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Captain O'Meara Wants Tiger on Tavistock Team

Mark O'Meara told the Golf Channel the he won't be suprised if Tiger Woods plays the Tavistock Cup in two weeks. "It might be the right spot or the right fit for him to come back," O'Meara said.

O'Meara and Woods are buddies, although O'Meara hasn't had much contact with Woods during the Tiger scandals, only recently starting to trade text messages. But O'Meara is the captain of the Isleworth team in the Tavistock Cup, which pits teams of pros representing Lake Nona and Isleworth country clubs.

Does O'Meara wants his friend on the Isleworth team? You bet: "Who wouldn't? ... It certainly would help our team quite a bit."

He went on to say that getting back on the golf course might be part of Woods' "healing process":

"It's been a rough road the last three or four months in Tiger's life and his family's life. It's a very difficult situation. Golf is what Tiger does and possibly part of the healing process is to get back at it."

Agreement Closes Ping Eye 2 Loophole for Pros

The controversy early this year on the PGA Tour over the so-called "Ping Eye 2 loophole" to the new groove regulations is near a close. Ping announced today it has reached an agreeement with the PGA Tour and the USGA that allows those organizations to close the loophole in PGA Tour events and in the U.S. Open.

Short version of the loophole: Long-ago legal proceedings between Ping and the PGA Tour and Ping and the USGA resulted in Ping Eye 2s made in the late 1980s remaining "legal" for play despite having grooves that otherwise wouldn't conform to today's rules. (For the long version, see this.)

With new groove rules in place on tour this year, new rules that many pros feared would make their wedges less effective, a handful of touring pros have taken advantage of the loophole by using those old Pings in tournament play. John Daly was one of the first; Phil Mickelson was the highest-profile, and Phil's use of the old Pings at the Farmers Insurance Open led to the word "cheating" getting thrown around.

But today, in a news release, Ping announced:

Ping Chairman and CEO John Solheim announced today that Ping will waive its rights that prevent the PGA Tour from prohibiting the use of pre-April 1990 Ping Eye 2 irons and wedges that do not meet the 2010 Condition of Competition from being played at PGA Tour professional competitions.

The waiver goes into effect March 29 and applies to the PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour. As a result of a request from the USGA, Ping will also apply the waiver to the U.S. Open in June. The PGA Tour will then adopt a Condition of the Competition that does not provide an exception for the pre-April 1990 Ping Eye 2 irons.

The waiver by Ping of the rights brokered under that long-ago legal agreement does not apply to USGA-sanctioned amateur tournaments. If you're an amateur, and you've been taking advantage of the loophole to use old Ping Eye 2 wedges, you can keep right on doing so in any tournaments governed by the USGA Rules of Golf.

On the Web:

• Ping, PGA Tour reach resolution on club issue

This Week: WGC CA Championship

Tiger Woods won't be at the WGC CA Championship this week, and neither will Ryo Ishikawa. Tiger's absence is no suprise at all, but now that he's practicing again we can expect to see stories every Friday afternoon - the deadline to commit to the following week's event - noting when Woods fails to join the field.

But keep in that mind that the CA Championship will be only the third PGA Tour event that Woods has missed during his, ahem, hiatus. To this point in the season, Woods would only have played the Farmers Insurance Open (Torrey Pines) and the WGC Match Play Championship in one of his "normal" years.

Ishikawa has a much better reason than Woods for missing the CA Championship: He's attending his high school graduation. Today, in fact. The 18-year-old is in Tokyo with his fellow students getting his diploma. Good for him.

Anyone think Camilo Villegas isn't the favorite this week? In three tournaments in 2010, he's finished third, eighth and first. The defending champion is Phil Mickelson. Remember him?

Check the WGC CA Championship tournament page for the list of past champions and more tourney info and trivia.

This Week: WGC CA Championship originally appeared on About.com Golf on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 11:27:00.

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Sunday Summary: Big Wins for Villegas, Couples

Great day of golf on Sunday. Here's a summary:

PGA Tour: Camilo Villegas has the looks, the swagger, the charisma, the game, the "Spider-Man pose." Now he has another win. Villegas kept the pedal down all week at the Honda Classic, opening with a pair of 66s, going 67-68 on the weekend.

