＜速報＞申ジエが逃げ切って優勝！藍は69位タイ

2010年11月07日16時51分
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リーダーズボード
順位 選手名 スコア優勝 申　ジエ -18
2 ヤニ・ツェン -16
3 S・ルイス -15
4 佐伯　三貴 -12
5 チェ・ナヨン -11
B.リンシコム -11
宮里　美香 -11
8 ジミン・カン -10
インビー・パーク -10
馬場　ゆかり -10


順位の続きを見る


＜ミズノクラシック　最終日＞◇7日◇近鉄賢島カンツリークラブ(6,506ヤード・パー72)

　三重県にある近鉄賢島カンツリークラブで開催された、日米女子ツアー共催「ミズノクラシック」の最終日。初日から首位の申ジエ(韓国)が、トータル18アンダーまでスコアを伸ばして優勝。逃げ切りで今大会2年ぶり2度目制覇を飾った。

　2打差の2位はヤニ・ツェン(台湾)、3位にはステイシー・ルイス(米国)、佐伯三貴が4位に入った。宮里藍は4つスコアを伸ばしたが、昨日の79が響きトータル3オーバー69位タイに終わった。

【最終結果】
優勝：申ジエ(-18)
2位：ヤニ・ツェン(-16)
3位：ステイシー・ルイス(-15)
4位：佐伯三貴(-12)
5位T：ブリタニー・リンシコム(-11)
5位T：ナ・イェン・チョイ(-11)
5位T：宮里美香(-11)
8位T：馬場ゆかり(-10)他3名
12位T：有村智恵(-9)
12位T：モーガン・プレッセル(-9)
14位T：上田桃子(-8)他6名

35位T：横峯さくら(-4)他4名
69位T：宮里藍(+3)他3名

日本オープン、石川遼はキョンテ、日本アマ覇者の櫻井と同組

2011年10月11日17時09分




＜日本オープンゴルフ選手権　事前情報◇11日◇鷹之台カンツリー倶楽部(7,061ヤード・パー71)＞

　日本最強ゴルファーを決める、国内男子メジャー「日本オープンゴルフ選手権」が10月13日(木)から千葉県にある鷹之台カンツリー倶楽部を舞台に開催される。

　プロアマが開催されたこの日予選ラウンドの組み合わせが発表され、石川遼は昨年度王者の金庚泰(キム・キョンテ)(韓国)、「日本アマチュアゴルフ選手権競技」を制した明治大学の櫻井勝之と同組で11時26分に1番スタートとなった。昨年度ローアマチュアの松山英樹はベ・サンムン(韓国)、平塚哲二と同組で11時17分に1番からスタートする。

　池田勇太は薗田峻輔、アマチュア時代からのライバル諸藤将次と同組で7時36分に10番スタート、藤田寛之はJ・B・パク(韓国)、河井博大のメジャーチャンプ2人とのペアリングとなった。

遼、ドライバーで攻める！“らしい”プレーで日本オープン制覇へ

2011年10月12日17時15分






練習ラウンドをこなした石川遼、初のメジャータイトルを狙う（撮影：米山聡明）

＜日本オープンゴルフ選手権　事前情報◇12日◇鷹之台カンツリー倶楽部(7,061ヤード・パー71)＞

　いよいよ開幕を迎える、国内男子メジャー「日本オープンゴルフ選手権」。月曜日から練習ラウンドを行い仕上がりは「ほぼ最高」と自信を見せる石川遼は、メジャーセッティングに仕上がった鷹之台カンツリー倶楽部を改めてドライバーで攻めていく戦略を打ち出した。

【関連リンク】「今までの日本OPで一番悔しい」優勝が惑わせた石川遼の心 昨年大会

　この日の練習ラウンドで気になったのは、ラフの長さより地面の硬さだ。「完璧なショットを打ってもラフに入ったりする。逆にラフに行っても跳ねて芝が薄いところに行くことがある」。それだけに、開き直ってドライバーで距離を稼ぐ戦略のほうが好結果につながると判断した。

　振り返れば、古賀ゴルフクラブで開催された08年大会から、難セッティングにもドライバーを振りぬいていくことで結果を出してきた日本オープン。ドライバーで出来る限り飛ばし、ウェッジでピンを狙う。石川遼“らしい”プレーで難コース攻略に挑む。

松山英樹、ようやくマスターズのシルバーカップお披露目！

2011年10月12日18時41分






ローアマの証、シルバーカップを初お披露目！（撮影：米山聡明）

＜日本オープンゴルフ選手権　事前情報◇12日◇鷹之台カンツリー倶楽部(7,061ヤード・パー71)＞

　今年4月に行われた米国メジャー「マスターズ」で、日本人史上初のローアマチュアに輝いた松山英樹。しかし、そのローアマの証であるシルバーカップは手違いで行方不明となったまま半年が過ぎた。そのシルバーカップが10月に入ってようやく松山本人のもとに届き、この日「日本オープン」の会場でお披露目。「僕も持つのは初めて」とはにかんだ。

【関連リンク】遼、ドライバーで攻める！“らしい”プレーで日本オープン制覇へ

　開幕を明日に控えたメジャーに向けては、「まずは予選通過を目標にやって行きたい」と現実的な目標を掲げたが、アジアアマチュア選手権で2連覇を達成し、早くも来年の「マスターズ」出場権を手にしたスーパーアマチュアに否が応でも注目度は高まっている。それでも、プレッシャーはない。「去年より注目されると思うけど、去年より良い成績を残せればいいので、一生懸命やっていきたい。ギャラリーが多いほうが僕は好きなので」と淡々と語った。

　昨年大会はタイトルに迫る好プレーを見せて3位タイフィニッシュ。見事ローアマに輝いた。今大会には日本アマ王者の櫻井勝之、ANAオープンで活躍を見せた伊藤誠道など注目アマチュアが多く参戦しているが、「ローアマ獲れれば嬉しいけど、特にこだわって守りたいというのはないですね」とあくまで自然体。あの「マスターズ」でも貫かれた飄々としたプレーで上位を狙う。

歴代チャンピオン集結！2度目のチャンピオンズディナー開催

2011年10月12日19時23分






優勝杯を囲んで歴代チャンピオンが集結（撮影：米山聡明）

＜日本オープンゴルフ選手権　事前情報◇12日◇鷹之台カンツリー倶楽部(7,061ヤード・パー71)＞

　千葉県にある鷹之台カンツリー倶楽部を舞台に開催される「日本オープンゴルフ選手権競技」。本戦を翌日に控えこの日は歴代優勝者が出席するチャンピオンズディナーが催された。

【関連リンク】遼、ドライバーで攻める！“らしい”プレーで日本オープン制覇へ

　歴代チャンピオン達の功績末永く称えていきたいという趣旨で昨年からスタートしたこのチャンピオンズディナーには、ディフェンディングチャンピオンの金庚泰(キム・キョンテ)(韓国)、青木功、中嶋常幸、片山晋呉らそうそうたる面々が出席。さらに、1966年大会王者の佐藤精一氏も出席して豪華な顔ぶれとなった。

　鷹之台カンツリー倶楽部で日本オープンが開催されるのは尾崎直道が制した2000年大会以来4度目。井上誠一設計の難関コースは今大会は総距離が7,061ヤードに伸びて難易度を増している。ここを制して来年のチャンピオンズディナーに加わるのはいったい誰になるのか。

Ogilvy misses Masters, despite extra effort

Ogilvy misses Masters, despite extra effort












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Geoff Ogilvy played 10 straight events for which he was eligible in his quest for Augusta National.(Getty Images)

PGA.COM April 4, 2013 5:32 PM



HUMBLE, Texas (AP) -- A trip to the Masters wasn't meant to be for Geoff Ogilvy, though not from a lack of effort.

Starting with the Humana Challenge, he played 10 tournaments out of 11 weeks in a bid to get into the top 50 in world rankings by the end of the Shell Houston Open. The only week he missed was the Accenture Match Play Championship because he didn't qualify.

A question arose last week, after Ogilvy missed the cut for the fifth time this year, about whether he would have been better off not playing the last two weeks.

Turns out he made the right call.

If he had not played Bay Hill or the Houston Open, Ogilvy would have had only 50 tournaments count against his record and his average points would have been 2.31. He would have been projected at No. 50 in the world after Houston, instead of being projected at No. 53.

Ogilvy would have taken the risk, however, that no one would play well enough to move past him.

Henrik Stenson tied for second in the Houston Open. Marcel Siem won the Hassan II Trophy on the European Tour. Both would have kept Ogilvy out of the top 50. In the case of Siem, he still didn't get in. The German was No. 51 by a 0.025 points average behind Russell Henley.

Three share Kraft Nabisco lead

Three share Kraft Nabisco lead










John Reger, The Sports Xchange April 4, 2013 9:50 PMThe SportsXchange



RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Na Yeon Choi and Suzann Pettersen all shot 4-under-par 68 to share the lead after the first round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship on Thursday.

The event is the LPGA's first major tournament of the season.

Anna Nordqvist and Amy Yang are a stroke behind, with 11 players tied for sixth at Mission Hills Country Club's Dinah Shore Tournament Course.

