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Nationwide Tour Will Get New Name - in 2013

For the past eight seasons, the developmental tour of the PGA Tour - the Triple-A American golf tour to the PGA Tour's big leagues - has been called the Nationwide Tour. Because Nationwide Insurance is the tour's title sponsor.

The tour was originally called the Hogan Tour, and had two names after that before Nationwide came along. But it will have to get a fifth name now that Nationwide Insurance announced it won't renew its contract when its sponsorship deal expires after the 2012 season.

So in 2013, the Nationwide Tour will be called ... something else. That "something else" will almost certainly be the name of another title sponsor, so let's hope a company with a good name gets the deal. We don't want to see a Cialis Tour.

Names of the PGA Tour's Developmental Tour

• Ben Hogan Tour - 1990-93
• Nike Tour - 1993-99
• Buy.com Tour - 2000-2002
• Nationwide Tour - 2003-2012

Nationwide Insurance will continue to be involved in golf, however, as the "presenting sponsor" of Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament beginning in 2011.

Nationwide Tour Will Get New Name - in 2013 originally appeared on About.com Golf on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 16:39:19.

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NFL Legend John Elway Starts Colorado Senior Open with 72

Legendary NFL quarterback John Elway carded an even-par 72 in the first round of the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open on Wednesday - the first round of golf for Elway in a senior tournament since he turned 50 earlier this year.

Elway is playing as an amateur in the tournament, which has a field of 155 amateurs and pros. Many of the pros have impressive pedigrees, including multiple past champions, and among them is 5-time PGA Tour winner Danny Edwards.

Elway's round included four birdies and a bogey on the 15th hole. What kept his good round from being a very good one was a triple-bogey 7 on the seventh hole at Green Valley Ranch Golf Club in Denver. That seven happened after Elway gouged a ball out of the rough, only to realize it wasn't his ball. He called a 2-stroke penalty on himself for playing the wrong ball. Still, he'll probably finish the day inside the Top 20 (check the scores).

Elway is a longtime golf enthusiast who has regularly played in tour pro-ams as well as celebrity tournaments. In fact, Elway has played in 22 straight American Century Celebrity Golf Championships, with a best finish of second in 1999.

According to GHIN, his current handicap is 0 - very close to his best-ever handicap of +0.6.

See also:

• New York Giants' Terrell Thomas talks golf

NFL Legend John Elway Starts Colorado Senior Open with 72 originally appeared on About.com Golf on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at 15:28:59.

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New York Giants' Terrell Thomas Talks Golf

PGA Tour Suspends Pro-Am DQ Rule

Deutsche Bank Last Chance for US Ryder Cup Hopefuls

The FedEx Cup championship isn't the only thing going on on the PGA Tour this week at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Following the conclusion of the tournament, Team USA Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin will add his four captain's selections to the team.

Unlike his counterpart, Colin Montgomerie, Pavin doesn't have an embarrassment of riches from which to choose. He has a bunch of candidates who, for the most part, don't stand out from one another. But perhaps one of the candidates will emulate Edoardo Molinari and win the last tournament prior to the captain's picks, forcing his way on the team.

Matt Kuchar took the lead in the FedEx Cup points by winning The Barclays, but Kuchar had already earned his spot in the Ryder Cup as an automatic qualifier. The points list of players who failed to automatically qualify looks like this: Read more...

Deutsche Bank Last Chance for US Ryder Cup Hopefuls originally appeared on About.com Golf on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 14:27:25.

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LPGA Looking Into Cheating Allegations

Did two players in the LPGA CN Canadian Women's Open last week commit a rules violation, then conspire to cover it up? That's the allegation that has been made, and that's what the LPGA will now investigate.

Over the weekend, rumors of misconduct emerged following the disqualifications of Shi Hyun Ahn and Il Mi Chung after the first round. Ahn and Chung signed scorecards after they played one another's golf balls on the final fairway and failed to correct their mistake. Later realizing their mistake, they contacted LPGA officials and were DQ'd for signing incorrrect scorecards.

