Tiger Woods followed a near-miss at the Abu Dhabi Championship with a Sunday fold at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Does the 14-time major champ and 71-time PGA Tour victor need to learn how to win again? Hank Gola of The New York Daily News puts this question to Nick Faldo, Johnny Miller and Brandel Chamblee and gets differing responses.

I asked the first question, whether Tiger Woods needs to learn how to win all over again and they took it from there. I thought I’d run the entire transcript. Here goes:

NICK FALDO: Yeah, I do. I believe, because what we have seen, his incredible record in the past, leading after 54 and converting was ridiculous. But now we have seen about four now times when he's been right there, good enough to get into contention but not good enough to finish it off. And I think that’s when you discover all of those little things that you can't really put your finger on, what it takes to finish it off. But the bottom line is trust, or self belief, self confidence in your ability. We have seen a few swings and a few putts that -- we watch Tiger scratch his head, let alone scratch your own.

JOHNNY MILLER: I don't know if the word is learn how to win again. But like Nick said, he's got to go do it is all it amounts to. The more tournaments that he’s sniffing on the lead and doesn’t pull it off, even starting with the Masters last year, that great charge on Sunday, it looked like he was going to do it and just sort of fizzes out. The more of those that he has, the more scar tissue you get, and you know, the tougher it is to make those putts. He used to do it, like, ‘Hey, it always goes in for me. Why not be confident?’ And all of a sudden, they are not going in, and he needs a lucky win or something, or a couple of guys gag or something and he wins. He just needs to win. That's what I said all along; I don’t care he did win at Sherwood, but I don’t know if that totally convinced him that that was a real win. He needs to do it on Tour with a PGA Tour win.

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: You know, I think he knows how to win. I don’t think he’s forgotten how to win. I just think he’s forgotten how to swing.

Lee Westwood says Europeans have advantage at Accenture Match Play

While PGA Tour members have been battling in California (with a stop in Phoenix), European Tour players have been playing in the Middle East for the last month. Lee Westwood said Tuesday that all that desert golf pays off for European players when they get to the Accenture Match Play in Tucson.

Q. Do you see the Middle East swing as being very beneficial, and has some characteristics similar to this golf course out here? Does that give the Europeans an advantage as they've shown winning the last couple of years? Do they have an advantage coming into this tournament because they play Dubai and Abu Dhabi?

LEE WESTWOOD: It's very similar playing the Middle East as to here. The greens will be very similar, and some of the golf courses are fairly similar. So it's probably good preparation for this tournament, yeah.

Q. Do the Europeans have an advantage?

LEE WESTWOOD: Yeah.

Westwood also talked about his decision to give up alcohol.

Q. This non use of alcohol

LEE WESTWOOD: You can't comprehend that, can you, Alex?

Q. I actually can. Do you think this is just one more thing that can help you?

LEE WESTWOOD: I don't drink a lot, anyway, to be perfectly honest. But I just felt like stopping altogether.

Q. When you say you feel better, what do you mean exactly?

LEE WESTWOOD: Well, I mean after Christmas I was trying to lose weight. There's a lot of calories in alcohol. So it was the easiest place to cut it out for starters.

Q. What were you up to?

LEE WESTWOOD: 97 kilos [214 lbs], something like that.

Q. So it's just the weight?

LEE WESTWOOD: The main reason, yeah. I like a break every now and then.

Schwartzel wants to master the grill at Augusta National

Just when you thought the Champions Dinner at the Masters couldn't get any cooler, 2011 champ Charl Schwartzel asked Augusta National if he could hold a South African "braai" barbecue this year. (By tradition, the previous year's champion chooses the menu of the storied, champions-only Tuesday night dinner during Masters week.)

Q. Charl, is it true that you're going to do something unique at the Champions Dinner with the meal and where does that stand?

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Well, I mean, we were going to try and do a barbecue. In South Africa we call it a 'braai'. I don't like very formal dinners. I thought of keeping it very relaxed, sort of standing around a fire and cooking the meat.

Q. Is that what you hope to do?

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: That's what I hope to do. Only thing that could stop me probably if there's too many people. Then it's very difficult to do the meat yourself. But we're still waiting for confirmation if it will be allowed, see how it works.

Q. Charl, I'm curious. When you presented Augusta National that you wanted to cook your own meat, I'm wondering what their initial response was.

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: I don't know. Their initial response was obviously, We'll come back to you on that. I think it took them quite by surprise, maybe expecting something a little more different or more the way they always do it. I just find sometimes that I don't enjoy these functions that are formal. You sit down, the food comes. I like it to be fun and relaxed, something that everyone will eat. If you bring in funny sort of foods, not everyone eats it. That's not what you want. I think everybody must be able to eat it and everybody must be able to enjoy it. That's what I do when I'm home on my off time. Basically every night I cook meat on the fire. Yeah, I thought that's something to do.

