The Green Side

Natalie Gulbis gets her body paint on

2012-02-15T09:28:00.001-05:00

I post this out of, uh, duty just to let golf fans and anyone else who might stumble this way know that LPGA star Natalie Gulbis is on display in this year's Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, now available at a computer or magazine rack near you.

Based on my quick study of Gulbis' 10-photo online portfolio, there's not a golf club to be seen but that apparently isn't the reason she's in the swimsuit edition.

In fact, she's not even wearing a bikini. Gulbis is wearing body paint that looks like a bikini. Having painted a room or two myself, I couldn't help wondering if they put that blue tape on Gulbis before they began painting her, uh, pretend bikini.

The good news for golfers is Gulbis is included in the magazine as part of an athletes in body paint section, which should answer once and for all the eternal question are golfers athletes.

Check out the 10-photo slideshow on SI.com

Bubba, General Lee to go racing -- kind of

2012-02-14T09:34:00.001-05:00

Bubba Watson is getting his NASCAR on.

Watson will serve as honorary race official and drive his recently purchased 'General Lee' in a parade lap prior to the Subway Fresh Fit 500 race at Phoenix International Raceway on March 4.

In January, Watson bought the orange Dodge Charger made famous by cousins Bo and Luke Duke in 'The Dukes of Hazzard' and he recently drove his new toy to the Waste Management Phoenix Open where he was competing. Needless to say, Watson's car attracted plenty of attention.

Watson, known for his unconventional style and enormous length off the tee, lives half the year in Scottsdale, Az., He and his wife, Angie, spend the other half of the year in Lexington, N.C.

"There are a lot of similarities between the individual challenges and the level of concentration needed to succeed in both golf and NASCAR," Watson said in a statement.

Watson isn't known for backing off on the golf course. He may be the same way behind the wheel of the General Lee.

Phil does it; Tiger doesn't

2012-02-12T18:16:00.002-05:00

Waiting for the old Tiger Woods to show up - we're still waiting, by the way - the old Phil Mickelson returned Sunday at Pebble Beach in California.

It was supposed to be the Sunday when golf got Tiger all the way back, all fist pumps and red shirts on the edge of Carmel Bay. Instead, Woods added to his recent habit of playing three strong days and finishing with a whimper, and it was Mickelson who showed us what we've been missing.

It's nice to have Mickelson, 41, back, smiling and slashing, making those early-season questions about whether sunset was approaching seem as silly as they were. Obviously, Mickelson hasn't been winning as often as he did in years past, but Sunday was his 40th victory and serves as more than a hint that he has more days like it in his future.

For all the attention that has been devoted to Woods' attempt to recapture his former glory, there had been a growing suspicion that Mickelson might have lost, if not his edge, at least a measure of his intensity. But with his wife, Amy, on site and paired with Woods in the final round, Mickelson was back. He's always played golf in neon, and he did it again at Pebble Beach, turning a gray day bright.

The Masters, two months away, got a little more interesting with what Mickelson did at Pebble Beach. As for Woods, the final round was a huge disappointment. He went backward on a day when he always seemed to go the other way.

If his new swing looked OK, his body language again looked like a man fighting to contain his frustration. He missed fairways, he missed greens and he missed putts. More than anything, Woods missed an opportunity.

He'll have more, but he'll also have the scar tissue of another disappointing finish. Still, Woods is trending the right way, especially when you consider where his game has - or hasn't - been the past year or two.

For a guy who shut more doors than Master Lock, Woods is learning to do it again. It's the hardest part of tournament golf. His inability to close out his past two Sunday rounds should only remind us of how good he was because days like this Sunday never happened.

Sunday's final round at Pebble Beach was a reminder of how special Woods and Mickelson have been over the past 15 years or so. Like (Harry) Vardon and (Ted) Ray, (Ben) Hogan and (Sam) Snead and (Jack) Nicklaus and (Arnold) Palmer, they're this generation's defining pair. They arrived together on the first tee Sunday looking to recapture what they've had.

Mickelson did it. For Tiger, the quest continues.

Tiger: Ban belly putters -- and he's right

2012-02-07T16:41:00.001-05:00

I'm getting the sense that the future of belly putters and long putters may not be as secure as the clubs tucked into the navels of Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Bill Haas and others.

Tiger Woods became the latest to chime on the subject of whether the longer than standard putters should be banned today when he said during his pre-tournament press conference at Pebble Beach that he thinks the clubs should be outlawed and he's spoken to Peter Dawson, head man at the Royal & Ancient, about it more than once.

Woods solution is sensible -- create a rule that requires the putter be no longer than the shortest club in your bag. That solves the dilemma created by players anchoring putters against their bodies.

"I believe (putting) is the art of controlling the body and club and swinging the pendelum. I'm a traditionalist when it comes to that," Woods said in his press conference.

The subject is under review. USGA executive director Mike Davis said so last week at the organization's annual meeting. He didn't say there would be a change in the rules coming (few things move at such a glacial pace as changes in golf's rules) but he opened the door on it. There have also been published reports suggesting the Royal & Ancient is looking into whether anchoring putters against the body helps players in the wind and rain.

Without diminishing what Simpson or Bradley or Fred Couples have done with the unconventional blade, I fall in line with Woods and others who think the game is better without belly or long putters. And I'm a guy who can three-putt from three feet -- and have.

I've heard the dissenters point to Billy Casper and others who anchored their hands against their thighs when they putted. Change that, too, then. In no other stroke does a player anchor the club against their body. Putting shouldn't be different.

I've also heard the argument that if belly putters were that great, everyone would use them. Obviously, everybody doesn't use them but more and more players are. Ernie Els swore he'd never use one but now he has one in his bag. Even Phil Mickelson gave it a try.

The game changes. The ball goes forever now. Shafts, space-age materials in driver heads and computer fitting are in danger of tilting the game too far toward science and too far from skill. It may be too late to pull back on that one.

But belly putters and long putters. It's not too late -- yet.

Kyle Stanley, from ridiculous to sublime

2012-02-06T13:45:00.002-05:00

   The Waste Management Phoenix Open isn't necessarily the place you expect a Hallmark Channel movie to come to life.

   But that's what Kyle Stanley's victory felt like Sunday, one week removed from his gut-wrenching loss at San Diego. It had all the elements -- failure, disappointment, tears, redemption and more tears -- all in the space of eight days and a few hundred miles.

   Golf, perhaps more than any other sport given its solitary nature, has a way of getting personal and Stanley's story touches both ends of the emotional spectrum. His loss at San Diego was brutal. It was sudden and cruel, leaving him no place to hide.

   He handled it with grace and, a week later, answered any questions about how tough he might be. Most people around the game thought Stanley would come back but few, if any, expected it to happen one week later.

   "It's a pretty cool story," Ben Crane said afterward.

   The coolest one this season.

Want to buy Phil Mickelson's house?

2012-02-01T20:07:00.000-05:00

Always wanted to live like Phil Mickelson?

Now, you can live where Mickelson lives -- if you have an extra $7.09 million you can drop on a house in Rancho Santa Fe near San Diego.

According to Market Watch, Phil and Amy Mickelson have put their five-bedroom house up for sale but, as you might expect, it's no ordinary home. It's perched on nearly five acres and it's actually three houses.

The main house, reports say, is 9,500 square feet with five bedrooms. There are also two guest houses as well as a pool and a private putting green.

There's no indication where the Mickelson are going if the house sells. They're doing just fine, though, as Mickelson's recent offer to rebuild Torrey Pines' North Course for free suggests. There have also been encouraging reports after Mickelson's daughter, Sophia, recently dealt with a health scare.

Kyle Stanley looking ahead, not behind

2012-01-31T14:15:00.000-05:00

Kyle Stanley is doing his best to move on.

The former Clemson All-American's spectacular playoff loss to Brandt Snedeker Sunday at the Farmers Insurance Open -- Stanley triple-bogeyed the 72nd hole to fall into a playoff he lost on the second hole -- was the most jarring moment of this young professional golf season.

In command of the tournament almost throughout, building what was briefly a seven-stroke lead in the final round, Stanley's collapse brought tears to his eyes Sunday when he tried to explain what happened moments after Snedeker accepted the trophy.

By Tuesday in a pre-tournament press conference prior to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Stanley was focusing on the positives.

"I'm just overwhelmed by how much support I've gotten from people. It's been great," Stanley said.

Sunday night wasn't great, said Stanley, who finished Clemson in 2009.

He spent it with friends and family members who were in San Diego with him. He ate dinner and got some sleep but Stanley kept seeing his 80-yard third shot spin off the 18th green and into a water hazard, putting into motion his nightmarish finish. Had the ball stayed on the green -- he intentionally played a lower-lofted wedge on his third shot to minimize backspin -- Stanley would have his first PGA Tour win and a spot in the Masters.

Instead, he's another victim of the game.

"It's a crazy game," Stanley said. "It can love you. It can hate you."

A native of Gig Harbor, Wa., Stanley said among the messages he received after the tournament was one from Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few. Though Stanley attended Clemson, he has been a lifelong Gonzaga hoops fan, watching every game he can.

Stanley has never met Few but appreciated his message.

"He just told me to keep my head up and that I played tough and that down the road I'm going to be stronger for it," Stanley said.

Tour players Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker were among those who reached out to Stanley Sunday and Monday.

"I think it's just all across the board, just words of encouragement, keep your head up, don't forget how well you played," Stanley said. "I know I may not have believed it on Sunday night or even Monday morning but everybody just keeps telling me I'll be a lot stronger for it and I agree...that I will."

What's the easier way to lose, Tiger's way or Stanley's way?

2012-01-30T14:46:00.000-05:00

   What's the toughet way to lose, slow bleeding like Tiger Woods and his scatter-shot driver Sunday in Abu Dhabi or Kyle Stanley's head-shaking collapse at Torrey Pines?

   There's no good answer.

   For Woods, getting beat by Robert Rock had to make the long flight back to the States even longer, no matter how cushy Air Tiger might be. Woods was right there, ready to win a full-field event for the first time in more than two years and suddenly he couldn't find a fairway with OnStar. He hit two fairways on Sunday and six greens -- an equation for frustration.

   If you're keeping track at home, that's three times in the last five that Woods hasn't won after holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead.

   What does that mean?

   It means he still has to prove he can win again. The Chevron World Challenge is one thing. Beating Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and, yes, Robert Rock is something else. Overall, the takeaway should be positive for Tiger. He plays to win and he failed there but he showed a game that continues to look better. It let him down on Sunday but for three days, it had him where he needed to be.

   Now we wait until next week at Pebble Beach to see what's next.

   As for Stanley, his collapse was colossal. That's the cruel nature of golf -- one awful hole can ruin an otherwise great day or, in his case, a great week. It was one of those awkward moments where no one is quite sure what to say or how to react.

   Taking six from 77 yards away never entered anyone's mind. It might happen to regular golfers but it seemed inconceivable it could happen to a player as in control of his game as Stanley had been.

   Is it a career-killer?

   Probably not but it's going to stay with him every time he's in contention until he conquers the winning thing. Plenty of great players struggled to close the deal early in their careers. Tom Watson could give a lecture on the subject.

   Stanley, meanwhile, is just speechless.

Tiger starts fresh -- again

2012-01-25T08:53:00.000-05:00

Tiger Woods has pronounced himself healthy again and his 2012 season begins Thursday in Abu Dhabi, an uncommon starting point for him but a testament to the power of appearance fees and playing against a field that includes Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer, among others.

It's time to find out how good Tiger can still be.

Two years ago, there was the messy aftermath of his personal issues.

Last year, there were health issues.

This year, Woods seems fully ready to go, bolstered by a strong finish in 2011 and seemingly comfortable with his new Sean Foley-installed swing.

He hasn't won an official PGA Tour event in 28 months. He's been stuck on 14 professional major championship victories since the 2008 U.S. Open. He hasn't won the Masters since 2005.

Woods is 36 years old now, still in what should be the prime of his golf life, but he's an old 36 given the injuries and the stress that have been a part of his life for so long. However, he seems energized again, excited about playing golf on good legs with a swing he trusts and a renewed confidence.

There's still time for him to chase down Nicklaus's major championship record but the past three years have made it more difficult. We've seen him at his best so infrequently over the past two years that it's like we've gotten accustomed to the sport without him.

He's back now. Is he as good as ever? Can he be?

That's what 2012 should tell Tiger and the rest of us.

Former 49er has a Ball at Wild Dunes

2012-01-24T08:57:00.000-05:00

Former Charlotte 49ers basketball player Bob Ball was running late for his tee time at Wild Dunes Resort last week and, in the process of hurrying to the first tee at the Links Course, ripped the pocket of his pants on his car door and fell in the parking lot.

His day got better from there.

Ball, who played guard for the 49ers in the mid-70s, started his day by holing a 4-rescue from 192 yards for a double eagle on the par-5 first hole at the Links Course.

He wasn't finished.

Ball also aced the 129-yard, par-3 16th hole, pulling off the beyond-rare ace/double eagle combo in the same round. According to the Charleston Post and Courier newspaper, a spokesman for doubleeagleclub.org said the feat has been documented only four times, including once by the late basketball coach John Wooden who did it in 1939.

Johnson Wagner is PGA Tour's hottest player

2012-01-23T09:01:00.000-05:00

Johnson Wagner is taking this week off from the PGA Tour, choosing long ago to use this week to kick back with his family here in Charlotte.

Perhaps the rest of the PGA Tour players should send him a thank you note with the postscript 'Take as much time as you need."

Wagner is the hottest player on the tour right now. It started with a tie for ninth at the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions, was followed by his victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii and capped by his tie for second Sunday in the Humana Challenge.