Ewart Shadoff, who is from England, held the lead with three holes to play, but she missed a 3-foot, par-saving putt on No. 16 to drop a shot. It was her second bogey of the round. She missed a 40-foot birdie try on the par-5 18th hole that would have given her back sole possession of the lead.

Choi, who is from South Korea, and Pettersen, from Norway, played in the same group and both had bogey-free rounds. However, it took the duo a few holes to get comfortable. Choi made the first birdie, rolling in a 30-foot putt on her fifth hole, No. 14. Pettersen made her first birdie two holes later.

Both players got to 3 under by the turn, with Choi making birdies on two of the last three holes on their first nine. Pettersen tied Choi on No. 18, after making her third consecutive birdie.

Each was able to make only one birdie on the second nine.

Several other players beside flirted with either tying the leaders or overtaking them, but miscues down the stretch quelled their chances.

Nordqvst was at 3 under par with four holes to play, but she bogeyed her 15th hole before grabbing a birdie on her 18th.

Giulia Sergas of Italy was also 3 under before making two bogies in three holes on the back nine. She wound up shooting 70.

Golfers in the morning had an advantage, as afternoon winds made the course more challenging. Choi and Pettersen were among 10 players out of the top 14 who started in the morning.

NOTES: Defending champion Sun Young Yoo shot a 5-over 77, and she's tied for 90th in the 111-player field. ... Other notables include Michelle Wie, who finished at even-par 72 after three birdies and three bogeys, and the 2012 winner, Yani Tseng, who also shot 72. They are tied for 23rd. ... Lizette Salas, who shot 70, has 2000 U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion Greg Puga as her caddy.

Three share Kraft Nabisco first-round lead

Three share Kraft Nabisco first-round lead










John Reger, The Sports Xchange April 4, 2013 10:30 PMThe SportsXchange


RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Jodi Ewart Shadoff isn't letting her relative inexperience in the Kraft Nabisco Championship get in her way.


The 24-year-old from England, playing for just the second time in the LPGA's first major of the season, shot a 4-under-par 68 Thursday to grab a share of the lead after the first round.

South Korea's Na Yeon Choi and Norway's Suzann Pettersen also shot 68.

Anna Nordqvist and Amy Yang are a stroke behind, with 11 players tied for sixth at Mission Hills Country Club's Dinah Shore Tournament Course.

Ewart Shadoff, who was married in January, finished tied for 26th last year in the Kraft Nabisco.

"I've been playing really consistently the last three or four tournaments, so I knew like my game is right there," Ewart Shadoff said. "I knew I was due to have a really good round."

Ewart Shadoff held the lead with three holes to play, but she missed a 3-foot, par-saving putt on No. 16 to drop a shot. It was her second bogey of the round. She missed a 40-foot birdie try on the par-5 18th hole that would have given her back sole possession of the lead.

"I played really consistently, got into a really good birdie train in the middle of my round, which was nice," Ewart Shadoff said. "I was just hitting a lot of greens and making putts, so I'm happy with how I'm playing and excited to get out there again."

Choi and Pettersen played in the same group and both had bogey-free rounds. However, it took the duo a few holes to get comfortable. Choi made the first birdie, rolling in a 30-foot putt on her fifth hole, No. 14. Pettersen made her first birdie two holes later.

"After I made that putt, I got good momentum from there and I got good confidence," Choi said. "I thought like I needed to play more aggressively."

Both players got to 3 under by the turn, with Choi making birdies on two of the last three holes on their first nine. Pettersen tied Choi on No. 18, after making her third consecutive birdie.

"The course is perfect, greens are rolling pure," Pettersen said.

Each was able to make only one birdie on the second nine.

Several other players flirted with either tying the leaders or overtaking them, but miscues down the stretch quelled their chances.

Nordqvist was at 3 under par with four holes to play, but she bogeyed her 15th hole before grabbing a birdie on her 18th.

Giulia Sergas of Italy was also 3 under before making two bogeys in three holes on the back nine. She wound up shooting 70.

Golfers in the morning had an advantage, as afternoon winds made the course more challenging. Choi and Pettersen were among 10 players out of the top 14 who started in the morning.

Another advantage for Choi and Pettersen over Ewart Shadoff is experience at this event. Choi has two top-10 finishes in five years, while Pettersen has been the runner-up here three times.

"I hope I know what I'm doing," Pettersen said. "That would help. It's really just try and go out there and literally try to enjoy it, which is probably the hardest thing for me."

Pettersen did get some valuable advice from LPGA Hall of Fame member Kathy Whitworth a few years ago.

"I'll never forget when she came up to me, I think it was 2009," Pettersen said. "She shook my hand and said, 'Don't ever let the passion get in my way.' It's really spot on. Just need to get up there and hit the shots that I'm seeing."

NOTES: Defending champion Sun Young Yoo shot a 5-over 77, and she's tied for 90th in the 111-player field. ... Other notables include Michelle Wie, who finished at even-par 72 after three birdies and three bogeys, and the 2012 winner, Yani Tseng, who also shot 72. They are tied for 23rd. ... Lizette Salas, who shot 70, has 2000 U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion Greg Puga as her caddy.

Tiger Woods ends bizarre day at the Masters right where he started – sort of

Tiger Woods ends bizarre day at the Masters right where he started – sort of











Dan Wetzel April 13, 2013 8:20 PMYahoo Sports






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Tiger Woods tips his cap as he walks up to the 2nd green. (USAT Sports)AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods stood on the practice green of Augusta National as the thin, early evening shadows crept across the grounds Saturday, the end of a long, long day at the Masters.



Tiger awoke at 3-under, then saw a text from his agent and was summoned to the course to meet with the competition committee. That's where [irony alert!] thanks to being forthcoming in a media interview he was docked two strokes for an illegal drop on the 15h hole Friday.

He was not, however, disqualified from the tournament, which sent some commentators and columnists into a frenzy. They either decried the decision or demanded Woods step up and do the supposedly honorable thing and DQ himself.

Of course he did no such thing.

"Under the rules of golf," Tiger said, "I can play."

[Related: Tiger still in the hunt despite disaster at 15]

He nearly eagled the first hole, wound up bogeying his way back to par and finally climbed to finish right where he was before the penalty – 3-under. He was so close on so many putts, though, that he knows he could’ve been better.

That brought him here to the practice green for some post-round fundamentals as the leaders slowly rolled in. About 4 feet from a hole, Tiger set two tees just slightly more than the length of a putter base apart. He then repeatedly knocked in a half dozen balls, sometimes using just one hand.

Eventually he, his agent, Mark Steinberg, and caddie Joe LaCava took a break from the work and complaining about a moralizing media member and stared into the sun at the large, hand-run scoreboard on 18. Just a few moments prior, Brandt Snedeker's birdie on 16 was recorded, moving his to 7-under. Angel Cabrera later joined him as co-leader after 54.

So the task ahead for Woods – four strokes and passing six players – is clear.

The fallout from Friday's mistaken drop, perhaps not. Tiger is no stranger to wild days, especially at this tournament, but this was something new.

"You know, [today] started off obviously different, but I'm right there in the ballgame," he said. "I'm four back with a great shot to win this championship."





View gallery.That's a championship plenty of golf traditionalists don’t think he should even be attempting to win.



From former players to television analysts, Tiger was under fire for his drop on 15 after a chip hit the pin and rolled into the water. First he admitted on television that he dropped the ball 2 yards behind the original spot – setting off a second review of the incident that eventually earned him that two-stroke penalty.

Then, after not being DQ'd for signing what turned out to be an inaccurate scorecard, he didn't voluntarily sit himself under the strictest possible interpretation of the rules – he a) gained an advantage on a drop and b) technically signed a bad scorecard.

[Related: Masters makes right call in cutting Tiger Woods a break]

"I think he should [withdraw]," David Duval wrote on Twitter. "He took a drop to gain an advantage."

That was about as likely as all of Tiger's critics turning themselves into the local police for going 38 in a 35 and not getting a ticket.

It's nice that golf aspires to be a game of honor, and it certainly would have been a rather magnanimous gesture by Tiger, but to demand he quit – or criticize him for not quitting – is to take this entire pursuit way too serious.

The Masters made him explain himself and decided he could play. Whatever is supposedly written on some ancient golfing scrolls isn't applicable. And really, this is a golf tournament held in an exclusive and historically questionable country club. Spare everyone the integrity lectures.

"I was able to go out there and compete and play," Tiger said.

He said the controversy didn't affect his game; that once he got back to the course he was focused on his game. "I was ready," he said.

[Related: TV viewer gets Tiger fiasco underway]

Still, it was an unusual day. He had to come over at 8 a.m. and explain himself, again. His downfall was telling the media in the first place there was some strategy behind his improper drop. The Masters had previously ruled the drop appropriate, and only thought differently after Woods' detailed explanation on TV.

Then he had to worry about what the ruling was going to be. "I didn't know what was going on," he said. Once he was cleared to play, he needed to make up ground he didn’t expect to lose in the first place.

As the confusing, very fluid situation played out, it produced odd scenes such as Tiger putting on the second green as Steinberg stood under a nearby pine tree closely reading a transcript of comments from Fred Ridley, chairman of the Masters Competition Committee.

In the end, inconsistency and a failure to make many big plays left Woods on the outside of contention. He'll need to fix both on Sunday to stand a chance at a fifth green jacket. Four strokes loom large. With so many solid names above him, he can't count on a mass collapse.

