John Daly caused a stir when he walked off the 11th tee in the first round of the Australian Open earlier this month after hitting six balls in the water. Reuters’ Bernie McGuire reports that Daly defended his walk-off at a media conference in Hong Kong this week. According to McGuire, Daly said he was frustrated by a penalty he incurred on the 10th hole for hitting the wrong ball out of a bunker, and then didn’t realize how many balls he had before sending them all into the lake.

"I had found the bunker with my tee shot and then when I got up there I hit a great bunker shot, and when I threw my caddy the ball to wipe it, I find it's not my ball.

"Then on the 11th it was my ego that got in the way and I thought we had plenty of golf balls.

"But the question I keep asking is what were range balls doing in the bunkers out on the championship golf course?

Daly took issue with reports that he “stormed off” the course.

"I shook hands with Craig and Hunter and said that I've run out of balls, and I said that also to an official and he said to me that was unfortunate," Daly added. "But what hurts me is that it was then reported I stormed off. Well, I never stormed off. I just walked back to the clubhouse."

He added that he wasn’t "banned" from Australia, so he has that going for him.

Daly was fined an undisclosed sum over the incident and while his Australian PGA invite was revoked the American is still free to compete in Australia.

"I didn't get banned from Australia but I really don't know what is going to happen in the future," he said.

U.S. Open champ Michael Campbell almost quit game
Michael Campbell, the New Zealander who beat out Tiger Woods to win the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst and has since fallen into the slump of all slumps, said he came close to giving up golf last year, according to Stuff New Zealand.

Campbell made his remarks in his home country, where he is playing in the New Zealand Open:

In his first extraordinary performance, albeit in the media centre at Clearwater yesterday, Campbell revealed in an all too rare interview interlaced with candour and honesty, he was on the verge of chucking it all in last year.

He had not banked a cheque for months.

He was hitting balls like a club hack.

Yesterday, he said: "I remember one time I went to bed and I said to myself `OK, this is it, Michael'.

"I said `look, go to bed with an open mind and say to yourself when I wake up tomorrow you'll have an answer to this question. The question is, do you still want to play golf tournaments?' I woke up the next day and I said, `yeah, I do'. So that was the answer."

Tiger returns to cover of his own video game
Tiger Woods played second fiddle to Augusta National on the cover of EA Sports Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, but he’s back on the cover of the 2013 edition, along with Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy, according to EA Sports’ Facebook page. 

Tweet of the Day

The European host of the 2014 Ryder Cup is taking preparations seriously, to say the least. Need proof? With the event more than three years away, none other than Jack Nicklaus has provided suggestions on course changes at the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles Resort in Perthshire, Scotland, to make the event more difficult for the players and more entertaining for fans. Nicklaus wants work done on the ninth, 10th, and 18th holes, and the specific alterations are: an increase in the size of a water hazard on the par-5 ninth hole, which would increase the risk-reward quotient; new tee boxes on the par-3 10th, which will change the approach angle to the green; and a more level landing area on the par-5 18th. Organizers said they are also working to reduce the amount of water that might collect on the greens.

In light of the foul weather that plagued the last Ryder Cup, which was held at Celtic Manor in Wales, the 2014 event will be held Sept. 26-28 instead of October.  

Stevie appears on 'Least Influential' list

Adam Scott's current caddie Steve Williams has made plenty of news as of late, including some less-than-positive press after making a seemingly racist remark about Tiger Woods, his former employer. Now the New Zealand native is reaching a new audience, as he has landed on GQ's famed, "25 Least Influential People Alive" list. Yup, the guy who "won," all those majors comes in eighth on the impressive list, edging out the likes of Paul Reiser, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Bobby Bonilla. Here's a bit from GQ's funnymen: 

"Obviously it's well documented I've won 145 golf tournaments." YOU WON NOTHING, YOU BAG APE. No one has documented anything about you, other than what a prick you can be when pushing photographers out of the way. There's nothing worse than a profoundly inessential person who's deluded himself into thinking he's the opposite.  

Knowing a bit about Stevie, we're guessing he won't be too bothered by the piece, but it would be interesting to know how he feels about being ranked below Tia and Tamera Mowry. 

Woodland heading for Ryder Cup?

After finishing 17th on the money list in 2011 with close to $3.5 million in earnings and snagging his first career win at the Transitions Championship, you'd think young Gary Woodland would be satisfied. Nope. To cap off the year, the former Kansas State standout traveled to China and won the World Cup with Matt Kuchar, marking the first time the U.S. has taken home the trophy since Tiger Woods and David Duval teamed up to win the event in 2000. 

