Will U.S. carry good vibes into the 2012 Ryder Cup?

Observations from watching the Presidents Cup:

-- What is it about the Presidents Cup that seems so easy for the American team as compared to the Ryder Cup, which sometimes resembles a collective nervous breakdown?

That's the mystery captain Davis Love III will try to solve between now and the Ryder Cup matches next fall at Medinah outside Chicago. Whatever captain Fred Couples has done the last two times worked beautifully but Jack Nicklaus had similar success.

It helps when putts fall. Just ask Tiger.

-- Webb Simpson's breakout year got even better at the Presidents Cup where he won three early points, teaming with Bubba Watson. Simpson looked totally comfortable at Royal Melbourne, seeming to thrive in match play.

He's likely to be a fixture on U.S. teams for the next decade so it's encouraging to see him play so well. Wonder if Love has already penciled in Simpson and Bubba together at Medinah?

-- It was a nice touch to see Tiger Woods get the winning point in the Sunday singles, given all the controversy surrounding Couples' early decision to add him to the team.

Tiger didn't get a lot of help from his partners Steve Stricker and Dustin Johnson in the foursomes and four-balls but you can see his game coming back. He made six birdies Sunday -- more than anyone in singles -- and looked like a guy who was happy to be there. That was good to see.

-- Team MVP honors belong to Jim Furyk, who turned his lost season around and posted a 5-0 mark in the Presidents Cup. He's never been flashy -- and watching Furyk and Phil Mickelson reading putts together can be patience-testing -- but Furyk has been one of the best players of his generation. Last week at Royal Melbourne just reconfirmed that.

-- Royal Melbourne was beautiful proof that golf courses don't have to be 8,000 yards long with knee-deep rough to challenge the game's best players.

It was filled with short par-4s and medium-length par-3s and stood up to the best players in the world. The greens are magnificent, a perfect blend of speed, firmness and contour, demanding imagination, nerve and touch. The bunkering is spectacular and, as others have suggested, why can't more courses here groom their bunkers like those at Royal Melbourne where shots carom off bunker slopes and gather at the bottom?

-- With a good blend of young players and veterans, the U.S. should be strong when Love captains the Ryder Cup team next year. A couple of names may change but the bulk of the Presidents Cup roster will probably be at Medinah next fall. That should put a smile on Love's face.
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Photo: Bill Haas of the U.S. team and teammate Webb Simpson of Charlotte pose with the Presidents Cup trophy Sunday.  David Cannon - Getty

Nagy one big step away from PGA Tour

To have any chance of earning a PGA Tour card for 2012, Corey Nagy understood Friday what he needed to do.


Nagy, the former Charlotte 49ers star, needed to save par on the last hole of his second-stage qualifying tournament in Brooksville, Fla., from a spot where he seemed certain to make a bogey. Nagy was riding the cut line and he wasn't positive a par save would get him to the qualifying school finals in California later this month but he knew a bogey would assure him of playing more mini-tour golf in 2012.

From the thickest rough on the course and to a hole cut in a diffcult spot, Nagy saved par by nearly holing his chip shot, allowing him to slide into a tie for 18th (only the top 21 and ties advanced) and into a new chapter in his career.

If Nagy plays well enough in the six-round qualifying school finals at PGA West in Palm Springs, Cal., he'll earn his PGA Tour privileges for next year. The worst case scenario is Nagy will have at least conditional status on the Nationwide Tour.

"It's pretty awesome," said Nagy, who moved from a tie for 31st to 18th on the last day of the second-stage qualifier at Southern Hills Plantation Club. "I wasn't sure at that moment if it would be enough but I knew I'd done what I could do.

"You know when you start that if you don't play well, you basically don't have a job next year so I definitely felt the pressure."

In preparation for the second stage, Nagy played a practice round at Quail Hollow Club with Webb Simpson and Johnson Wagner, both winners on the PGA Tour this year.

"They encouraged me," Nagy said. "They told me I was good enough and told me to stay patient."

Charlotte's Fernando Mecheffe also advanced to the final stage of qualifying school though Brian Bigley, who played in the Wells Fargo Championship in May, missed advancing by one stroke as did former North Carolina golf coach John Inman.

Couples talks about Jordan missing Presidents Cup

  Obviously, Michael Jordan has more pressing business than serving as an assistant to U.S. captain Fred Couples at the Presidents Cup matches this week in Australia, a duty he served two years ago when the matches were in San Francisco.