He led by three at the start of the final round, and by five at the end of it. It's PGA Tour victory No. 3 for Villegas, and his first since the 2008 Tour Championship. Villegas has played three tournaments so far this year, and finished eighth or better in all three. Details (And see also: Camilo Villegas pictures)

Champions Tour: If you thought Villegas was off to a hot start, that's nothing compared to Fred Couples' start on the Champions Tour: second, first, first. Freddy Cool's second Champions Tour victory was by four strokes at the Toshiba Classic. Details

Nationwide Tour: Steve Pate defeated Aaron Watkins in a playoff at the Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open in Colombia (Camilo Villegas' brother Manuel finished 15th). Steve Pate ... wasn't he a Ryder Cupper once? Twice, actually, in 1991 and 1999. But this note from the PGA Tour media guide about his 1991 Ryder Cup gives a clue to the nature of Pate's career: "... played in only one match due to bruised hip suffered in traffic accident on way to team banquet."

Pate finished sixth on the PGA Tour money list in 1991, but injuries took a toll. He cracked a wrist in 1996, and broke his right hand and wrist in a car wreck in 1997. In 1999, he was PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year, finishing 13th on the money list. But his game quickly fell off after that. Now he's a couple weeks away from 49. Champions Tour, here he comes! But please be careful in traffic, Steve. Details

European Tour/Asian Tour: 18-year-old Korean Seung-yul Noh, the 2008 Asian Tour Rookie of the Year, beat KJ Choi by one stroke. He did it by chipping from behind a hospitality tent, off the fringe of the practice putting green, to the 18th green, then making the last-hole birdie putt. Details

LET/ALPG: Karrie Webb flirted with a 59 before "settling" for a course-record 61 to win the co-sanctioned ANZ Ladies Masters for a record seventh time. She won by six strokes over Katherine Hull and Bo-Mee Lee. Details

JLPGA: Ai Miyazato's attempt to win three straight weeks ended in Japan at the Daikin Orchid Ladies tournament, where Ai finished tied for seventh. The winner was Korean Sun Ju Ahn, running away from runners-up including Jiyai Shin and Inbee Park. Details

Sunday Summary: Big Wins for Villegas, Couples originally appeared on About.com Golf on Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 18:44:30.

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Looking Back: British Opens

Here are a couple trivia questions for you today:

1. Which Hall-of-Famer whiffed a putt on the 72nd hole of a British Open to fall out of a playoff?
2. Which Hall-of-Famer, upon visiting St. Andrews for the first time, spotted the Old Course and said, "That looks like an old, abandoned golf course?"

For answer No. 1, see the results of the 1933 British Open. For answer No. 2, see the results of the 1946 British Open.

Looking Back: British Opens originally appeared on About.com Golf on Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 08:28:06.

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Camilo Villegas' Spidey Sense

What would happen if you tried to duplicate Camilo Villegas' so-called "Spider-Man pose" for reading greens? I could probably get down into the position, but would need the help of three buddies to get back up again.

Villegas became a fan favorite early in his PGA Tour career, well before he established himself as a star by winning, in part due to the unique method he employs for reading greens. Villegas gets low. Very low. He strikes the Spider-Man pose. Check out some images of Villegas employing his green-reading technique, and cast your vote in a poll on the last page.

Camilo Villegas' Spidey Sense originally appeared on About.com Golf on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 21:11:31.

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Creamer Tweets Injury Update

Paula Creamer withdrew from the LPGA season opener a couple weeks ago after re-injuring her left thumb. Since then, she's posted a few updates on Twitter, including about the raft of hand specialists she's visited. Creamer has had appointments in Detroit, Cincinnati and Alabama.

What are the findings? You only have to follow Creamer on Twitter to get the news straight from her. Short version: Strained ligament, hyperextended joint, return to LPGA action up in the air.