Now that Woodland has finished off his dream season he's eyeing another goal he says he's always dreamed of -- playing in The Ryder Cup. 

Ever since I turned professional I have dreamt about being in a US Ryder Cup team and it now seems a big step closer. I had the goal at the start of the year to make the Presidents Cup. That didn't pan out but then Matt chose me to partner him in the World Cup and I could not have been happier. Europe has kind of had the States's number in most of the recent Ryder Cups but it would be nice to be in the team that win back the trophy on home turf. It's been a long while since the States had the Ryder Cup, World Cup and Presidents Cup in the same trophy cabinet but for me winning the World Cup is going to be a big inspiration to make the Ryder Cup team.

Woodland was also highly complimentary of Kuchar, whom he credits for helping him adapt to the team format. 

I've learned so much from playing alongside Matt and that's going to be a great springboard for me to take into 2012. He was always very positive, very encouraging and always very helpful in putting me at ease. It helps my confidence and it further boosts Matt's confidence given that he was also on the winning Presidents Cup side the week before. Hopefully both he and I can play well enough in 2012 to make Davis's side. I grew up watching the Ryder Cup and it would be an honor for me to play.

When you consider the would-be Ryder Cupper's PGA Tour stats from '11 (Driving Distance: 5th, Greens in Regulation: 12th, Birdie Average: 13th, Scoring Average: 14th), it's a good bet Woodland will be at Medinah next year: 

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. Tell us your top 10 in the comments field below.

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

1. Luke Donald (147, 12, 1)
- Last three finishes: 1, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic; T11, Madrid Masters; T9, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 1

2. Rory McIlroy (136, 3, 2)
- Last three finishes: 4, WGC-HSBC Champions; 1, Shanghai Masters; 2, Kolon Korea Open
- Official World Golf Ranking: 2

3. Webb Simpson (102, 0, 3)
- Last three finishes: T6, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic; 2, The McGladrey Classic; 22, TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola; 5, BMW Championship;
- Official World Golf Ranking: 9

4. Lee Westwood (86, 0, 4)
- Last three finishes: 13, WGC-HSBC Champions; 5, Shanghai Masters; T30, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 3

5. Charl Schwartzel (77, 0, T5)
- Last three finishes: 1, WGC-HSBC Champions; T16, Shanghai Masters; T9, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 13

6. Keegan Bradley (71, 0, T5)
- Last three finishes: 16, WGC-HSBC Champions; 12, Shanghai Masters; T11, Tour Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 27

7. Adam Scott (35, 0, 7)
- Last three finishes: T4, Australian Open; 11, WGC-HSBC Champions; T6, Tour Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 7

8. Nick Watney (35, 0, 8)
- Last three finishes: T4, Australian Open; 33, WGC-HSBC Champions; 2, Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
- Official World Golf Rank: 10

9. Martin Kaymer (33, 0, 9)
- Last three finishes: 1, WGC-HSBC Champions; 23, Andalucia Masters; 8, Portugal Masters
- Official World Golf Ranking: 4

10. Steve Stricker (17, 0, 10)
- Last three finishes: 15, Tour Championship; WD, BMW Championship; 42, Deutsche Bank Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 6

Others receiving votes:
Bill Haas (16)
Dustin Johnson (16)
Jason Day (13)
K.J. Choi (9)
Darren Clarke (6)
Jim Furyk (6)
Sergio Garcia (6)
Tiger Woods(5)
Hunter Mahan (3)
Graeme McDowell (3)
Bubba Watson (2)
Phil Mickelson (1)

Tiger Woods: Hootie and the Blowfish

Tiger Woods has a few favorite groups -- he emerged from his 2010 scandals to see a Nickelback show and Van Halen once headlined his Tiger Jam fund-raising concert, but when he needed a wedding band, he called his pals Hootie and the Blowfish.

Padraig Harrington: Eminem

Harrington is a big fan of the Detroit rapper, whom he called a "genius." No question, the three-time major win relates to this lyric: “You only get one shot so don’t miss your chance to blow, opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo.”

Justin Rose: Michael Jackson

Sorry, Jim Nantz, it's not Bette Midler. Rose told Golf Magazine that his favorite song is the King of Pop’s “Man in the Mirror.”

Nick Watney: Jay-Z

Watney is one of the biggest hip-hop fans on Tour, and Jay-Z is his favorite.