   Here's a portion of Bob Verdi's interview with Couples on pgatour.com today with the captain talking about Jordan's involvement with the team:

  Do you miss Michael Jordan?

"I know Phil does. They had some nice card games in San Francisco. Gin. But all the guys miss him. And the caddies. He fit in so well at Harding Park. The guys loved having him there. He even gave a little pep talk to the team. And you saw how he helped out. Almost adopted Sean O'Hair."

He's got important business back in the States.

"Yeah, he's a majority owner of an NBA team in Charlotte and they're having a lockout. He called me three weeks ago and said he just couldn't make it. I wasn't surprised, because he's got to be part of the negotiations so they can get that thing straightened out. He did send all the caddies and us captains and co-captains a pair of Air Jordans, though. And I'm sure we'll hear from him while we're over here."

Did Michael say anything else?

"Actually, he did. When he called, he asked me if I could do one thing for him. I'm thinking, 'What the heck can I do for Michael Jordan?' Well, he asked for the U.S. Team golf bag we had made up for him with his name on it. Which was pretty cool, when you think about it. I think it shows how much he enjoyed being part of our team in San Francisco. I got a little criticism for naming him, too, but again, how can you not want Michael Jordan around? We had the two greatest athletes in the world in our room at Harding Park. Michael and Tiger. And there's something wrong with that?"

Mickelson gets what he deserves -- a spot in the Hall of Fame

Phil Mickelson didn't need to be elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame for his place in the game's history to be secure but the news today that he'll be inducted next May made it official.

As a matter of full disclosure, I voted for Mickelson this year, the first time he was on the ballot. We can quibble about whether guys still in the prime of their careers should be put into a Hall of Fame -- I personally think 50 should be the starting point for eligibility -- but, regardless, Mickelson was automatic.

   Somehow, his wife Amy and caddie Jim 'Bones' Mackay belong in there, too, and I'm sure Phil will include them in his induction speech.

   Mickelson is the best kind of professional golfer, at once mesmerizing, thrilling, charismatic, worrisome and unique. He's got a touch of Arnold Palmer about him and, next to his short game, his greatest strength may be his smile.

   It goes a long way in explaining his rock star status. Fans adore Mickelson. They respected Tiger but they've loved Phil.

   I've been fortunate to watch Mickelson from close range through the years and following him through galleries between greens and tees, especially when he's been in contention in major championships, makes you wonder if that's how Elvis must've felt at times.

   There was a time when we wondered if Mickelson could win a major championship. His damn the torpedos style was great for television but not necessarily great for avoiding trouble. It's easy to tick off the moments when he flamed out but it's easier to look at his collection of green jackets and trophies and appreciate that we've been watching one of the all-time greats for the past two decades.

   Another generation had Nicklaus and Palmer. We've had Mickelson and Woods, pretty good stuff.

   It was trendy to be cynical about Mickelson earlier in his career. His smile came too easily. He said all the right things.

   That cynicism, like questions about his ability to win majors, disappeared long ago. People shared his disappointment after the debacle at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. They felt his pain when Amy and his mother were diagnosed with breast cancer.

   Mickleson has been different in so many good ways. As David Feherty has said, there's a mad scientist quality to Mickelson that makes him all the more intriguing.

    Golfers like Mickelson don't come along often, nor do people like him. It's our good fortune he came along when he did.

Steve Williams, golf's new drama king

   We're approaching the second anniversary of the great fire hydrant moment that changed Tiger Woods forever and you'd think things would have settled down by now.

 

   Instead, the swirl continues, the latest chapter coming over the weekend when Steve Williams, Woods' former caddie, offered his crass observation about wanting to shove a victory, well, you know what he said.

  For a guy who should have learned his lesson with the way he mishandled Adam Scott's first victory with him on the bag, Stevie redoubled his error by taking another public shot at Tiger. It was off the record, Williams said. No, it wasn't. Not when you say something like that in front of group of players, caddies and  media members.

   What it was was regrettable and, potentially, career-crashing. 

   For whatever reason, Williams attracted an outpouring of goodwill when, after being dismissed by Woods, Scott won the WGC Bridgestone Invitational with Stevie toting his clubs. In an unfortunate lapse of judgment on both sides, Williams was interviewed on television before the man who actually won the tournament.

   Williams took a little too much joy in the moment, it seemed.

  Now this. 

