Brian Wursten from Mesquite, Nev. and Jason Howell from Chesapeake Va. got a surprise Tuesday morning when they found out that Roger Clemens was joining their group at the Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship in Myrtle Beach.

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Along a back hallway of the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, past the ballroom as the evening’s entertainment goes through a sound check and around the corner from the hitting bays where the Dave Pelz Short Game School has set up shop, five guys sit in a room—putty colored walls, busy industrial carpet, fluorescent light. Their faces lit by the glow of computer screens, they speak not in any recognizable language but instead sound like they’re auditioning for the lead role in “A Beautiful Mind.”

“Flight 10 we got one who played to a 10.4 differential though she’s a 13.6, one in 21 probability.” The one man standing on the other side of the table takes this information in, nods thoughtfully and shuffles through a stack of papers. 

This is Boot Hill for sandbaggers.

Sure, Tiger Woods still wants to win the Deutsche Bank Championship this week, but to stay alive in the FedEx Cup playoffs he needs to finish at least T54, according to The Orlando Sentinel.

Woods currently ranks 65th in the standings with 734 points. A year ago, Chad Campbell was the last man into the BMW Championship with 816 points.

That means Woods needs to pick up at least 82 points at the TPC Boston -- equivalent to a tie for 54th. A top-50 finish likely guarantees safe passage.

Remember, though, these are projections for a moving target. If enough players below Woods get hot this week, that target number could rise.

Woods did win over the Las Vegas sportsbooks with his T12 finish at the Barclays, his first top-20 since the U.S. Open. He’s now listed at the favorite at TPC Boston this week, according to SportsUntapped.com.

If the odds for this weekend’s Deutsche Bank Championship, the second round of the FedExCup playoffs, are any indication, Vegas is regaining its faith in Tiger Woods. Tiger’s the 7/1 favorite to win the tournament. In a bit of a surprise, the next-best bet is no longer world number two Phil Mickelson (16/1), but Steve Stricker at 11/1. Stricker is ranked fourth in the world, and second in the FedExCup standings.

Meet the New Phil
Young, talented, good-looking player with hard-luck losses in majors becomes a fan favorite. Yup, Dustin Johnson reminds The Newark Star-Ledger’s Steve Politi of someone.

...golf fans love the snake-bitten loser, especially one who handles defeat with dignity and grace as Johnson has. The frustrating near-misses in majors made Phil Mickelson a bigger star than he’d ever be had he gone out and won a U.S. Open in his early 20s.

Johnson plays right-handed, but in many ways, he has become Lefty Light. He started the day in the final pairing, and with Woods an afterthought and Mickelson missing the cut, D.J. became the crowd favorite.

“It was a Phil and Tiger feeling out there, with people four deep along the ropes,” said Blake Smith, one of his agents. “It’s amazing how much people have embraced him.”

Stray Shots
Stories we saw while wondering why after 14 holes our golf cart looks like Starsky and Hutch have been on an all-night stakeout in it...

A golfer in Southern California started a 12-acre blaze when his shot from the rough hit a rock, which caused a spark, which ignited the rough. (Story -- delivered with unnecessary snark -- from the OC Weekly blog.)

You’ll never believe this, but The Desert Sun is reporting that Michelle Wie’s win at CN Canadian Open was beneficial to the LPGA.

If you’re wondering why in the world Roger Clemens played in the Golf.com World Amateur Championship in South Carolina after being arraigned on charges of lying to Congress in Washington, D.C., his wife Debbie said, "[The tournament] was planned before the other thing happened." Yup, the Rocket must love Golf.com. (Via The Sun News)

And, finally, Tiger Woods is NOT buying an apartment in New York City, despite rampant reports, according to CNBC's Darren Rovell. Why would Tiger need a place in the city when he can always crash at his pal Derek Jeter's place?

Some say the opening hole of a tournament is the most challenging for an amateur golfer.

Jim Stryker might argue that the second hole is the one that can really jump up and bite you.