If on Friday he'd just not innocently answered a question about his thought process on an otherwise innocuous drop, it would all be different. He'd be just two back and without the golf police barking about tainted titles.

"Fred and the Rules Committee had already made the determination that everything was fine," Tiger said.

That was then. This was Saturday evening.

Soon he was hitting more practice putts.

McIlroy loses five shots in mid-round stumble

McIlroy loses five shots in mid-round stumble











PGA.COM April 13, 2013 8:49 PM

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Rory McIlroy's 79 was his second-highest score in 17 rounds at the Masters.(Getty Images)


By Nancy Armour, Associated Press


AUGUSTA, Ga. -- No sooner had Rory McIlroy moved into contention than he took himself out.

The world's No. 2 player dropped five shots in five holes Saturday afternoon, and had to par his last two holes just to break 80. At 5-over for the tournament, he trails the leaders by double digits.

It's disappointing, especially after such a good start," McIlroy said. "I was only a few off the lead going into the seventh hole today, and then all of a sudden I play through (Nos.) 7 through 11 in 5-over par. And basically, my chances in the tournament are gone. Basically, that's my chances in the tournament gone."

His 79 was his second-highest score in 17 rounds at Augusta National. The only time he's fared worse was in 2011, when he blew the tournament lead on the back nine on his way to an 80.

The Northern Irishman was hoping the first major of 2013 would jumpstart a year that so far has been a disappointment. He played well to get in contention at the Texas Open last week, finishing second with a final round 66, and expected to be in contention here.

He was lurking after a 70 in the second round, and a birdie on No. 3 put him on the leaderboard. After making pars on the next three holes, he felt like he was in good position to track down Jason Day and the rest of the players in front of him. Even a bogey on No. 7 wasn't too disheartening.

But his round came apart on No. 11, the long par 4.

After missing right off the tee again, he hit a poor second shot that left him with a wedge into the green. But the wind took the ball and dropped it in the water short of the green. He steadied himself with three straight pars, and thought he was in good shape when his second shot on the par-5 15th hit the green.

McIlroy was so convinced the shot was good he made a move to start walking, only to see the ball begin dribbling backward. It rolled all the way into the water. He compounded the error by three-putting once he chipped on.

"The margins are very small on this course, and when you get on the wrong side of some of these slopes, you can't help but get a penalty," McIlroy said. "A couple of missed shots here and there, but, yeah, I felt like I was done in on 11 and 15. That's the way it goes."

McIlroy conceded earlier in the week that the adjustment to his new clubs -- which came as part of a huge endorsement deal with Nike -- had taken some time. But he said his driving had improved greatly and he was gaining confidence with every round he played.

Even mighty Augusta National isn't as intimidating as it once was.

McIlroy had one of the more famous collapses in Masters history in 2011. Taking a 1-stroke lead onto the 10th tee, he pulled his tee shot into the trees left of the fairway, and the ball apparently ricocheted between two of the club's famous cabins. McIlroy had no choice but to punch it back out, but then yanked his approach shot left of the green, near a scoreboard, before banging a shot off a tree limb.

He finally chipped it onto the green -- barely. Two putts left him with a 7, and that lead had become a 2-shot deficit. He three-putted for another bogey on No. 11, and tacked on a four-putt double-bogey on 12 to complete the meltdown.

But McIlroy has come a long way since then. He won his first major two months after the Masters debacle, at the U.S. Open, and added a second at last year's PGA Championship. He was No. 1 in the world for 32 weeks before ceding the spot to Tiger Woods three weeks ago.

"I feel like I played smart enough," McIlroy said. "I mean, I'm playing it the way I know the way you should play it. I'm not taking too much on. I'm not being too defensive. I feel like my strategy's right. It's just sometimes if your execution is just that little bit off, you pay a big price for it."

Woods stays in hunt after penalty for bad drop

Woods stays in hunt after penalty for bad drop











PGA.COM April 13, 2013 11:53 PM

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At the Masters, Tiger Woods took advantage of his reprieve to shoot a 2-under 70 that left him four …


By Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press


AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The 5-iron was almost as good as the wedge the day before. Tiger Woods played the 15th hole Saturday as if he wanted payback, and this time there was nothing controversial about it.

The 10-foot eagle putt slid just by the left side, but birdie was almost as good. Woods was not only still playing, but back in contention for a fifth green jacket on what was easily the most unusual day in his 19 years in the Masters.

"Under the rules of golf I can play," Woods said. "I was able to go out there and compete and play."

A day that began with the threat of a possible disqualification ended with Woods surrounded by media as the sun started to fade behind the towering Georgia pines. But the questions were about what happened the day before, rather than the 5-iron he hit close on No. 15 or the 2-under 70 he posted to move within four shots of the lead.

That he started his third round two shots worse than where he stood the night before wasn't all that bad. After signing a scorecard that didn't include a penalty for an improper drop on the 15th hole, there was a real possibility Woods could have been heading home Saturday instead of to the first tee.

Once there, he was determined to make his good fortune pay.

"I was fired up and ready to play," Woods said. "I was five back and wanted to cut that in half. I kept it within reach and, as we all know, if you're six shots within the lead on the back nine on Sunday you're in it."

Woods was pumped, indeed. His fairway wood found the short grass and he followed with an iron that rolled just 2 feet past the cup. The birdie touched off the first big roar of the afternoon and a big crowd followed him to the second hole, sensing that this might be a special round.

If the events of the morning were weighing on his mind, Woods didn't show it. If anything, he seemed relieved to be playing after being summoned to the course at 8:00 a.m. to explain what happened when he took his drop on the 15th hole after hitting a wedge so perfect it struck the flagstick and ricocheted back into the water fronting the green.

If he didn't explain it well after his round Saturday, maybe it was because his explanation the day before was what got him into trouble in the first place. Masters officials -- acting on a tip from a television viewer -- had decided among themselves that Woods would not be penalized for the drop, but that changed after hearing comments made by Woods that he dropped back two yards so he wouldn't hit the pin again.

That would be taking advantage of a drop, something that carries a two-stroke penalty. Upon further review it was deemed just that, though Masters officials declined to disqualify Woods for signing an incorrect scorecard because he didn't know he was under investigation when he signed it.

"There's no question that Tiger should be penalized," Masters competition committee chief Fred Ridley said before Woods teed off. "That's not the issue. The issue is what should we do in imposing that penalty."

Woods got the word he might be in trouble in a text from his agent, and was complimented by Ridley for his candor when he met with Masters officials. The penalty was quickly adjudicated, and he was sent on his way before coming back alone in a black Mercedes SUV shortly before noon to play his third round.

Later, CBS would open its telecast with announcer Jim Nantz talking about how Woods made an "innocent" and "absent-minded" mistake.

"I've seen guys get DQ'd before," Woods said. "The rules officials did a fantastic job."

Woods had a chance to make an early run after his opening birdie but missed short birdie putts on the next two holes and made the turn in even par. He finally got things going on the back nine -- where he had just made one birdie in the first two rounds -- with three birdies in four holes, including his last on the par-5 15th.

That was the hole where his wedge went in the water on Friday and he made what he thought was a bogey 6. It was turned into a snowman 8 with the penalty by the time he teed off and he technically cut his second round score in half with his birdie 4.

Woods finished with three pars, including an up-and-down on No. 18 that he finished off with a 10-foot putt. He gave it a little fist pump and headed toward the clubhouse, with the crowd cheering his every move.

`It's tough out there," Woods said. "This is a normal Masters. We had soft conditions but the greens aren't soft anymore. We had serious speed; they were moving."

The round put Woods at 213, 3 under for the tournament and four back of leaders Brandt Snedeker and Angel Cabrera. It's a spot that gives Woods hope on Sunday to end a nearly five-year victory drought in major championships, though he has never come from behind on the final day to win a major.

"It started off obviously different, but I'm right there in the ballgame," Woods said. "As of right now I'm four back with a great shot to win this championship."

Woods answered a few questions after the round, but clearly wasn't about to get in any long discussions about his possible disqualification. He quickly moved to the practice green, where he threw down a half dozen balls and began hitting 3-footers, one after another.

It was back to golf. And those are the putts he'll have to make on Sunday if he wants to win a fifth green jacket.

Lewis, Stanford close in on leader Jutanugam

Lewis, Stanford close in on leader Jutanugam










Kevin Dunleavy, The Sports Xchange May 3, 2013 8:00 PMThe SportsXchange



JAMES CITY, Va. - Americans Stacy Lewis and Angela Stanford shot the same score (68) in the first two rounds of the Kingsmill Championship. But there was little question which day they played better.

With the sun baking Kingsmill in the morning and swirling winds whipping off the James River, conditions turned hard and fast on Friday, a departure from the opening round when players were permitted to lift, clean, and place on the saturated fairways of the River Course.

After a day of retreat for many, Lewis (68-68 - 136) and Stanford (68-68 - 136) matched the best score of the day and are at 6-under-par, one shot behind Ariya Jutanugarn (64-71 - 135) at the midway point at Kingsmill.

Jutanugarn, a 17-year-old from Thailand who entered on a sponsor's exemption, played in the afternoon when the sun disappeared, the temperatures dipped into the mid-50s, and the day turned raw. After blitzing the River Course with nine birdies on Thursday, Jutanugarn needed 12 holes to make one on Friday. But after playing the first eight holes in 3-over-par and falling two shots behind, she played the rest in 3-under to regain the lead.