   He and Tiger talked in Australia this week, Williams apologized and they made peace, at least publicly. The sting will linger, though.

  Through the years covering Woods, I tended to give Williams the benefit of the doubt with his sometimes aggressive manner. He was asked to be more than a caddie. He was also a bodyguard, in the midst of a media and popularity storm. He had to be the bad cop when the moment demanded it.

   Too often, he seemed to take the role one club too far.

   Now he's embarrassed himself and put a stain on himself that won't soon disappear. 

   Will Adam Scott fire him, tired of the drama that has come with having Williams on the bag? If he were going to, he'd have probably done it already.

   Should he fire him?

  That's Scott's call but I can't imagine Williams has any more strikes left.

  He shouldn't. 

Jordan will sit out Presidents Cup

   The Presidents Cup matches later this month in Australia will have to go on without Michael Jordan.

   Jordan had been one of captain Fred Couples' assistants but due to the NBA lockout and his duties as owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, Jordan has been replaced by John Cook. The business of basketball has intruded.

   "With the NBA labor situation unsettled, as the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, I feel it is necessary that I remain in the country," Jordan said in a statement.

   Given Jordan's fondness for golf and his regular participation in previous Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups, there's no question he'll miss being at Royal Melbourne with Couples and the boys. Who wouldn't?

   The American team will miss Michael and his cigars, too. He is, after all, still Michael Jordan.

   And it is basketball season. Or, hopefully, it soon will be.

Locals Goggin, Kokrak lock up 2012 PGA Tour spots

   The Charlotte connection on the 2012 PGA Tour grew larger over the weekend with Mathew Goggin and Jason Kokrak officially securing their spots on the big tour through their strong play on the Nationwide Tour.

   Both Charlotte residents had locked up spots on the PGA Tour through their season-long performance and it became official with the conclusion of the Nationwide Tour Championship at Daniel Island, S.C.

   Goggin was the Nationwide Tour's dominant player through the first half of the year and finished third on the money list with $378,492 including two victories.

   Kokrak also had two victories and finished fourth on the money list with $338,092 in earnings.

   They will join locals Webb Simpson, Johnson Wagner, Brendon de Jonge and Robert Karlsson on the PGA Tour next year.

Simpson is just getting started

   Luke Donald showed why he's the No.1 golfer in the world Sunday and it cost Webb Simpson the PGA Tour money title and, almost certainly, the tour's player of the year award.

   Simpson can feel disappointed about coming so close to two goals that meant so much but the disappointment will be temporary. It's probably already gone, in fact.

   Nothing can change the fact that Simpson has had a spectacular year, leaping into the game's top orbit with his play. With nine holes remaining in the season's final event, Simpson was in position to win the money title and, by extention, perhaps the player of the year. But Donald made six straight birdies and demonstrated why he's clearly the No. 1 player in the game.

   If you've got to get beat, that's the way to get beat, with the best in the world shooting 64 on Sunday with the pressure on to beat you.

   For Donald, it's understandable that he felt "over the moon" after his performance Sunday.

   For Simpson, the satisfaction comes in all that he's done and the way he forced Donald to do the unlikely to beat him. Simpson isn't a one-season wonder. He's likely to be around for the long run and by the time the Masters rolls around in April, he'll be on the list of contenders.

    It could have ended better for Simpson but this isn't as much about how it ended as it is about what's begun for him.

    He's just getting started.

2012 PGA Tour schedule looks familiar

   The 2012 PGA Tour schedule was released Wednesday with no dramatic changes but with a handful of significant tweaks to a lineup that will have a familiar feel.

   From a local perspective, the important dates are as follow:

   -- The Masters is April 2-8 at Augusta National;
 
   -- The RBC Heritage is April 9-15 at Harbour Town Golf Links and back to its traditional date the week following the Masters;

    -- The Wells Fargo Championship is April 30-May 6 at Quail Hollow Club;

    -- The PGA Championship is Aug. 6-12 at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course;

    -- And, the Wyndham Championship is Aug. 13-19 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro.

   Among the changes next year will be an adjustment to the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua which will end on Monday, Jan. 9 rather than on Sunday. The shift allows NBC to promote the event during its NFL playoff coverage and for the final round to air on The Golf Channel prior to kickoff of the BCS Championship game the same evening.

   The Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia is moving to Fourth of July week and the final event of the fall series -- the Children's Miracle Network Classic -- will be played later, ending Nov. 11.