Q. If they give you the go ahead, what meat are you throwing on the grill?

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: Yeah, I don't know. We'll put some lamb chops, fillet steaks, a thing we call boerewors. It's a sausage that is very sort of famous in South Africa. I'm going to get to some South African shops in the United States and order some of those sausages and things.

Schwartzel spoke to reporters via telephone Tuesday at a Masters media conference, where he talked about another trapping of Masters tradition: the green jacket.

Q. You kindly came to the Golf Writers Dinner at the Open and wore the green jacket. How many times did you wear it over the previous year and what was the most fun, interesting occasion that you wore it?

CHARL SCHWARTZEL: There's something about the jacket. Every single time you put it on, you get this very, very proud feeling. I wore it I don't know how many times. It traveled with me the whole of last year. Basically every single function that we went to, I wore it. I have no idea. I mean, I played 36 tournaments last year. I must have worn it more than 20, 25 times at some functions. Every time you put it on, it's a special moment. 

Tweet of the Day

From CBSSports.com's Steve Elling...

Join us on Wednesday at noon EST, where we'll blog the opening day at the Accenture Match Play.

Mobile users, access the blog by cutting and pasting this link: http://bit.ly/zFg2Gk

Current Match Scores | Top 10 Match Players of All Time

43

Length of the putt Bill Haas made for birdie on the second playoff hole to win the Northern Trust Open, the longest putt to win a playoff on the PGA Tour in at least 20 years. However, it was not the longest shot made in a playoff, Craig Parry holed a six-iron from 176 yards out to beat Scott Verplank at the 2004 Ford Championship at Doral.

0

Number of three putts by Bill Haas at the Northern Trust Open. Keegan Bradley and three others also avoided three-putting at the event. For the week, Haas was second in strokes gained, second in total putting and tied for first in overall putting average. He had 33 one-putts, which was T19th. (Keegan Bradley won that category with 41 one-putts.) In putts from 5 feet and in, Haas was a perfect 49 for 49.  

50

Percent of greens hit in regulation by Bill Haas at the Northern Trust Open. Other than putting, Haas's statistics from the Northern Trust Open were pretty average. He was T58th in greens in regulation (36 of 72) and T30th in fairways hit.

1

Number of rounds Haas has been over par in the 20 rounds he's played on the PGA Tour this year. He shot a 1-over 72 in the first round of the Northern Trust.

7

Current streak of wins by American players on the PGA Tour. Americans have won the first seven events of the 2012 PGA TOUR season. The last time there was such a streak to start the season was 2001, when U.S. players won the first eight events of the year before Robert Allenby won the Northern Trust Open.

28

Age of Jay Haas (28 years, 9 months and 17 days ) when he won his fourth PGA Tour event at the 1982 Hall of Fame Classic. Son Bill has was 29 years, 8 months and 25 days when he won the Northern Trust Open on Sunday.

13.4

Millions in Tour winnings by Bill Haas, just $1 million short of his father's career earnings. And that 13.4 million doesn't include the $10 million bonus Bill Haas received for winning the 2011 FedEx Cup.

19

Combined wins of Julius Boros (18) and son Guy Boros (1), the most PGA Tour wins by a father-son combo. Here are the other father-and-son tandems that have won on the PGA Tour:

Jack Burke Sr. (2) and Jack Burke Jr.(16): 18 total wins

Al Geiberger (11) and Brent Geiberger (2): 13 total wins

Joe Kirkwood Sr. (13) and Joe Kirkwood Jr. (2): 15 total wins

Jay Haas (9) and Bill Haas (4): 13 total wins

Tom Morris Sr. (4) and Tom Morris Jr. (4): 8 total wins

Willie Park (4) and Willie Park Jr. (1): 5 total wins  

Clayton Heafner (4) and Vance Heafner (1): 5 total wins

2

Number of times Phil Mickelson has won at Riviera (2008 and 2009) and lost there in playoffs (2007 and 2012).

13

Number of LPGA wins by Yani Tseng, who birdied her final two holes to win the Honda LPGA Thailand by a shot over Ai Miyazato. Tseng is 75 wins away from Kathy Whitworth, who leads the LPGA Tour with 88. Tseng is 69 wins away from Mickey Wright and 59 wins away from Annika Sorenstam.

23

Age of Yani Tseng when she won her 13th LPGA event on Sunday. By contrast, Whitworth she was 23 years when she won the 1962 Phoenix Thunderbird Open, her second career victory; Mickey Wright was 23 years when she won the 1958 LPGA Championship, her sixth LPGA Tour victory; and Annika Sorenstam was 24 when she won for the first time at the 1995 U.S. Women's Open.

12.6

Percent of LPGA starts that Yani Tseng has won (13 wins in 103 starts). However, Tseng's win rate doesn't come close to Tiger Woods's winning percentage of 25.8 percent (71 wins in 275 starts).