That's because the 68-year-old retired accountant was struck in the forehead by his playing partner's second shot on the 11th hole at Quail Creek Golf Club, his second hole of the day, during the opening round of the Golf.com World Amateur Hadicap Championship on Monday.

"It knocked me right to the ground," Stryker says. "But then I got right back up again."

After hitting his tee shot into the right rough on the 475-yard par-5, Stryker, a 27.2-handicapper, pulled his second shot near the tree line on the left, jumped in his cart, and buzzed up ahead of his playing partners to look for his ball. Moments after hopping out to begin his search, Stryker's competitor yanked his own approach shot -- and Stryker never saw it coming.

"It hurt," Stryker says. "And I've got to replace my glasses."

The glasses may have saved him from a more serious injury. Stryker was immediately taken to a hospital, where he collected several stitches. (He's not sure how many, but he invited me to try to count them. I declined.) He also received a CT scan, and, once the tests came back clean, a lift back to Quail Creek. With a tournament official riding shotgun, Stryker finished his round more than eight hours after his opening tee shot. He shot a 101.

By William Nack

Last Sunday at noon, with the sun ablaze in the South Carolina sky, a diminutive former jockey named Fred Wirth--all 5-2 and 112 pounds of him-- teed up a golf ball on the driving range at Whispering Pines Golf Course, addressed it with his homemade 48-inch driver, drew the mighty club back, and... thwack!

The ball sailed straight down the range, and bounced to a stop about 20 yards short of the 200-yard mark. "I never was a long hitter," said Wirth, placing another ball on the tee. "Never much over 220 yards, and I used to tail my drives until I made my own driver here. This is my anti-slice club. See how the head is set on it? Yes sir, I made this club. I sent off for the components, the shaft and the head, and made it in my garage. I make all of my own clubs. With this driver I can now hit a draw, like this"--crunch!--"or I can hit it straight, like this."

Pow!

Oh, yes. Fred Wirth, of Louisville, KY, also happens to be 82, and while he doesn't look a day older than that, he still moves about with the purpose and energy of a man half his age. Wirth was in Myrtle Beach this week to compete in the World Am of golf--the World Amateur Handicap Championship--an event that he has been attending nearly every year since 1985. Wirth says he has won his flight--the level at which he plays, based on his handicap and age--five times over the last 25 years, and he is accommodating his advancing age by making longer clubs and playing as much as he can.

"I play every day, as long as it's not raining," he said.

He has learned that much in life is quite relative. "The only thing now, with my age, is I can't hit it off the tee with the guys who are only 75," says Wirth. "Those younger guys can hit it 50, 75 yards farther than me. I can't hit it 220 anymore. I go 180 yards straight and I'm happy. I'm here because I love to compete. I like the challenge, the competition, and you meet a lot of nice people here from all across the country, all over the world. "

NORTON, Mass. -- Jim Furyk has 15 wins and nearly $50 million in career prize money on the PGA Tour.

Now he has a rule made in his honor.

A week after Furyk was disqualified for showing up late to his pro-am tee time at the Barclays, the Tour abandoned its rule that automatically DQ'd players for pro-am tardiness, effective immediately.

According to a statement released by the Tour on Tuesday: "Hereafter, should a player be late for his pro-am starting time, the situation will be handled as a matter of unbecoming conduct. Such player will be required to participate in the remainder of the pro-am round and may be required to perform additional sponsor activity. A player who misses his pro-am obligation in its entirety will still be ruled ineligible for the tournament unless he has been excused in accordance with the provisions of the regulations."

Furyk, who has won twice in 2010 and was third in FedEx Cup points entering the Barclays at Ridgewood Country Club, said he missed his pro-am time because the alarm on his cell phone didn't go off. He was pleased to hear of PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem's announcement.