No wonder a group of fans from Calgary were sporting mustaches as they gave Wagner his first tour groupies in Palm Springs, Cal.

Wagner now finds himself ranked 68th in the world, up 24 spots from last week thanks to his runner-up finish and it brings the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship into his scheduling equation.

If Wagner can climb into the top 65 in the world he'll miss his turn as defending champion at the Mayakoba Classic to play in the Match Play event in Tucson, Az. The field is open to the top 64 in the world rankings but Phil Mickelson has already announced he won't be playing because of a family vacation that week.

Wagner will take this week off then play in Phoenix and Los Angeles. If he's close to qualifying for the Match Play Championship, Wagner may also add the Pebble Beach event to his schedule.

The mustache, Wagner's version of Rickie Fowler's clothes or Charley Hoffman's hair, isn't going anywhere, at least not for a while.

"I'm looking forward to Phoenix," Wagner told reporters Sunday night. "I'm sure I'm going to get my fair share of criticism."

He'll be smiling all the way to the bank.

What do the pros really think about Quail Hollow?

2012-01-17T14:09:00.001-05:00

   When Golf World magazine released its player-rankings of the courses used on the PGA Tour, Quail Hollow Club was ranked 14th of the 52 courses included.

   The poll was based on anonymous responses from 81 PGA Tour players who were asked talk about what they like and don't like about various courses. Compiled by Geoff Shackelford and Craig Dolch, Quail Hollow's mini-review read this way:

   "The 'pretty' and 'solid' host to nine tour events that landed the 2017 PGA Championship 'fits your eye and is 'overrated but the best overall tournament on tour.' Another player agreed that Quail Hollow's 'hype' is 'influenced by service, conditioning and aesthetics' and 'it's not as great as the CBS drones say.'

   "The reasoning? 'So-so course on great land.' Another feels a change is in order. 'Should be a 9, actually a 6. Bring in Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw or Gil Hanse and in six months it'll be a 9.' Players raved about the 'top-notch conditioning' but said the greens are 'too severe in spots.'

   "Said one: 'Not sure who to blame for that but I'm guessing (Tom) Fazio,' architect of changes to George Cobb's 1961 original layout. 'Jim Nantz is always saying they could host the U.S. Open the next day...not even close,' said a player who cited the 'goofy eighth hole' and the 'stupid' 17th green where 'the best players in the world are trying to miss it to the right and get it up and down.'

   "And 2017 is already in their sights: 'Can't believe the PGA is going there in August.'"

   No great surprises there. The eighth and 17th holes aren't popular with many players, members included, and both are likely to look different by the time the PGA Championship is played there.

   But when you consider the list of Wells Fargo Championship winners -- from Vijay Singh to Tiger Woods to Rory McIlroy -- the pedigree of champions speaks to the quality of the course.

   Every course takes its shots, even top-ranked Augusta National which drew tons of praise but was also criticized for its fairway bunkers being too deep and, according to one player's description, "the course is too gimmicky."

Augusta No. 1; Harbour Town No. 2 on Tour top-10 list

2012-01-12T14:07:00.000-05:00

PGA Tour players prefer old-style golf courses and have a special fondness for Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island, based on the results of a confidential poll of 81 tour players by Golf World magazine.

The voting was based strictly on course architecture, not the overall tournament experience. It's no great surprise that Augusta National was No. 1 on the list. Harbour Town's second-place ranking reaffirms all the good things players have said about the Pete Dye design through the years.

As for Quail Hollow Club, site of the Wells Fargo Championship? It didn't make the top 10 list.

The top 10 PGA Tour courses based on course design according to the players' vote:

1. Augusta National Golf Club
2. Harbour Town Golf Links
3. Riviera Country Club
4. Pebble Beach Golf Links
5. Colonial Country Club.
6. Muirfield Village Golf Club
7. Shaugnessy Golf & Country Club
8. Aronimink Golf Club
9. Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead)
10.Congressional Country Club (Blue)

Nagy ready to roll on Nationwide tour

2012-01-11T13:57:00.000-05:00

   It wasn't a day for golf at the Club at Longview but Corey Nagy has plenty of those in his future.

   Nagy was part of the announcement of the Nationwide Tour's Chiquita Classic relocating to Charlotte, a move that comes in conjunction with Chiquita's corporate headquarter move from Cincinnati to Charlotte.

   For Nagy, it means a home game in his rookie season on the Nationwide Tour. He'll open his Nationwide season in Bogota, Colombia -- that's right, Bogota, Colombia -- then hit Panama and Chile before heading back home. It's a long way to go to start a season but it speaks to the growing global nature of the game even on the Nationwide Tour.

   Nagy's fired up. He talks excitedbly about getting out on tour and starting the next phase of his professional life. He's headed to Florida later this week for a product event with Ian Poulter then it's back here to continue polishing his game.

   Recently, a national golf publication cited 10 players to watch on the 2012 Nationwide Tour and Nagy was No. 8 on the list.

   The Chiquita tournament is special to Nagy. He Monday qualified into the field last year, shooting 63 to earn his spot. His parents made the drive from Charlotte to watch him play and, in the third round, Nagy made a hole-in-one.

   No wonder he was genuinely excited about the new event in Charlotte. Nagy -- and his long-time group of Charlotte fans -- have plenty about which to be excited.

Simpson climbs to No. 7 in the world, up 200 spots in one year

2012-01-10T10:04:00.000-05:00

One year ago, Webb Simpson was the 207th-ranked golfer in the world.

After his tie for third in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions Monday, Simpson jumped from 10th to seventh in the world rankings. That makes him the second-highest ranked American behind Tournament of Champions winner Steve Stricker, who climbed to fifth.

It's a remarkable jump of 200 spots for Simpson, who picked up at Kapalua where he left off last year. In fact, Simpson has been in contention so often since last August that's it's surprising when he isn't on the leader board.

The top five in the world at the moment are Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer and Stricker.

An Ideal Twosome: Johnny Miller and Nick Faldo

2012-01-05T17:32:00.000-05:00

It's possible that the most dramatic part of the PGA Tour's season-opening event -- the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua -- won't happen on the impossibly attractive golf course that looks like something Disney drew up.

The Golf Channel is putting Nick Faldo and Johnny Miller together in the booth for four rounds -- primetime viewing for those of around here -- with the hopes that they'll be, well, themselves.

Considering only 28 players are in the field -- that's if Lucas Glover can play after dinging his knee in a paddle-boarding accident this week -- there's plenty of opportunity for chit-chat between Faldo and Miller, who should play off each other beautifully.

Miller shoots from the lip, a trait that has made him excellent at what he does. He makes you listen and he makes you think. He may not always be right but, as the best ones are, he's rarely in doubt.

Faldo became a new person when he went into television work, revealing his playful and amusing side that had been locked away under his golf armor for decades. He's softer than Miller but enlightening. He won't be afraid to mix it up with Miller which is why they're being put in the same booth.

They aren't wrecking balls like too many sports radio mouths are these days. But Miller and Faldo can spark a discussion. The ones they have with each other should be entertaining.

Five memories from the 2011 golf season

2011-12-29T13:17:00.001-05:00

   Before we turn out the lights on 2011, here are five things from the golf year that I will remember:

   1. Rory McIlroy's season

   Perhaps my most vivid memory of the year is seeing McIlroy walking from the scoring cabin behind the 18th green at Augusta National following his final-round meltdown, making his way through hundreds of fans who stood and cheered for him despite his overwhelming disappointment.

    As McIlroy walked under the big tree behind the Augusta National clubhouse, the cheers grew louder with some patrons leaning over the veranda railing to acknowledge him. Inside the locker room, McIlroy patiently answered questions from media members, holding his shoes in a bag as he waited to leave.

   He was the essence of grace at a moment when he undoubtedly wanted to hide.

   Two months later, McIlroy won the U.S. Open at Congressional with a performance that made Sunday at Augusta seem like a bad dream.

2. Webb Simpson's emergence

    When Simpson was forced to penalize himself one stroke for his ball being moved by the wind late in the final round of the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, it was a bitter twist of fate, costing him an outright victory and sending him into a playoff he lost to Bubba Watson.

   But by the end of the season, it was just another chapter in a tremendous story that had Simpson elevating himself to the top 10 in the world rankings. Winless on the PGA Tour when 2011 began, Simpson ended the year with two trophies, a share of the Presidents Cup and a place at the table in the discussion about who is America's best golfer.

   With his belly putter and a relentless competitive streak, Simpson looks built for the long haul. What started in 2011 may not end for many years.

   3. Sunday at Augusta

   It's rare that Sunday at the Masters doesn't deliver drama but the 2011 version was a classic.

   It had Tiger Woods torching the front side and racing up the leader board, threatening to pull off a jaw-dropping comeback victory. It had Adam Scott and Jason Day battling for the lead. It had McIlroy playing out from beside a white cabin along the 10th fairway and four-putting the 12th green.

   Finally, it had Charl Schwartzel birdieing the last four holes to win, something no one had ever done before.

4. Splash down

   With more than $11 million on the line, Bill Haas stepped into the edge of a mirror-smooth pond to the left the 17th green at East Lake Golf Club and hit what may have been the shot of the year, a watery blast that saved a par in the playoff against Hunter Mahan at the Tour Championship.

   One hole later, Haas won the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup at the same time, a double dip he didn't realize he'd won until he was presented both trophies.

   5. The Clemson connection

   The Wells Fargo Championship came down to a pair of former Tiger All-Americans -- Lucas Glover and Jonathan Byrd -- going sudden death at Quail Hollow.

   Byrd, wearing pink pants, made a magnificent birdie at the treacherous 18th hole in the final round to force a playoff with Glover, whose thick beard had some fans wearing 'Fear the Beard' t-shirts.

   When Glover won the playoff, he hugged his mother during the trophy presentation and smiled a smile no beard could hide.

Champions Tour headed back to Hickory

2011-12-22T14:27:00.000-05:00

   It looks like the popular Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn will return again next year.

   When the 2012 Champions Tour schedule was released, it included the tournament which has had to scrap for sponsorship at various times during its history. There are still some sponsorship issues to be resolved for next year's event but the fact the tour included the Rock Barn stop on its schedule suggests it's in good shape.

An announcement about the tournament's future and sponsorship may come in January.

   It will fall at an ideal time -- Oct. 12-14 -- in Hickory and will follow the SAS Championship in Cary, giving the seniors a chance to spend two weeks in North Carolina.

Tiger, the way it used to be

2011-12-04T19:43:00.000-05:00

I recognize that Tiger Woods.

And it's good to see him again.

When Woods won the Chevron World Championship Sunday with a closing birdie to beat Zach Johnson by a stroke, it ended a two-year winless drought and gave us the most definitive evidence that the guy we once marveled at as he rewrote history is on his way back.

He may never be all that he was -- nobody's ever been as good as Woods was for a time -- but if he can be Tiger again that's good enough.

When Johnson missed his birdie putt on the 72nd hole Sunday, Woods had an eight-footer to win. He may not have always made every one of those but it seemed like he did. That's part of what made him special -- the expectation that he was going to do whatever it took because he did it so often.

He did it again Sunday, making a birdie to win and giving us a fist pump that had been waiting to get out. It seems funny to say but it felt fresh.

There was a time when it was a regular occurrence, bordering on the routine. Not anymore. That's what made Sunday special.

Sure, it was a small field in what amounts to a made-for-television event but it still mattered. A year ago, Woods stood at the same place and lost to Graeme McDowell. This time, he won.

It wasn't perfect but it was good enough and that's perhaps the secret to winning tournaments -- being good enough.

I've heard the question several times recently about whether Tiger can still move the needle the way he once did. Maybe not.

But had Johnson or Rickie Fowler or Steve Stricker won the Chevron, it would have hardly been noticed. Because Tiger won, it's news. The needle moved.

Among the many things we haven't seen from Tiger in a long while is a full and healthy season. It seems as if we might get one in 2012, a season in which his knee and his Achilles are in good shape, his Sean Foley-sculpted golf swing is comfortable and his head is clear.

If he has all that, then all us, Tiger included, can find out if he can still chase down Jack Nicklaus.

That would be something to see.

Nationwide Tour event adds to Charlotte golf collection

2011-12-02T17:20:00.000-05:00

   With the expected announcement later this month that Chiquita will sponsor a Nationwide Tour event at the Club at Longview beginning next fall, the professional golf calendar continues to improve around Charlotte.

   The Nationwide Tour is stuffed with outstanding players, many of whose names are familiar to golf fans. It's where good young players go to work their way onto the PGA Tour and where older players try to earn their way back.

   The Club at Longview is strong enough to host a Nationwide event and it should bring along some well-deserved attention to a very good golf course.

In addition to the annual Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club, the recent announcement that Raintree Country Club will host an event for the LPGA's developmental tour, the continued growth of the talent-rich eGolf Professional Tour based here and regular first-stage PGA Tour qualifying events at the Club at Irish Creek, it's a very good time for pro golf in the Charlotte area.

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

2011-11-21T12:03:00.005-05:00

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.
------

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

2011-11-20T11:31:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-15T08:18:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-10T11:54:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-08T09:20:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-02T12:28:00.000-04:00

   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

2011-10-31T11:39:00.000-04:00

   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

2011-10-23T19:23:00.000-04:00

   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

2011-10-19T18:30:00.000-04:00

   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?

2011-10-16T19:34:00.000-04:00

   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

2011-10-10T10:25:00.000-04:00

   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

2011-09-27T17:26:00.000-04:00

   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...?

2011-09-26T15:51:00.001-04:00

   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

2011-09-22T12:01:00.000-04:00

   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

2011-09-21T16:08:00.000-04:00

   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?

2011-09-19T09:26:00.001-04:00

   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?