--Compiled by Sal Johnson

(Photo: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Keegan Bradley took to Twitter to perform some damage control after this weekend's Northern Trust Open. No, Bradley did not apologize for his performance after losing to Bill Haas in a thrilling three-way playoff. Instead, Bradley said he was sorry for spitting on the course.

Bradley, the 26-year-old who won the PGA Championship as a rookie last year, is often seen on television spitting on the course, which caught the eye of British golf instructor and TV commentator Denis Pugh as he watched the Northern Trust Open. Pugh also noticed Bradley's geological pace of play.

But Pugh didn't stop there. He asked his more than 7,000 followers to send tweets to Bradley and Bradley's sponsor Cleveland Golf to complain about the spitting and slow play.

Clearly, Pugh's message was heard. Afterward, Pugh accepted Bradley's apology although he noted that it covered only spitting, not pace of play.

Of course, Bradley is not the only member of the PGA Tour who spits on the course. Tiger Woods is often criticized for spitting on the golf course. Back in 2008, our former colleague Farrell Evans weighed in on this issue, concluding that the problem wasn't that Woods spits on the course, but it was the way he spits.  

A good Southern man should never chew gum in public, but spitting is permissible just as long as it's not on the town square sidewalk or near a lady.

Tiger is not a good practitioner of the art of spitting. The saliva must come out of the mouth in a tight rope. Tiger’s tends to come out like a water hose meant to wet the widest space possible. Also, he’s just not a spitting type of guy. What do I mean? He’s a golfer from Southern California, not Salinas or Sacramento or Selma or San Antonio.

Boo Weekley is good at it because he knows the context of spitting. He knows the history and has seen good men, hardworking men, perform one of the working man’s greatest crafts.

It's a skill that was perfected by real country folks, working-class poor people who lived through the Depression. They spit, but they knew good manners. A kind word and a handshake and opening doors for women and old folks. Yes sir and no sir. Ask a man about his day, and he told you about how grateful he was that he could support his family and that there was good rain last night.

For these people, spitting was a ritual, a way to pause between parts of a story. I call it fluid punctuation.

Ben Crane mannequin stops burglary in Denmark

Gotham City might still need a hero, but Copenhagen already has Ben Crane, thank you very much.

A Crane mannequin foiled a burglary attempt at a sporting goods store in Denmark's capital city. USA Today has the details:

A mannequin of Crane holding a golf club thwarted a late-night robbery Feb. 17 in the Copenhagen, Denmark, headquarters of Show Me Golfers, a golf app that Crane endorses. According to ShowMeGolfers, the burlgar(s) broke a window to gain entry but did not take anything, fleeing at the shadowy image of Crane. The alarm, however, went off, and upon arriving at the scene, police officers pulled their guns on the Crane lookalike and asked him to drop his gun before realizing it was a mannequin.

No one — not even the mannequin — was hurt in the incident.

"I am pumped. This is awesome," Crane enthusiastically said Monday at the World Golf Championship-Accenture Match Play Championship. "It's weird, I'll tell you that. But it's great news. And I technically saved a major robbery. When the cops got there, they soon realized I had it all under control."

Michelle Wie goes gluten-free to improve golf game

If it worked for No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic, it's good enough for Michelle Wie.

In Singapore for the HSBC Women's Champion tournament, Wie said she's switched to a gluten-free diet like the one that helped Djokovic, according to AFP.

"I heard that story that he turned gluten free and became number one in the world," Wie on Tuesday told a press conference in Singapore ahead of the $1.4-million HSBC Women's Champions tournament starting Thursday where she will be competing.

"I think it's really motivating me," she said in response to a question from AFP. Djokovic, who has battled allergies in his career, has credited a gluten-free diet as one of the key reasons behind his surge to the top of men's tennis.

Like the Serbian, Wie is also allergy-prone and has tweeted earlier this month that her hands are less swollen after omitting gluten from her diet.

"I am allergic to everything in this world, I don't really digest food very well," the 22-year-old Hawaiian of Korean descent said. "So I just thought maybe if I cut out gluten, I can feel better because I heard that it causes inflammation, everything... but it's been week three and I feel a big difference."

Tweet of the Day

Each week, 15 staffers from SI Golf+, Golf Magazine and GOLF.com vote for their top 10, awarding 10 points to their first choice and proceeding in descending order to the 10th player, who gets one point. The points are then added and the ranking calculated. This ranking aims to be an of-the-moment measure of who’s playing the best right now. Tell us your top 10 in the comments field below.