Bill Haas: Mark Cohn

Haas named the 1990s gem “Walking in Memphis” by Mark Cohn as his favorite song in an interview with Golf Magazine. Of course, when Haas sings along he adds his own lyric: “Walking in Memphis, with $10 million in my hand, walking in Memphis, but do I really feel the way I feel?”

Hunter Mahan: The Clash

As you probably guessed from the “Oh, Oh, Oh” music video where he raided David Lee Roth’s closet, Mahan likes to rock. In an interview with The New York Times, Mahan name-checked Linkin Park, Florence and the Machine and The Clash as favorite bands.

Rickie Fowler: Eminem

Another PGA Tour Eminem fan. We’re guessing the Quail Hollow members are going to tell Rickie to turn this down. 

Keegan Bradley: Mumford and Sons

The PGA champ tweeted that Mumford & Sons are “officially the greatest band of all time.” 

D.A. Points: Snoop Dogg

Points said “Who Am I?” from Snoop Dogg’s 1993 debut “Doggystyle” is his favorite song in an interview with Golf Magazine. 

Fluff Cowan: The Grateful Dead

Jim Furyk’s caddie Cowan is a longtime Deadhead. 

Luke Donald: Coldplay

Donald said he listened to a lot of trance music when he was younger, but his musical tastes are more mainstream now, according to an interview with PGATour.com.

Lee Westwood: Wham!

Westwood confessed to The Express (UK) newspaper that he had “his first snog” to Wham’s “Last Christmas.”

John Daly: Kid Rock

Daly and Rock played in one of the most famous pro-ams ever at the 2008 Buick Open, when Daly teed up a ball on Rock’s tall-boy can of Bud.

Thanksgiving Tweets
Plenty of golfers gave thanks via Twitter for their blessings on Thursday. Here are three of the most unique messages.

The Prince's New Clothes
Chubby Chandler (@chubby6665) is Darren Clarke's (@DarrenClarke60) agent and close friend. Why he chose to take a photo of Clarke, whose nickname is The Prince, we don't know, but Christina Kim (@TheCristinaKim) seemed to like it.

Johnson fishes big too
Dustin Johnson (@DJohnsonPGA) is known for being one of the biggest hitters in golf. Looks like he's a big hitter on the high seas too. 

Ian's injury
Luckily for Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter), his sunglasses will probably hide his shaving mishap. 

Major opportunity
When it's off-season for golfers, they tend to hit the slopes or the beaches, but when tennis star Andy Roddick's season is over, he heads to the course. A very nice course.  

Frustrations from the Presidents Cup boiled over as a spat between Robert Allenby and Geoff Ogilvy came close to blows in front of 150 guests at the Hyatt Regency Coolum while celebrating Greg Chalmers Australian PGA victory, reports Steve Orme. Allenby, who went 0-4 without earning the International team a single point at Royal Melbourne, laid the groundwork for the feud when he placed the blame on his teammate for his poor performance.

The 40-year-old hit back at criticism of his own play on Thursday and appeared to deflect the blame onto his playing partners—Retief Goosen, YE Yang and Ogilvy.

He claimed Goosen missed several birdie putts in Thursday's foursomes, insinuated that Yang didn't pull his weight in Friday's fourball and claimed Ogilvy 'hit me in the tree three times off the tee and I had to chip out three times', in Saturday's foursomes.

Ogilvy, who was playing alongside Allenby at the Australian PGA, responded to his fellow Victorian's comments via Twitter:

While Ogilvy maintained that the tweet was genuine when questioned by the media, Allenby took offense to what he believed to be a sarcastic retort and confronted Ogilvy.

When Allenby sauntered over to Ogilvy's table and sat down at around 9:15 PM on Sunday night, the 2006 US Open champion immediately made his dissatisfaction known.

He was overheard accusing Allenby of throwing him under the bus and openly questioned his character, which sent the four-time PGA winner into a rage.

Allenby inadvertently broke a wine glass and screamed 'do you want to go?', prompting Ogilvy, who was surrounded by seven friends, to get out of his chair in front of a captivated and stunned audience.

However, Allenby's temper struck again when Ogilvy sought out an apology later in the evening. 

The ugly stoush escalated once again as Allenby invited his adversary to meet him outside of the main square, to which Ogilvy quipped 'I'd like that'.

The squabbling finally came to an end as Allenby stormed out while Ogilvy watched on calmly. If only Allenby had shown this much fight during the Presidents Cup...

Kaymer won't join McIlroy, Westwood on PGA Tour

After declining membership a year ago, both Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood will take their talents to South Beach the PGA Tour. Martin Kaymer, however, has no intentions of joining his peers, according to Waggleroom's Emily Kay.