"I am glad the PGA Tour has changed the rule surrounding my disqualification from last week's Barclay's Championship," Furyk said in a prepared statement. "Pro-Ams are an integral part of our success out here on the PGA Tour, but I'm extremely pleased that Commissioner Finchem and the Tour staff has reacted swiftly and modified the rule."

Furyk will start this week's Deutsche Bank Championship in eighth place in the FedEx Cup standings.

The most memorable application of the Tour's now defunct pro-am rule was at the 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational. Unaware of his correct pro-am tee time, John Daly showed up late to the course and was disqualified. Ryuji Imada and Nick O'Hern, who were alternates for the pro-am but not on site to take Daly's place, were also booted from the tournament.

Hours after his arraignment in U.S. District Court, Roger Clemens arrived in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to participate in the Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship.

More Coverage from the Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship

CALABASH, N.C. -- Nobody asked me what I shot today. All they wanted to know was: "How did you do on the par 6?" That's because I played my first round at the Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship on the Farmstead Golf Links, a Myrtle Beach track known for its 767-yard finishing hole. A hole that starts in South Carolina and ends in North Carolina. A hole that answers the question: What does the course designer do when his preliminary routing ends three hundred yards short of the clubhouse?

First Disclosure: I didn't play the 18th from the tips. I'm in a "mid-senior" flight this week, mid-senior being a euphemism for "60-plus." That meant we got to play No. 18 from the gold tee, a mere 647 yards from today's hole location. The architects, Willard Byrd and Dave Johnson, could have built a good par 3 between me and the black tee. Or a Costco.

Second Disclosure: I missed the "Welcome to North Carolina" sign. A club employee told me it was somewhere along the concrete cart path that runs down the right side of 18. "Just before you get to the second cloverleaf," he joked.

Third Disclosure: I played No. 18 like a wuss. A drive of about 250 yards cleared the fairway bunker but left me in the first cut of rough on the right. From there the hole curved left -- and then left, and then left some more -- around a body of water, the fairway getting progressively narrower until it resembled a turfed causeway. Recognizing that any boldly-struck ball might veer toward the hazard, I hit a 7-iron to the widest part of the fairway, laid up again with a 9-iron over the corner of the lake, and then smacked an 8-iron to the front of the green. That sounds like a lot of swings -- it was practically a straight flush in clubs -- but I was on in regulation.

One of my playing partners wasn't so lucky. The lake swallowed three of his Titleists, and he had to drain a 20-footer to salvage an 11.

Final Disclosure: I three-putted from 50 feet for a bogey 7.

Did I like the hole? Yes. It was so much fun that, like the guys who designed it, I didn't want it to end. But I wasn't that impressed with the cart path.

It needs a Cracker Barrel at the 200-yard marker.

More Coverage from the Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship

Hey LPGA commissioner Mike Whan, we have some good news and some bad news. The good news? Michelle Wie, aka the Chosen One, got her first win of the year, and she looked like she might want to win a few more. The bad news? You have to deal with an alleged cheating incident on your Tour with possible racial overtones.

Ryan Ballengee gives a complete account of the incident on his Waggleroom blog. The undisputed facts are these: South Korean players Shi Hyun Ahn and Ilmi Chung were disqualified on Thursday at the CN Canadian Open.

Ahn and Chung were playing with Danielle Downey. On the final hole, both Ahn and Chung hit their ball into the fairway. Each played shots into the green, with Ahn missing the green and Chung hitting it in regulation. Each player made par. Then the incident turns into a rules problem.