RANK (TOTAL VOTES, FIRST PLACE VOTES, LAST WEEK'S RANK)

1. Phil Mickelson (130, 5, 2) - Last three finishes: T2, Northern Trust Open; 1, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; T26, Waste Management Phoenix Open - Official World Golf Ranking: 9

2.  Rory McIlroy (122, 7, 1)  - Last three finishes: T5, Omega Dubai Desert Classic; 2, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship; T11, Dubai World Championship - Official World Golf Ranking: 2

T3. Luke Donald (86, 1, 3) - Last three finishes: T56, Northern Trust Open; T48, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship; T12, JBWere Masters - Official World Golf Ranking: 1

T3. Bill Haas (86, 1, NR) - Last three finishes: 1, Northern Trust Open; T19, Waste Management Phoenix Open; T4, Farmers Insurance Open - Official World Golf Ranking: 12

5. Kyle Stanley (85, 0, T3) - Last three finishes: T24, Northern Trust Open; 1, Waste Management Phoenix Open; 2, Farmers Insurance Open - Official World Golf Ranking: 51

6. Lee Westwood (62, 1, 5) - Last three finishes: T2, Omega Dubai Desert Classic; T12, Qatar Masters; T17, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship - Official World Golf Ranking: 3

7. Keegan Bradley (54, 0, NR) - Last three finishes: T2, Northern Trust Open; T15, Waste Management Phoenix Open; T22 Farmers Insurance Open - Official World Golf Ranking: 19

8. Webb Simpson (34, 0, 6) - Last three finishes: T8, Waste Management Phoenix Open; T38, Sony Open; T3, Hyundai Tournament of Champions - Official World Golf Ranking: 6

T9. Sergio Garcia (27, 0, NR) - Last three finishes: T4, Northern Trust Open; T5, Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy; T12, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship - Official World Golf Ranking: 16

T9. Steve Stricker (27, 0, 8) - Last three finishes: T38, Sony Open; 1, Hyundai Tournament of Champions; 16, Chevron World Challenge - Official World Golf Ranking: 5

Others receiving votes:
Branden Grace (21)
Johnson Wagner (21)
Tiger Woods (18)
Brandt Snedeker (16)
Dustin Johnson (7)
Martin Kaymer (6)
Thomas Bjorn (5)
Jason Day (4)
Robert Rock (4)
Charl Schwartzel (3)
Bubba Watson (3)
Mark Wilson (3)
Spencer Levin (1)

Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley made dramatic putts on 18 to force a playoff with Bill Haas at the Northern Trust Open. After three pars on the first playoff hole, No. 18, the playoff moved to No. 10, a drivable par 4. No one hit the green, and all three left themselves tough chip shots. Haas was the only one to get his second shot on the green, and he sank a long putt of about 40 feet to win.

Second Playoff hole, No. 10 (312-yard par 4) Mickelson hooks it into the rough on this drivable par 4. Has a bunker between his ball and the hole. McCord says dropping it out of Snoopy II is the only way to get it close. Bradley hits it in the bunker that Phil's behind. Haas goes into left rough.

Haas was away and had a terrible lie. Instead of risking a shot into the sand, he hits it safe and leaves himself 40 feet for birdie. Mickelson, out of a perfect lie, drops a 64-degree nearly in the hole, but it rolls over the back and into a bunker. Nearly impossible shot. Bradley's sand shot is brilliant and barely rolls over the back of the green. He'll putt from the fringe for birdie.

Haas is on the green but he's away, farther from the hole than Mickelson, who's in the bunker. His bomb of a birdie putt falls in! Mickelson's sand shot, with the pin pulled, dribbles short. He's out. Bradley burns the edge and Haas is our winner.

First Playoff hole, No. 18 (475-yard par 4) All three players hit nice drives in the fairway. Mickelson, well back of Bradley and Haas after a 287-yard drive, hits it on from 206 yards but has a long birdie putt. Haas hits his approach fat and short of the green. Bradley is closest though just off the back of the green, maybe an inch onto the fringe.

Haas chips it close though the announcers thought it was fat. About 5 feet left for his par. Mickelson comes up short, knee-knocker for his par. Bradley's birdie try burns the edge. They all make their putts and head to No. 10 for the second playoff hole.

Join us on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at noon EST to discuss each of the topics from this week's edition of the PGA Tour Confidential.

The last time Tiger Woods played the Honda Classic, he hadn’t even won a U.S. Amateur yet. It was 1993, and the tournament was held at Westin Hills G&CC in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Tiger missed the cut. Still, there’s good reason to like Tiger’s chances when he rejoins the Honda field at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., in a couple of weeks. Speaking with the Palm Beach Post, Tommy Roy, NBC Sports’s top golf producer, noted:

“…I think this golf course is right in his wheelhouse.

“If you look at the stats through the years, the leaders always play the Bear Trap well. Those three holes [Nos. 15-17] require cut shots most of the time, depending on the wind, and that's playing right into Tiger's strength with the power cut that he's playing. The other factor is that he always putts well on Bermuda greens.

"It would seem this golf course is almost perfect for him."

