Kaymer Commits To Play Wells Fargo Championship

   The Wells Fargo Championship is still 10 weeks away but it has already secured a commitment from Martin Kaymer, current ranked No. 2 in the world rankings.

   Kaymer has accepted a sponsor exemption into the field because he is not a full-time member of the PGA tour. Kaymer won the 2010 PGA Championship and surged up the world rankings with three late victories last year.

   In addition to Kaymer, the tournament also has commitments from defending champion Rory McIlroy, former champion Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson, all ranked among the top 20 in the world.

   The Wells Fargo Championship will be played May 2-8 at the Quail Hollow Club. For ticket information, visit http://www.wellsfargochampionship.com/

Nagy Played Through Pain To Get First Victory

  For Corey Nagy, the former Charlotte 49ers All-American, 2011 could hardly have begun better.

  Nagy won his first pro event Saturday, beating two-time Walker Cup player Brian Harman in a a sudden-death playoff to win the Smithwick Shootout in the eGolf Professional Tour season-opener at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

   Financially, it was worth more than $31,000 to Nagy but its true value may be in how it reinforced his self-confidence. Disappointed after not advancing through the second round of PGA Tour qualifying school last fall, Nagy adjusted his focus, starting with a busy eGolf tour schedule that will lead into a series of Monday qualifiers on the Nationwide Tour later this spring.

   In winning at Hilton Head, Nagy played through a hand injury he suffered during the third round and left him uncertain if he could play the final round despite holding the lead. Nagy said he jammed a wedge into the turf on Friday and felt pain in his right hand.

   The pain persisted and it led to cautious swings early in the final round.

   "On the fifth hole in the final round, I told myself that pain is only for the moment. What happens in this tournament will last forever," Nagy said.

  He decided to live with the pain and make his normal, aggressive swing.

   "The win means even more because I wasn't 100 percent and I figured out a way to get it done," Nagy said. "I thought about Tiger winning the U.S. Open on a broken leg. I figured if he could win the Open with something like that, I could win here."

   The victory convinced Nagy to make the two-week trip to Morocco next month to play a pair of eGolf events there, getting a taste of international travel and competition in the process. When the Nationwide Tour swings closer to Charlotte in late March, Nagy will start trying to Monday qualify with the goal of earning status on the tour.

Five Quick Questions With Robert Karlsson

   Robert Karlsson, who moved from Monaco to Charlotte last year, begins his first full season on the PGA Tour this week at the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles.

   Before teeing it up, the world's 16th-ranked golfer answered five questions, most unrelated to golf.

   You've played 68 PGA Tour events in your career but this year you're officially a rookie by virtue of your full-time membership. What are you expectations for this season?

   RK: It’s one of my big things not to build up big expectations. I take every tournament as a separate event and see where we end up. If I build up too much, I get out of focus. I will enjoy every shot if I can. That’s my expectation.


   You were born in Sweden and still visit. What do you miss most about your homeland?

   RK: Not much actually. I’ve been away for such a long time. I come and go. I see myself as a world citizen. For 20 years I’ve been trvaeling around the world.

   You moved to Charlotte from Monaco. What's the biggest difference in the two places?

   RK: The attitude of the people. Monaco is a very small and very rich community. It’s a little bit of an enclosed island within a big country. It’s driven by money and flair. Charlotte is a place where people come and live and have their normal life and work. Monaco is not a place where people work,.

   Have you learned your way around Charlotte? Can you get to Southpark?
   RK: I don’t need directions (to Southpark). I can do that. I can get to the (uptown) arena. I’m pretty decent. If I get lost, I have my bearings. I’m trying to drive without much help from naviagtation system.

   On your website (www.robertkarlsson.com) there's a photo of you holding an accordion. Do you play?

   RK: I can’t play. It’s a picture we use for my biggest challenges in life. It was a fun illustration.

It's A New Day: Cell Phones Will Be Welcome At Wells Fargo Championship

   Spectators will be allowed to bring their cell phones to PGA Tour events, including the Wells Fargo Championship, starting at the Honda Classic later this month.

   The PGA Tour announced the new guidelines today after testing the policy at five events. There will still be restrictions-- the phones must be kept on silent; there will be designated talking areas; and the mobile devices can't be used for taking photos or video during tournament play -- but the change will be welcome news to most golf fans.

   It's a logical move by the tour. There's no doubt some fans have been reluctant to attend tournaments because they would not be allowed to have their cell phones with them.

      "Mobile devices are such a part of people's lives today and the tour understands that people don't want to be away from them for a long period of time," said Kym Hougham, executive director of the Wells Fargo Championship.

    "In fact, the mobile devices can help people at the course follow what's happening at the tournament and I'd expect to see the tour come up with an app that will fit every tournament."

    It's not as if fans hadn't been sneaking phones into tournaments before. Rather than work to keep phones off the course, tour and tournament officials will work to educate fans on when and how to use them on the course.

   "We'll still confiscate phones if they're taking pictures or video with them from Thursday through Sunday," Hougham said. "But it's a nice move by the tour."