   With the Ryder Cup matches set in 2012, the FedEx Cup playoffs will be adjusted with an open week preceding the Tour Championship, which is scheduled Sept. 17-23 in Atlanta. The Ryder Cup matches will be played Sept. 24-30 in Chicago.

Player of the year: Simpson or Donald?

   The player of the year battle on the PGA Tour has now come down to two -- Webb Simpson and Luke Donald.

   Right now, the momentum and maybe a shade more votes, are on Simpson's side after he went to the McGladrey Classic to jump Donald on the money list and did it, almost winning his third event in six starts in the process.

   Had Simpson won the Sunday playoff over Ben Crane at Sea Island, he'd be the player of the year favorite going to the season finale at the Disney World this week. As it is, he and Donald will have what amounts to a duel for the season-long money title and POY votes.

   The challenge falls to Donald now, who trails Simpson by $363,029 on the official money list. Donald's goal is to win both the PGA Tour and European Tour money titles this season, something that's never been done and the fact he's so close to doing it speaks to how good he's been. He's the leader in the worldwide player of the year category, for sure.

   To beat Simpson for the money title -- a distinction that carries a bit of everlasting fame with it -- Donald can finish no worse than a two-way tie for second at the Children's Miracle Network event. Since he lives in the top 10 -- Donald has one win, two seconds, two thirds and 13 top-10s on tour this year -- he'll probably be tougher to escape than Mickey Mouse over the next week.

   For Simpson, this has already been a career-changing season. In the ever-popular best American player debate, the discussion may start with Simpson at the moment. It will be fascinating to see how he plays for captain Fred Couples at the Presidents Cup in Australia next month, his first international team play as a pro.

   When Donald committed last Friday to play Disney to chase the money title, Simpson followed suit. He is embracing the challenge and the moment, a hint of his confidence level.

   Both players have had brilliant seasons already. And they're not done yet.
   

Simpson taking a swing at winning tour money title

   A few quick observations:

  -- Rickie Fowler got his first professional win on Sunday in South Korea and while it didn't come on the PGA Tour, it was an important win just the same. Fowler needed to win someplace and beating a good field that included Rory McIlroy was a substantial step for him.
  
   As the season wore on, Fowler began to be overshadowed by other players, including Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson. If Fowler can win early on the PGA Tour in 2012, it would be huge for him and the tour.

  -- Speaking of Simpson, he's playing in the McGladrey Classic this week at Sea Island in hopes of making the $60,000 or so he needs to pass Luke Donald to capture the money title on the PGA Tour this year.

    Simpson was at the Panthers' game Sunday in his jeans and t-shirt and a white cap he wore backward, looking totally comfortable which he should be given the breakout season he's had. Winning the money title would put a nice cap on a career-changing season.

  -- What to make of Tiger Woods' week at the Frys.com event?

   I'm not quite sure. He played well in stretches, hit some funky shots at times and didn't dramatically change anything we know about him and his game at the moment.

   Just making the cut at a Fall Series event isn't what Tiger's about. He was never in contention and we're not going to see him again until he goes to Australia next month. For a guy who says he needs to play to get his edge back, I wish he'd play another tournament or two here. It's not going to happen, however.

    For a guy who's such a controversial addition to the Presidents Cup team, Woods will have all eyes on him when he tees it up at Royal Melbourne for Captain Couples.

   -- There's not a better time to play golf around here than this time of year. The greens are quick, the fairways are running and there's still enough rough to be a bother. It's tough to get frustrated even if you're chopping it around.

Win gets Haas final Presidents Cup spot

   Bill Haas won more than the FedEx Cup and the Tour Championship Sunday.

   The former Wake Forest All-American was named as the final wild-card pick to the U.S. team today by captain Fred Couples, who confirmed his previous announcement by also adding Tiger Woods as a captain's pick.

   International team captain Greg Norman added Australians Robert Allenby and Aaron Baddeley to his team, which will host the Americans in early November at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

   Couples said he made it clear to Haas prior to the Tour Championship that he needed to win to make the team, on which Jay Haas is an assistant captain along with Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan.
 
   "Jay and I talked about this scenario and Michael went over this (a few) months ago. The way for us to do this was to let the guys play. In this instance, Bill Haas knew he had to win. I didn't bother him during the tournament. I think he's smart enough to know what had to happen," Couples said on a conference call.

  Couples said he narrowed his final choice to Haas, PGA champion Keegan Bradley and Brandt Snedeker.
  