2011-09-01T18:35:00.000-04:00

   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

2011-08-29T17:09:00.002-04:00

   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?

2011-08-26T09:17:00.001-04:00

   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

2011-08-23T10:46:00.000-04:00

   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."

The Iceland Man Cometh To The PGA Tour

2011-08-18T11:41:00.000-04:00

Olafur Loftsson is making a bit of history this week by becoming the first Iceland-born golfer to play in a PGA Tour event, having earned a spot in the Wyndham Championship field with his victory last weekend at the Cardinal Amateur.

Loftsson is a rising senior on the Charlotte 49ers golf team, another in a long line of very good players in the program.

The obvious question is how much golf there is in Iceland. The answer, Lofsson said, is more than most of us think. There are 60 to 70 courses, most of them links-style, in Iceland and they're busy five to six months a year.

"It's the second-most popular sport in Iceland behind soccer and it's growing very fast," Loftsson said in a pre-tournament press conference. "A lot of the population plays golf. It's very popular for youngsters now and we're seeing a lot of potential players rising these days."

Loftsson said a couple of television crews made the journey from Iceland to document his week on the PGA Tour.

"Very tanned. You can recognize them by their skin color," Loftsson joked.

Because it stays light almost around the clock during mid-summer in Iceland, Loftsson said he's played as many as 64 holes in a day.

"I love playing golf adn to be able to play golf 24/7 in Iceland late in June, on a good day it's calm outside and you can play all day long so why wouldn't you," Loftsson said.

"I usually take the opportunity to use the good days when they come in Iceland."

Wyndham Championship Catches Big Name Break

2011-08-16T10:57:00.000-04:00

When the Wyndham Championship settled into its spot following the PGA Championship and in the week before the FedEx Cup playoffs begin, the date came with obvious challenges. Most of the top players figured to take the week off to prep for the playoff push, such as it is.

The hope was that the race to finish inside the top 125 would create a bit of drama, something that hasn't really happened. This year, however, the Wyndham Championship hit it big with several top names making late commitments in an effort to assure their place in the playoffs.

That's why Ernie Els, at No. 126 in the points, is playing Greensboro this week. The same goes for Padraig Harrington, No. 130, rescheduled a planned vacation, and it's why Angel Cabrera, No. 150, is at Sedgefield.

As Els said on his blog this week, "This really is a last chance saloon, as they say."

Toss in Anthony Kim, Ian Poulter, Jim Furyk, Paul Casey and Davis Love III and Greensboro has one of the most attractive fields it has had in many years.

Like other years, it figures to be one of the lower scoring events on tour this year.

"You have to make a lot of birdies," Charles Howell III. "That's not the end of the world."

VIDEO: Ron Jr. on Keegan Bradley's PGA win

2011-08-15T10:40:00.002-04:00

Ron Green Jr. on Keegan Bradley's surprising PGA win. Who is this guy, and how did he come to win the PGA Championship? (Hint, he had help from Jason Dufner):

Five Things The PGA Championship Showed Us

2011-08-14T21:46:00.000-04:00

Five things the PGA Championship showed us:

1. Americans Can Still Win Majors

No one figured it would fall to Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner to salvage American pride in the majors but they did with Bradley ending a run of six straight international winners in the majors. Two other Americans finished in the top 10 -- David Toms and Scott Verplank.

If you had those guys as your top four Americans, you're not telling the truth.

2. Keegan Bradley Is A Star

Winning a major championship doesn't guarantee stardom but Bradley has the extra something that draws fans to him. The way he fought, the way he reacted and the way he handled himself Sunday was exceptional.

Bradley is a good tough course player and he established himself as one of the faces of the new generation of American players.

3. Luke Donald Is Always There

We knew that before the PGA Championship but he tied for eighth, another in a string of strong performances by the world's No.1 ranked player.

Like everybody in the field except Bradley, Donald can think back on a couple of disasters that cost him a chance to win. Like so many others, he came to despise the 18th hole, or at least the scores he made there. The way he's going, Donald may hold on to No. 1 for a while.

4. Tiger Isn't Close

He says he's getting closer but his results don't suggest it. Twenty bunkers. Almost two sleeves of Nikes in the water. No wonder he wasn't around for the weekend.

The next time we'll see him play is at the Australian Open in a couple of months. I expect he'll be better there. How could he not be?

5. The Playoffs Start In Two Weeks

I repeat, the playoffs start in two weeks. The PGA Tour playoffs. The FedEx Cup thing.

Okay, then, the Masters is only eight months away.

McIlroy: See You At The Match Play Next Year

2011-08-14T16:24:00.000-04:00

We've seen the last of Rory McIlroy on this side of the Atlantic until late February if the U.S. Open champion sticks to the schedule he has mapped out. After that, however, we may see him plenty if he takes up membership on the PGA Tour next year as he plans.

In the meantime, McIlroy will stay busy on the European Tour through the end of the year.

After finishing the PGA Championship Sunday at 11-over, which included a triple bogey at the par-4 third hole which he failed to par during the tournament (three bogeys and a triple), McIlroy said what his body language showed.

"To be honest, I'm glad to be done," McIlroy said.

McIlroy said his right wrist is getting better, the swelling in his damaged tendon having gone down to the point there's no real concern long-term. He plans to take a couple of weeks off, relax and get ready for the season-ending stretch on the European Tour.

By winning the U.S. Open in the dominating fashion he did, McIlroy took the expected jump in his career. He's now arguably the game's most popular player and has another year of wisdom to call on down the road.

"I feel comfortable in these events and the win this year in the U.S. Open will give me a lot of confidence going into them next year," McIlroy said Sunday.

He plans to wait until later to go house-hunting in south Florida, setting up an American base by the time he makes his planned return to the PGA Tour at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February in Arizona.

VIDEO: Ron Green Jr. on Day 1 of the PGA

2011-08-11T22:23:00.001-04:00

Ron Green Jr. on Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy, along with highlights from Day 1 of the PGA Championship:

PGA Championship Becoming A Part Of The Carolinas

2011-08-11T09:38:00.001-04:00

   Among the decorations greeting guests to the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club are several banners celebrating future sites of the year's final major championship.

   One reads, 2012 Kiawah Island. Another reads, 2017 Quail Hollow.

   Pretty cool if you live in the Carolinas and you're into golf. And that doesn't count the dual U.S. Opens coming to Pinehurst in 2014.

   A year from now, Kiawah Island's Ocean Course will be on the world stage again, 21 years after its stunning debut at the 1991 Ryder Cup matches. It's a different course now, some of its wild edges tamed but it's still one of the most dramatic settings in golf. If the wind blows -- and since it's likely to be over 90 degreees each day it had better blow -- it could be a supreme test.

   Kiawah officials have had great success selling the championship. They've already sold 94 percent of the tickets and expect to be sold out once they reopn the registration list Sunday evening to fill the final six percent of tickets. They made the wise move of reducing spectator capacity to 30,000 per day, well below the gallery size at most majors.

   Corporate support has been extremely strong and there's every reason to believe the championship will be a big success.

   Six years from now, it will be at Quail Hollow. It's a long time but not that long. Officials from the Wells Fargo Championship have been in Atlanta this week getting the lay of the land, studying the infrastructure that will be required. It's a substantially larger than what a regular tour event requires.

   There are changes coming to Quail Hollow for the PGA. There will be bermuda grass on the greens by then and there will likely be some tweaks made to the layout.

   There's also the inevitable question about the future of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. That's a decision to be made down the road.

Poulter, Kim Add Names To Greensboro Field

2011-08-10T11:10:00.000-04:00

   Ian Poulter, Anthony Kim and Louis Oosthuizen are the latest top players to commit to the Wyndham Championship next week in Greensboro.

   They add their names to a field that includes Paul Casey, David Toms, Davis Love III, Brandt Snedeker, John Daly, Lucas Glover and others.

Tiger and Stevie: Leaving A Scar

2011-08-07T23:08:00.000-04:00

   I'll give Steve Williams the benefit of the doubt that he didn't intend to upstage his new boss, Adam Scott, in the hours after Scott won the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational but it happened anyway.

   It was inevitable given the timing of it all, Williams being on Scott's bag at Firestone of all places where his former boss, Tiger Woods, had won seven times before with Stevie on the bag and Tiger finishing in the middle of the pack in his first tournament in more than three months.

   For Scott, it was an impressive victory, the kind we thought there might be more of by now. For years, he's been the model of the modern golf swing but his short game and putting, a bugaboo to many, had kept him from winning as often as he might have. Amazingly, Scott switched to the long putter and the hole keeps getting in the way of his 12-footers.

   This win should be about him but it turned into Stevie against Tiger and no one won.

   Williams said it was the best week of his 33-year caddie life and maybe it was but there were some pretty sweet weeks in those 11 or so years he was carrying the bag for Tiger. Pebble Beach. St. Andrews. Torrey Pines.

   Scars leave numb spots and maybe that's what happened with Williams.

   That's not to say Woods didn't help create the strange scenario that has unfolded. We all know what the last 20 months have been like and that would strain the closest relationships.

   Maybe Tiger truly believed it was time to make a break with Stevie. Or, maybe he was irked because Williams picked up Scott's bag at the U.S. Open and stayed with it, wondering if and when Woods was coming back.

   Nothing's simple in Tiger's life anymore, at least not looking in from the outside.

   It's understandable that Williams would feel a sense of joy and vindication with Scott's victory. He took the split from Woods hard. Most of us would.

   Maybe it took something like this to make the split permanent. Maybe it meant leaving a scar.

Rory: 'I Love Quail Hollow'

2011-08-04T09:01:00.000-04:00

   It looks as if we're going to be seeing more of Rory McIlroy on the PGA Tour next year which is a very good thing on a number of levels, not the least of which is it probably assures his return to the Wells Fargo Championship.

   McIlroy said this week he's "leaning towards" rejoining the PGA Tour which requires him to play 15 events, something he chose not to do this season in part because he didn't care for the FedEx Cup playoffs at the end of the season.

   What McIlroy does like -- and what appears to be the trump card in his decision process -- is playing places like Quail Hollow Club.

   "I feel as if my game really suits playing courses over here. I love Quail Hollow, Memorial, Akron. You play Match Play, Honda, Doral, Masters," McIlroy said Wednesday prior to the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

   "You have your favorite events, and most of my favorite events seem to be on this side of the pond. And my game suits it over here. I'm very comfortable over here.

   "I'd like to give it a go again and obviously last more than one year and really see how it goes."

Haven't We Been Here Before?

2011-08-03T21:21:00.000-04:00

   Haven't we been here before?

   Haven't we waited and wondered about what we'll see from Tiger Woods when he returns from another long absence?

   As the t-shirt says, been there, done that.

   Still, when Woods and Darren Clarke tee off together at 1:40 p.m. Thursday, they'll have golf's attention -- and the attention of plenty of others. It's because he's Tiger and things change when he plays.

    Even if you don't like Tiger, aren't you a little curious about how he plays? About how his swing looks? About whether he holes any putts?

   I am.

    There's already been a veritable tabloid frenzy about whether he put his trusty Scotty Cameron putter back in play -- he did. Other guys change putters and they have to tell somebody for anyone other than their caddie to notice. Not Tiger.

   He's breaking out some new Nike shoes this week and an email came screaming across cyberspace explaining what the new shoes are all about. Because Tiger's wearing them. Stewart Cink could have them on and nobody would notice.

   For more than a decade, golf was Tiger's world. Now it's Rory's and Phil's and Darren's and, at least some of it still belongs to Tiger.

    We can find out now how much of it he can reclaim.

Wyndham, Greensboro Extend Partnership Through 2016

2011-08-01T14:20:00.000-04:00

   The future just got brighter for the PGA Tour event in Greensboro.

   Officials announced today that Wyndham Worldwide has extended its sponsorship of the event through 2016, solidifying the tournament that has taken on a new life since returning to Sedgefield Country Club three years ago.

    “We are proud to extend our agreement with our wonderful partners at Wyndham Worldwide,” Bobby Long, Piedmont Triad Charitable Foundation Board of Directors chairman said in a statement.

“On behalf of the entire region, we are very appreciative of Wyndham Worldwide’s continued support and the stability it provides our PGA TOUR event. Steve Holmes, Franz Hanning, Geoff Ballotti, Eric Danziger and the many wonderful people from Wyndham Worldwide are such fun to work with and have become great friends. We couldn't ask for better partners in our quest to make the Wyndham Championship A++ in every way.”

   The 2011 event will be played Aug. 15-21 with Arjun Atwal defending his championship. Another solid field, including Vijay Singh, Lucas Glover, Paul Casey and others is lined up.

Tiger Adds PGA Championship To Schedule

2011-07-29T15:54:00.000-04:00

   Following on the announcement that he will play in the WGC event next week at Firestone -- where he's won seven times -- Tiger Woods has also committed to play in the PGA Championship.

   As for the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, well, that's still a stretch.

   I'll admit to being surprised when I heard Woods was coming back next week, especially since a day earlier his swing coach, Sean Foley, said he hadn't seen his star pupil in a while. There had been photos of Woods with his kids on his boat but there was no hint golf was around the corner.

   Woods said he would let the doctors tell him when he could play again so it's fair to assume he's good to go. But there's a difference in being healthy and being fully ready to play.

   What to expect from Woods next week?

   He conditioned us to expect brilliance but he'll be a curiosity at Firestone. Other than nine holes at The Players Championship three months ago, he's been invisible, fired his caddie and had more questions raised about whether he can be Tiger Woods again on the course.

   He's 133rd in FedEx Cup points right now which means he isn't currently eligible for the playoffs. That's not to say he puts great emphasis on the playoffs but if he feels well enough to play, he needs to be eligible for a series of strong events.