Here’s where things get interesting. Long-time LPGA caddie Larry Smich -- attributing the account to what he "heard" --  said on his Life on Tour blog that when Ahn hit her par putt, she noticed that she had played the wrong ball and talked with Chung in Korean, after which both players went into the scoring tent and signed their cards. Smich also says that Ahn told her caddie, “You didn’t see anything.” (Ahn’s caddie last week was a temp who usually loops on the Nationwide Tour, according to Smich.) Waggleroom’s Ballengee looked into the story further, and found out that Smich’s source for the story was Ahn’s caddie. Ballengee, who’s on this one like Bob Woodward with sunscreen, also spoke to a second source who said that Downey’s caddie was going to blow the whistle on Ahn and Chung before the two women fessed up:

This is a very serious allegation and it is not the first time that Smich has speculated about Korean players cheating on the LPGA Tour. He has been accused of having a vendetta against Korean-born players. On Saturday evening, Waggle Room learned that it was Ahn's caddie who told the story direct to Smich but may not be willing to share details publicly for fear of being shunned in the golf community.

We have learned of a second account of the situation. The second account is all the same until the green.

When Ahn and Chung realized what had happened, Chung's caddy approached Downey's caddy and said, "We have a bit of a problem, but I'm not saying anything." Downey's caddy went into the scoring tent. Ahn and Chung signed for their scores. Downey's caddy was prepared to turn in Ahn and Chung, which then prompted their seeking of LPGA officials for a ruling and their certain disqualification.

The LPGA is investigating the incident, according to CBS Sports.com's Steve Elling.

LPGA communications chief David Higdon confirmed Sunday morning to CBSSports.com that the tour intends to interview all the parties involved and then mull a possible course of action. “We have treated this situation very seriously, and have or will speak to all principles involved,” Higdon said in an email Sunday morning. “Yes, we are looking very closely at it.”

More to come, we’re sure…

Stray shots
Some things we noticed while thinking that four is an awful lot of wild-card picks for a 12-man team. The U.S. Ryder Cup team reminds us of our favorite poker game, Russian Revolution, where all red cards are wild.

The New York Times' Larry Dorman says Tiger has strengthened his case for a Ryder Cup captain’s pick with his play at the Barclays, if, you know, he isn’t already on the team.

Rival Jiyai Shin paid Michelle Wie a nice compliment after being unable to catch Wie in the final round of the CN Canadian Open. “Michelle is growing up," Shin said. "I'm only two years older than her, but she's maturing. She was great [Sunday] and it was fun to watch her win. Her shots are steady. A few years ago she was up and down. But not anymore." " (Via The Winnipeg Free Press)

The New York Daily News’ Hank Gola wonders whether Phil Mickelson’s window of opportunity to claim the No. 1 ranking has slammed shut. He also questions Mickelson blowing off his post-round press conferences at the Barclays, noting that Woods got roasted for doing the same thing here last year: "Considering that he's a Barclays spokesman --- he did fulfill a corporate obligation later -- and that Woods was roundly criticized for blowing off the media twice at last year's Barclays at Liberty National, it's rather bad form." 

Finally, Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Jon Tattersall has a great plan for how Team USA can win the Ryder Cup in Wales this October: "Casey and Rose are available and would probably want to beat Monty right about now!!!"

Three thousand six hundred golfers, 72 holes of intense stroke play competition, an 18-hole championship playoff, nightly parties and entertainment. It may sound like the U.S. Open from qualifying to conclusion, but the GOLF.com World Amateur Handicap Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C., is an event unlike any other.

Golfers from all 50 states and more than 20 foreign countries flock to Myrtle Beach, S.C., every year to participate in a tournament that provides the ultimate golf experience. Now in its 27th year, the World Amateur allows everyone from scratch golfers to 30+ handicappers to test their nerves and competitive resolve.

The tournament, which uses an intricate handicap formula to level the field, is open to all golfers –- men, women, young and old -– with a certified USGA handicap.

The World Amateur features six competitive divisions, ranging from men and women 49 and under to the super seniors (70+). Within the divisions, golfers are flighted by closely grouped handicaps. The event features between 60 and 70 flights and the winner of each advances to the Flight Winner’s Playoff, an 18-hole shootout that determines the World Champion.

Throughout the week, Golf.com will bring you the sights and sounds from this unique event. For more information, visit the tournament's official site, and check back throughout the week for scores, scenes and updates as the field narrows and champions are finally crowned.