   Should Steve Stricker be unable to participate in the Presidents Cup due to herniated disk that has been bothering him, Couples said Bradley will be his replacement.

Will it be Haas or Bradley or...?

   Observations on one of the better golf weekends of the year:

  -- If I were Fred Couples (wow, there's a thought), I"m not sure whether I'd pick Bill Haas or Keegan Bradley with my final captain's pick for the Presidents Cup team.

   Those two seem to be the finalists for Captain Freddie and both have made their cases. Bradley has two wins, including the PGA and Haas just won the FedEx Cup and the Tour Championship, knowing it was probably the only way he could convince Couples to add him to the team.

   The popular sentiment seems to be in Bradley's corner because of his two wins this year and the way Haas struggled to close tournaments, even Sunday when he won on the third extra hole. The good thing for Haas is his victory should have eliminated any notion of favoritism that could have slipped into the debate if he's the guy Couples chooses. Jay Haas said he will stay out of the way and let Couples make his own decision, though it's obvious what it would mean to have a father and son together on the team.

   My guess is Couples will take Haas when he makes the announcement Tuesday.

  -- It seems the Solheim Cup did itself a disservice in requiring the U.S. team to surrender a full point because of Cristie Kerr's injury that prevented her from playing in the singles on Sunday. It played a major role in the American's inability to hold onto the cup.

   It seems fairer to do like the Ryder Cup and agree to a draw if one player is unable to play.

   Still, the finish was compelling, seeing the European team rally as it did to win the cup. Team competitions like the Solheim Cup show us the players in a different light and it's fun to see them showing their emotions as they do. I'm still not a big fan of flags painted on cheeks but I love seeing what it means to the players.

   Seeing Michelle Wie react to the late birdie putt she made, watching Suzanne Petterssen close like a champ and sensing the disappointment in Laura Davies when she bogeyed the finishing hole is the kind of emotion that seems to show only in international team events. It's beautiful to watch.

  -- By adding Joe LaCava as his new caddie, Tiger Woods has one of the best in the business working with him.

   LaCava is a pro's pro and should be perfect working with Tiger. Exactly how the move went down -- did Dustin Johnson know LaCava was among the caddies Woods was considering? -- remains unclear but the new partnership should be a critical next step for Woods as he attempts to recapture his lost magic.

Forest Creek to host 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur

   The 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur championship has been awarded to Forest Creek Golf Club near Pinehurst, an impressive designation for the private club.

   Forest Creek has two Tom Fazio-designed golf courses that have earned plenty of praise since the original South Course layout opened in 1996. The North Course was added in 2005.

   The Mid-Am championship will be played Oct. 5-10, 2013.

  “We are honored and grateful that the USGA has entrusted our golf club with the distinct honor of hosting one of its prestigious national championships,” Forest Creek Golf Club president Terry Brown said in a statement.

  “We proudly consider Forest Creek to be one of the country’s most outstanding communities to live in, and our golf club is committed to amateur golf with a vision of giving back to the game.

   "We have two highly rated golf courses that I am confident will stand up to the high quality and challenges expected by the Mid-Amateur Committee as well as the players. We very much look forward to October 2013.”

It's $10 million, but it's only money

   To most of us, the prospect of winning $10 million is the stuff of dreams.

   It's why you buy that lottery ticket -- I've never bought one which may explain why I've never won -- and daydream about what you'd do with all that money if it somehow wound up in your back account via direct deposit.

   For the 30 players at the Tour Championship, which begins Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, there's the certainty that one of them will walk away with the $10-million prize for winning the FedEx Cup. That will be on top of whatever money they win in the tournament itself, which gives $1.44 million to the winner, which ain't bad for four days' work.

   All 30 of them will happily take the money and tuck it into something that will probably make them more money, like a very nice vacation home or investments or something people with $10 million put their money into.

   But it's only money.

   "I'm not really thinking about the money," Luke Donald said, adding his focus is on winning and being the PGA Tour player of the year.

   "Where I am in my career, I've been fortunate. I don't know where I am on the (career) money list, $25 million or something. It's not like I can't afford to buy things. I have two nice houses. I don't spend a lot on materialistic stuff but the money, it would be nice to kind of keep it away. I haven't really thought if I won it what I would spend the money on."