Two strokes back are a pair of past Kingsmill champions, American Cristie Kerr (66-71 - 137) and Norway'sSuzann Pettersen (68-69 - 137). The 35-year-old Kerr, who won at the River Course in 2005 and 2009, is the only two-time champion in the eight-year history of the event. Pettersen captured the title in 2007.

On a day when only 20 players broke par, a feat which 72 accomplished on Thursday, some took a precipitous fall, including Dewi Claire Schreefel (67-78 - 145), Hee Young Park (68-77 - 145), and Jennifer Rosales (69-77 - 146), who missed the cut by a stroke.

As the course grew teeth, it was not a day for those who lacked tournament experience. The 35-year-old Stanford, who hit 14 greens in regulation and took 29 putts for the second straight round, called it "Groundhog Day." Upon further reflection, she revised her opinion.

"Yesterday I was sad I left some out there," Stanford said. "I felt like I got the most out of today."

Among a group of six players within three strokes of the lead are reigning LPGA champion Shanshan Feng (69-69 - 138), 2011 U.S. Women's Open champion So Yeon Ryu (67-71 - 138), Ai Miyazato (68-70 - 138), and 52-year-old Juli Inkster (69-69 - 138), a seven-time major champion.

Bucking the trend of experienced players emerging at Kingsmill is former South Carolina All-American Katie Burnett (68-70 - 138), who continued her strong play after making the tournament via sponsor's exemption. This is only the second LPGA event for the 23-year-old.

Notes: Among the name players who missed the cut were 2004 Kingsmill champion Se Ri Pak (72-74 - 146), Michelle Wie (73-73 -- 146), Morgan Pressel (74-76 - 150), and Christina Kim (76-80 - 156).

Lewis, Stanford gain on leader Jutanugarn

Lewis, Stanford gain on leader Jutanugarn










Kevin Dunleavy, The Sports Xchange May 3, 2013 9:10 PMThe SportsXchange


JAMES CITY, Va. -- Americans Stacy Lewis and Angela Stanford shot the same score (68) in the first two rounds of the Kingsmill Championship. But there was little question which day they played better.

With the sun baking Kingsmill in the morning and swirling winds whipping off the James River, conditions turned hard and fast on Friday, a departure from the opening round when players were permitted to lift, clean, and place on the saturated fairways of the River Course.

After a day of retreat for many, Lewis (68-68 - 136) and Stanford (68-68 - 136) matched the best score of the day and are at 6-under-par, one shot behind Ariya Jutanugarn (64-71 - 135) at the midway point at Kingsmill.

Jutanugarn, a 17-year-old from Thailand who entered on a sponsor's exemption, played in the afternoon when the sun disappeared, the temperatures dipped into the mid-50s, and the day turned raw. After blitzing the River Course with nine birdies on Thursday, Jutanugarn needed 12 holes to make one on Friday. But after playing the first eight holes in 3-over-par and falling two shots behind, she played the rest in 3-under to regain the lead.

"On the back nine my putting got better, but I still missed a lot of short putts," Jutanugarn said.

Two strokes back are a pair of past Kingsmill champions, American Cristie Kerr (66-71 - 137) and Norway'sSuzann Pettersen (68-69 - 137). The 35-year-old Kerr, who won at the River Course in 2005 and 2009, is the only two-time champion in the eight-year history of the event. Pettersen captured the title in 2007.

Also two back is Germany's Sandra Gal (68-69 - 137).

"Yardages don't really matter. It's controlling the spin," Pettersen said of the rugged conditions. "On a day like today, you gotta play smart. You gotta pick the right club at the right time, with the right gust. Today was a day where you could easily take yourself out of the pack."

On Friday only 20 players broke par, a feat which 72 players accomplished on Thursday. Some took a precipitous fall, including Dewi Claire Schreefel (67-78 - 145), Hee Young Park (68-77 - 145), and Jennifer Rosales (69-77 - 146), who missed the cut by a stroke.


As the course grew teeth, it was not a day for those who lacked tournament experience. The 35-year-old Stanford, who hit 14 greens in regulation and took 29 putts for the second straight round, called it "Groundhog Day." Upon further reflection, she revised her opinion.

"Yesterday I was sad I left some out there," Stanford said. "I felt like I got the most out of today."

Before hitting their approach shots, many players examined tree-tops, trying to gauge the swirling winds. Judging shots became more difficult as players reached the treacherous final three holes, which play close to the river.

"It was blowing when we started, but it was probably midway through the front nine when it really started to blow pretty good," Lewis said. "It's drying out the course. So [on] the downwind holes, it's releasing on the greens and it's definitely affecting some putts. The 18th hole is playing brutal today. They moved the tee up and I still hit a 4-iron into the green."

On a quality leaderboard, four of the top six are ranked in the world's top 20. Considering the course, it was no coincidence that quality players rose on Friday. The seven past champions at Kingsmill have won a combined 28 majors, all claiming at least one.

"It's hard, especially today with the wind," Lewis said of the River Course. "It became comical how many times we hit 6-iron into a green today. We hit 4, 5, 6-irons and then you've got to hit your wedges close on the par 5s, so it demands every shot in the bag. That's why the list of past champions is so good."

Among a group of six players within three strokes of the lead are reigning LPGA champion Shanshan Feng (69-69 - 138), 2011 U.S. Women's Open champion So Yeon Ryu (67-71 - 138), Ai Miyazato (68-70 - 138), and 52-year-old Juli Inkster (69-69 - 138), a seven-time major champion.

Bucking the trend of experienced players emerging at Kingsmill is former South Carolina All-American Katie Burnett (68-70 - 138), who continued her strong play after making the tournament via sponsor's exemption. This is only the second LPGA event for the 23-year-old.

With the wind expected to continue to blow over the weekend, Petterson expects the cream to continue to rise.

"This is probably the best course we play all year," Pettersen said. "I think you can see on past champions, it's great ball-strikers, good golfers. I'm glad I was able to put my name on that list on this course."

Notes: Among the name players who missed the cut were 2004 Kingsmill champion Se Ri Pak (72-74 - 146), Michelle Wie (73-73 -- 146), Morgan Pressel (74-76 - 150), and Christina Kim (76-80 - 156) ... Jutanugarn's 18-year-old sister, Mariya Jutanugarn (73-70 - 143), played the final nine holes in 4-under and made the cut.

Kerr takes 2-shot lead to Sunday at Kingsmill

Kerr takes 2-shot lead to Sunday at Kingsmill










Benjamin Standig, The Sports Xchange May 4, 2013 7:00 PMThe SportsXchange



JAMES CITY, Va. -- Cristie Kerr shot a 5-under 66 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the LPGA Tour's Kingsmill Championship on the River Course at Kingsmill Resort.

Fellow American Stacy Lewis carded a 68 and is for second with Suzann Pettersen of Norway. Angela Stanford is alone in fourth at 7-under.

Kerr started the day two strokes behind first and second round leader Ariya Jutanugarn, a 17-year-old from Thailand, who entered on a sponsor's exemption.

The 35-year-old Kerr rolled in six birdies, three on each side and all coming after a bogey on the second hole.

Kerr, who has 15 career victories, is the only two-time champion in the eight-year history of the tournament, winning at the River Course in 2005 and 2009. Pettersen captured the title in 2007.

Jutanugarn, the current leader on the Ladies European Tour money list, finished her round at 73 after carding bogeys on three of her first four holes and totaling six in all.

Ilhee Lee of South Korea had a wild round that ended with the South Korean's third straight 69, leaving her four shots back in fifth place.

Inbee Park of South Korea, ranked No. 1 in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings and a three-time winner this season, shot 69 and is tied for eighth.

Overcast morning conditions gave way to sunny skies once the final groups hit the course, but chilly temperatures remained throughout, as did swirling winds.

Jutanugarn shot a first-round 64 and dominated the front nine on Thursday and Friday, but opened Saturday with bogeys on the first two holes. Another followed on the fourth.

With Jutanugarm dropping back, several players took turns atop the leaderboard.

Lee initially emerged from the pack with a 30-foot eagle putt on the seventh hole and started the back nine with a two-stroke lead.

Four holes later, the lead vanished thanks to back-to-back double bogeys on 12 and 13, although Lee recorded birdies on the next two holes.

Kerr, who last won at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational last November, led almost exclusively from there.

Briefly joined by Pettersen at 8-under, Kerr jumped ahead for good with a birdie on 13. She extended her lead with a birdie on the par-5 15th.

Lewis, the top-ranked American and No. 2 in the world, moved back into the contending mix with birdies on 15 and 16.

The only player without a bogey during the third round, Lizette Salas turned in the day's low score with a 65, jumping from 40th place overnight to a tie for sixth with Jutanugarn.

NOTES: Top-ranked Inbee Park, coming off a victory in the North Texas Shootout, bounced back from a 1-over-par 72 in the second round. She carded a bogey on the first hole, but played the last 17 holes in a bogey-free 3-under, but starts the final round six strokes behind Cristie Kerr, who was No. 1 in the world three times during the 2010 season. ... Playing in her first event as a member of the LPGA tour, 23-year-old American Katie Burnett has posted rounds of 68-70-71 and is tied for eighth with Park.