The (only slightly) longer version was posted in four tweets. I've put those tweets together into this statement from Creamer:

"Many of you have been wondering what the latest is with my thumb. I have been diagnosed as having a stretched ligament in my left thumb. This leads to hyperextension of my MCP joint. I've learned more in the last 2 weeks about orthopedic sports medicine than I ever thought I would. Anyway, I'm working with an occupational therapist now to determine if I can wear a support brace while playing. It's too early right now to say when I'll be able to return to play. Thanks everyone for your concern, support, and all the get well wishes you have sent."

I'm sure I speak for our readers when adding our own get-well wishes. The LPGA needs Creamer's star power. It's three weeks before the LPGA plays again, at the Kia Classic Presented by J Golf, March 25-28.

See also:

• Paula Creamer pictures

Creamer Tweets Injury Update originally appeared on About.com Golf on Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 11:22:05.

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Tiger Turning Heads on Driving Range

Tiger Woods is back practicing at the Isleworth Country Club driving range, and some fellow PGA Tour pros are taking notice. So far, Charles Howell III and J.B. Holmes have both shared the range with Woods, and both came away impressed.

Howell told CBSSports.com that he spent an hour with Woods, including watching Tiger hit balls. Did Woods look rusty? No:

"... (H)e looked as good as he ever has," Howell said. "Seriously, he seemed like he was hitting it the same as he ever did."

Holmes watched Woods from the other end of the Isleworth range, and told Golfweek:

"I watched him hit about five or six drivers, and it looked like they all ended up in a 10-yard area. I said to myself, 'It looks like he's hitting it pretty good.' "

The Masters is one month away. Between then and now, there are two PGA Tour events that Woods plays, the WGC CA Championship next week and the Arnold Palmer Invitational March 25-28. There's also the Tavistock Cup March 22-23, an event that has been the subject of speculation as a potential return target for Tiger.

Meanwhile, Jack Nicklaus said of Woods' possible return, "I can't imagine in 100 years he's going to miss Augusta."

What do you think?

Tiger Turning Heads on Driving Range originally appeared on About.com Golf on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 13:42:11.

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Discuss: John Daly's Latest

John Daly's reality TV show on the Golf Channel debuted this week. But John Daly's reality remains far more attention-grabbing than any reality show.

Daly is taking fire today because he used his Twitter account to post a newspaper reporter's cell phone number, to call that reporter a "jerk," and to urge his followers to call the reporter. Presumably not to wish the reporter a good night and a pleasant tomorrow.

Here's the chain the events:

• Back in 2005, Daly filed a lawsuit against Morris Publishing, a media company, claiming libel.
• As part of that lawsuit, the PGA Tour was forced to turn over its personnel file on Daly. That file thus became public record.
• Last year, the lawsuit was thrown out, and Daly was ordered to pay Morris' court fees.
• On Tuesday, Gary Smits, a reporter for the Florida Times-Union - a newspaper owned by Morris Publishing - had an article detailing the contents of that personnel file: 456 pages of transgressions by Daly (more on that in a sec).
• Late Tuesday, Daly posted three tweets that included attacks on the reporter and the reporter's cell phone number.
• Early Wednesday, Daly removed the tweets.

But the tweets have been saved for posterity by multiple sources, including the Associated Press, which reports this is how they read: Read more...

Discuss: John Daly's Latest originally appeared on About.com Golf on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 17:38:31.

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Tiger Woods Reportedly Practicing Again

Tiger Woods is back home in Florida and back on the practice range, according to the Associated Press, citing "a person with knowledge of his schedule."

The AP's golf beat writer, Doug Ferguson, writes:

"Woods returned to his home near Orlando on Saturday and has been hitting balls on the range at Isleworth ...

"The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because only Woods is authorized to release information about his schedule, said there is still no timetable for golf's No. 1 player to return to competition."

According to the AP, Woods spent a week in Arizona with wife Elin, attending family and marriage counseling. Woods is not believed to have seriously practiced since mid-November, before the auto accident that sent his world crashing down around him.

This report carries more credence than most others we've seen from unnamed sources because of the credentials of the reporter involved. If Woods is getting serious about practice again, perhaps a return at or before The Masters is still possible. That's something I would have bet against after watching Woods' apology.

On the wire:

• AP Source: Woods back from family counseling

Tiger Woods Reportedly Practicing Again originally appeared on About.com Golf on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 11:57:02.

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