Woods ready to ‘clear air’ with Watson

World Number one Tiger Woods will welcome any move to sit down with USA Ryder Cup captain, Tom Watson and “clear the air” before next year’s Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, Scotland. Watson was extremely critical of Woods in the months following revelations in late 2009 of Woods’ many extra-marital affairs.  And at the recent ‘One Year to Go’ celebrations in Scotland ahead of the 2014 Ryder Cup, Watson again indicated: “I have not talked with Tiger privately and I will have to sit down and have a conversation with him.”  Woods was...

Read More

Darren Clarke returning to PGA Tour as full-time player

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The way Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke figures it, he isn't too old to give it another go. The European Ryder Cup hero and former British Open champion, now 45 and his best days allegedly behind him, is again taking up membership on the PGA Tour. Last a full-time member in 2006, Clarke hasn't won anywhere in the world since lifting the Claret Jug in 2011, an 0-for-47 stretch that has called into question his...

Read More

McGladrey Classic is a home game for many golfers

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Home is where the heart is – and where this week's McGladrey Classic is for nearly a dozen players in the field who live here or have ties to the area. Zach Johnson's commute to Sea Island Golf Club's Seaside Course is 3 minutes by bicycle if he were to so choose, for instance, while tournament host Davis Love III's needs 10 minutes to get from front door to the range. Also among the local delegation in the field...

Read More

Purse to $10 million for PGA Championship, Players

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. (AP) -- The PGA Championship and The Players Championship will share the distinction of having golf's richest tournament next year by offering $10 million in prize money. In a new spirit of cooperation, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and PGA of America President Ted Bishop announced the purse increases Wednesday. That marks a 25 percent increase for the PGA Championship, making its purse the largest of the four majors....

Read More

PGA Tour player Jason Kokrak makes hole-in-one on 409-yard par-4 during pro-am

Sports writers toss around the cliche, "you don't see this everyday" a lot, but in the case of Jason Kokrak at the McGladrey Classic Pro-Am, we've seen this on the PGA Tour only once ... ever. Kokrak, a 28-year-old from Ontario, Canada, was playing in the pro-am at a PGA Tour stop on Wednesday when he got to the par-4 No. 5 hole at the Seaside Course in Sea Island, Ga. The hole measures 409 yards, but distance is king and Kokrak...

Read More

Sea Island: A meeting of young and old

Davis Love III was in the learning center at Sea Island Golf Club over the weekend when he looked out the door at four players hitting balls, including PGA Tour rookie Kevin Tway. It brought back memories of Love's early days on tour. And he has every reason to suddenly feel much older than 49. Love and Bob Tway were contemporaries, both PGA Championship winners. Love could recall a time some two decades ago when their wives would drop the children off at day care during a PGA Tour event. And now one of those kids is part of the field at...

Read More

Hitting balls on Turkish bridge for Tiger Woods, ‘nerve-racking’

Rarely does Tiger Woods get nervous on Tuesday of a tournament week, but he was this week. Speaking in a news conference Wednesday in advance of playing the Turkish Airlines Open, Woods told reporters that hitting drives down the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul the day before to gain publicity for the tournament was nerve wracking. Only half of the six-lane bridge was closed while Woods literally belted drives from one continent to another (from Europe into Asia). “I’ve never done that one before,” Woods said. “I’ve hit balls down airports before...

Read More

Bjorn can restore peace between Tour and players, says Rose

U.S. Open champion Justin Rose is backing Tournament Committee chairman Thomas Bjorn to act as mediator in the disagreement between the players and the European Tour over the new FedExCup-style Final Series. Last week former world number one Ernie Els described as "farcical" the rule that members must play in two of the three events leading up to the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in order to be eligible for the last of the four Final Series tournaments. Els, who has been a member of the European circuit for almost two decades, said...

Read More

Canadian Women's Open back on track

Brittany Lincicome from the United States smiles after on the 18th green after finishing her championship round at the Canadi OAKVILLE, Ontario (AP) -- The Canadian Women's Open is back on track. Golf Canada announced a three-year sponsorship deal with Canadian Pacific railway company Wednesday after an eight-year run with Canadian National Railway Company. The LPGA Tour tournament will be renamed the Canadian Pacific Women's Open....

Read More

Snedeker injures knee in China

Brandt Snedeker injured his left leg when he lost his balance and landed awkwardly when he hopped off a Segway in China. Snedeker was at a corporate outing at Sheshan International on Monday when he injured himself. He immediately withdrew from the Australian PGA Championship and returned home to Nashville. Doctors say he bruised his left tibia and strained the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Snedeker says surgery will not be required. He says his injuries could heal in a couple of weeks, or it might take as much as two months....

Read More

Adam Scott gets rock-star treatment back home

After being treated like a rock star for most of Wednesday's pro-am at the Australian PGA, Adam Scott left the course with the keys to the city. It was that kind of day for Scott, who is making his first appearance back home after winning the Masters in April, the first win at Augusta by any Australian. Scott grew up in the Gold Coast area and will begin play Thursday in the Australian PGA, the first of four consecutive weeks he'll play Down Under. On Wednesday, his pro-am group was followed by a large gallery. Shouts of encouragement...