Course Source: Bell Bay Golf Club, World Golf Village

Course Source: Bell Bay Golf Club, World Golf Village










Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange May 20, 2013 1:31 AMThe SportsXchange


IN THE PUBLIC EYE: Bell Bay Golf Club in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada.

THE LAYOUT: Thomas McBroom, one of Canada's most noted designers, crafted 18 exceptional holes on Cape Breton Island with sweeping views of the Bras d'or Lake -- North America's majestic inland sea.

Also in view across Bell Bay is Beinn Bhreagh (Gaelic for Beautiful Mountain), the estate of Alexander Graham Bell, where the inventor of the telephone spent the latter part of his life and died in 1922.

The Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site houses the largest collection of Bell artifacts and archives in the world.

Bell Bay Golf Club, which plays to 7,037 yards from the back tees, has a course rating of 74.3 and a slope of 136. However, Bell Bay is eminently playable for all golfers, with a rating of 69.9 and a slope of 125 from the white tees.

The season at opens in May and runs through October, weather permitting, at Bell Bay, which was voted best new course in Canada in 1998 and hosted the 2005 Canadian Amateur Championship in addition to the 2006 Canadian Club Champions Championship.

GENERAL MANAGER: Michael Gillan.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: Bell Bay Golf Club received international recognition in 2001, when the Wayne Gretzky and Friends Invitational was held there and televised on the Golf Channel. NHL stars Gretzky, Brett Hull and Joe Sakic played a match against Mike Weir, the left-hander who won the 2003 Masters and is considered the best Canadian golfer of all-time.

Every hole at Bell Bay is named for a ship that sailed the Seven Seas from Baddeck, which was settled by Scottish shipbuilders. The course starts with three strong par 4s, measuring 407, 415 and 433 yards from the back tees.

The best of the opening threesome is No. 3, a 433-yard hole named for Scrapper, a legendary craft built at Bell's laboratories at Beinn Bhreagh. The hole gets its difficulty from the second shot, which is uphill from between 135 to 175 yards into the prevailing wind.

No. 6 is the most challenging of the par 3s at 227 yards from the tips to a green guarded by seven bunkers. The hole is named for Typhoon, a 45-foot ketch that crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a then-record 15 days in 1920. The voyage was made even more remarkable because it was accomplished entirely under sail after the engine failed two hours into the trip.

When you make the turn at Bell Bay, the best is yet to come, especially what the locals call "The Final Four." But before the golfer gets there, he must navigate No. 13, a 508-yard par 5 named for the brig Challenger, which was built in Baddeck in 1848 and lost at sea the following year on a journey from Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Boston. Like the ship, many golf balls find a watery grave in the lake that runs nearly the last half of the hole and guards the left side of the green.

The last four holes are considered one of the best windups in Canadian golf.

No. 15 is Perseverance, a daunting 463-yard par-4 with one of the smaller greens on the course. The hole was named for a brigantine built in 1845 that was later re-rigged as a schooner.

The 16th hole is Argyle, named for a brig built in Baddeck that was given the name of a town in Scotland. This is the shortest par 4 on the course, at 365 yards, but perhaps most scenic, routed through a densely wooded corridor of trees that is especially impressive when the fall colors are in their glory.

But the best at Bell Bay is saved for the absolute last. No. 17 is the signature hole, while No. 18 has the signature view.

On the 182-yard, par-3 17th, called Banshee, the tee boxes are perched on a hillside and the shot must carry a spectacularly wooded ravine. Banshee was a female spirit in Gaelic folklore whose wailing warned the clan of danger. The cry is similar to that heard from golfers as their tee shots disappear into the ravine.

The 18th hole is named for Bradalbane, a 101-foot barque that is believed to be the largest and best vessel built at Baddeck. It was instrumental in Rev. Norman MacLeod's expedition to New Zealand in 1857. There is a spectacular panoramic view overlooking the Bras d'or from the tee box on the 566-yard par-5 hole, and the prevailing wind from behind the golfer allows him to let out the sails with the driver.

OTHERS COURSES IN THE AREA: For the perfect golf doubleheader, play Bell Bay and Highland Links in Ingonish Beach, a classic Stanley Thompson layout on the edge of Cape Breton Highland National Park. Highland Links was selected as the No. 1 course in Canada in 2000 by Score Golf magazine and has been rated one of the top 100 courses in the world several times by Golf magazine.

Also worth the trip are Dundee Resort and Golf Course in West Bay, Le Portage Golf Club on the banks of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on the Cabot Trail in Cheticamp, Passchendaele Golf Club in Reserve Mines, Lingan Golf and Country Club (established in 1895) in Sydney and Seaview Golf and Country Club in North Sydney.

WHERE TO STAY: The Inverary Resort in Baddeck, known for its Celtic charm and lakeside boardwalk, offers stay-and-play packages for Bell Bay Golf Club, as do Glenghorm Beach Resort in Ingonish and Ceilidh Country Lodge in Baddeck.

First-class lodging also can be found at Dundee Resort in West Bay, Castle Moffett in Baddeck, the Maritime Inn in Port Hawkesbury, Chanterelle Country Inn in Baddeck and Haddon Hall Resort Inn in Chester -- Nova Scotia's version of the French Riviera near Halifax, where many of the Titanic victims are buried.

ON THE WEB: www.bellbaygolfclub.com



THE LAST RESORT: World Golf Village, which features the King and Bear Course, and the Slammer and Squire Course, in St. Augustine, Fla.

THE LAYOUT: At the top of the list for any golf vacation to Florida has to be the World Golf Village and Hall of Fame, located in St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States.

Not only can golf fans browse through artifacts the greats of the game utilized in their diverse roads to glory, they also can play the two world-class courses on the property, named after four of those all-timers.

The King and Bear Course, about three miles from the Hall of Fame, but still on land owned by the World Golf Village, is the only collaboration in golf course design by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, opening in 2000.

Palmer and Nicklaus played a match that was televised for Shell's Wonderful World of Golf to mark the opening of the course, which also hosted the Champions Tour for the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in 2001 and 2002.


The Slammer and Squire, named for Sam Snead and Gene Sazarzen, was designed by Bobby Weed, although he received input from those great champions, who were still alive when the course opened in 1998.

The original course on the property, located a short walk from the Hall of Fame and the hotels on the property, the Slammer and Squire hosted the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in 1999, and also has been the venue for PGA Tour Qualifying School and Champions Tour Qualifying School.

DIRECTOR OF GOLF: Jeff Hartman.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: The King and Bear is the more challenging of the two courses, playing to 7,279 yards and a par of 72 from the back tees, with a course rating of 75.2 and a slope of 122.

It is what the British would call a parkland course, with wide fairways (for which Nicklaus designs are known) on the front nine lined by loblolly trees. The more winding fairways on the back side are framed by 200-year-old live oaks.

The 17 lakes that dot the King and Bear are lined by coquina rocks.

"Arnold and I have varying styles on how we do golf courses," Nicklaus said. "(The King and Bear) reflects both of our styles."

The course opens with two strong par-4s, measuring 426 and 435 yards respectively, but there are five sets of tees and plenty of room in the driving areas.

Stay well clear of the water and sand all down the right side at No. 1, where the green is guarded by a large bunker complex. The water on the tee box at No. 2 should not come into play, and the shot to a green protected by three bunkers on the left is slightly uphill.

The best par-5 on the course probably is No. 7, at dogleg that swings left and measures 573 yards, with a large lake on the left to deal with on the layup and the shot to the green.

The front nine finishes with two more challenging par 4s, No. 3 and 1 in difficulty on that side, at 462 and 448 yards from the back, respectively. The eighth has water on both sides of the fairway and the ninth features a large lake all the way to the green.

Palmer included No. 12, a 412-yard par 4, as one of his "Dream 18" in a Sports Illustrated article in 2006. Considered the signature hole on the King and Bear, it winds around a lake to the left to a green sitting on a small peninsula.

No. 14 is a 200-yard par 3 with water and sand on the right, although there is bail-out room on the left, and it leads to a strong finish.

Following three more exceptional par 4s at 360, 467 and 427 yards, the King and Bear finishes with a 563-yard par 5 devoid of water, although there are wetlands to swallow any shot that goes left of the bunker that runs the length of the hole on the left side.

The par-72 Slammer and Squire Course, more of a user-friendly resort course even though both are eminently playable for golfers of all abilities, measures 6,939 from the tips, with a rating of 73.8 and a slope of 135.

The course plays through native wetlands, hardwood hammock trees and old-growth pine trees.

After a relatively straightforward start, the golfer reaches the No. 1-handicap hole on the course, with No. 4 a par 5 that measures 522 yards from the back tees. Water and sand run down the right side off the tee before the hole doglegs dramatically to the left to a green protected by water on three sides.

The seventh is a 178-yard par 3 on which the water on the left must be carried from the back tees, with bunkers guarding both sides of an elevated green that requires an extra club.

The front nine concludes with a 401-yard par 4 that plays back toward the Trophy Tower that sits atop the Hall of Fame, and although there is no water on the hole, there are eight bunkers to deal with from tee to green.

The best hole on the back nine probably is the par-4, 442-yard 12th, which has a water hazard that cannot be seen from the fairway about 120 yards from the green. Collection areas on three sides of the green make it difficult to get up and down for par if you miss the putting surface.