   For weeks, we've been waiting and wondering when we'd see Tiger again. The waiting is almost over. But the wondering...

Grobe Has His Moment At Pinehurst No. 2

2011-07-25T21:47:00.000-04:00

Wake Forest football coach Jim Grobe is a 13-handicapper whose best score on the golf course was 75.

   Until Sunday.

   That's when Grobe, in Pinehurst for the ACC's annual preseason football kickoff gathering, shot 1-under par 71 on Pinehurst No. 2.

   Grobe joked that he would tell his athletic director, Ron Wellman, it was a nine-hole score but it wasn't. Grobe played with some bowl representatives and the only gimme he got was a two-footer his playing partners knocked back to him.

  Asked which was the bigger thrill, leading Wake Forest to an ACC title and Orange Bowl appearance or breaking par on No. 2, Grobe naturally chose the football achievement.

  Still, it was quite a golf achievement for the dean of ACC football coaches.

   "We've got a better shot of winning the league than of me doing that," Grobe said.

Tiger and Stevie: Perfect fit in a now-imperfect world

2011-07-21T09:08:00.008-04:00

   If you're keeping a ledger on the Tiger Woods saga, it became necessary Wednesday to add caddie Steve Williams' name to the cuts, departures, changes or whatever you want to call all the things that were once part of Tiger's world and are no longer.

   Add Williams to a list that includes Woods' former wife, Elin, his former swing coach Hank Haney, his former sponsors including Accenture, Tag Heuer and Gatorade, his former management company IMG, and now, his former caddie.

   Was it inevitable that Woods and Williams would part?

   Obviously, it was since Woods told Stevie two weeks ago that he could turn his part-time gig with Adam Scott into a full-time job. Williams said in a statement the move was "a shock" and later said in various interviews that he expected more from Woods given what he'd been forced to deal with as his employer embarrassed himself, and the endless aftermath that followed.

   Woods and Williams seemed a perfect fit. Williams was the tough guy on Tiger's bag, an enforcer of sorts who often had to play that role given the enormous attention Woods draws every time he steps onto a golf course. Williams wasn't concerned with winning friends, but about winning tournaments and doing his job properly.

   A player-caddie relationship can be a delicate thing. Some players churn through caddies, their personal quirks or insecurities rubbing against each other to add to the pressure that comes with playing the game for a living. Others find a partnership that goes on for years, like Phil Mickelson and Jim "Bones" Mackay or Fred Couples and Joe LaCava.

   Williams helped Woods through the years. He didn't hit the shots but he was there every step of the way, whether it was during the Tiger Slam or when he gave Woods a shoulder to cry on after winning the Open Championship following his father's death. Stevie had the authority to call Woods off a shot at the last second, an authority he used from time to time.

   Williams will be fine with Scott and, perhaps, happier to be out from under the umbrella of scrutiny that follows Wood wherever he goes.

   As for Woods himself, the questions remain. Who's next on his bag?

   The speculation immediately ran to Billy Foster, Lee Westwood's man, and LaCava, who's now working for Dustin Johnson. Given Woods' penchant for privacy, he's not likely to drop any public clues on his plans until they're announced on his website.

   Though he hasn't been able to play and there's no indication when he'll be back, the Tiger story continues to churn. Woods has kept to himself, offering only a glimpse or two such as his recent appearance at the AT&T National press conference.

   It has never been Woods' way to go public with what he's thinking beyond the basic "I'm here to win" golf tournament quotes. It's not his nature and that's not likely to change.

   For years, all the talk was about what Tiger had achieved. Now, it's about all he has lost.

   Until he returns and wins again -- something I believe he'll do because he will be incredibly driven to prove his detractors wrong -- that's not going to change.

Tiger, Stevie Split; "Came As A Shock," Caddie Says

2011-07-20T15:15:00.001-04:00

   Tiger Woods announced today that Steve Williams is no longer his caddie, ending their long relationship.

   The news, announced on Woods' website, didn't come as a complete surprise given Williams' recent working relationship with Adam Scott but it's another major change in Woods' career. Woods said he feels it's time for a change.

   "I want to express my deepest gratitude to Stevie for all his help, but i think it's time for a change," Woods said on his website. "Stevie is an outstanding caddie and a friend and has been instrumental in many of my accomplishments. I wish him great success in the future."

   Woods did not say who will be his caddie in the future when he returns to competitive golf. Woods has not played since withdrawing from The Players Championship in May while dealing with knee and Achilles issues. He has not indicated when he will return to the PGA Tour.

   With Woods sidelined, Williams began working for Scott at the U.S. Open last month and has stayed with the Australian star. He was surprised by the split with Woods.

   "Following the completion of the AT&T National (two weeks ago), I am no longer caddying for Tiger after he informed me that he needed to make a change," Williams said in a statement on his own website.

   "After 13 years of loyal service needless to say this came as a shock. Given the circumstances of the past 18 months working through Tiger's scandal, a new coach and with it a major swing change and Tiger battling through injuries, I am very disappointed to end our very successful partnership at this time.

   "I have had the opportunity to work with Australian Adam Scott and will now caddy for him on a permanent basis."

Pinehurst Unveils New Logos For 2014 Opens

2011-07-20T11:29:00.003-04:00

    It's still almost three years away but the unprecedented back-to-back U.S. Opens at Pinehurst Resort in 2014 already have their own look.

   The resort recently unveiled three logos -- one for the men's Open, one for the Women's Open, and one for both Opens -- that are now available on merchandise at the resort. It's all part of branding the event, which is certain to attract plenty of attention when first the men and then women play their national championships at the restored No. 2.

   The men's logo features the familiar Golf Lad hugging the U.S. Open trophy while the Women's Open logo features a cardinal and the Carolina Hotel.

The dual logo features both trophies along with the Golf Lad's hat and the cardinal. It won't be long until you start seeing the logos on shirts and other items.

Simpson Heading Home On A High

2011-07-17T15:09:00.000-04:00

   SANDWICH, England -- Not entirely sure what he would need in his first Open Championship experience, Webb Simpson packed three suitcases for his weeklong stay alongside the English Channel.

   He also brought his wife, Dowd, their five-month old son, James, and a friend to stay in the house he rented in town.

   Simpson left Royal St. George's and the Open Sunday evening with a top-20 finish and a deeper appreciation for the different style of golf demanded by true links.

   "Overall, it was a great experience," said Simpson, who shot 73 on Sunday to finish at 5-over par 285. "I realized how much there is to learn.

   "But it's fun golf. It was a battle the last two days. I must have taken my rain jacket on and off 10 times (Sunday) but I'm pleased."

S   impson said it struck him that he wasn't eligible for the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour in March but now he's played in two major championships, making the cut in both. He's also 11th on the PGA Tour money list and points standings with the playoffs approaching.

The week at St. George's did nothing to hurt Simpson's confidence.

   There are still some things Simpson needs to learn for his return trip to the Open Championship. He didn't drive while in England.

   "I was a little too scared to do that," Simpson said. "I felt like everybody would get sideswiped."

Johnson, Fowler Playing For Old Glory And Their Own Glory

2011-07-16T15:53:00.000-04:00

   In a golf sense, Northern Ireland is kicking the United States' collective rear end.

   Last year, Graeme McDowell won the U.S. Open. This year, Rory McIlroy did it. That makes it Ulstermen 2, Uncle Sam 0.

    But with 18 holes remaining in the Open Championship at Royal St. George's, Americans have a chance to win their first major championship since Phil Mickelson picked up his third green jacket 15 months ago at Augusta National.

   There are 10 Americans among the top 16 in the Open. That's the good news.

    The bad news is third-round leader Darren Clarke is from Northern Ireland, too. Same song. Different verse.

    But the U.S. has two of its best players -- Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler -- sitting right behind Clarke. We keep talking and hearing about how much promise they have. Now it's time for one of them to deliver.

    Johnson starts one back of Clarke and seems the most capable of doing something spectacular on Sunday given his length and his famliarity with final-round major championship pressure. This will be the third time in the last six majors that Johnson has played in the final pairing on Sunday.

   He's been fighting a sore throat this week but he's gradually feeling better. He's also stayed largely under the radar. Can he win?

    Absolutely.

   So can Fowler, who has seemed at home at St. George's. He played beautifully Saturday in the wind and rain. He hasn't won yet, which raises questions but Fowler seems like a big-moment player. Look at the Ryder Cup last year.

   It may not matter what either Johnson or Fowler does in the final round. Clarke may play better than either of them. So might Miguel Angel Jimenez, Thomas Bjorn or someone else.

    But if they're all we've been saying they are, one of them can prove it on Sunday.

Simpson Struggles In Second Round, Still Likes His Position

2011-07-15T10:51:00.000-04:00

   Webb Simpson walked off Royal St. George's golf course early Friday afternoon, having just posted a 4-over 74 in the second round that didn't seem all that different from the 66 he shot a day earlier.

   Still, Simpson had fallen from one shot off the lead to four behind when he finished with half the field still on the course.

   "I played hardly any different," Simpson said. "It was one of those days where if we were between clubs, we always chose the wrong one or we figured the wind wrong. It was just frustrating because it felt like I played good."

   A day after playing a bogey-free round, Simpson failed to make a birdie in the second round despite sunny conditions with manageable wind. His big mistake came at the par-4 fourth hole where he made a double-bogey after hitting his drive into heavy rough. He played his second back to the fairway, missed the green from relatively short range with his third and missed a seven-foot bogey putt.

   "We (caddie Paul Tesori) were talking on the 18th hole and decided we're not going to change anything for Saturday," Simpson said. "We're still in a great place."

   As for predictions for strong wind and potentially heavy rain on Saturday, Simpson was undaunted.

   "I don't mind it," he said. "I feel like I stay patient pretty well. Then again, it was perfect (Thursday) and I played really well."

The Big Yellow Scoreboard, An Open Tradition

2011-07-15T09:14:00.000-04:00

   One of the many cool things about the Open Championship is the giant yellow scoreboard that stands sentry over the 18th gren at whereever the event is played, a landmark as familiar to golf fans as the Hogan bridge on the 12th hole at Augusta National.

   It's a testament to tradition rather than technology, its information passed by hand through letters and numbers, rather than via LED readouts. The closest thing to new technology on the big board is a Rolex clock that gives the time in the timeless manner that only a Rolex can.

   The leader board is posted by hand, which means it takes a few moments to rearrange things when someone runs up or down the board. Not only does it post where the leaders stand against par, it tells fans how many holes they've played in the tournament rather than in their round. Lucas Glover, for example, was 4-under par through 34 holes Friday then safely parred in to saty there.

   It lists the pairing currently playing the hole and the next pairing in case you've dropped your pairing sheet while traipsing through the dunes.

   And, at the end of each Open, there's a message congrulating the champion golfer of the year and promising to see everyone again next year, which in 2012 means Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Not everyone at Royal St. George's will be back for the championship next year but the big yellow scoreboard will be there.

Like always.

Royal St. George's Turning Into Clemson Country

2011-07-14T14:38:00.000-04:00

Standing on the 14th tee at Royal St. George's Thursday afternoon, Lucas Glover and playing partner Robert Karlsson looked at each other and asked the same question:

   Where had the wind gone?

   The breeze that had given the Open Championship its bite died in the afternoon and Glover was among the players to take advantage, birdieing the last three holes to shoot a 4-under par 66 that left him one stroke behind co-leaders Thomas Bjorn and amateur Tom Lewis.

   "It's good," Glover, the former Clemson golfer and reigning Wells Fargo Championship winner, said of his leap up the leader board. "It's where you want to be but you want to be there on Sunday. We've got three more days to do it."

   With virtually no wind as Glover finished, he was able to be aggressive going into the greens, setting up a three-foot birdie putt at No. 16; a two-footer at the 17th; and, a 16-footer at the finishing hole.

"Overall solid and then some fireworks at the end," Glover said of his day.

   Another former Tiger, Kyle Stanley wasn't in the Open until he finished solo second last week at the John Deere Classic, earning him a spot in the field at St. George's and a seat on the charter flight to England.

   The 23-year old tour rookie was smart enough to have packed his passport when he went to Illinois last week but didn't pack his warm clothes for the English summer. He was forced to hit the club pro shop to buy a long-sleeve turtleneck and he's taken advantage of the laundry service at the bed and breakfast where he's staying in nearby Dover to have clean clothes.

   Other than a 2007 Walker Cup appearance in Northern Ireland and a trip to Bandon Dunes in Oregon, Stanley has no real links experience.

   Stanley had made 15 of 20 cuts this season and he's playing his best golf of the year since Bobby Brown, Dustin Johnson's former caddie, went to work for him in June. He has let Brown set his practice schedule -- even on off weeks -- and the focus has been on Stanley's short game and putting.

   "I've made a lot of cuts this year but I hadn't put four good rounds together until last week," Stanley said. "I'm just trying to keep learning and keep getting better. I really, really care about what I do out on the course. Sometimes, I care to a fault."

At Sandwich, A Big Event In A Small Place

2011-07-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

   If you're wondering precisely where this Open Championship is being played, it's where one extremely narrow road feeds into another extremely narrow road on the edge of Sandwich, just a wind-blown tee shot from the tiny town of Deal.

   The course -- Royal St. George's -- sits alongside the English Channel but you can't see the water from the course because they were forced to build a seawall that blocks the view but, fortunately, keeps the highest tides from overrunning the place. The course is the middle of three lined up along the Channel with Royal Cinque Ports to the south and Princes to the north, each of them close enough to the other that Walter Hagen once played all three -- walking -- in the same day.

    Cinque Ports, I can say from experience, is a tremendous links that, with a couple hundred yards added to the front nine, could host an Open championship. It's that good.