   Geoff Ogivly put it this way:
 
   "The money is obviously really nice but it's like beating your friend for $2 on the putting green. It's better to beat him for $2 than it is just to beat him for the fun of it, you know what I mean? There would be something to coming down the last nine holes, this is for $10 million and doing it. Irrelevant of what ends up in your bank account, it just sounds better, don't you think?"

   It's something most of us can only dream about.
   

Is The Next Great American Player Just 16 Years Old?

   Checking out the golf scene between Cam Newton passes:

  -- Lexi Thompson's victory on the LPGA Tour was a beautiful bonus for a tour that needs all the newsmakers it can get.

    At 16, she became the tour's youngest-ever winner by two years and added more weight to the notion that she'll be the next great American player. She's almost that already.

   There is the pesky problem of not being eligible to play the LPGA Tour full-time because of its age guidelines but I'm guessing tour officials will find a way to work through the issue so that Thompson can get her tour card, given as how she's already better than almost everyone not named Yani Tseng.

   Her win has led to the inevitable comparisons with Michelle Wie, whose performance has not matched her stardom. From a distance, they seem very different. I've never sensed Wie had the burning desire to be the game's best player, something that Thompson seems to have.

   That's not a knock on Wie, only a recognition her world reaches far beyond golf, which explains why she's going the distance at Stanford. It may have impacted her professional career but I'm guessing she's thrilled by her college experience. There's plenty of time for her to play professional golf.

  -- Webb Simpson takes the FedEx Cup lead into the Tour Championship this weekend at East Lake, chasing a $10-million prize and putting a bigger stamp on his arrival as one of the game's best young guns.

   The way Simpson has been playing over the past couple of months, it's hard to argue against him being the player to beat. He's been in contention seemingly every week but finishing it off at East Lake will be a huge challenge.

   Dustin Johnson starts in second place but Luke Donald, the world No. 1, is lurking just behind. Donald is always there and this seems like a moment when he could cap a huge season.

   For Simpson, a good start seems critical.

  -- Fred Couples has one spot remaining on his Presidents Cup team and he will likely choose from Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Brandt Snedeker or Bill Haas.

   The popular choice is Bradley given his victory in the PGA Championship last month, though he followed it with a pair of missed cuts. Haas didn't help himself by coming apart at the end of the BMW Championship and Fowler hasn't done enough recently to warrant the pick.

   Snedeker has a good case but I'm betting it's Bradley who gets the call from Captain Couples. If it were me, I'd probably call Snedeker.

 

Phil Goes Belly; Who's Next?

   Two immediate thoughts about Phil Mickelson using the belly putter in the Deutsche Bank pro-am and, perhaps, beyond:

   1. It was initially surprising, maybe because I hadn't really thought about it, but given a moment to think about it, how can it hurt?

   2. After 35 putts the last time I played -- and having already gone to cross-handed with the previously mentioned results -- maybe I should try it.

   In Mickelson's case, everyone knows he can miss it from anywhere and, too often, has. The case can be made that he's missed enough shortish ones through the years to have cost him a major or two, including the Open Championship in July.

   With seemingly everyone using or at least trying belly putters, it's natural for Phil and his mad scientist side to give it go. He's seen what it's done for his buddy Keegan Bradley and others so it was natural for Phil to try it.

   It could be the final piece of the Mickelson puzzle, the one thing that gets him from age 41 to the Champions Tour or thereabouts. Or maybe it's just a flirtation, somethign to convince him he's still more comfortable with the conventional style.

   If Phil goes to the belly putter full time, it add more fire to the question of whether they should be legal or not. My hunch is they'll stay legal but I can see the case otherwise.
 
   As for me, I'll wait on the belly putter. Everyone needs a last resort.
  

Carolinas Golf House coming to Pine Needles

   The Carolinas is getting its own version of the USGA's Golf House.


   The Carolinas Golf Association has announced plans to build Carolinas Golf House adjacent to the Pine Needles Resort in Southern Pines.

   The facility will serve as headquarters for the Carolinas Golf Association as well as a museum devoted to the history of the game in the two states. Its location will allow the organization to host events at Pine Needles. The CGA offices have been located in Seven Lakes for 20 years but have outgrown the facility.

   "We have talked for years about building this," CGA president Walter Todd said in a release. "We have wanted a way to display the history of the game in the Carolinas. Now we will be able to portray accurately the ideals and traditions of golf."

Picking Tiger Woods: Was it the right thing?