The finish is challenging, starting with the 576-yard, par-5 16th, the longest hole on the course with sand and water to deal with all the way to the green.

The Slammer and Squire finishes with par 4s measuring 459 and 425 yards, respectively, both bending to the left. The penultimate hole has water on both sides as you approach the green, and the final green has a spectacular view of the Hall of Fame across the water.

The fun isn't over when your round ends at the World Golf Village, because there are hands-on exhibits in the Hall of Fame, which features "Shanks for the Memories," an exhibition dedicated to comedian Bob Hope's career and love of golf.

In addition to the largest PGA Tour merchandise shop in the world, on the property is Caddyshack Restaurant, owned by the Murray brothers, which is a tribute to Bill Murray's role of assistant course superintendent Carl Spackler in the movie "Caddyshack."

If you don't have time for a round of golf, you can still play the 18-hole natural grass putting course, take a shot to an island green on the 132-yard Challenge Hole reminiscent of No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass or watch a movie in the IMAX Theatre.

As Gary Player, World Golf Hall of Fame Global Ambassador, says in TV commercials for the Hall: "For the love of golf, go."

OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: The World Golf Village and Hall of Fame are only about a 20-minute drive from TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, home of the PGA, Champions and Nationwide tours. On the property are Pete Dye's Valley Course and the Stadium Course, with its infamous island 17th green, site of the Players Championship every May.

Also in the area are Royal St. Augustine Golf and Country Club, St. Augustine Shores Golf Club, the Golf Club at South Hampton in St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Golf and Country Club at Sawgrass, St. John's Golf and Country Club in St. Augustine, the Ocean Course designed by Jack Nicklaus at Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Queens Harbour Yacht and Country Club in Jacksonville, Magnolia Point Golf and Country Club in Green Cove Springs, and Eagle Harbor Golf Club in Orange Park.

About an hour's drive south on Interstate 95 in Daytona Beach is LPGA International, home of the LPGA Tour, with the Legends Course, designed by Arthur Hills, and the Champions Course, designed by Rees Jones.

WHERE TO STAY: Stay on the grounds of the World Golf Village at the Renaissance Resort, the Comfort Suites, Laterra Resort and Spa or the Grande Villas, which all offer golf packages for the Slammer and the Squire, and the King and the Bear.

Historic St. Augustine is the oldest European settlement in the United States, first visited by Ponce de Leon in 1513, and there are numerous hotels and B&Bs in and around the city. Among the best are the Bayfront Marin House, the Casablanca Inn on the Bay, Casa Monica Hotel, the Bayfront Westcott House, St. George Inn, Our House Bed and Breakfast, Alexander Homestead Bed and Breakfast, the Pirate Haus Inn and the Carriage Way B&B.

In Ponte Vedra Beach are the Sawgrass Marriott Resort and Beach Club, Ponte Vedra Inn and Club, the Lodge and Club at Ponte Vedra Beach, the Hilton Garden Inn and the Fig Tree Inn B&B.

Golf resorts in the area include the Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast and Amelia Island Plantation.

ON THE WEB: www.golfwgv.com

Golf rankings, player capsules

Golf rankings, player capsules










Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange May 20, 2013 1:31 AMThe SportsXchange


The Sports Xchange's 2013 PGA Tour rankings, selected by TSX Golf Staff, based on 2012-2013 performance.



1. Tiger Woods, United States -- Following his fourth victory in seven stroke-play events on the PGA Tour this season at the Players Championship, Woods began his two-week break by heading for Las Vegas, where he hosted Tiger Jam 15 at Mandalay Bay Events Center. Kid Rock was the star attraction, following another rock musician, Uncle Kracker, to the stage. Tiger Jam raised in the neighborhood of $14 million in its first 14 editions, with the proceeds going to the college-access programs sponsored by the Tiger Woods Foundation. ... Tiger also made it official last week that he will defend his title next week in the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village, where he has won five times. In announcing that he would play in the tournament for the 14th time, he said that what makes winning the event extra special is that it is hosted by Jack Nicklaus, his idol since he posted the Golden Bear's accomplishments on his bedroom wall as a kid growing up in Cypress, Calif. ... Some people are starting to compare Woods' season to his epic 2000 campaign, when he claimed nine titles, as he has reached four earlier than he did in that or any other season. His fourth title that year came at the U.S. Open in June, but what made that season so remarkable was that he captured the last three major titles, part of a run in which he won six times in eight events beginning with the Memorial. Of course, Woods came back the following year and captured the Masters to complete what became known as the Tiger Slam.



2. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland -- After taking a week off, McIlroy hopes to find some consistency in his game this week when he plays in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club, outside London. He has had some solid results of late, finishing in the top 10 four times in his last six tournaments on the PGA Tour, but he has yet to put everything together with his new Nike clubs and some changes to his swing. ... Rory, who announced last week that he is leaving Horizon Sports Management and starting his own firm, played in the flagship event of the European Tour five times previously, but has only one top-10 finish and has missed the cut twice, including last year at 74-79--153. That was part of a slump in which he missed the weekend in three consecutive tournaments and four of five before he heated up later in the year to win three times and claim the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings. His best finish on the famed West Course at Wentworth was solo fifth in 2009, when he shot 7-under-par 65 in the third round. He finished at 10 under that year, but he is a cumulative 24 over in his other four appearances in the tournament. ... The numbers indicate that McIlroy might not be far away from his late-2012 form, as he ranks 16th in total driving (a combination of distance and accuracy), fifth in green in regulation at 71.33 percent and is third in the all-around category, a combination of eight major statistics. However, he must get better on the greens, as he ranks 108th at 29.28 putts per round and 94th in strokes gained-putting at plus-.004.



3. Brandt Snedeker, United States -- Snedeker, who has played 10 times this season despite missing a month and a half because of a strained intercostal muscle, is taking two weeks off before returning to the PGA Tour next week for the Memorial Tournament. Despite spending time on the sideline, he still ranks second in the FedEx Cup point standings behind Tiger Woods and second to Woods on the money list with $3,388,064. ... Sneds, who captured the 2012 FedEx Cup by claiming the Tour Championship last September, picked up right where he left off at the start of this season and seemed headed for an even bigger year before being injured. He finished in the top three in four of his first five tournaments, including his sixth PGA Tour victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, but struggled once he returned to health. Snedeker missed the cut in his first two tournaments back before returning to form since by tying for sixth in the Masters and tying for eighth in the Players Championship. ... Snedeker has done it this season by playing well in all phases of the game, which has put him fifth in the all-around ranking, a compilation of eight major statistical categories. He ranks 10th in driving accuracy at 69.39 percent, 13th in greens in regulation at 69.84 percent and 16th in strokes gained putting at plus-.604. Snedeker leads the PGA Tour in birdie average at 4.66 per 18 holes, is fifth in scoring average at 69.823 and is 10th in scrambling, getting up-and-down for par 65.26 percent of the time.



4. Adam Scott, Australia -- Having made the most of his abbreviated schedule this season with three top-10 finishes in five stroke-play tournaments, including his first major victory in the Masters, Scott is taking what is a short break for him, two weeks. He is skipping the two events in Texas, even though he captured the 2008 Byron Nelson Championship and has claimed three of his nine PGA Tour titles in the Lone Star State. He's returning next week for the Memorial Tournament. ... Scott was able to get away for three weeks after winning at Augusta National, but he said he still worked hard on his game, and he didn't seem to have a real letdown when he tied for 19th in the Players Championship. A 3-over-par 75 in the third round kept him from another top-10 finish, but he wound up in the top 25 for the fourth time this season. ... Scott has not returned to Australia since becoming the first player from Down Under to claim the Green Jacket, and it figures to be a madhouse whenever he does. His mentor, Greg Norman, has said that there will be even more pressure for Scott to play in top Australian events, the first of which is the Perth International in October. In the final weeks of the year are the Australian Open, which he won in 2009, the Australian PGA Championship and the Talisker Australian Masters, of which he is the defending champion. Scott usually plays in two of the three, but it will be more difficult for him to pass on any of them this year.



5. Phil Mickelson, United States -- The schedule page at philmickelson.com still does not show when Lefty will play next, although he did commit last week to play in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart Golf Links in July, a week before the 142nd Open Championship not far away at Muirfield. He has said often that he likes to play a week ahead of major championships because he feels rusty in the Grand Slam events on Thursday if he does not. It will be his 11th appearance in the Scottish Open, and he came closest to winning it when he was beaten in a playoff by Gregory Havret of France in 2007. ... Mickelson is not in the field this week for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, even though he has played in the tournament 14 times previously and won it in 2007. He could play the following week in the Memorial for the 14th time. Last year, he withdrew after shooting 79 at Muirfield Village because he was exhausted. That came during a stretch in which he played four tournaments in five weeks and squeezed in a trip to Paris to celebrate the 40th birthday of his wife, Amy. His last chance to tee it up before the U.S. Open would come the following week in the FedEx St. Jude Classic, but he has played only twice at TPC Southwind, in 2001 and 2009. ... Mickelson, who captured the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February and also finished third in the WGC-Cadillac Championship and the Wells Fargo Championship, needs something to regain momentum after missing the cut in the Players Championship.