But the rumors - first repeated second-hand by an LPGA caddie on his blog - go like this: Ahn and Chung realized on the green that they had played each other's balls. They conspired to cover it up. They turned themselves in only after a caddie threatened to report them.

Is it true? The LPGA told CBSSports.com's Steve Elling on Sunday it will interview all parties who were in th Ahn-Chung group. Other sources told ScoreGolf.com's Bob Weeks that the LPGA Player Executive Committee would investigate.

The most disquieting part of the allegation is that, according to that original second-hand report, Ahn told her caddie on the green, "You did not see anything."

Keep in mind that there is no confirmation at this point that those words were actually spoken. Also keep in mind that Ahn was working with a new caddie, and that English is Ahn's second language. Is it possible that - assuming those words were even spoken - they were spoken not as a statement but as a question? "You did not see anything?" Could that seemingly outrageous statement actually be a question asked by a player confused about what just happened, to a new caddie who might have had trouble understanding her tone?

We don't know. Which is the point - we don't know anything right now except that allegations have been made, and the LPGA is looking into it.

Stay tuned, and remember: Innocent unless proven guilty.

Update: Here's a Golfweek article with comments from Chung's caddie and info from the third player in the group. A little smoke, but not yet any fire.

Update II: A week after the original allegations, things are only murkier - despite the fact that caddies of bother players have spoken publicly. The issue? They contradict one another. More from Golfweek.

See also:

• FAQ: What's the penalty for playing a wrong ball?
• Ask the rules experts
• Rule 15: Wrong Ball

LPGA Looking Into Cheating Allegations originally appeared on About.com Golf on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 13:56:14.

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Win No. 2 for Michelle Wie

Michelle Wie earned her second career LPGA Tour victory on Sunday, winning the CN Canadian Women's Open by three strokes.

It was a well-played final round for Wie, who didn't give in to the pressure despite playing with the so-called "final-round queen" Jiyai Shin.

And it was something of a surprise. Wie had three Top 10 finishes in her first seven events of 2010. But her play had been middling since late May. Her best finish over the next seven tournaments was tied for 17th, and over that stretch Wie finished inside the Top 20 just twice, outside the Top 30 four times, and missed one cut.

But she started off the week at the CWO with a great first-round 65 that included a hole-in-one, and Wie held or shared the lead wire-to-wire. Putting has been Wie's bugaboo, especially in the middle part of the season when it was rare for Wie to get through 18 holes with fewer than 30 putts. Her putting stats were only a smidge better in Canada, but she looked a lot better with the flatstick. And Wie made some key putts over the final nine holes in Winnipeg.

Any chance for Wie to build a little momentum? Alas, her life and the LPGA's schedule work against that. Wie plays again in two weeks at the P&G NW Arkansas Championship, but that is the tour's only event in September. Then Wie heads back to Stanford where she's given herself a brutal course load. Aside from the P&G and her title defense at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in November, we'll have to wait and see how much she plays the rest of the way.

See also:

• Michelle Wie pictures
• Michelle Wie biography

Win No. 2 for Michelle Wie originally appeared on About.com Golf on Sunday, August 29th, 2010 at 18:08:18.

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Woods Closes Strong, Advances to Deutsche Bank

Tiger Woods will play again next weekend after closing with a round of 67 at The Barclays.

Only the Top 100 players on the FedEx Cup points list after The Barclays advance to play in the Deutchse Bank Championship, which is playoff event No. 2. At various times during his third round on Saturday, Woods' projected points left him outside that Top 100.

But Woods posted a strong 67 on Sunday to finish The Barclays at 7-under 277. His opening (65) and closing rounds were very good. Woods' biggest problems during the week were his back-nine putting in the second round, and his first-tee "drive" (I put "drive" in quote marks because it was more like a heave) in the third round. Woods clubbed down off the tee, focused on hitting fairways, and while he had a few issues with putting he looked better than he has yet in 2010.