"I have no intention of joining Lee and Rory because it means playing just too many tournaments," said Kaymer, who noted that playing 12 European and 15 U.S. events would require "just far too much traveling." 

Kaymer sounded bemused by McIlroy and Westwood’s seesaw relationship with the PGA Tour. 

"I just don't know why Rory and Lee go back and forth and that to me seems a little strange. One year they are on the PGA Tour and next they're not." 

Omega president calls PGA Tour and European Tour "greedy"

Stephen Urquhart, president of Swiss watchmaker Omega, said the PGA Tour and European Tour are "greedy" for continually adding more and more tournaments to their schedules, according to Reuters' Bernie McGuire. 

"The big problem with golf at present is a calendar issue and we've told all the Tours that they have to stop being so greedy," Urquhart told reporters. "There are too many tournaments and they are adding tournaments all the time.” 

Urquhart followed up his remarks by asserting that the two tours have shown little respect to Asia. 

"And to treat Asia as the stopgap as they do with this week's World Cup is not right. It's wrong and the Tours are not going to win if they keep treating Asia as a stopgap. They need to show Asia more respect.” 

"Why can't there be a big event like the World Cup here in Asia in June? What's the difference in taking a flight from London to Beijing or London to Los Angeles?” 

Urquhart also confirmed that Omega has ended their sponsorship of golf’s World Cup and will return to sponsoring the Hong Kong Open, questioning the Federations of Golf Tours decision to award Mission Hills hosting rights to the World Cup for the next 10 years. 

"The Federation and Mission Hills know my feeling on this because before this year I was not happy with the fields we were getting, but we've got three Major winners here this year and there's been a lot more respect shown to the event," he said. "While there are not too many countries in the world who could organize an event like China, the tournament needs to travel around the world." 

"Done properly and packaged properly, and staged at a better time of year, no one ... would go anywhere else in the world that given week but to play in the World Cup.” 

World Cup to mirror Olympic format in 2013

Golf’s return to the Olympics in 2016 has inspired the World Cup to change its format next year from a two-man team competition to 72 holes of stroke play. Ken Chu, the chairman and CEO of Mission Hills, confirmed that these changes will be implemented in 2013, also noting that the World Cup will command world ranking points. Again, Reuters' Bernie McGuire has the story: 

"The World Cup will change format, and it will begin enjoying world rankings points, and it will still be held biennially and at around this time of year,” said Chu. 

The tournament will bring back an individual four-round trophy for the first time since 1999, when Tiger Woods won the individual award in Malaysia. 

"But with golf to be in the 2016 Olympics the equation in golf changes, and these changes to the World Cup will be having the Olympics in mind.”

Tweet of the Day

One of the things we golf fans should be thankful for is that Jack Nicklaus is still willing to answer questions about whether Tiger Woods will break his record of 18 majors. Nicklaus’s stock answer is usually something like, “I think he will, but he’s got to do it.” In a visit last week to the Pasadera Country Club on the Monterey Peninsula, Nicklaus added a new wrinkle to his reply, according to Jerry Stewart of the Monterey County Herald.

"Will Tiger go back to the way he was, winning all the time? Probably not. But will he go back and play very well? Yes," Nicklaus said. "People said, 'Look who Jack played against in his prime.' I played against Palmer, Trevino, Watson, Miller — all guys who won a lot of tournaments and majors. Well, now Tiger is playing against some kids like the Rory McIlroys, Jason Days and Keegan Bradleys of the golf world, who've been successful and are 12-13 years younger than Tiger. So he's got his run of guys to play against. So we'll see. These young kids have learned how to win. Not at the level of the Trevinos or Watsons, but they will because they're such great players at a young age. And that's competition that Tiger will have the rest of his career. I've always said Tiger will pass my record but he's still got to do it. If you look out there, there is no one else other than Tiger who's won five majors. For some guys, that's a whole career."

Nicklaus also talked about his efforts to grow the game among junior and female golfers, who've been leaving golf in droves.

"Most other sports start small. With football, you may throw around a Nerf ball. In baseball, you've got T-ball. But in golf, you start with a hard club and a small, hard ball," Nicklaus said. "The idea is to let people have success so instead of running them off, it encourages them to come back. Too often, people might play once and say the game is too tough. You can start them with bigger holes, shorter distances, golf clubs and balls that are easier to hit and no one will get hurt. ... The kind of things where you can bring them in a park and they're compatible."