   The Royal & Ancient, which determines where Open Championships are played, is reluctant to add to its nine-course rotation but there's a movement afoot to add Royal Portrush or Royal County Down in Northern Ireland. They are, by all accounts, two of the great tracks in the world but the R&A is concerned about access, pointing to a lack of roads around Portrush as a problem.

   They obviously haven't driven the cart paths, I mean roads, around St. George's where two-way traffic is impossible for anything but bicycles. It's charming, weaving among the homes and shops that sit so close to the road that you could swipe a scone as you pass, but if they can hold an Open at St. George's, taking one to the edge of Belfast shouldn't be a problem.

   Among the things St. George's has that other sites don't is an abandoned power plant, currently being decsonstructed, with three enormous cooling towers looming in the distance like that hill in 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.' There's also a Pfizer pharmaceutical factory where they are thought to make popular blue pills just a mile from the course.

   It's where the old world and the new one meet.

Getting Fleeced At The Open Championship

2011-07-13T08:16:00.000-04:00

   I know that it's miserably hot in Charlotte right now -- it is the middle of July after all -- but it's a little brisk here at the Open Championship at Royal St. George's.

   You're looking for air-conditioning. I'm looking for fleece.

   It's about 60 degrees, the sky is the color of 70-year old hair and the wind is blowing white caps on the English Channel. In other words, perfect for the Open Championship.

   It's tomato sandwich season at home. It's tomato soup season here.

That's the way it's supposed to be when the golf world convenes for the Open. Augusta does azaleas. The U.S. Open does rough. The Open Championship does weather.

   There's something almost glamorous about the wind and the clouds and the chill, especially if you're not trying to hit a fairway that moves like a Slinky. The Open Championship does many things but it doesn't do sweat stains.

   That's not to say it can't get warm here. It can get toasty but clouds are never far away, promising a respite from the sunshine.

    In playing golf over here, I've learned that it's okay to wear shorts but not the little ankle socks that are part of most American golf ensembles. Two clubs I've visited require golfers who wear shorts to also wear knee socks similar to the type required for girls at some private schools.

   Perhaps that's why so few of the locals play golf in shorts. That and the fear of a suntan.

   Good thing I left my shorts in Charlotte. I needed the sweatshirts instead.

My Five Favorite Golf Events

2011-07-10T09:24:00.000-04:00

   Having made another journey to the British Open this week -- it's become something of a summer present to myself -- it got me to thinking about my favorite golf events, and I'm not talking about the occasional birdie I make.

   Here are my five favorites:

1. The Masters

    No surprise here. It's the best golf tournament in the world when you roll everything together -- the course, the history, the time of year, the feeling, the pimento cheese sandwiches and the green jackets. It's special enough that even non-golfers take a few minutes to look in on the azaleas in April.

   Almost without fail, the Masters finds a way to generate drama like no other tournament can consistently do. In the dead of summer, it makes me wish for the yellow sheen of pine pollen, Phil Mickelson going at the 13th green with his second shot and those big white hand-operated scoreboards that are better than anything computer-generated.

2. The Ryder Cup

   Because it happens only every other year, it allows the storyline to twist and build until we all make more of it than we probably should but it still manages to deliver spectacular stories.

   Golf is a solitary pursuit but put into a team concept with flags and continental pride at stake, it matters like nothing else.

   And every decade or so, the Americans win.

3. The Open Championship

   Growing up, watching the slightly fuzzy television images from the Open Championship, it seemed so romantic -- in a golf kind of way. The wind, the knee-high fescue, the funny bounces, the dunes, the shots of the sea, the sweaters -- all of it captured my imagination and holds on to it today.

   It's probably the most important tournament in the world outside the United States and given our current standing in the world game, it only enhances the Open's stature.

   When it's played at the Old Course, it's magic -- even when Louis Oosthuizen wins by about 25 shots. When it's played somewhere else, even at Royal St. George's which hasn't inspired the poet's soul in many historians, it's a week that feels as different it looks to most of us.

4. The Wells Fargo Championship

   A decade ago, we didn't have a PGA Tour event in Charlotte. Now people are fretting over what could happen if it's not renewed after the current contract expires in 2014. It's become special which many things try to be but few actually are.

   The annual springtime week at Quail Hollow Club has created its own niche in both Charlotte and in professional golf. It's our good fortune to have it in our city.

5. The Heritage

    Rory McIlroy's victory at the U.S. Open may be the biggest win on the PGA Tour this year but landing a five-year title sponsorship agreement with RBC and Boeing to keep the tournament alive at Harbour Town Golf Links is on the list of biggest victories in 2011.

   It's a golf tournament scented with springtime, sunscreen and the good life. You're likely to see a gator sunning along a fairway and you might see Ernie Els riding bikes with his family around the island. It's a cocktail party with a golf tournament in the middle, all of it framed by Spanish moss and the Calibogue Sound.

Free Golf At Cheraw State Park On July 16

2011-07-07T10:38:00.000-04:00

   Looking to play free golf on a good course with no strings attached?

   Here's your chance.

   Cheraw (S.C.) State Park is offering free golf and cart fees on its championship course on Saturday, July 16 to the first 60 players who sign up.

   It's a 90-minute drive from Charlotte and reservations must be made in advance. The cost is typically $35 per player which means a saving of $140 for a foursome.

   The course, which has a good reputation, plays 6,928 yards from the back tees with a slope rating of 130.

   There will also be a TaylorMade demo day at the course on July 16 and other discounts available in the pro shop and grill.

   Reservations can be made by calling 800-868-9630. Only one foursome per caller can be reserved and the spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Tee times are available from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Big Three Together Again: Player Joins Jack, Arnie At Augusta

2011-07-05T14:38:00.000-04:00

The 'Big Three' will be back together on the first tee at Augusta National next April.

Gary Player has accepted an invitation to join Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as an honorary starter for the Masters tournament beginning in 2012.

“For decades, Gary Player has been the international ambassador for the game of golf,” club chairman Billy Payne in a statement. “His significant accomplishments at the Masters, spread over an astounding 52 appearances, have helped form many lasting memories for fans of golf around the world. As an Honorary Starter, his legacy will be rightfully celebrated alongside two of the Tournament’s other all-time greats, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.”

Player's inclusion into the select group comes as no surprise. He played in 52 Masters -- the most ever -- and his relationship with Nicklaus and Palmer made the pairing a natural. Player won three Masters and had 12 additional top 10 finishes.

“I am thrilled to join my friends Jack and Arnold as an Honorary Starter,” Player said. “Augusta National is a special place that holds many memories for me. When I won my first Green Jacket in 1961, Arnold put it on my back. In 1962, Arnold beat me in an 18-hole playoff to win his second in three years. The year after my second win in 1974, Jack became the second man at the time to ever win four Masters. I was there to put the Green Jacket on both of them. Moments like those are so special and to be able to experience those memories with friends and competitors is something I will never forget.”

In one stretch -- from 1960 through 1966 -- Palmer, Nicklaus and Player won all seven Masters.

No Surprise: Woods Out Of British Open

2011-07-05T12:00:00.000-04:00

   It came as no surprise today that Tiger Woods announced he will miss the British Open next week while continuing to deal with knee and Achilles issues.

   "Unfortunately, I've been advised that I should not play in the British Open," Woods said in a statement on his website. "As I stated at the AT&T National, I am only going to come back when I'm 100 percent ready. I do not want to risk further injury. That's different for me, but I'm being smarter this time. I'm very disappointed and want to express my regrets to the British Open fans."

   It wasn't long ago we were talking about how dominant Woods might be when he reached his expected prime -- in his mid-30s -- but now it's all a mystery. Woods was right last week when he stressed that he's just 35, not 65, but it seems like forever since he's been the Tiger we came to know and take for granted.

   Will he back for the PGA Championship next month in Atlanta?

   Only time will tell.

Beyond The Fourth: Rory, Morgan Pressel and More

2011-07-05T11:44:00.000-04:00

   With the Fourth of July behind us and the Open Championship a week away, a few observations on the game today:
   -- The Rory McIlroy lovefest resumes next week at Royal St. George's where he'll make his first competitive appearance since scorching the field in the U.S. Open.
   McIlroy is the betting favorite -- what, you thought Bubba Watson would be? -- but Royal St. George's is known for its quirky nature which could throw an added element of uncertainty, okay, let's call it luck, into the championship.
    It's not a course that's at the top of many favorites list when it comes to layouts in the Open rota. It's nearer the bottom of most lists, but the Open almost always produces good drama, last year being the exception.
   Can an American win?
   Stranger things have happened. Ben Curtis won at Royal St. George's eight years ago.
-- Yani Tseng is the obvious player to beat in the U.S. Women's Open this week but I'm hoping Morgan Pressel wins.
    Pressel has been a very good player for several years and she's worked to hit the ball longer, her major challenge. A Women's Open title is big for anyone but it seems as if it it might be even bigger for Pressel.
-- I'm looking forward to reading 'The Swinger,' co-written by Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck of Sports Illustrated. It's a fictionalized version of Tiger's tale and it's getting good reviews. Check out Ron Green Sr.'s review at www.charlotteobserver.com/golf.
   -- Jack Fields' victory in the North & South Amateur last weekend at Pinehurst No. 2 had a good feel to it, given the fact he's from Southern Pines. He's preparing to turn pro and winning at Pinehurst reinforced his decision.
   It was the first major event played at No. 2 since the restoration by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. While the greens were slower and softer than they ideally would be -- they're being very careful with the new grass through the summer -- the reviews were overwhelmingly positive about the course changes.

Golf's New Era: That's what it feels like

2011-06-23T10:47:00.001-04:00

   The cover of this week's Sports Illustrated magazine (above) has Rory McIlroy hitting his tee shot on the 10th hole at Congressional last Sunday -- the shot that was nearly an ace -- and proclaims his U.S. Open victory the start of 'Golf's New Era.'

   It feels that way.

  Nothing against the other first-time major champions in recent years -- Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer, et. al -- but McIlroy's victory looked and felt different. It seems like a moment when the professional game turned a corner, stepping out of the Woods-Mickelson era and into what may be McIlroy's era.

   That's a great thing.

   What happened at Congressional was the best thing to happen to professional golf since Tiger beat Rocco Mediate on a bum leg. McIlroy's performance was something special, establishing him as a mega-star here in the United States. We got a glimpse of his brilliance when he won at Quail Hollow last year but McIlroy's performance at the U.S. Open -- after what had happened at the Masters -- was transformative.

   Is this a rush to judgment, anointing McIlroy as Tiger's successor?

   Not likely.

   Woods will return, no doubt with a new fire to prove he can reclaim the mountain he once stood atop. But now he's forced to deal with McIlroy in the way Jack Nicklaus had to deal with Tom Watson.

   Beyond his game, there's a grace about McIlroy that's endearing. It will get tested by the new demands on him -- demands that will likely increase over the next few years if his career unfolds as expected -- but it seems to be a part of him, something that comes as naturally as his golf swing.

   After the angst about what happens next to professional golf after what has happened the past two years, the answer arrived last week at the U.S. Open.

   That explains the smiles.

Feherty: 'I'd Ask (Woods) If He Confused Fun With Happiness'

2011-06-21T12:35:00.000-04:00

   When The Golf Channel decided to give David Feherty his own show -- 'Feherty' premiered Monday night and is on again Tuesday at 9 p.m. in what will be its regular time slot -- it provided the popular golf announcer an outlet for his humor, his personality and his insights.

  There's a brilliance to Feherty that makes him both entertaining and insightful. The idea of the show is to capture much of what Feherty has to offer but doesn't fit into his role as a reporter on tournament weekends.

   A recently nationalized American citizen, Feherty is deeply devoted to the armed forces, particularly to soldiers who have been injured in combat. It's his great passion and the show allows him an opportunity to draw attention to the soldiers he admires.

   It also allows Feherty to interview some of the game's biggest figures. He started with Lee Trevino in the premiere episode and has Tom Watson and Johnny Miller, among others, lined up. Feherty wants to talk about golf but he also wants to talk about life, coming at the interview from his own unique perspective.

   Feherty's goal is to get Tiger Woods to sit down for an extended interview. While it would be great for his show, Feherty admits, he thinks it would help Woods, too. So far, Feherty has been unsuccessful in landing the Tiger interview.

   "I'm sorry we just hammered on him so much that whatever we did to him, we forced him into a hole. It's not all our fault, obviously. You've got to be able to stand up and deal with these things," Feherty said.

"The worst thing in the world was not being Tiger Woods. It was okay for a long time and it's probably still okay but I think he would be a lot happier if he got a bunch of (stuff) off his chest and was asked the right questions and given the right forum in which to answer them. He doesn't trust so many people.

"We expect so much from him. I don't think anybody can possibly understand how he feels at the minute because no one has been where he's been and come down to where he is now. The level of frustration, the level of disappointment he must feel, I don't think there's been another athlete, I can't think of one, that would have gone through such a thing.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is at the end of the day. That's irrelevant. You were here and now you're there and you're hurt. It would be very easy to feel the world is against you. I suspect he doesn't feel like that but I know he's like a badger in his set right now. He's not coming out, not for anybody."

   If he were to land the interview, what would Feherty ask Woods?

"I'd ask him if he could change one thing in his life, what would it be?," Feherty said.

"I would ask if he confused fun with happinesss, thinking they're the same thing. I'm an addict and that's what I did. I thought fun and happiness were the same thing. They're not. They're entirely different. That's a common thing among all addicts. They get those two things mixed up. What happens when you blend fun and happiness? It turns into unhappiness."

Is That The Best American Golf Can Do?

2011-06-19T21:07:00.000-04:00

   Kevin Chappell and Robert Garrigus?