Finchem on the Tiger Effect

The Honda will benefit from Tiger’s presence, but Tim Finchem continues to preach that TW’s not essential to the success of the Tour. Earlier this week the commish told Jill Painter of the L.A. Daily News:

"It's always good to have everybody play. Tiger has gotten into a schedule that in his mind works, and we have a great respect for that. It stands out when the best player over the last 15 years doesn't have a tournament on his schedule. Tiger Woods is bigger than life.

"People are surprised to learn Tiger plays in one of three events on average. And yet, over the last 15 years, all of our tournaments have grown. While it's nice [if Woods plays], it's not fundamental."

Mr. Commissioner, you might want to see these numbers

The Tour may not flat-line when Tiger stays home, but as has been well documented, TV ratings suffer. Matt Yoder at awfulannouncing.com underscored that point by delving deep into the ratings of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which enjoyed a huge boost with Charlie Wi Tiger Woods in the mix last Sunday.

It's only one tournament examined in a vacuum, but the ratings data from Pebble Beach tell an interesting story. Here are the numbers since 2000 of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am (thanks to the acclaimed person behind TVSportsRatings, whoever he or she is) with the total average number of viewers for CBS's weekend coverage and what it means for the PGA Tour... 

2000 4.1
2001 5.9 
2002 4.5 
2003 4.1 
2004 4.1 
2005 5.0 
2006 3.3 
2007 3.6 
2008 2.9 
2009 1.6 
2010 1.9 
2011 2.9 
2012 5.7

A few takeaways from those numbers...

*Tiger Woods made his first appearance this year at Pebble Beach for the early season tournament since 2002. Woods played at Pebble Beach in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2012. The average number of viewers for those 4 tournaments was 5.05 million, including a Monday finish in 2000 (thus the low 4.1 number). The average number of viewers for the 9 tournaments Tiger didn't play at Pebble from 2003-2011? Just 3.27 million. That's an increase of 54% for Pebble Beach when Tiger has played since 2000.

…As long as the PGA Tour is so utterly dependent on Woods for ratings success, how can they expect to be healthier without Tiger's presence? Even in 2012, it's a question the PGA Tour is still seeking an answer to.

Tweet of the Day

LA traffic is 3rd World-esque.

— Joe Ogilvie (@ogilviej) February 17, 2012

Last month, Meg Mallon was picked to lead the U.S. team at the 2013 Solheim Cup. So who's going to captain the European squad? Well, not Annika Sorenstam. On Golf Channel's Morning Drive show Thursday morning, Sorenstam announced she has declined an offer to be the European captain. She also made the announcement on her website.

The Solheim Cup has been an important part of my career, and I hope to one day lead the European team. However, after working with Captain Alison Nicholas and her team this past year as Vice Captain, I saw firsthand the incredible amount of work and dedication it takes to be the Captain. With my young family, foundation, businesses, and other commitments I have already made to try and help grow the game, I simply cannot provide the necessary time that the European team, Solheim family, and the entire event deserves.

Something doesn't add up
I was told there would be no math with this job, so fortunately Golfweek's Alex Miceli points out the absurdity of Phil Mickelson earning fewer world ranking points from his win at Pebble Beach than Tiger Woods did for his win at the Chevron in December.

When Woods beat Zach Johnson by a stroke at the Chevron, which is an unofficial event, he earned 44 world-ranking points and moved from 52nd in the world to 21st in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Mickelson, with his two-shot margin against Charlie Wi at Pebble Beach, earned only 38 points. That also was 10 less than the 48 points that Rafael Cabrera-Bello gained for winning the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and the same amount that Lee Westwood garnered for winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge, a 12-man exhibition event in South Africa in December.

Golf gets really social
Players can't tweet during their rounds, but starting this week players sponsored by TaylorMade will have a Twitter hashtag on their hats, #driverlove. The hashtag name plays off the club company's recent advertising campaign. Mashable has the details.

While other sports have added interesting social media twists to their players and fields, golf is a game deeply rooted in tradition and not necessarily eager to humor cutting-edge fashion trends and tech fads. But that leaves an opening for brands willing to innovate, according to TaylorMade’s chief marketing officer, Bob Maggiore.

“For our sport as whole, the social media space has really been a slow-moving river,” Maggiore told Mashable. “So it’s interesting for us, because we’ve kind of given up on doing certain things the old way. We like to get out in front and try different things.”

Tweet of the Day

Drinks are on me!!!!!!!! Hole in one today on number 12!!! The car was sitting there but didn't get it! What the heck! Not cool! #tease

— Paula Creamer (@ThePCreamer) February 16, 2012

Looks like even Tiger Woods has given up on that vaunted “intimidation factor.”

As part of the buildup to the release of his Tiger Woods EA Sports PGA Tour 13 video game, Woods has posted some of his childhood pics on Facebook. And, yes, they’re adorable.