   So captain Fred Couples picked Tiger Woods as one of his two wild-card choices to be on the U.S. Presidents Cup team in Australia this fall.

   I like it.

   It's not necessarily the popular thing, based on some immediate reaction, but Couples picked the guy who's been the best player on the planet for most of the last 12 to 15 years and who seems to want to be on the team, an interesting twist given Tiger's supposed lack of interest in team events through the years.

   The knee jerk reaction is to ask why Couples picked Woods -- currently 28th in points -- over No. 11 Jim Furyk and No. 12 Rickie Fowler, the first two non-qualifiers at this point given Woods lack of competition and recent poor form.

   Couples can still pick one of them. If the captain is expected to automatically adds Nos. 11 and 12 to the team, then why give him two picks?

    Furyk hasn't exactly set the world on fire this year and Fowler, of whom I'm a big fan, still hasn't won a tournament and hasn't threatened in many recently. Fowler was great at the end of the Ryder Cup last year and he'd be the other pick if I were making it.
 
   There are plenty of others who have a strong case, including recent PGA champion Keegan Bradley, who has won twice this year. Maybe Couples picks him over Fowler. Phil Mickelson publicly lobbied for Bradley this week, saying it would be okay to pick Tiger for the team but not before adding Bradley.

   Couples knew he would take a hit for picking Woods but he did it anyway. He has apparently convinced Tiger to add a fall series event to his schedule to help sharpen his game prior to heading to Australia and it's worth remembering that just four tournament starts ago, Woods had a share of the lead on the back nine at Augusta on Sunday.

   Granted, that was in April and recently Woods' game has looked as disheveled as ever. That's why Couples pushed for Tiger to add an event this fall, which sounds likely.

   Did Couples pick Woods because of the player he used to be?

   Sure he did. He didn't pick him because he got extra work on his sand game at the PGA Championship in Atlanta and is fresh because he got that weekend and the FedEx Cup playoffs off. He picked Tiger because he's Tiger. If you're picking a team and have the chance to have Tiger, it's tough to leave him off no matter how scattered his game looked in Atlanta.

   It's a gamble, no question, if it blows up on Couples like Lanny Wadkins' pick of Curtis Strange for the Ryder Cup team. That was the Ryder Cup, which is a far bigger deal than the Presidents Cup and, if nothing else, the Woods' pick will make the PGA Tour's Ryder Cup knockoff a bit more compelling.

   Obviously, there are fundamental issues Woods needs to work through in his swing but he also needs to play, now more than ever. Like him or not, Tiger needs some good vibes on the golf course. Playing alongside his buddy Steve Stricker, an almost certain pairing, will be perfect for Tiger.

  Couples' pick means a deserving player, probably a young one, gets left off. It happens almost every time one of these teams is picked.  He could have left Tiger off but he chose not to do that.

  It's strange to think that's not necessarily the popular pick. We'll find out if it was the right one.

 

Playing Whistling Straits with Martin Kaymer

   When Charlotte's John Pappas, a 52-year old commercial real estate executive, received an email a month ago informing him he'd won a BMW-sponsored contest to play golf with 2010 PGA champion Martin Kaymer at Whistling Straits on the one-year anniversary of Kaymer's playoff victory there, he didn't take it seriously at first.


   Pappas had forgotten he'd entered the sweepstakes from which three amateurs were chosen to play with Kaymer. He doesn't typically enter contests but he had put his name in this one just for kicks and when an email from BMW's golf agency arrived, Pappas was "leery" about it.

   An email and a phone call later, Pappas was set for one of the great golf adventures of his life.

   He was flown to Chicago where he met the other winners -- one from Germany, the other from England -- and they played 18 holes at Cog Hill on Aug. 14. Afterward, they were whisked to Whistling Straits north of Milwaukee where they had dinner with Kaymer at the American Club.

   The next day, the three amateurs played a best-ball match against Kaymer using their handicaps. They broke even after the amateurs good-naturedly penalized Kaymer for carrying 15 clubs. It was Kaymer's first visit to the course since his dramatic victory there.

   They arrived on a good day. Pappas said LPGA Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez and speaker of the house John Boehner were also at Whistling Straits and stopped to visit with the group.

   "(Kaymer) was quite a nice guy and, as you would imagine, his golf game was incredible," said Pappas, a Charlotte Country Club member. "It was great to watch someone like that play from up close. He was so professional and willing to help in any way.

  "But he really wanted to win the match. He was grinding a little at the end."