   That's the best American golf can do in its national championship?

    Kevin Chappell and Robert Garrigus?

   Nothing against the former NCAA champion, who may be a very good pro but if you had Kevin Chappell to finish as the low American in your U.S.Open pool, you did it by blind draw.Garrigus's chances were shorter than his putter.

   But that's where American professional golf is at the moment.

   To be fair, Tiger Woods is on the DL and he changes the equation. Get him healthy again and suddenly we're not starting a major championship two-down. We at least have a chance of winning.

   The way it stands now, we're relying on Bo Van Pelt to carry the flag. Phil Mickelson's game has gone on walkabout to the point he's not sure where to start the fix-it project. Steve Stricker had a solid U.S. Open but made two double-bogeys on the back nine Sunday when he'd climbed into a tie for fourth.

   The Golf Boys weren't a factor, except in the endless replaying their video received on The Golf Channel. Dustin Johnson made the cut but no noise. Ryan Palmer had a good week.

    Anthony Kim finished behind Kyung-Tae Kim and Dohoon Kim.

   European Tour members, in case you haven't been reminded enough, have won the last five major championships.

   Martin Kaymer, who won one of those recent major championships, was asked what this week says about American golf.

   "It says," Kaymer said, "that the Americans struggle a little bit...since Tiger has been on a, how do you say, a little down."
   That says it nicely.

Watching Rory Means Watching History

2011-06-18T20:01:00.000-04:00

   So, you may be wondering, what's the point of watching the final round of the U.S. Open, seeing as how Rory McIlroy has an eight-stroke lead with 18 holes to play?

   Watch for the history McIlroy is on the verge of making.

   Watch because, after a couple of false starts including the Masters two months ago, McIlroy is ready to deliver the biggest victory of his just-blooming career.

   Watch because he's playing the way Jack and Tiger played in their primes. If that sounds like I'm talking about Woods in the past tense, it feels that way this week and will continue to feel that way until Tiger returns in full form, assuming that eventually happens.

   What McIlroy has given us through three almost make-believe days has been any glowing adjective you choose to apply -- spectacular, extraordinary, remarkable. It would be impressive enough to torch any field by such a wide margin but to do it in the U.S. Open while posting such gaudy numbers is, well, Tiger-esque. Even Tiger never posted 199 through three rounds in the U.S. Open, though he did lead by 10 entering the final round at Pebble Beach in 2000.

   "It's not over yet. I can't speculate on what's going to happen before it happens but he's a tremendous player," Steve Stricker, the world's fourth-ranked golfer, said Saturday.

   "He's got a lot of talent and he's only 22. He's got the world in front of him really. His game looks flawless. His swing looks great. I think it looks just as good as when Tiger was in his prime and swinging at it at his best. You just don't see any flaws."

   At the Masters two months ago, McIlroy carried a four-stroke lead into the final round and it looked for all the azaleas in Georgia as if he would be adding a green jacket to his wardrobe. His lead was gone an hour into the final round and, by the end, so was McIlroy's game.

    But his confidence, the thing you'd think might have taken the most damage, was only dinged -- and only temporarily. There has not been a more confident player at Congressional this week and there's no reason to think anything will change on Sunday.

   That doesn't mean McIlroy won't be nervous despite his eight-shot advantage but he's supposed to be nervous. He's never won a major and even if he wins 10 of them, he'll be nervous on Sunday trying to win his 11th. It's easy to say that Sunday is the biggest day in McIlroy's career and it is. But we said the same thing at the Masters two months ago and if McIlroy is what we think he is -- the game's next great player -- what happened at Augusta National will make it him better today and beyond.

   It's worth watching today -- and for years to come.

McIlroy Making A Tough Open Look Easy

2011-06-17T20:31:00.000-04:00

  Was the double bogey Rory McIlroy made on Congressional's 18th hole Friday a signal that this U.S. Open isn't as close to being over as it appears or was it merely a mistake by young McIlroy that won't have any serious long-term consequences?

   I lean toward the latter, thinking if anything the sudden double may have jarred McIlroy just enough to keep him on edge over the coming weekend. Sure, the U.S. Open keeps everyone on edge, even the guy hawking Cokes in the concession stand but McIlroy was making it look so good, so effortless that it was as if he were playing a different game.

   He got away with a chunky tee shot at the watery par-3 10th that barely cleared the water but, otherwise, McIlroy was flawless until the 18th hole. It conjured up memories of Tiger Woods in 2000 in the sustained brilliance.

   McIlroy is doing the hard stuff and making it look easy. He was often out-driving playing partners Dustin Johnson and spray-hitting Phil Mickelson, usually striping it down the middle while his companions were playing the edges.

    What impressed me was the par McIlroy made at the 494-yard uphill par-4 11th. It's a monster of a hole with a slender creek along the right side and a lily pad-flecked pond beside the green. McIlroy put his second shot in the left greenside bunker, leaving himself a wicked sand shot across a narrow green to hole tucked just a few feet from the pond.

    McIlroy played his bunker shot to within eight feet of the hole and, like Tiger used to do, he center-cut the par putt. It was the kind of par that wins U.S. Opens.

    While waiting for McIlroy to finish Friday, his agent Chubby Chandler was watching from behind the 18th green. When someone suggested two rounds of par or better would win for McIlroy this weekend, Chandler quickly hushed the talk, saying it should "be put in the fridge for a while longer."

   Moments later, McIlroy made a mess of the finishing hole.

   It was a lousy way to finish what has been a remarkable start.

This May Be McIlroy's Major Moment

2011-06-16T20:23:00.000-04:00

   Eighteen holes -- and 65 strokes -- into this U.S. Open, Rory McIlroy is in a precarious and enviable position.

   McIlroy is on the edge of becoming golf's next great player as he demonstrated again in the first round at Congressional. He made the game -- and the notoriously hateful -- U.S. Open look as easy as saying thank you. McIlroy carved up Congressional, staking himself to a three-stroke lead at the one-quarter post of the year's second major championship.

   But McIlroy has been here before. It's the third time in the last four majors that he's led after the first round but he still doesn't have a major championship trophy. No harm in that, considering his just 22 but he's nearing the point where experience could turn into scar tissue.

    After 63 to open the British Open at St. Andrews, he shot 80 in a gale on the second day. He three-putted away a chance to be in the PGA Championship playoff won by Martin Kaymer last August and then there was the Masters just two months ago.

   We know how that ended.

   To his credit, McIlroy smiled about his Masters meltdown earlier this week when he was complimented for taking questions after shooting 80 to lose by 10 strokes. "I had five or six holes to think about what I was going to say," McIlroy cracked.

   Now he's in the lead of the U.S. Open and two questions leap to mind:

-- Is this the major when Rory keeps his foot on the gas and wins by half a dozen?

-- Or, what if it gets away again?

   To be fair, it's only one round of this U.S. Open and it could look very different by Friday evening but McIlroy has staked himself to the lead. Someone else could play better than McIlroy over the next three days and wiin, a reasonable possibility.

   But whom would you rather have than McIlroy right now?
'
   He has a game as big as the sky and a spirit that, so far at least, seems undamaged by his previous near misses. McIlroy appears to have the gift that the great ones have -- he loves the big moment.

    He didn't handle it well at the Masters, falling victim to the classic mistake of letting the game change speeds on him. Time after time, players who've lost leads talk about getting out of their rhythm and not being able to slow down when things are coming apart. It's what McIlroy said happened to him.

   It's tough to pause, take a deep breath, take another one and turn down the speed. Maybe that will be the great lesson McIlroy learned at Augusta, the one that could carry him this week.

   This is a guy who got ready for the U.S. Open by doing a UNICEF tour in Haiti where nobody cares whether he wins or loses this weekend. Unless he's fooling all of us -- and I don't think he is -- McIlroy has an old head on his shoulders.

    He's been here before which makes it all the more interesting to see where he goes from here.

RBC, Boeing Lock Up Heritage Sponsorship For Five Years

2011-06-16T13:31:00.002-04:00

The Harbour Town lighthouse and the PGA Tour are staying together for at least five more years.

After two years of uncertainty, the RBC Heritage presented by Boeing became a reality Thursday with the five-year sponsorship announcement Thursday on Hilton Head Island, S.C. It will keep the popular tournament fixed on the tour schedule in its traditional spot the week after the Masters.

In making the announcement, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem credited South Carolina governor Nikki Haley for her persistence in locating a sponsor.

"I don't recall a time when any state official or elected official has put the energy and time and commitment behind making this happen as the governor has," Finchem said. "She has been on this 24-4 for a number of weeks. She wasn't going to take no for an answer."

Heritage Golf Announcement Due Today

2011-06-16T09:55:00.000-04:00

    South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem are scheduled to make a 1 p.m.. announcement today about the future of the Heritage golf tournament on Hilton Head Island, S.C.

   The tournament has been searching for a title sponsor with its future on the tour schedule hanging in the balance.

   Tournament director Steve Wilmot said during the event in April that there had been encouraging signs in the hunt for a title sponsor but declined to get into specifics. Tour players have been outspoken in their support of the tournament, which has been played at Harbour Town Golf Links for more than 40 years.

'Oh, Oh, Oh' says it all about Golf Boys

2011-06-15T10:49:00.004-04:00

Some things speak for themselves.

Otherwise, trying to explain why PGA Tour players Ben Crane, Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler have gone boy band and are in a video for their potential viral hit "Oh, Oh, Oh" may be asking too much.

It's a fund-raising move with Farmers Insurance promising to donate $1,000 to one of Crane's charity initiatives for every 100,000 views it gets. Based on the early reaction, there could be plenty of money headed to charity.

If you haven't seen it, here it is:

U.S. Open Pairings -- A Good Way To Start

2011-06-11T11:37:00.000-04:00

   So much for the idea that the USGA lacks a sense of humor.

   If the first and second-round pairings for next week's U.S. Open aren't knee-slapping funny, they're at least amusing in the way bossman Mike Davis and his colleagues put threesomes together for the first 36 holes. It's something the organization began quietly doing a few years back, inserting a handful of pairings that made you go hmmmm.

   Now it's part of the Open

   This year, there's the obvious 1-2-3 pairing of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, based on the world rankings. Maybe it's not as sexy as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott together a couple of years ago but pretty good nonetheless.

   There's an international theme to this year's pairings, which fits with the current state of professional golf, which has its power base outside the United States at the moment.

   There's the Spanish grouping: Miguel Angel Jimenez, Sergio Garcia and Alvaro Quiros, pulling together the Mechanic, the Brooder and the Bomber.

   There's the all-Sweden pairing of Johan Edfors, Henrik Stenson and Fredrik Jacobson. Wonder how that makes Robert Karlsson, the highest-ranked Swede feel? Of course, he's paired with Bubba Watson and Adam Scott, in what could resemble a long drive contest.

   The Italian pairing features the Molinari brothers -- Eduardo and Francesco -- along with Matteo Manassero. Bellisimo.

   The Marty Hackel threesome has Rickie Fowler, Ian Poulter and Hunter Mahan together in the fashion-forward grouping. Big hats, big shades, big ego. You can figure which goes with which.

   The best pairing, though, has Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson together. If you need me, that's where I'll be Thursday and Friday.

Have Funk, Perry And Calc Found What Was Missing?

2011-06-10T09:06:00.000-04:00

   It's not just us.

   The best players in the world lose touch with their golf games, too. Sometimes it's a little thing, sometimes it's a big thing. Sometimes it's between the ears. Sometimes it's between the backswing and the downswing.

   Three of the top players in the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn this weekend are working through changes and each of them sounds excited by it.

   Fred Funk was considering taking the summer off he was hitting it so poorly. Everybody thinks Funk looks so happy and bouncy on the course -- and he does -- but he hadn't been feeling that way because the game had turned mean. He even apologized to his 15-year old son, Taylor, for showing him how not to act on the golf course.

   Last week, though, Funk decided to quit listening to advice others had given and to go back to playing the way he used to play, when he missed a fairway about once a month. Three holes into a U.S. Open qualifier Monday in Maryland, Funk had found his missing mojo. He played his way into the Open at Congressional, getting teary-eyed after realizing what he'd done, and regardless of how he plays at Rock Barn (he's bothered by a thumb problem right now) or at Congressional, Funk says he's back in a good place with golf again.

   Mark Calcavecchia got an unsolicited phone call from former tour player turned television commentator Bob Murphy recently. Murphy told Calc that he'd noticed how he got more hunched over on shorter putts. Stand taller, Murphy said, like you do on the long ones and Calcavecchia is already seeing a difference.

   And then there's Kenny Perry, who had worked himself into a swing pattern that had him hitting shots fat. He lost some of his power and crisp shots were becoming increasingly rare. A visit with an old swing coach has helped Perry get back on the right path, though there's still progress to be made.

   "I'm seeing signs of life," Perry said.

Who's The Fastest, Slowest On The PGA Tour?

2011-06-08T08:54:00.000-04:00

The five fastest and slowest players on the PGA Tour according to a survey done by Golf Magazine who timed every shot hit by 45 players over nine holes in the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier this year.

Too bad there aren't more Rickie Fowlers out there and too bad the tour and other golf organizations don't crack down harder on slow play. Just watch how long it takes at the U.S. Open next week.

Five fastest (Average time per shot)

1. Rickie Fowler (16 seconds)

2. Jhonny Vegas (21 seconds)

3. Brian Davis (22 seconds)

4. Chris Kirk (23 seconds)

5. Cameron Beckman (25 seconds)

Five slowest

1. Nick O'Hern (55 seconds)

2. J.B. Holmes (52 seconds)

3. John Senden (51 seconds)

4. Kevin Na (50 seconds)

5. Charlie Wi (50 seconds)

Will We Ever See The Old Tiger Again?