The new gimmick in this year’s edition of the popular golf game is the “Tiger Legacy Challenge” mode, where you can compete as Tiger throughout all the eras of his career: from junior golf through his amateur titles to the Tiger slam. You can even hear Tiger’s father, Earl, yelling at Tiger while he gets ready to swing to sharpen his son’s focus. Here’s a video preview:

Woods also gave some interviews to EA Sports about his childhood, where he talks about his father and his memories of his famous appearance on “The Mike Douglas Show” as a 2-year-old, and what “Tiger par” was growing up.

Tiger Woods EA Sports PGA Tour 13 is scheduled for U.S. release on March 27, the same day as former coach Hank Haney’s book about his time with Tiger, “The Big Miss.” The regular edition is $59.99 on Xbox 360 and PS3; the special Masters Collector's Edition is $69.99.

Golf replaces skiing as winter sport in mild Northeast winter
Bloomberg News reports on golf’s emergence as a winter sport in the unseasonably mild Northeastern U.S. this season.

Without snow in metropolitan areas, Northeast golf courses have capitalized, drawing players throughout the winter and doing maintenance and renovation months earlier than normal.

The Mattawang Golf Club, a semi-private course in Belle Mead, New Jersey, hosted almost 1,000 rounds in January, including one 60-degree Saturday on which the course drew 190 golfers, said Mahlon Dow, the club’s head professional and manager.

“That’s a good number in June,” Dow said in a telephone interview. “It looks like October out there.”

Ernie Els: Take my belly putter, please
Ernie Els joined Tiger Woods in calling for a ban on belly putters this week at the Northern Trust. One difference though: Els is actually using a belly putter. He explains:

Q. You mentioned the short putter. The USGA has said they're taking a fresh look at the belly putter, long putter, anchoring. Do you welcome that? What do you think about that?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I think so. Although I've used it, I've used it for, what, six months now, I feel the same as most of the traditionalists. I feel that no club should be anchored to your body. I don't know how they're going to go around it, maybe use a putter as long as you want as long as it's not anchored to your body any way, even up your arm. You see a lot of the guys use it in their armpits now. Nothing should be anchored to your body, and I believe I still believe that. I was in such a state that I felt that I needed to change something, which I did. I went to the belly. It hasn't really helped me that much, but it has helped me. But I'm for it. Ban it. It's fine.

Tweets of the Day

If you exit Riviera CC and go right a half mile, that's where OJ's house was. A little further down is Nicole's.

— Stewart Cink (@stewartcink) February 15, 2012

This is a photo hanging in Rivera.40's or early 50's. People having been putting like this for a very long time! twitter.com/Keegan_Bradley…

— Keegan Bradley (@Keegan_Bradley) February 15, 2012

Yet another Tiger Woods Sunday meltdown has pundits, fans, and players alike wondering if the former No. 1 will ever get his mojo back. His Sean Foley swing looks pretty solid these days, but his inability to get the job done on Sunday raises questions about the direction Tiger is moving. Lee Trevino, who has never been afraid to voice his opinion, thinks the answer to Woods's woes is pretty simple -- go back to Butch Harmon. 

"I would call a Realtor in Henderson, Nevada, and I'd find out where Butch lived and I'd buy the house next door," said Trevino, appearing on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's Galloway & Company on Monday afternoon. "I'd go over and ring the doorbell and say, 'Hi, neighbor,' and get back with Butch. That's exactly what I would do."

As everyone knows, Butch Harmon and Tiger worked together from his amateur days until 2002, during which time Eldrick bagged eight majors while completely dominating the game of golf. And as everyone also knows, Harmon currently coaches Phil Mickelson, who has beat up on Tiger in recent years, including last Sunday. Harmon has tightened Phil's swing in a -- no pun intended -- major way. According to Trevino, winner of six majors during his career, it's time for the two former friends to "bury the hatchet," and get back together. 

"I'm sure there's bad blood there, at least that's what I've heard," Trevino said. "I haven't talked to Butch in years, so I don't know how he feels with Tiger and I don't know if Tiger is too proud to ask for the help and if he asked for help if Butch would give it to him. But I think they speak to each other when they see each other at tournaments. If they do that, I don't see why two grown people can't sit down. He's all messed up right now."

Donald, Westwood, McIlroy and Kaymer are top seeds in Match Play event 

The qualifying period for the WGC-Accenture Match Play is now over and the field is pretty well set. No's 1-4 in the world, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer will grab the top seeds in each of the four brackets, while Ernie Els, who was on the outside looking in at 65th in the world, has just managed to slip into the tournament via Phil Mickelson's decision to skip the event. Other big names who were not so lucky include Ryan Moore at 67th, Robert Allenby at 68th, and Charles Howell III at 70th. 

