual Wells Fargo Championship. The PGA Tour event is under contract through 2014 and Harris said the club would be open to keeping its annual tour stop while adding a major championship.

"They are not mutually exclusive," Harris said.

If Quail Hollow were to land a PGA Championship, it would be played in August and would necessitate moving the Wells Fargo Championship for one year if the PGA Tour event continues beyond 2014.

Harris said Quail Hollow has had discussions with other major golf organizations about future events but declined to specify them.

Talking Golf With Mark Rolfing

Mark Rolfing is in town this week, hosting The Golf Channel's coverage of the U.S. Women's Amateur at Charlotte Country Club. Rolfing said it's his first visit to Charlotte.

This is Rolfing's 25th year in television, having become one of the most familiar faces and voices on NBC's coverage of The Players, The U.S. Open and the Ryder Cup, along with his work with The Golf Channel.

We talked for a few minutes earlier this week about a variety of golf-related subjects. Here are Rolfing's thoughts on a variety of subjects:

On his foundation, the Mark and Debi Rolfing Charitable Foundation, taking over management of the SBS Championship, the season-opening PGA Tour event in Hawaii, where he lives:
MR: "The event was in trouble and I stepped in to help out with the foundation I have. The ship was going down. We needed a plan for it.

"What we want to is create an all-star concept for the first event of the year. Golf doesn't have an all-star game. The way it's been, the PGA Tour season starts all of a sudden on a Thursday.

"We want to do things starting the Sunday before and through the Wednesday before the tournament starts to make it like an All-Star game in other sports. I can see having a long-drive contest, maybe some kind of all-star 'Big Break' competition and I've always thought about having the pros play with their caddies in a little event."

On Tiger Woods' struggles this year: MR: "Just when you think things may be returning to normal, they always seem to take a different turn. In a lot of ways, it's been good to have more attention on other players but the general public and the casual golf fan still want to see Tiger and see him play well. It's reflected in the (television) ratings."

On Phil Mickelson:
MR: "I've always looked at him as a mad scientist kind of guy. He loves to concoct things out of what would appear to be nothing whether it's with the shots he hits or the things he does in every day life. He's a curious George type of guy."

With a new television deal to be negotiated in the coming months, there has been talk about enhancing telecasts by perhaps doing on-course interviews with players. What do you think?
MR: "I'm not a fan of on-course interviews because the players never say anything worthwhile. The best audio going right now is between the player and their caddie. At NBC, we really try not to talk over that.

"I don't see on-course interviews being a big part of telecasts."

On his 'Global Golf Adventure' television specials, the latest of which will air Sunday, Sept. 5 at 2:30 on NBC:
MR: "It's the first golf travel show on network television and it's been successful beyond my expectations. We did the first one in Hawaii, then went to Bermuda then to Wales.

"This one will be different. It's at Pebble Beach and I'll be reliving the final round of the U.S. Open, which to me was one of the strangest days I've ever seen. I'm looking at it through the eyes of Graeme McDowell. I sat down with him in Akron and had him to go back in time to that day. It's sort of a chronology of what happened that day."

Five Picks -- Not Tiger Or Phil -- To Win The PGA

Trying to pick a winner of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits which is more of a target-style course than it initially appears, is pure guesswork. But figuring neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson drive it straight enough, here are five picks to win the PGA Championship:
1. Steve Stricker: He’s due to win a major and how perfect would it be if it came in his home state of Wisconsin?
2. Hunter Mahan: Winning the WGC event last week was a huge step for him. Maybe a major is next.
3. Sean O’Hair: Like Mahan – and maybe soon Tiger Woods – he’s playing well with help from teacher Sean Foley.
4. Rory McIlroy: He caught a bad break with the weather or he’d have won the British Open.
5. Justin Leonard: Had a chance to win the 2004 PGA at Whistling Straits.

Can Tiger Afford To Sit Out The Ryder Cup?

Tiger Woods was right Sunday when he said he shouldn't be picked to be part of the U.S. Ryder Cup team if he's going to play like he did at Firestone last week -- where he couldn't have won the club championship the way he chopped it around there.

But can Tiger afford to take a pass on the Ryder Cup?

He looked at Firestone like a man disgusted with his game and disengaged from the competitive chase. Through all the years, he's never given up but he essentially surrendered Saturday afternoon when he basically walked from one lousy pitch shot to another on the 18th hole. Hard to blame him. If you play golf, you've been there.

Tiger said his game is not far from where it was in the late '90s when he was rebuilding his swing. Right now, it looks like I did in junior high shop class -- with a bunch of pieces but not sure how to fit them together.

Unless he surprises all of us, himself included, Tiger isn't likely to be a factor at the PGA Championship this week, which means he won't earn one of the eight automatic spots on the Ryder Cup team. That leaves it to captain Corey Pavin and Woods to decide if he'll be in Wales this fall.

I've always contended he belonged because he's Tiger and his game could come rushing back. Even with a dull edge, he's intimidating and imposing. But right now he looks lost and it's reasonable to ask if he should be picked for the team.