2011-06-07T16:38:00.002-04:00

Tiger Woods' announcement Tuesday that he won't play in the U.S. Open next week due to lingering problems with his left knee and Achilles was a disappointment but not a surprise.

The question now is will we ever again see the Tiger we marveled at for so many years?

Maybe not.

Even if he lost you when his personal life came apart, his golf was impossible to ignore. He has played golf better than anyone ever, Jack Nicklaus included.

But what once seemed preordained -- that Woods would surpass Nicklaus's record of 18 major championship victories -- now seems increasingly doubtful. Woods has been stuck at 14 since he won the 2008 U.S. Open on a broken leg at Torrey Pines near San Diego when it seemed he was capable of anything.

If Woods doesn't tie or break Nicklaus's record, it should be because he didn't make it happen. Not because he couldn't make it happen.

There's a big difference.

Woods has had four surgeries on his left knee and he's been hobbling since he hurt himself in the third round of the Masters almost two months ago. He says he hopes to play in the AT&T National he hosts next month and get back to a regular schedule after that but Woods also hoped to play at Quail Hollow and to go more than nine holes at the Players Championship last month.

As Woods was stacking up major championships in his 20s, we imagined what he would do when he hit his mid-30s, typically the prime of a professional golfer's life. No one expected this.

He’s only 35 but it seems like an old 35, at least right now.

The great golf writer Dan Jenkins was half-joking years ago when he said the only thing that could stop Tiger would be a bad marriage or an injury. Well...

Nicklaus doesn't want his record broken but he wants to see Tiger give it his best shot. He wants to see the old Tiger, ripping at tee shots, gouging iron shots out of the rough, walking putts into the hole. That was golf like we've never seen it.

When Nicklaus spoke by phone to Woods recently, he told Tiger as much.

"(It) is the same thing I've said to him a thousand times, 'Tiger, nobody wants records to be broken. That's obvious. I don't care who it is,'" Nicklaus said at his Memorial Tournament last week. "But I certainly don't want you not to be healthy and not have the opportunity to play to break records. I want you to get yourself healthy...get your golf game back in shape and I wish you well, wish you good luck.'"

Jack’s record deserves Tiger’s best shot.

Woods Rules Himself Out Of U.S. Open

2011-06-07T15:32:00.000-04:00

Tiger Woods will not play in the U.S. Open next week at Congressional due to continuing problems with his left knee and Achilles.

Woods made the announcement on his website today.

"I am extremely disappointed that I won't be playing in the U.S. Open, but it's time for me to listen to my doctors and focus on the future," Woods said. "I was hopeful that I could play, but if I did, I risk further damage to my left leg. My knee and Achilles tendon are not fully healed. I hope to be ready for AT&T National, the next two majors and the rest of the year."

It's just one more twist in Woods' career that has veered off course over the past 20 months. Woods, still at 14 career major championship victories, has not won a major since he beat Rocco Mediate in a playoff to win the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

This will be the first U.S. Open Woods has missed since 1994.

Carolinas Golf Hall Adds Hoch, Ward and Boswell

2011-06-03T09:22:00.000-04:00

Long-time golf writer Howard Ward, amateur Larry Boswell and tour player Scott Hoch have been voted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame.

It's a deserving honor for each of them.

Hoch is the most familiar, having been born in Raleigh and played his college golf at Wake Forest. Though he's remembered by many for the two-footer he missed that would have won him the 1989 Masters over Nick Faldo, Hoch was one of the PGA Tour's most consistently good players for years. He won 11 times and was often at his best on tough courses.

He played on two Ryder Cup teams and won the 1986 Vardon Trophy for low scoring average on the tour. He's scheduled to play in the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn next week in Conover.

Ward, a long-time friend of mine, has been writing golf for more than 50 years, most of the time for the Fayetteville Observer from which he retired in 1997. He's cared about both the big-time players and the not so big, sharing their stories with readers. Ward knows golf and it shows when he writes about it, something he continues to do today for The Pilot newspaper in Southern Pines.

Boswell has won Carolinas Golf Association championships in five decades, collecting 13 different trophies, third-most behind Dale Morey and Paul Simson.

The public is invited to the induction dinner Aug. 14 at The Carolina in Pinehurst. Details are available at 222.thecgra.com.

Couples Past Skin Scare, Limiting Champions Tour Play

2011-06-02T12:29:00.000-04:00

When Fred Couples went to a dermatologist last month to have a couple of moles examined at the request of his girlfriend, the moles they were worried about weren't a problem.

   But Couples wound up having 13 moles frozen off his hands, perhaps alleviating a potentially serious problem.

   "I don't think it's anything horrible, but at the time (the doctor) scared the hell out of me just by the way she looked at me and what she said," Couples said at a pre-tournament media session at The Memorial Tournament this week.

   "I don't wear sunscreen, but I just didn't have spots on my hands to figure that I needed 13 of them removed."

   After the marks were removed, Couples said he had blisters on his hands that were big enough he couldn't put his hands in his pockets. He's better now, good enough to play Muirfield Village this week in one of his rare PGA Tour appearances.

   "A couple people asked me if it was contagious and a few other things through the airport. It's pretty fun. I wish I could have put my hands in my pants so no one could have seen all this stuff. Thirteen blisters on your hands, you start to think people are looking at you like you've got something," Couples said.

   Couples also indicated he'll play sparingly on the Champions Tour this year because he's been bothered by back issues. His appearance at the Memorial coincided with a meeting of potential Presidents Cup team members. Couples is captain of the Presidents Cup team going to Australia later this year.

   "I haven't felt as good, so I've stayed away from playing the Champions Tour, because it doesn't serve me any justice to go play out there and finish 25th or 30th because I can't physically hit the ball," Couples said.

"I continue to feel mediocre when I play, so that's why I'm not playing much on the Champions Tour. I really like the Champions Tour. This is just an odd year, and hopefully in the near future I'll start to feel better and hopefully play a little at the end of the year and it'll be a nice quiet year and I can come out at age 52 and start playing again on the Champions Tour again next year."

Kenny Perry Adds To Rock Barn Field Next Week

2011-06-01T12:17:00.000-04:00

   Kenny Perry has committed to play in the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn next week as he chases his first Champions Tour victory.

   Perry, who is playing in The Memorial on the PGA Tour this week, adds to an already strong field for the event which runs June 6-12 at Rock Barn.

   In addition to Perry, other top players in the field include Bernhard Langer, on the mend from thumb surgery that has sidelined him this season, Nick Price, Mark O'Meara, John Cook, Mark Calcavecchia, Fred Funk, Peter Jacobsen, Tom Kite, Hal Sutton, Fuzzy Zoeller and defending champion Gary Hallberg, among others.

   Last year's runner-up, Fred Couples, has indicated he plans to play at Rock Barn but has not yet officially committed.

Best Of The Best: Ranking The All-Time No. 1 Players

2011-05-31T14:29:00.000-04:00

   With Luke Donald supplanting Lee Westwood as the No. 1 player in the world golf rankings this week, it got me to thinking about who have been the best of the best since the rankings began 25 years ago.

   Donald became the 15th player to be ranked No. 1, remarkably none of them named Phil Mickelson. Here's my top five No.1 players in the Official World Golf Rankings era:

1. Tiger Woods

    What a shock. He's spent 623 weeks at No. 1, which equals 11.9 years. He may never be No. 1 again but he owned it for more than a decade, almost as much as everyone else combined.

2. Greg Norman

    It's almost easy now to forget how big and dominant Norman was for a long time. He occupied No. 1 for 331 weeks with a game that was almost as big as his personality and image.

   3. Nick Faldo

   He was bigger in Europe than he was in the States because he played more there but Faldo -- long before we knew he could be funny -- was a classic grinder. He kept giving himself chances in major championships and wound up with six of them.

   4. Seve Ballesteros

    He was No. 1 for 61 weeks but the rankings came along during the back-half of his prime. At his best, Seve was unlike anyone else, both in his style and his game.

   5. Vijay Singh

    He bumped Tiger off his throne a few years back, which was a monumental achievement. He won nine times in 2004 when he overtook Tiger and is the PGA Tour's best ever in his 40s.

   If you're wondering, the other No. 1 ranked players are Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Fred Couples, Nick Price, Tom Lehman, Ernie Els, David Duval and Martin Kaymer, as well as Westwood and Donald.

High School Golfer's Good Deed Gets The SI Treatment

2011-05-31T11:27:00.000-04:00

   Jonathan Price, the sophomore at Granville Central High who intentionally lost a playoff so his friend and teammate Michael Pope could play in the state high school championship earlier this spring, has written a short first-person story for Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section this week.

   Price also spoke recently at Old Chatham Golf Club's annual black-tie dinner after news of his unselfishness spread.

    It was Price who had a six-inch putt to advance to the state tournament but, while standing over the clinching putt, decided to give his friend a chance to play in the tournament instead because Pope was a senior and wouldn't have another chance.

Eger Keeps Getting Better

2011-05-29T20:19:00.000-04:00

   For a guy who spent a good portion of his adult life setting up championship courses for both the PGA Tour and the USGA, David Eger came within a eyelash Sunday of the biggest victory of his golf career.

   Eger, who lives part-time in Charlotte, was beaten by Tom Watson Sunday on the first hole of sudden death at the PGA Senior Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky. Eger, 59, could look at his failure to birdie the par-5 18th hole in regulation -- he missed a five-foot birdie putt -- and again in the playoff -- when he hit his tee shot in a bad spot in a fairway bunker -- as the critical missed opportunities.

   Still, after shooting 74 in the opening round and taking advantage of a good final round on a breezy, difficult day, Eger had only minimal regrets. He hit a poor putt on the 72nd hole and, judging by his post-round comments, that's the one that will linger with him.

   But for a guy who was hobbling around on a broken ankle last summer, it's been a terrific year. Eger teamed with Mark McNulty to win the Legends of Golf title in Savannah last month and had a chance to win his first major championship on Sunday. Not bad for a guy who decided at age 48 to give professional golf a try after watching it from close range for so many years.

   "So just like Dana Quigley or Allen Doyle or Jay Siegel or even John Harris, it's the ultimate mulligan in life for a golfer to be able to come out here and play and play reasonably well at times and compete with the likes of Tom Watson and Hale Irwin and wonderful great players who I watched from a golf cart for years and years win tournaments and championships," Eger told reporters in Louisville.

   "It's not a bad feeling. I'm comfortable in my own skin."

Are You Man Enough To Step Forward?

2011-05-27T09:53:00.001-04:00

   You know the type:

   Guys (no offense ladies but this seems to be a male ego issue) who insist on playing the back tees whenever and wherever they play golf. It doesn't matter that their handicap and shoe size match, they're taking it to the tips because that's what they think real golfers do.

   It's a macho thing, like 8.5-degree drivers for guys who should be hitting 10.5 drivers.

   I understand if it's a one-time thing, like trying to play Quail Hollow from the tournament tees or Carmel Country Club's newly redesigned South Course from its full 7,500 yards just once for the experience. But Rees Jones, who redesigned the South Course, said he stretched Carmel to 7,500 yards to allow flexibility in setting tees from one day to the next, not so the course would actually play that long.

   Jones pointed out that Congressional Country Club, host of the U.S. Open next month, measures more than 7,400 yards but will play closer to 7,200 for the Open.

   But back to the point of this. The USGA and the PGA of America recently announced an initiative called 'Tee It Forward' designed to get more golfers to play from shorter tees, not longer tees. The idea is to make the maddening game more enjoyable for everyone, even those of us who are too stubborn to move up one set of markers.

   The big push is July 5-17 but the organizations are rolling out the campaign details now.

   "The idea is to make golf more fun," Allen Wronowski, president of the PGA of America, said.

   If that's the goal, then maybe he can fix my short game.

   By moving up a set of tees, Wronowski and others in the golf establishment are saying, players will have more fun. Hitting a 7-iron into a green is more fun than hitting a hybrid, at least in theory anyway.

   Jack Nicklaus is on board. He thinks golfers should play shorter tees. He also thinks the golf ball should be rolled back so it doesn't go so far, which he's absolutely right about but which will probably never happen.

   Barney Adams, the clubmaker, has been pushing the idea of playing shorter tees for a while and he's on to something. Whether it catches on is a different question.

   Most of us don't hit it as far as we think we do unless there's a cart path involved. We see a 6,700-yard golf course and think that's fair enough. According to research by people who are better with computers than me, a 6,700-yard course for most of us is like an 8,100-yard course for the pros.

   I'll save you the trouble -- the pros don't play anything within a long-par 5 of 8,100 yards, if you could even find one.

  If you drive it 300 on average (come on now, you know you don't), it's fine to play from 7,150 yards to 7,400 yards.

   If you hit it 250 off the tee (don't make me do a Bushnell test to find out if you're telling the truth) you should play from 6,200 yards to 6,400 yards. Bet you play longer courses than that. I do.

   If you average 225, you need to be playing from up front at 5,800 yards, maybe 6,000. That's not me saying it, it's the guys who've studied it. I'm just saying...but they might be onto something.

   And, if you average 150 off the tee, you need to be playing tennis.

  These are only guidelines. In golf, you can pick your poison, most places anyway. In Scotland, they tell you which tees to play, based on your handicap. Not a bad idea. Plus, they can play 18 holes before we've reached the 14th tee over here.

   A quick round of golf. That's fun.

Golf, Charlotte Lose A Friend In Norman Swenson

2011-05-24T08:49:00.000-04:00

Norman Swenson, one of the great golf characters around here for years, died in recently on plane flight home from a golf trip to South Korea.