Rafael Cabrera-Bello, who just won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic by holding off Westwood, moved up to 60th in the world from 119th to earn his first bid in the prestigious event. Nicolas Colsaerts also played well this past weekend and managed to grab the final 64th spot, knocking Ernie Els temporarily out of the field. Other notables who qualified for the Tucson event include Kevin Na at 62nd, Matteo Manassero at 61st, Jim Furyk at 59th, and Tiger-slayer Robert Rock at 58th. 

Tweet of the Day

Tiger Woods announced he would play the Honda Classic (March 1-March 4) in a statement on his website. It will be the first time he's played the event at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

The announcement means that Woods will have a busier-than-normal early season. His next tournament is the Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson (Feb. 22-Feb. 26). Woods also announced that he will be playing in the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Miami the week after the Honda Classic, meaning he will play for three consecutive weeks.

"I'm excited about my start and look forward to keep building," Woods said in a written statement. "I've made great strides from last year and hopefully all my hard work will pay off with a victory soon."

Woods is also expected to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Orlando's Bay Hill, which begins March 22. If he doesn't add any more events, Bay Hill will be Woods's final appearance before the Masters, which begins April 5.

The Honda Classic will be a home game for Woods, who recently moved to the Palm Beach area. It is known as one of the toughest events on the PGA Tour, and had the highest scoring average of any non-major PGA Tour event last year.

"I've heard great things about the Honda Classic, and now that I live here, I want to play whenever possible," Woods said. "Jack's [Nicklaus] involvement in the tournament and the benefits to the local community are also important."

(Photo: Robert Beck/SI)

Each week, 15 staffers from SI Golf+, Golf Magazine and GOLF.com vote for their top 10, awarding 10 points to their first choice and proceeding in descending order to the 10th player, who gets one point. The points are then added and the ranking calculated. This ranking aims to be an of-the-moment measure of who’s playing the best right now. Tell us your top 10 in the comments field below.

RANK (TOTAL VOTES, FIRST PLACE VOTES, LAST WEEK'S RANK)

1. Rory McIlroy (140, 8, 1) - Last three finishes: T5, Omega Dubai Desert Classic; 2, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship; T11, Dubai World Championship - Official World Golf Ranking: 3

2. Phil Mickelson (103, 4, NR) - Last three finishes: 1, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; T26, Waste Management Phoenix Open; MC, Farmers Insurace Open - Official World Golf Ranking: 11

3. Luke Donald (95, 2, 2) - Last three finishes: T48, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship; T12, JBWere Masters; 3, Dubai World Championship 
- Official World Golf Ranking: 1

4. Kyle Stanley (85, 0, T3) - Last three finishes: 1, Waste Management Phoenix Open; 2, Farmers Insurance Open; MC, Humana Challenge
- Official World Golf Ranking: 52

5. Lee Westwood (80, 1, 5) - Last three finishes: T2, Omega Dubai Desert Classic; T12, Qatar Masters; T17, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 2

6. Webb Simpson (65, 0, T3) - Last three finishes: T8, Waste Management Phoenix Open; T38, Sony Open; T3, Hyundai Tournament of Champions
- Official World Golf Ranking: 6

7. Johnson Wagner (45, 0, N8) - Last three finishes: T55, Waste Management Phoenix Open; T2, Humana Challenge; 1, Sony Open
- Official World Golf Ranking: 75 

8. Steve Stricker (42, 0, 6) - Last three finishes: T38, Sony Open; 1, Hyundai Tournament of Champions; 16, Chevron World Challenge 
- Official World Golf Ranking: 5

9. Branden Grace (36, 0, 7) - Last three finishes: T51, Omega Dubai Desert Classic; T47, Qatar Masters; MC, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 94

10. Brandt Snedeker (26, 0, 10) - Last three finishes: T50, Waste Management Phoenix Open; 1, Farmers Insurance Open; T8, Humana Challenge
- Official World Golf Rank: 16

Others receiving votes:

Tiger Woods (17)
Robert Rock (14)
Charl Schwartzel (14)
Sergio Garcia (13)
Paul Lawrie (10)
Keegan Bradley (9)
Martin Kaymer (9)
Jason Day (5)
Spencer Levin (5)
Thomas Bjorn (4)
Nick Watney (3)
Mark Wilson (3)
Dustin Johnson (2)

CBS reported having the highest ratings in 15 years during the final-round coverage of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, according to Geoff Schackelford.

CBS Sports’ final-round coverage of the AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AM on Sunday, Feb. 12 (3:15-6:30 PM, ET), which saw Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods paired together with Mickelson firing a 64 to win his fourth Pebble Beach title, delivered the highest rating for the final round at Pebble Beach in 15 years (5.8/13; Feb. 2, 1997) with an average overnight household rating/share of 5.1/10, up 96% from last year’s 2.6/6 in the metered markets.

Unfortunately, what golf fans thought was going to be final-round coverage from Pebble was actually college basketball. CBS broadcasted the end of the Illinois and Michigan game before finally switching over to Pebble Beach. How did upset fans voice their anger for the delay? According to Golf Digest, Twitter was the medium. 