Given the bruises to his image already, can Woods turn down the chance to represent his country without being criticized for it? He's never been a big fan of the Ryder Cup, at least that's the feeling he gives off, but Woods understands what it means. You want a fifth major? It's the Ryder Cup.

For a change, Woods needs the Ryder Cup. It won't be all about him in Wales. It will be about playing with Steve Stricker and being in the team room. It's about the spirit of the thing and looking at Woods these days, it's apparent he needs something to change his spirit.

On Second Thought...

Okay, maybe this isn't the week Tiger Woods wins again.

He's slapping it around Firestone this week like he doesn't know where he's going -- that's because he apparently doesn't know where it's going -- and there's no sign of it coming back quickly.

His game is a mess. He used to turn 74 into 70. Now he turns 74 into 74.

Given all that's happened the past 10 months, every week now is a referendum on his golf game. He's not winning many votes and he's not winning any tournaments.

And he's wearing a white belt.

Who is this guy?

Is This The Week Tiger Finally Wins Again?

If you want to get into numbers crunching regarding Tiger Woods' there are plenty to crunch.

How about this one that Woods wasn't aware of until asked about it Wednesday: He's won 12 of 17 tournaments he's played after the British Open since 2006. I know, that's really parsing it but, still, 12 out of 17 is pretty good from the foul line and insane in golf tournaments.

Then there are these statistical factoids unearthed by another reporter:

In 2008, Woods made 93.5 percent of his putts between five and 15 feet. That's beyond outrageous if you didn't know. This year, he's making 44.3 percent. That's as average as a burger and fries.

Here's another one from the same study of Tiger's fall to mortaldom: On shots from 100 to 125 yards, Woods has fallen from first on tour (in accuracy) to 192nd. No wonder he hasn't won.

Here it is August and Tiger ranks 111th in FedEx Cup points, which means he may not qualify for more than one playoff event if he doesn't get his swoosh in gear. He's ninth in Ryder Cup points and only eight automatically make the team (oooh, I wonder if Corey Pavin will pick him) and he's 80th on the money list (where he makes his spending money).

All of that leads us to this week, the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone, where Tiger (pardon another stat) has won seven of the last 10 times he's teed it up. But, as we all know, this year is different.

Since he showed up that Monday morning at Augusta National, we've been waiting to see the old Tiger and, except for Saturday afternoon at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, he's gone missing. He's been there in body, but perhaps not in mind and spirit.

This week at Firestone figures to be the week we get a proper read on where Woods and his golf game are. He admits he's putted like a 12-handicap at the same time he's finally figured out how to drive it in the fairway again.

His practice time has been gnawed away by other responsiblities. His kids. Perhaps his lawyers.

Tiger's return to his former glory is now in question.

This is his time of year. He says he feels his game coming together. This week he's playing Firestone. Next week, the PGA Championship.

He's been through longer winless spells as a pro. But not one quite like this one.

Will it end soon? Even Tiger probably wonders.

59: It's Not Such A Private Club These Days

A few bunker shots while wondering who'll be the next player to shoot 59 this summer:

-- There was a time when I could name every Super Bowl winner in order but as the years went by and the list got longer, I couldn't remember them all.

The same thing may be happening with the list of PGA Tour players who have broken 60 in competition. It was easy when it was just Al Geiberger. Then came Chip Beck. Then David Duval. Then no one for a long time.

This summer Paul Goydos and Stuart Appleby have done it. It's not that easy but there has been a remarkable run of really low scores this year. There was Trevor Murphy's 56 and the 57 by Bobby Wyatt last week in Alabama.

It's easy to say it's because the balls and the equipment are too good for the courses being played today. But the equipment hasn't changed appreciably in the last couple of years -- the ball still desperately needs to be rolled back -- and they weren't posting these numbers last year.

Give the best players firm fairways and soft greens and, unless the course is 8,000 yards long, they're going to treat it like an all-you-can-eat buffet. It was fun to watch players making buckets of birdies at the Greenbrier and you knew someone was going to flirt with 50-something. Sure enough, J.B. Holmes flirted with it and Appleby knocked it down, a nice win for a guy whose game had gone on walkabout a couple of years ago.

-- Consider this for a moment: Yani Tseng is 21 years old and she's already won three of the four major championships in women's professional golf. She picked up her second major Sunday at the Ricoh Women's British Open, changing the seemingly ever-changing question of who the best player in women's golf is.

Right now, she wins the argument regardless of what the world rankings say.

-- Trevor Banks of Lancaster, S.C., won the Carolina Am Sunday at Carolina Lakes Golf Club in Indian Land by four strokes over Jacob Eggers of Vilas. Both players earned exemptions into the pre-qualifying tournament for the Wyndham Championship next week in Greensboro.

-- Charlotte's Chris Brady was eliminated from The Golf Channel's 'Big Break Sandals Resort' last week. She made it through the first five rounds of competition.

-- Tiger Woods has won seven of 10 times he's played the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone. If he's going to win this year, this week's World Golf Championship would seem to be the place he'd do it. But he was the favorite at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews this year and we saw how those turned out.