6. Dustin Johnson, United States -- Once again hit by the injury bug, Johnson withdrew early last week from the HP Byron Nelson Championship because of a back injury that caused with to pull out of the Players Championship after he opened with a 2-over-par 74. That came a week after he could not play in the Wells Fargo Championship because of a wrist injury. It was the fourth consecutive tournament from which he withdrew, as he also pulled out of the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea because of the political unrest in the region. ... Johnson posted a message on Twitter that he had inflammation in his facet joints, but he hoped that rest and daily therapy would permit him to play this week in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He has played in the tournament only once before, in 2009, when he finished in a tie for 74th after making the cut on Friday by shooting 1-under-par 69, but then missed the secondary cut a day later when he posted a 72. ... DJ missed nearly three months last year, when he admittedly came back too soon from offseason knee surgery, which led to lower back problems. Once he got healthy, he captured the FedEx St. Jude Classic in June and he appeared to be primed for a big season this year when he won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. It seems that all he has to do is stay healthy for his immense talent to take him to the top of the charts, but he has been unable to do that in the past two years.



7. Luke Donald, England -- Donald was in London last week to receive his MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) award from Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace. He is sticking around for the BMW PGA Championship, which he has won each of the last two years. Perhaps returning to a venue in which he has had great success is what he needs after not being much of a factor this season, even though he has not played badly, finishing in the top 25 in six of his seven events on the PGA Tour. His only top-10 finishes, a tie for fourth in the Tampa Bay Championship and a tie for third in the RBC Heritage, came in his last four events, so he could be ready to bust out. ... Donald posted four scores in the 60s last year on the West Course to claim a four-stroke victory over Paul Lawrie and Justin Rose. A year earlier, he opened with a 7-under-par 64 and was near the lead all the way before sinking a seven-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to beat Lee Westwood, from whom he took over the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings. Luke has three other top-10 finishes at Wentworth in eight appearances, including a tie for second in 2010, one stroke behind Simon Khan, and a tie for third in 2008, two shots out of the playoff in which Miguel Angel Jimenez defeated Oliver Wilson. ... Donald, who also will play in the Memorial next week, ranks fourth in scrambling on the PGA Tour, getting up and down 67.47 percent of the time, but that's because his iron play hasn't been up to his standards. He has hit the green in regulation only 61.57 percent of the time, which ranks 170th.



8. Matt Kuchar, United States -- Normally a top-10 machine, Kuchar has finished outside of the top 30 in each of his last three tournaments, including a tie for 33rd last week in the HP Byron Nelson Championship. He has not been at his best since before he shot 1-over-par 73 in the final round to tie for eighth in the Masters, his fourth top-10 finish of the season and 33rd in the last three-plus seasons, the most on the PGA Tour in that span. ... Kooch is staying in Texas this week and will tee it up in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial for the seventh consecutive year, even though he has finished in the top 10 only when he finished solo ninth in 2008. He posted his lowest round at Colonial that year, shooting 6-under-par 64 in the second round. Kuchar, who might not play again until the U.S. Open in three weeks, has broken 70 at least twice in all of his appearances at Colonial, but simply has not been able to go low enough. ... Kuchar, searching for the form that took him to the title in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship earlier this year, posted bookend rounds of 1-under-par 69 last week at TPC Las Colinas, but he simply did not make enough birdies. He seemed primed for a big week when he birdied two of his first four holes after starting on the back nine on Thursday, but he could manage only one more, at No. 7, the rest of the day. The highlight of his week was holing a 17-foot eagle putt on the same seventh hole while shooting 70 in round three, but he could record only 10 birdies in 72 holes.



9. Keegan Bradley, United States -- Bradley shot a tournament-record 10-under-par 60 in the first round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship last week and seemed headed for his fourth PGA Tour victory after three rounds. However, he struggled to a 72 in the final round in windy conditions, faded down the stretch and finished second, two strokes behind winner Sang-Moon Bae of South Korea. Disappointing as it was, Keegan posted his sixth top-10 finish of the season, the most on the circuit. ... According to the schedule page at keeganbradley.com, he is going to take a week off before playing in the Memorial Tournament for the third time, having missed the cut in his first two appearances. Keegan has to figure out how to play Jack Nicklaus' course because he ranks fifth in the United States standings for the Presidents Cup, which will be played at Muirfield Village in September. The Memorial will be his final tournament before the U.S. Open at Merion. ... On Sunday at TPC Las Colinas, where winds gusted to 40 mph, Bradley did not post his only birdie until he sank a 17-foot putt on the 15th hole to tie Bae for the lead after falling behind earlier by four strokes. However, after Bae holed a five-foot birdie putt on the next hole, and Bradley's birdie try from four feet lipped out. Bradley fell two strokes back and virtually was finished after making a bogey at No. 17. He recorded 10 birdies, an eagle and two bogeys in the first round and was trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner in the tournament since Tom Watson in 1980.




10. Webb Simpson, United States -- Simpson left TPC Sawgrass feeling good about his game as he heads toward his title defense at the U.S. Open in three weeks after posting easily his best finish in the Players Championship, a tie for 15th. That came after he recently lost in a playoff to Graeme McDowell in the RBC Heritage, and he claims his game is in better shape than it was before the second major of 2012, which he captured at the Olympic Club. ... He had yet to commit to the Memorial Tournament next week as of the weekend, but he has played in the tournament each of the last four years, with his best finish a tie for seventh in 2011. Expect a strong field of American and international players at Muirfield Village, where the Presidents Cup will be played in October, and Simpson certainly figures to be on the U.S. team because he ranks seventh in the point standings. Webb has made two team appearances as a pro, in the Ryder Cup last year at Medinah and the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in 2011, after playing in the Walker Cup and Palmer Cup as an amateur. ... Simpson said on U.S. Open media day that Merion, where he will defend his title, might be his favorite course. He played the course in the 2004 U.S. Amateur, when he lost in the first round of match play, and also in corporate outings. Last week, he posted a message on Twitter that he was playing another classic course outside of Philadelphia, Aronimink Golf Club.



11. Justin Rose, England -- Following a missed cut in the Players Championship, his worst outing in what has been a solid start to his season on the PGA Tour, Rose took a week off before heading back to England for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the flagship event of the European Tour. Even though he has yet to claim a 2013 victory as he tries to extend his winning streak to four years on the U.S. circuit, he has three top-10 finishes and six top-25s in seven tournaments, including second behind Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. ... Rosy is playing in the BMW PGA Championship for the 10th time and has come close to winning the tournament twice. He opened with a 4-under-par 67 last year and was at par or better in all four rounds while finishing in a tie for second, four strokes behind Luke Donald. In 2007, he shot 66 to tie for the first-round lead with Paul Broadhurst, also of England, and was in the hunt all the way before losing in a playoff when Anders Hansen of Denmark beat him by holing a 25-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. Rose got even with a tap-in birdie on the 72nd hole after a remarkable pitch shot, but he missed a 10-foot birdie putt that would have prolonged the playoff. ... Justin had not yet committed to the Memorial Tournament as of the weekend, but he is expected to return to the PGA Tour next week. He won the Memorial three years ago for the first of his four victories on the PGA Tour. He has played at Muirfield Village five consecutive years and eight of the last nine.



12. Lee Westwood, England -- Westwood should have plenty of confidence this week as he heads home to England for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth with a string of strong performances on the PGA Tour fresh in his mind. He has finished in the top 10 in four consecutive events in his first year of living in the United States, including ties for eighth in both the Masters and the Players Championships, the two biggest events of the year to date. He made the move from England so he can concentrate on the three majors played here. ... Lee is playing in the flagship event of the European Tour for the 19th consecutive year, and while he has never won it, he has come close twice. In 2000, he played the West Course at Wentworth in 65-68 on the weekend to tie for second, three shots behind Colin Montgomerie. Two years ago, he closed with 69-69-68 to catch Luke Donald, who had been leading since shooting 64 in the first round. Westwood actually took a two-stroke lead after 15 holes in the final round, but Donald caught him with a birdie-bogey exchange on the next hole. Then Luke took the title and the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings with a seven-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole, where Westy hit his approach into the water. ... Westwood has shown improvement on his short game, ranking sixth on the PGA Tour in scrambling at 66.29 percent, but he must improve his average of 29.14 putts per round to start turning those close calls into victories, on both tours.



13. Bubba Watson, United States -- With two weeks off following the Players Championship, perhaps Bubba can start to relax after the buildup to his title defense at the Masters and a possible letdown afterward. He has not played his best golf since tying for fourth in the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions and tying for ninth in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship earlier this season. After winning at Augusta last year, he had eighth finishes in the top 25 the rest of the year, including a tie for second in the Travelers Championship and a tie for fifth in the Tour Championship, but he has not found that form this year. ... Watson is playing in the Memorial Tournament next week, but Muirfield Village might not be the ideal place for him to find his game. In seven previous appearances, his best result were ties for 23rd in 2007 and 2009, and he has missed the cut twice, including last year at 75-74--149. He needs to figure out the course because he should be a prominent member of the United States team for the Presidents Cup in September at Muirfield Village. He's currently ranked 10th in the points standings. ... Bubba spoke out recently about fans calling in to report perceived violations by the pros during golf tournaments, and his opinion of it is not positive. He pointed out that it's happened to him twice, and both times the fans were wrong. Watson wanted to know where people got the phone number to call, saying he does not know it, and wondered if perhaps they might have had too much time on their hands.