Onlooker speaks up

At this weekend's Women's Australian Open in Melbourne, a spectator from the crowd spoke up and saved Karrie Webb from making a big mistake. According to The Age, on the 13th green fellow opponent Yani Tseng asked Webb to move her marker one putter-head length to the side to clear her line. After Tseng putted, Webb went to move her marker back but in the wrong direction. She was about to pull the trigger when a man yelled: "Excuse me!"

''I just blanked it. I don't even remember moving it the other way, but I guess I moved it the other way. About 15 people standing on the other side of the hole (said). I was just about to pull the trigger and he spoke up. Which really caught me off-guard. In the end it saved a two-shot penalty. It was quite courageous of him, to speak up, and I'm thankful for it.''

Webb waltzed over to the man, a local club golfer, and handed him her golf ball after putting out. ''It saved me a couple of shots,'' she said later.

Tweet of the Day

Phil Mickelson is now undefeated vs. Tiger in their last 5 final head-to-head rounds. He's Tom Coughlin and Tiger is Bill Belichick.

— Rick Reilly (@ReillyRick) February 13, 2012

Join us on Monday, Feb. 13 at noon EST to discuss all of the topics from this week's PGA Tour Confidential.

When Phil Mickelson started the final round at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, he seemed like a long shot to win the event. By the time he finished the front nine, he seemed like a lock. 

Mickelson was nine under, six shots behind leader Charlie Wi, after 54 holes, but he charged out of the gate with birdies on three of the first five holes and an eagle on the par-5 sixth. As Mickelson climbed the leaderboard with a 31 on the front to get to 14 under, his competitors fell all around him.

Wi four-putted the first hole for a double bogey and was 12 under after going out in 39. Tiger Woods, paired with Mickelson in the second-to-last group, bogeyed the last three holes on the front nine to fall to nine under. Duke also fell back with a front-nine 37.

Mickelson never let up, shooting a bogey-free 64 to finish 17 under, two shots clear of Wi. It was Mickelson's 40th PGA Tour victory and his fourth win at this event.

Woods, whose game has showed improvement in recent months, was again unable to finish a tournament with a victory. His three-over 75 left him at eight under, tied for 15th.

When asked about playing with Woods, Mickelson said it helped.

"I am inpsired playing with him, and I think most people are," Mickelson said. "He seems to bring out the best in me."

When asked about Woods's game, he was complimentary.

"He was hitting it so solid, you could tell his game was really close," Mickelson said.

More on Mickelson's win | Round 4 photos

(Photo: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Golf Magazine's Mike Walker is live blogging the final round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Mobile users, copy this link into your browser, http://bit.ly/x97q2X

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“Oh my goodness!”

That was CBS Sports analyst Nick Faldo talking about Bill Murray’s silky swing at Pebble Beach on Saturday, not his camouflage ghillie suit. Here’s video of Murray’s drive on the second hole. He also shows decent form punting a football. Analyze that, Nick.

Murray and his partner D.A. Points were the defending champions in the pro-am portion of the event this year, but they ended up just outside the cut line at 19 under.

After his round on Friday, Tiger Woods said he just needed a few putts to drop.

He got his wish on Saturday.

Starting on the back nine at Pebble Beach, Woods birdied five of six holes to go out in 32. He added one more birdie coming in to shoot a five-under 67, and Woods finished four strokes behind leader Charlie Wi heading into the final round on Sunday. He will play with Phil Mickelson (nine under) at 12:28 p.m. ET on Sunday.

"Today the putts went in," Woods said. "It was a nice little run."

Ken Duke fired a bogey-free 65 to move into second place, three shots behind Wi.

Wi has a nice lead, but he's never won on the PGA Tour, and he'll have a large group of superstars chasing him on Sunday.

One of those names will be Woods. After his lone bogey on No. 12, Woods caught fire with birdies on Nos. 13, 14, 15, 17 and 18. His birdie run brought back memories of his most-dominant performance, a 15-shot win at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, one of the greatest performances in the history of the game.

Woods has not won an official event since the 2009 Australian Masters. He did win his charity event, the Chevron World Challenge, in December, and he has almost looked like his old self ever since. In his first event this year, Woods tied for third at the Abu Dhabi Championship on the European Tour.

In his first two rounds this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, his first PGA Tour event of the season, Woods's ballstriking was solid but putts weren't dropping. On Saturday he needed only 27 putts, six fewer than he recorded on Friday. Woods will need a few more putts to drop on Sunday if he wants to beat a stellar field and head home with another trophy from Pebble Beach.

"It's going to be really fun," Woods said.

More Tiger: Tiger's Life in Pictures | Tiger's SI Covers | Tiger Homepage

(Credit: Allan Henry/US PRESSWIRE)

Golf Magazine's Mike Walker live blogged the second round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

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