The Barclays has a ways to go in its final round as I write this, so Woods' FedEx points position is still up in the air. But he should sit somewhere around 60th place at the end of the day.

The Barclays leaderboard

Woods Closes Strong, Advances to Deutsche Bank originally appeared on About.com Golf on Sunday, August 29th, 2010 at 15:15:08.

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Molinaris Not the First Brothers to Play Ryder Cup Together

Italy's Molinari brothers are heading to the Ryder Cup. Now they just have to live up to Edoardo's promise. Early in the week of the last European qualifying event, the Johnnie Walker Championship, Edoardo guaranteed Team Europe captain Colin Montgomerie that Edoardo and Franceso would go 4-0 in foursomes and fourballs if Monty put them both on the team.

Francesco had already qualified at that point, but Edoardo needed Monty's captain's pick to make the team. All Edoardo did to secure that selection was birdie the final three holes of the Johnnie Walker to win the tournament.

Now the Molinari boys are both on Team Europe.

It's won't be the first time brothers have played Ryder Cup, though. Several sets of brothers have made appearances for either Team USA or Team Europe (and its antecedents, Team Great Britain and Team Great Britain & Ireland).

But have brothers ever played on the same Ryder Cup team? Together, in the same year? Yes, it's happened four times, split between two sets of brothers, and all four times were on the Great Britain side:

• Bernard & Geoffrey Hunt played for Great Britain in 1963
• Charles and Ernest Whitcombe played for Great Britain in 1929 and 1931

And in 1935, three brothers - Charles and Ernest Whitcombe, plus Reg Whitcombe - played for Great Britain.

Francesco and Edoardo Molinari become the third set of brothers to play on the same Ryder Cup team. They won the 2009 World Cup playing as a team, and there's no doubt Monty will give the Molinaris a chance to back up Edoardo's boast.

So have brothers ever before partnered one another in Ryder Cup play? Just once. The Hunts didn't do it in 1963, nor the Whitcombes in 1929 or 1931. But in 1935, Charles and Ernest Whitcombe teamed to defeat Olin Dutra and Ky Laffoon, 1-up, in foursomes.

No American brothers have ever played on the same Ryder Cup team. But in 1981 two brothers-in-law - Jerry Pate and Bruce Lietzke - were on Team USA together. They did not partner one another during the match, however.

Molinaris Not the First Brothers to Play Ryder Cup Together originally appeared on About.com Golf on Sunday, August 29th, 2010 at 13:52:22.

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Monty Selects Harrington, Donald, Molinari for Ryder Cup

Colin Montgomerie had five great candidates to fill only three available spots as captain's picks for Team Europe in the Ryder Cup, and today Monty made those hard choices. The results:

• In: Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald, Edoardo Molinari
• Out: Paul Casey, Justin Rose

The announcement came about an hour after the conclusion of the Johnnie Walker Championship, where Edoardo Molinari finished birdie-birdie-birdie to come from two strokes behind and win.

Montogmerie also announced the addition of Sergio Garcia as a vice captain, joining Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn and Paul McGinley as Monty's assistants. Garcia, not a candidate to make the team as a player coming off a poor season, asked for another role with the team, and Monty gave it to him.

The three captain's selections join nine automatic qualifiers (w-qualified via the World Points List; e-qualified via the European Point List):

Lee Westwood-w
Rory McIlroy-w
Martin Kaymer-w
Graeme McDowell-w
Ian Poulter-e
Ross Fisher-e
Francesco Molinari-e
Miguel Angel Jimenez-e
Peter Hanson-e

Westwood is still recovering from a calf injury and is not guaranteed to be ready in time for the Ryder Cup. Should Westwood be unable to play, Monty said Justin Rose would be the replacement.

Corey Pavin's four captain's selections for Team USA will be announced on Sept. 7.

Monty Selects Harrington, Donald, Molinari for Ryder Cup originally appeared on About.com Golf on Sunday, August 29th, 2010 at 13:36:14.

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