Swenson played college golf at Wake Forest in the 1960s and lived on the 16th hole at Carmel Country Club’s South Course for many years. He and his family had moved from Charlotte and split their time between the North Carolina mountains and a home in Florida. His daughter, Perry, played collegiately at Texas and co-hosted a show on The Golf Channel about Myrtle Beach.

In addition to being an excellent amateur player, Norman Swenson had a world-class collection of golf memorabilia.

“Norman was one of the true ambassadors of golf,” his friend, Xan Law, said. “He was so generous taking people to play at Pine Valley and on other golf trips. He was one of those rare golfers who got better with age. He’ll really be missed.”

Is The Belly Putter In My Future?

2011-05-23T08:34:00.000-04:00

   I'm thinking about the belly putter.

   Just thinking about it, not going there. Not yet anyway.

   I know that listening to someone else talk about their golf game is as much fun as long bunker shots but indulge me for a moment. Maybe you've been where I am today.

   Then again, how many of you have three-putted seven times in 18 holes in a tournament like I did Sunday? That didn't include the 18-incher I also missed.

   If I'm going to continue playing, I'm going to get behind the push to go to 15-inch wide cups like the ones they used at Pine Needles earlier this year to see how much better people played. Not only did it speed the game along, players made more putts, there were more smiles and no one was the worse for it.

   It's a helpless feeling when you're standing over a putt with your mind doing a Google search for a new swing thought. You know what it's like: That didn't work so let's try this. Hmmm, that didn't work either. What about...

   I knew this was coming. I wrote a blog last fall about how nice it was to be a good putter again. Six-footers were opportunities, not evil teases. I was making more than my share of 15-footers and it showed in my scores.

   Todd Smith, a superb teacher and a friend of mine, had given me a simple suggestion and it worked -- for several months. Now that simple suggestion has gone the way of eight-track tapes.

   With the likelihood of 15-inch cups being adopted any time soon by the USGA, I've asked Todd to try and work his magic one more time. There's a member-member event coming up at Cedarwood where I play in a couple of weeks. The way I'm putting, it could do serious damage to a friendship.

   And I'm not ready to go shopping for a belly putter.

  Not yet, anyway.

Golf's Summer To-Do List: The First Five

2011-05-19T11:32:00.000-04:00

   It's not exactly like a New Year's resolution but now that we've hit full golf season around here, I've concocted a list of five things golfers need to do this summer. It's just a start. I'll do another list of five later and if you have suggestions, feel free to pass them along.

  1. Play in at least one tournament.

   It's one thing to play golf with your buddies, it's something else when they put the pencil in your hand and tell you to putt them out. Some people thrive on competition. Others, not so much.

   If you haven't played tournament golf in a while, do it again. It's amazing how much attention you'll start paying to those 18-inch tap-ins.

  2. Play with seven clubs rather than 14

   You can pick which clubs you leave in your car's trunk but take half of them out of your bag for one round. It will force you to hit different kinds of shots.

   If you're like me, you've probably got five or six clubs in mind you'd like to take out permanently. My hybrid, for example, would not make the seven-club cut. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver are getting along better than my hybrid and I these days.

  3. Practice putting

   Rolling a few putts before a round doesn't qualify as practicing your putting. If you practice at all, you probably bang balls and avoid the putting green. It should be the other way around.

   I know that and you know that. Of course, they tell us cheeseburgers are bad for us, too, but that doesn't change our habits.

  4. Walk nine holes late in the day

   It's the prettiest time on a golf course. If you don't want to carry your bag, you can pull a cart but walk, don't ride. Just this once.

   5. Don't wear those ugly shorts

   You know the ones I'm talking about. Everybody has a pair but, really, it's time to let them go.

Changes Coming To Golf Club At Ballantyne

2011-05-18T09:43:00.000-04:00

   The eighth hole at the Golf Club at Ballantyne is being reworked and will have a new green when the project is completed in late July.

   The par-4 eighth hole has been among the most challenging holes at the course, particularly its green which runs diagonally behind a creek. The project will enlarge and relocate the green, providing more options for hole locations and for players approaching the putting surface.

   A new tee is also being built behind the existing tee, a fairway bunker is being added and another is being extended.

   Also, the par-4 second hole is getting a new tee, which will make the hole more of a dogleg.

   Play will not be disrupted during the project.

UNC's Inman Eyeing Champions Tour

2011-05-17T12:49:00.002-04:00

After 13 seasons as the men’s golf coach at North Carolina, John Inman is going back to work on his own game.

Inman resigned his coaching duties recently and with his 50th birthday less than two years away, the former PGA Tour player is planning to give seniors golf a try. Inman, who won twice on tour in his 12-year career, nearly qualified for the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago, losing the final spot in a playoff.

“My whole life has been around professional golf and I love to compete and play at a high level,” Inman said. “You don’t forget how to play and how to compete. But if I’m going to have an opportunity at the Champions Tour, I need to be ready.”

Inman became the first man to win the ACC golf championship as both a player (1982) and a coach (2006). In his tenure with the Tar Heels, Inman led his team to 16 tournament titles and five top-20 end of the year rankings.

He’s staying connected to the North Carolina program for six months, helping with the construction of a new clubhouse at Finley Golf Course while the school searches for his successor. Leaving North Carolina, Inman said, is bittersweet.

“I feel a little bit of everything,” Inman said. “Anything you’ve done for a long time and put your heart and soul into, when you leave there are a lot of different feelings. I enjoyed working with the guys and seeing them reach the next level.

“But it’s a demanding job and it takes a lot of work, effort and some luck. It’s kind of like playing professional golf. All the things have to go right for you.”

Choi Wins, Toms Doesn't And The 17th Keeps Us Watching Again

2011-05-16T11:58:00.000-04:00

Thoughts on The Players Championship:

-- It was great to see K.J. Choi win Sunday. He doesn't have the profile and popularity of some players but he's been a quality player for a long time who is respected and admired on multiple levels. He's always been an excellent ball-striker but hasn't been a great putter. There were moments Sunday when it looked like the putter might cost him again but he made enough. Good for him.

-- It's almost a cliche but it's better to see a guy win a tournament than to have someone lose it. David Toms' late miss, while not totally unexpected, was disappointing. The birdie he made to force the playoff was big time and to turn around and let it get away the way he did was unfortunate.

-- Every year there's the debate about whether the 17th hole at the Stadium Course is gimmicky. Of course it's gimmicky but that's part of its charm. I've already had two people who don't normally watch golf on television talk about watching The Players because they like to see the pros playing the 17th hole. And it still takes its victims.

-- I didn't see Graeme McDowell's meltdown coming. I figured he was the likely winner when the final round started but, under the gun, his swing didn't hold up. It may next time but under pressure, new swings (McDowell has just tweaked his) tend to revert to old habits. It was tough to watch.

-- Still wondering what happened to the new generation of stars at The Players....

Tiger WDs At Players Championship; What's Next?

2011-05-12T10:52:00.000-04:00

   Tiger Woods' withdrawal today after shooting 42 on his first nine holes at The Players Championship is one more chapter in the story that keeps swirling.

   It's apparent that Tiger's knee/Achilles issue hasn't healed which raises the long-term question about what's next for him. The U.S. Open is five weeks away. That's the target. Whether he gets there, it's too soon to know.

   The PGA Tour suits have to be cringing. This is the second straight year Tiger has pulled out at Ponte Vedra and, before lunchtime on Thursday, the tournament is without Woods, Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy.

  It's too early to know much about Tiger's situation and he's not one to share everything anyway. My guess is he went to The Players with some question about whether he was physically ready and he got the answer in a hurry. At 35, what used to heal quickly takes more time.

Who knows what's next.

What's It Say About The Players That Westwood, McIlroy Aren't There?

2011-05-11T13:21:00.000-04:00

   With world No. 1 Lee Westwood and No. 6 Rory McIlroy bypassing The Players Championship this week at the famous TPC Stadium Course, does it say more about them or about the tournament?

   It says something about both.

   As for Westwood and McIlroy's highly publicized absences, it has the feel of a political ploy designed to point out the problems with limiting the number of PGA Tour events non-members can play each year. Westwood made that clear by skipping The Players despite having a game built to win at the tricked-up but fun to watch Stadium Course.

    McIlroy can point to his two visits to The Players and his two missed cuts as evidence that the course doesn't suit his often otherworldly game. He has the facts in his favor but it's hard to believe there's a course to which McIlroy can't adapt his game.

   Both players share the same agent, Chubby Chandler, and he seems to be making a point to the folks in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.. about limitning non-members to 10 events a year. That may work for the rank and file but it's my feeling that if you're in, say, the top 40 in the world, you should be free to play where you want.

   The idea is to get the best players on the course as often as possible. Let more scheduling freedom be one of the perks of a high world ranking. Having Westwood and McIlroy there this week would make a special week even better.

   But how special is The Players Championship?

   It's one of the biggest tournaments in the world. It's not a major championship and it never will be but it doesn't have to be a major. It's great being what it is.

   I think it woudl be better if it were moved back to the latter part of March when it used to be played but that's not likely to happen. The way it fits now, there's a big event from April through August now, allowing players to point to peak moments. That's what Tiger's always talking about and it's why he's at the Stadium Course this week -- because the U.S. Open is just over a month away.

   The Players Championship has its own traditions and, love it or hate it, the 17th hole demands you pay attention.

   It's a huge week -- with or without Westwood and McIlroy.

The Best Sunday Finish At Quail Hollow

2011-05-09T13:38:00.000-04:00

In its nine years, the Wells Fargo Championship has given us a thick scrapbook of memorable moments. What it gave us this year was the best finish in tournament history.

Here are my five top Sundays at the Wells Fargo Championship:

1. 2011

It had a little of everything, starting with Phil Mickelson making some early birdies then it had the lead ping-ponging back and forth among a handful of players.

There was the rules issue with Padraig Harrington, sending him back to the 13th tee to determine if he’d hit from in front of the tee markers; there was Rory Sabbatini’s charge while facing a possible suspension from the PGA Tour; and, there was Charlotte-born Bill Haas chasing a victory.

The way it ended, with Clemson brothers Lucas Glover and Jonathan Byrd in a playoff forced by Byrd’s spectacular 72nd hole birdie capped a terrific day.

2. 2010

Rory McIlroy’s closing 62 last year was so spectacular and so far beyond what anyone thought was possible at Quail Hollow that it echoed around the globe.

It cemented McIlroy’s international stardom with his first PGA Tour victory and his run of six straight threes to close the round won’t be duplicated. It was pure magic.

3. 2005

A playoff with Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia and Jim Furyk, that’s a pretty good threesome.

It was a Sunday when Garcia started with a six-stroke lead and shot even-par 72 but it wasn’t enough.

4. 2007

Tiger Woods won in Charlotte after struggling over the final nine holes. Steve Stricker had a chance to tie him until he hit his tee shot under a tree on the 16th hole.

Two memories stand out from Tiger’s victory:

The long eagle putt he made on the seventh hole to build his lead and the way he rifled his golf ball down the fairway after holing the winning putt.

5.2006

On a rainy Sunday, Jim Furyk made an eight-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to force a sudden-death playoff with Trevor Immelman then he won the championship by holing a six-footer on the same green on the first extra hole. It was a measure of redemption for Furyk, who had lost in a playoff the year before.

Now That's The Way To Finish A Golf Tournament

2011-05-08T21:21:00.002-04:00

For a moment Sunday afternoon, about the time everybody coming to the Mother’s Day matinee at the Wells Fargo Championship had arrived, Jonathan Byrd had a four-stroke lead and the chance to siphon the juice out of the warm springtime air.

Then – right after everyone put their caps back on after taking a moment to honor the late Seve Ballesteros -- things got crazy in a Rory Sabbatini, Fear The Beard, Let’s Go To The Video kind of way.

By now, you know how it ended, with Lucas Glover beating his buddy Jonathan Byrd on the first hole of sudden death but getting there was all the fun.

There was a time, though, when it appeared any one of several other players might win. Bill Haas had a chance. Kevin Na had a chance. Until he faded late, Andres Romero looked like he could win without ever having a shot of his televised.

Then Sabbatini arrived, all big hat and attitude, throwing birdies on the board like they were spitballs. Sabbatini is rumored to be facing a PGA Tour suspension for letting his temper get the best of him a couple of times and the possibility of him rolling into the tour’s headquarters this week having just won a big-time event was amusing.

When Sabo birdied 14, 15 and 16 to get a share of the lead, it became a serious possibility. But Sabbatini said, “One short” when he headed to the scoring room after his round and he was right.

While Sabbatini was finishing, Padraig Harrington was being accused of hitting his tee shot on the par-3 13th hole from in front of the markers necessitating a sudden, intense investigation.

A marshal was said to have reported the breach and pretty soon, Harrington and his playing partner, Phil Mickelson were back on the 13th tee studying divots the way David Caruso studies evidence on ‘CSI: Sunglasses.’ After a lengthy review, it was determined that nothing had been determined and, therefore, Harrington was absolved of any guilt.

Harrington is one of the game’s great gentlemen and it was nice to see the relief on his face when the decision had been rendered.

Finally, it came down to a pair of Clemson guys trying to beat each other while keeping their fans in line.

Every time Byrd would hit a tee shot, a few of his fans would shout ‘J-Byrd’ in their football-game voices. Living in tony Sea Island, Ga., as he does, Byrd doesn’t get that every day but he went to Clemson so he understands.

Then there was Glover, who was trailed by a group of guys wearing home-made ‘Fear The Beard’ t-shirts. The good news is they were better than Glover feared they might be when he was told to stay out of the garage where his hosts were making their wardrobe.

By sundown Sunday, Glover was wearing a new navy blazer, one of his prizes for winning a Wells Fargo Championship that looked just great with his beard.