In making things easier for new players, this past Labor Day weekend Nicklaus hosted a 12-hole tournament on a Tee it Forward-like, 6,000-yard Muirfield Village Golf Club course with 8-inch holes instead of the normal 4.25 inches. Players also had 2.5 hours to play, with a one-stroke penalty for every five minutes over the 2.5 hour timeline.

"The longest round we had was two hours, 20 minutes," Nicklaus said. "The women really enjoyed it; the beginning kids enjoyed it, and the seniors enjoyed it. The idea was to have fun."

Monty to visit British troops in Afghanistan

Sorry, guys, no Keira Knightley this year, but British troops in Afghanistan will get to see Colin Montgomerie and the Ryder Cup trophy this week when the victorious European team captain visits the region, according to Reuters.

The 48-year-old Scot is to spend four days with army personnel and British Embassy staff. Montgomerie will take the Ryder Cup trophy his team won at Celtic Manor in Wales last year with him and is also expected to hand out golf equipment to the troops.

“I am looking forward to it very much,” he told reporters. “I’m not taking my own golf clubs but I have gathered together a lot of equipment for the troops.”

Adam Scott says he’s playing better than ever

American golf is quiet this week (for once) during the Thanksgiving weekend, but the Australian PGA has attracted some big names, including Jason Day, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley, Greg Norman, Darren Clarke, Bubba Watson, Y.E. Yang, K.T. Kim., and Adam Scott, who is in career form, according to the Courier Mail (Australia).

"My game is, on a whole, better than it's ever been in my career,'' Scott said. "I feel like every week for a while now, I've been walking out there and putting myself in a position where I can win.

"Mentally I think I'm all right, physically I'm just a little tired. I picked up a bit of a cold from Saturday's weather in Melbourne...it was a big week with everything that goes on but I've been doing nothing for a couple of days so I should be right to go.''

Stray Shots

* Here’s a tip for Rory and all you young guys out there. Don’t let your girlfriends hang out with professional tennis players from France. (Via Guyism)

* The City of New Orleans is reopening the restored Joseph M. Batholomew Sr. Municipal Golf Course this week. Batholomew, who designed the course in 1956, was one of the first African-American course architects. (Via The Times Picayune) The Batholomew course was also the subject of an interview with actor Wendell Pierce from The Wire on Golf.com.  

* Keegan Bradley wants no part of the Tiger Woods-Greg Norman Presidents Cup feud. (Via The News-Press)

Tweet of the Day

If Tiger's domination of Aaron Baddeley in the Presidents Cup Sunday singles wasn't enough to convince you that he's back on track, maybe the fact that he's inked two endorsement deals in the last six weeks will do the trick. His agreement with Rolex, which Tiger's agent at Excel Sports Management, Mark Steinberg, suggested was the first of several endorsements to come, is significant in that it clearly illustrates that major global brands are more than ready to do business with the former No. 1 player in the world. Woods's newest deal with Fuse Science, a Florida-based nutrition company, further extends Tiger's reach to a new product category and will surely inspire more confidence in Tiger's endorse-ability. 

"This company is laying the foundation for some very significant things," Woods said in a phone interview Monday with USA TODAY. "The more homework I did the more I was amazed with the technology that is not only applicable for me in what I do, it's applicable for everyone. And how easy it is to use -- that's where it really is ground-breaking. The technology is phenomenal. Some people don't like to take pills. Now you can just put a drop under your tongue. It's that easy. And it really does get into your system in 90 seconds. It's something you need so you don't get dehydrated on the golf course, especially when you're out in the sun all day long."

Tiger will sport the Fuse Science logo on his golf bag beginning at the Chevron World Challenge next month. Steinberg told Golf.com that there have been several opportunities to place corporate sponsorship on Tiger's bag recently but none "felt right." Tiger's confidence in the Fuse technology is such that Steinberg says he would have been interested in signing a deal with the company at any time in his career, even during his days with AT&T, Gillette and Gatorade. 

"We did a lot of due diligence on the Fuse technology, and it could legitimately change the way people injest medicine and vitamins in the future," Steinberg said. "It could be revolutionary. They have an unbelievable group of executives and we're extremely impressed with the company." 

As Tiger's game continues to round into form heading into his own tournament, don't be surprised if more good results on and off the course continue to come El Tigre's way. Tiger returning to the top of the world rankings wouldn't just be good for him it would be good for TV ratings, corporate sponsorships and the game of golf in general. 