14. Steve Stricker, United States -- Even the Memorial Tournament, which Stricker won in 2011, apparently isn't enough to drag Stricker away from his home in Wisconsin in this season in which he is cutting back his schedule. As of this time, he's planning to play just 11 tournaments. He still has the rest of this week to commit to play Jack Nicklaus' tournament for the 14th time at Muirfield Village, which isn't that far away in Ohio, but there has been no indication that he is even considering it. ... Stricker's plan to play less seemed to pay off at first when he finished in the top five of his first three tournaments this year, including second to Dustin Johnson in the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions and second behind Tiger Woods in the WGC-Cadillac Championship. However, despite having at least one good round in each of his last three events, he has shown the rust of not playing competitively, tying for 38th in the Shell Houston Open, tying for 20th in the Masters and tying for 37th in the Players Championship. After posting four scores in the 60s while chasing Woods to the finish at Doral, he has broken 70 only twice in his last 12 rounds and is averaging 74.0 on Sunday. ... Stricker's numbers belie his recent struggles, as he ranks 14th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy at 67.66 percent, third in greens in regulation at 71.93 percent and 14th in strokes gained putting at plus-.635, although he is not happy with his average of 29.05 putts per round.



14. Hunter Mahan, United States -- After skipping the HP Byron Nelson Championship last week even though it wasn't that far from his home in Colleyville, Texas, Mahan will make the 30-minute drive to Fort Worth this week to play in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He will be able to sleep in his own bed as he seeks his second professional title in Texas, having won the Shell Houston Open for one of his two victories last season. However, that was the last of his five PGA Tour victories, and it came more than a year ago. ... Hunter has not fared well in the Dallas-area events on the PGA Tour, with only one top-10 finish in a total of 16 appearances. That was a tie for 10th at Colonial in 2011, when he followed rounds of 67-69-69 with an even-par 70 to finish a distant 10 strokes behind champion David Toms. He hasn't broken into the top 25 in any of his eight other appearances and missed the cut three times in a span of four years through 2010. His best score came in 2009, when he broke 70 in all four rounds to finish at 7 under par, but all that got him was a tie for 27th. ... Mahan slumped in the second half of last season and missed out on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, but after starting this year with a tie for 26th in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, he reeled off seven consecutive finishes in the top 25, including second to Matt Kuchar in his title defense at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Following a skid that lasted four tournaments, he got back on track with a tie for 19th in the Players Championship.



16. Ernie Els, South Africa -- Even though he has missed the cut in three of his last five tournaments on the PGA Tour, including his last outing in the Players Championship, Els said he left TPC Sawgrass with the feeling that he is getting closer with his game. He added that Pete Dye's Stadium Course reveals any weakness, and because of that, he knows exactly what he needs to work on. Ernie also has some confidence because when he did reach the weekend, he tied for 13th in the Masters and tied for 15th in the Wells Fargo Championship, in addition to finishing second in the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters. ... Els is going to play for the 18th time this week in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, where he still owns a home and was on the design team that reworked the course a few years ago. He has missed the cut only twice in the tournament, in 1992 and 2008, and last year tied for seventh to record his seventh top-10 finish. Els has never won the tournament, but he finished solo second, one stroke behind Jose Maria Olazabal, in 1994; tied for second, two strokes behind Ian Woosnam, in 1997, and tied for second again the following year, one shot behind Colin Montgomerie. Els did win the World Match Play Championship a record seven times at Wentworth. ... According to the schedule at ernieels.com, the Big Easy will return to the PGA Tour next week, playing the Memorial Tournament for the 20th time. He has finished in the top 10 on six occasions at Muirfield Village, winning in 2004.



17. Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland -- Once he got past personal nemesis Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium in the quarterfinals, there was no stopping G-Mac, who came from behind to beat Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, 2 and 1, to win the Volvo World Match Play Championship at Thracian Cliffs Golf Course in Kavarna, Bulgaria. It was the Irishman's second victory of the season, as he also captured the RBC Heritage in a playoff over Webb Simpson last month. ... McDowell will play on the European Tour again this week, teeing it up in the BMW PGA Championship for the 11th consecutive year. He has never finished in the top 10 at Wentworth. He tied for 13th in 2009, when he closed with 68-69. He has missed the cut in the flagship event of the Euro Tour four times, including each of the last two years. According to the schedule page at graememcdowell.com, that will be his final tournament before the U.S. Open in three weeks at Merion. ... McDowell beat Chris Wood of England, Stephen Gallacher of Scotland, Bo Van Pelt (the only American in the field), Colsaerts, Branden Grace of South Africa and Jaidee en route to his title in Bulgaria. Colsaerts had beaten him in the tournament each of the last two years, including in the 2012 final. McDowell, who took over the lead in the European Tour's Race to Dubai, was in danger of going 3 down to Jaidee in the final, but he sank a 12-foot putt to save par on the fifth hole. He was still 1 down at the turn before winning three of the next four holes to take command.



18. Ian Poulter, England -- Probably the biggest surprise in the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Bulgaria was that Poulter did not make it out of group play, losing to Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand in the first round, 3 and 2, before crashing out of the tournament the next day when he lost on the 18th hole to Thomas Aiken of South Africa. Poulter has been called the "King of Match Play" in Europe, and not only because of his Ryder Cup prowess. He captured the Volvo tournament in 2011 and the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in 2010. ... Poulter is staying in Europe this week for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, near London. He is playing in the flagship event of the European Tour for the 12th time, but he never fared very well in the tournament until the last two years. After missing the cut seven times in his first nine appearances on the famed West Course, he tied for 18th in 2011 and tied for 10th last year. He will skip the Memorial Tournament next week and return to the PGA Tour for the FedEx St. Jude Classic the week before the U.S. Open at Merion. ... Poulter rallied from two holes down against Aiken last week with birdies on the 15th and 16th hole to get even, but he missed a seven-foot par putt that would have sent the match to a playoff. The Englishman blew a chance to win the 13th when he three-putted to halve the hole, lipping out his four-footer for par. Poulter didn't use it as an excuse, but he was bothered by a stomach problem while losing in the first round to Jaidee.



19. Jason Dufner, United States -- Dufner was at his best only when he shot 3-under-par 67 in the third round last week in defense of his title at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. He could not break 70 in any of this other three rounds and wound up in a tie for 33rd, continuing his so-so play this season after breaking through for his first two PGA Tour victories last year at the age of 35. Since posting a tie for 20th in the Masters, when it appeared his game was coming around, he has been unable to crack the top 30 in his last four events. ... Duf is staying in the Dallas area this week for the Crowne Plaza Invitational, playing in the tournament for the fifth time. After missing the cut twice and tying for 59th in his first three appearances, he seemed to be headed for his third victory in four events last year at Colonial. After opening with round of 65-64-66, Dufner closed a 4-over-par 74 that included a double bogey and a triple bogey. He finished three strokes behind Zach Johnson in second, but the final margin was reduced when Johnson was assessed a two-stroke penalty for failing to re-mark his ball on the final green after moving it because it was in Dufner's line. This might be Dufner's final event before the U.S. Open. ... Duf opened with 70-70 last week at TPC Las Colinas, holing his second shot from 129 yards for an eagle on the first hole while closing on the front nine on Thursday. He was trying to break 70 in the final round for the first time in eight events this year, but he carded four bogeys in the first eight holes and finished with a 72.



20. Zach Johnson, United States -- Coming off one of his better performances of the season, a tie for 19th in the Players Championship, Zach will try to find the best in his game when he plays this week in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, which he has won two of the last three years. In fact, four of his nine PGA Tour victories have come in Texas, as he also captured the Valero Texas Open in 2008 and 2009. ... In 2010, Johnson posted four scores of 4-under-par 66 or better at Colonial, including 64-64 on the weekend, to win by three strokes over Brian Davis of England. After finishing fourth in his title defense, again posting four scores in the 60s capped by a 65, he started with rounds of 64-67-65 last year before a closing 72 was good enough to beat Jason Dufner by one shot. It seemed that Johnson was going to win by three, but he forgot to re-mark his ball before his final putt from five feet after moving his coin because it was in Dufner's line. He was assessed a two-stroke penalty, but still won for the first time since his victory two years earlier at Colonial. ... Johnson, who has committed to play next week in the Memorial Tournament, also won the John Deere Classic in July, making it the third time in his career that he won twice on the PGA Tour in one season. It could have been a mammoth year, because he barely missed in two other events, finishing second to Carl Pettersson in the RBC Heritage and tying for second behind Matt Kuchar in the Players Championship.



Others receiving consideration: Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa; Nick Watney, United States; Rickie Fowler, United States; Bill Haas, United States; Charl Schwartzel, South Africa; Sergio Garcia, Spain; Carl Pettersson, Sweden; Bo Van Pelt, United States; Jason Day, Australia; John Merrick, United States; Charles Howell III, United States; Michael Thompson, United States; Martin Laird, Scotland; Angel Cabrera, Argentina; Kevin Streelman, United States; D.A. Points, United States; Billy Horschel, United States; David Lingmerth, Sweden; Sang-Moon Bae, South Korea.