   The new guidelines do not apply to the four major championships including the Masters. Those tournaments will set their own policies about cell phones.

Where Does Tiger Go From Here?

   I'm sitting here looking at a photo of Tiger Woods' new digs in Florida, a reported $80-million compound that includes a four-hole practice facility, three pools, a track, a tennis court and a 5,700-square foot workout facility, not to mention beach access and room to park his yacht.

   Cozy.

   And a few minutes ago I was watching Tiger Woods finishing 20th in Dubai, shooting 75 on Sunday, closing with a double bogey and catching some justifiable flak for spitting on the 12th green. Not the kind of Tiger Sunday we used to know.

   The game that helped build the house has gone missing. So has the confidence. And, so has the certainty that he will eventually break Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major championship victories.

   Woods used to make it look easy. Even when he was grinding, there was an elegance about it. And now golf has become work for Woods. He's always worked at it, maybe harder than anyone and that it was part of the secret of his success. But his work was producing symphonies, not radio jingles.

   Woods is working at it again, trying to recreate his old magic with a new technique and it's a slow process with no promises.

   Because of what he's done on the golf course, Woods has created the impossible expectations that come every time he steps to the first tee and we went along for the ride. Now it's bumpy. Now every round is like a check of the thermometer when the patient is sick.

   Is he getting better? Is he getting worse? What's the prognosis?

   There's every reason to believe he's going to be fine but in two starts this year -- the fresh start season -- Tiger has been ordinary. He continues to talk a good game, saying he's making progress, sounding like a man reinforcing his own convictions. That's part of what he needs to do, committing to his third major swing change.

   It's strange watching Woods play golf like this. It feels awkward.

   Is it possible Woods never gets it back? Yes.

   Is that likely? No.

   He has more major championships in him, a few more I think. He's struggled through swing changes before but this time it feels different because it is different. There's more involved than swing planes.

   Tiger's next start is expected to be the World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play Championship in another week. Wonder what happens there?

  

  

  

Couples Dealing With A Familiar Problem Again

Fred Couples has lived with back problems for years but it doesn’t get any easier.

 Couples is visiting another back specialist today in California to see if he can get any relief from continuing back issues that are affecting his golf game. When he plays – and Couples has kept a busy schedule recently – he’s driving the ball spectacularly but he’s struggling with short irons shots.

   Then there’s the issue of sleeping.  Or, as Couples explained it on a conference call this week, not sleeping.

“You know, I have dealt with it a long time.  Never have I really ever thought it was a bad deal,” Couples said.

“But the last month, I lay in bed, and I used to be able to do a couple things where I would find, in my terms, like pockets in my back where I could crack my back and it would feel good for a while. I'm not getting any comfort at night. I'm not sleeping very much

“I mean, I was laughing because at Hualalai, I physically could not have driven the ball any better. I never really hit a bad drive. I'm not saying I don't hit balls to the right or left. But the same at Phoenix. If I did anything at Phoenix, I drove the ball very, very long.  I played 33 holes on Sunday. And the last few holes, I was ‑‑ these guys were laughing at me because I was still driving it with them or past them, but I couldn't hit a green with an 8 iron. I couldn't swing once I kind of hinged and bent over a little bit. 

So those are things I've got to get fixed. You know, taking time off from golf is not the end of the world, but it's when I come back and I don't feel any better, then I get a little frustrated.  Then I start to think like this is crazy. But the not sleeping at night, that's no bargain at all. “

   Couples, who has a home in Charlotte, is operating out of his home in Palm Springs, Cal., through the early part of the season. After playing two Champions Tour events in Hawaii, he was able to drive to Phoenix last week and play the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Open where he made the cut and kept himself fresh as captain of the 2011 Presidents Cup team.

  

   He’s planning to play the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles next week, one of his favorite stops through the years, then defend his title in the Toshiba Classic on the Champions Tour. Playing Los Angeles means Couples won’t defend his Champions Tour title in Naples, Fla., the same week.

   Driving back from Phoenix to Palm Springs, Couples said his back bothered him to the point he had made occasional stops to get out of the car.

   “I drove home from Arizona around 6, and I stopped in Quartzite, and you're going to laugh. I didn't even get gas. I walked around the car. I went in and got a candy bar, and I stopped in Blythe, which is only another 50 miles, and I made it into Palm Springs. I took an Epsom bath. I feel like I'm 400 years old.”

   In the next breath, Couples said he feels okay.

“I must be honest. After playing 33 holes, I felt pretty good. It's just ‑‑ it's crazy that I can hit a driver, and then I get up there from 150 yards, and I just ‑‑ I can't bend over, the slight tilt in my back and swing and hit the ground.  And I'm manufacturing a lot of these shots. 

But I hit some beautiful shots last week, and I just laugh because on the par 5s, you know, I hit a driver and a 4 wood or a 5 in the middle of the green.  And I play a hole that's 400, and I hit a good drive.  And I'm hoping to hit the green from 120 yards. It doesn't make any sense to me right now. “

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.