Norman hopes Presidents Cup performance puts Tiger back on top

The bit of tit for tat between Greg Norman and Tiger Woods over the Presidents Cup has been well-documented. Norman criticizes Fred Couples for picking Tiger instead of Keegan Bradley. Then Tiger closes out the Presidents Cup and says something to the effect of, "Greg probably wishes he kept his mouth shut." Regardless, Norman knows as well as anyone how important Tiger is to the game of golf and said so in a recent interview. 

"Tiger's Tiger -- he stepped up the plate," Norman said. "I said to him, 'You need golf as much as golf needs you.' We all want to see him up there. Any player hates to see a great player struggle.

"We all know what it's like to go through the ins and outs of the game," he explained. "You want to see the player who dominated the game come back so that when you beat him you feel like you beat him at the top of his game."

Fred Couples, who was initially stung a bit by Norman's criticism, has clearly gotten over it in Freddy-like fashion. 

"I don't know if I've ever felt vindicated in golf in 30 years, but I feel like I know what I'm doing," he said. "There's a reason I picked Tiger early. He worked hard and when a guy says 'Don't worry about me' you are going to smile. I got frustrated a bit because I felt I was picking the greatest player I've ever seen play."

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. Tell us your top 10 in the comments field below.

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

1. Luke Donald (147, 12, 1)
- Last three finishes: 1, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic; T11, Madrid Masters; T9, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 1

2. Rory McIlroy (136, 3, 2)
- Last three finishes: 4, WGC-HSBC Champions; 1, Shanghai Masters; 2, Kolon Korea Open
- Official World Golf Ranking: 2

3. Webb Simpson (102, 0, 3)
- Last three finishes: T6, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic; 2, The McGladrey Classic; 22, TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola; 5, BMW Championship;
- Official World Golf Ranking: 9

4. Lee Westwood (89, 0, 4)
- Last three finishes: 13, WGC-HSBC Champions; 5, Shanghai Masters; T30, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 3

T5. Keegan Bradley (71, 0, 5)
- Last three finishes: 16, WGC-HSBC Champions; 12, Shanghai Masters; T11, Tour Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 27

T5. Charl Schwartzel (71, 0, 6)
- Last three finishes: 1, WGC-HSBC Champions; T16, Shanghai Masters; T9, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 13

7. Adam Scott (36, 0, 8)
- Last three finishes: T4, Australian Open; 11, WGC-HSBC Champions; T6, Tour Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 7

8. Nick Watney (35, 0, 7)
- Last three finishes: T4, Australian Open; 33, WGC-HSBC Champions; 2, Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
- Official World Golf Rank: 11

9. Martin Kaymer (33, 0, T10)
- Last three finishes: 1, WGC-HSBC Champions; 23, Andalucia Masters; 8, Portugal Masters
- Official World Golf Ranking: 4

10. Steve Stricker (18, 0, T10)
- Last three finishes: 15, Tour Championship; WD, BMW Championship; 42, Deutsche Bank Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 5

Others receiving votes:
Bill Haas (16)
Dustin Johnson (16)
Jason Day (13)
K.J. Choi (10)
Darren Clarke (6)
Jim Furyk (6)
Sergio Garcia (9)
Tiger Woods(6)
Hunter Mahan (3)
Graeme McDowell (3)
Bubba Watson (2)
Phil Mickelson (1)

Presidents Cup
The happenings at Royal Melbourne dominated the Tweets last week. Geoff Ogilvy (@geoffogilvy) had his camera ready before the start of the opening ceremonies. 

And in case you hadn't heard why Ogilvy has been growing a mustache, let him explain it:

Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) seemed perplexed by the way Thursday's match pairings were revealed.

David Feherty (@Fehertwit) had an, um, interesting time while in Australia.

Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) woke up early in order to appear on the Golf Channel to talk about golf and the Presidents Cup. 

Many people thought that after winning the PGA Championship, Keegan Bradley (@Keegan_Bradley) deserved a captain's pick and should have been on the Presidents Cup team. Bradley didn't get a chance to play, but he watched the action from home. 

Jason Dufner (@JasonDufner), who lost to Bradley in a playoff at the PGA Championship, also watched the Presidents Cup. Dufner doesn't sound like a Johnny Miller fan.

Once the cup was won, Bubba Watson (@bubbawatson) was happy to share a few behind-the-scenes photos of himself and match-play partner Webb Simpson (@webbsimpson1) with the trophy.

Meanwhile, back home
After the Presidents Cup was over, Paul Azinger (@PaulAzinger) shared an on-course nature encounter with his followers.