Read More

The not-so-new but expanding world of golf

Consider a couple of scenes from the golf world this year, with emphasis on ''world.'' Inbee Park began her bid to become the first golfer to capture four straight majors in one season by teeing off at 7 a.m. in the opening round at St. Andrews. It was a strange starting time for the star attraction, except that was prime viewing in South Korea. Luke Guthrie had just started his second PGA Tour season when he packed his bags, along with...

Read More

Golf-Masters champion Scott targets major 'slam'

Australia's Adam Scott has set a goal of winning a career grand slam of golf's four majors and says his breakthrough U.S. Masters win is yet to pay full dividend to his game. "I'd love to win the career grand slam and put myself in that really small group of players who have won all four majors," the 33-year-old told reporters at Australia's Gold Coast on Wednesday, his first trip to his homeland since his Augusta triumph. "I think that would be a good goal but that's a long way off for the moment. I've only got one, so there's a lot of work...

Read More

Golf-Westwood says he must cut out 'silly scores' in Turkey

Former world number one Lee Westwood says he must eliminate the "silly scores" that have crept into his game recently in order to push for his first victory of the season at this week's Turkish Airlines Open. The 40-year-old Briton has racked up 40 worldwide victories in a stellar career but decided to move to the golfers' paradise of Florida at the start of the season in an attempt to add to his tally of two wins on the U.S. PGA Tour. Although Westwood's short game has shown distinct signs of progress, and he led the British Open after three...

Read More

INTERVIEW-Golf-Curse of the kids hampers Tiger's Turkish countdown

World number one Tiger Woods will have to overcome the 'Curse of the Kids' if he is to challenge for the first prize of 848,930 euros ($1.14 million) at this week's Turkish Airlines Open. The 14-times major champion is back in action at the European Tour event in Antalya on the Mediterranean coast after taking a much-needed four-week break from competitive golf. Unfortunately, though, he picked up a bug from one of his children while he was away from the spotlight. "My (six-year-old) daughter Sam was sick and it's just the way it goes," said...

Read More

Golf-Stenson looking to keep punter Poulter at bay

span class="articleLocation">Henrik Stenson is doubly determined to stay at the top of the European Tour's Race To Dubai money list especially as it would mean he avoids paying out 1,000 pounds ($1,600) in a losing bet to Florida neighbour Ian Poulter. Swede Stenson has a lead of 145,000 euros over second-placed Graeme McDowell, with Poulter 542,000 euros adrift in fourth spot ahead of the final two events of the season, this week's Turkish Airlines Open and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. "I had a bet with Poulter when he was some...

Read More

Golf-Sawgrass architects Dye Designs plan first London Venture

Dye Designs, one of the world's top golf architects, are planning to build their first British course on the outskirts of London and hope to complete the project by the end of the decade. The company, which created the Sawgrass venue for the Players Championship in Florida and the Kiawah Island course that hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup, have submitted an application to construct The Dye London near Edgware. The Menai-Davis family, who opened The Shire London in Barnet in 2007 featuring Britain's only Seve Ballesteros course, are behind the application. The...

Read More

Golf-Mickelson will launch 2014 campaign in Abu Dhabi

span class="articleLocation">British Open winner Phil Mickelson will launch his campaign next year by returning to the Abu Dhabi Championship for the first time since 2011. The world number four, who said last week that he would be making unspecified cuts to his schedule in 2014, is to join Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Luke Donald in a strong field at the $2.7 million European Tour event in the Gulf between Jan. 16-19. "To play Abu Dhabi in the early part of the year is a great opportunity," Mickelson said in a news release on Tuesday. "I've...

Read More

Golf-Snedeker withdraws from Australian PGA with knee injury

World number nine Brandt Snedeker has pulled out of this week's Australian PGA Championship because of a knee injury he sustained in China, the OneAsia Tour said on Tuesday. The 32-year-old American was one of the main drawcards at the A$1.25 million ($1.19 million) tournament but injured his knee on Monday in China, where he played in the WGC-HSBC Champions last week. World number two Adam Scott, playing his first event on home soil since winning the U.S. Masters in April, remains in the field at the Royal Pines Resort in Queensland,...

Read More

Golf-Woods heralds return with spectacular Turkey photoshoot

Tiger Woods features in a strokeplay event for the first time in six weeks at the Turkish Airlines Open starting on Thursday and will herald his return by taking part in a spectacular Bosphorus Bridge photoshoot. The world number one is due to arrive in Istanbul by helicopter on Tuesday before becoming the first golfer to hit balls from East to West on the iconic bridge that separates the continents of Europe and Asia. Woods will then travel down to the south-western city of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast to take on Europe's finest in...

Read More

Golf-World rankings

World rankings on Monday (U.S. unless stated, last week's positions in brackets):      1 (1) Tiger Woods 12.34 average points 2 (2) Adam Scott (Australia) 8.82 3 (4) Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 8 4 (3) Phil Mickelson 7.91 5 (5) Justin Rose (England) 7.51 6 (6) Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 6.77 7 (7) Steve Stricker 6.39 8 (8) Matt Kuchar 6.3 9 (9) Brandt Snedeker 6.06 10 (10) Jason Dufner 5.68 11 (12)...

Read More