Fresh off her 11th win of the year, Yani Tseng created a stir recently when she said that she might one day consider entering a PGA Tour event.

That day may be fast approaching.

According to Golfweek's Sean Martin, the Puerto Rico Open will offer Tseng an exemption to its event this March.

The Puerto Rico Open will be happy to help Yani Tseng if she decides to play against the men.

Sidney Wolf, the tournament’s general chairman, told Golfweek that he intends to offer Tseng an exemption into his event in 2012. The PGA Tour event will be held March 8-11, opposite the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral.

Wolf told Golfweek, "Having the No. 1 player here would open our event to a broader audience. It could open up the possibility of a LPGA event here, and ultimately help us raise funds for our charities. It would also create awareness of Puerto Rico globally, which would economically be very positive for the island."

In response to the story, Tseng's adviser, Ernie Huang, told Golfweek: "We appreciate that Puerto Rico has responded so soon, but she has more goals to accomplish, such as completing the Grand Slam and qualifying for the Hall of Fame. To play on (the) PGA Tour now will be too much distraction for her."

Freddy has Tiger on the brain
The hits just keep coming for Fred Couples. The U.S. Presidents Cup captain is still taking heat for using a wildcard pick on Tiger Woods, and on Thursday the man he snubbed, Keegan Bradley, jumped out to an early lead at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. Monday morning quarterbacks are also questioning Couples's recent selection of John Cook to replace Michael Jordan as an assistant captain, and Couples admitted that Tiger was a factor in that decision. Ryan Ballengee at Pro Golf Talk has more:

Fred Couples admitted Wednesday that the relationship newly-appointed assistant captain John Cook has with Tiger Woods had some influence on his appointment to replace Michael Jordan on the American Presidents Cup team.

"I felt like John and Tiger are very close, and that would help Tiger as much as any of the other guys," Couples said at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at TPC Harding Park.

"Even if Tiger Woods was still the No. 1 player in the world, didn’t have any problems and they weren’t friends, I think 100 percent I probably would have picked John Cook anyway."

Cook said Woods was pleased with his friend’s new role.

"[Woods] just texted me and said, ‘Congrats. Really excited to have you aboard.’ I said, ‘I’ll do whatever you want me to do. Get you water, get your energy bars, you know, whatever.’ That’s going to be my job,” he said.

D.J. picks a temporary caddie for Presidents Cup
After Joe LaCava left Dustin Johnson to become Tiger Woods's permanent caddie, D.J. was left without a bagman for the upcoming Australian Open and Presidents Cup. Now he's found a temporary solution: longtime friend and TaylorMade vice president Keith Sbarbaro will carry Johnson's sticks Down Under. Sbarbaro frequently travels to tour events, and is involved with fitting Johnson with his TaylorMade clubs. Here's what Johnson said in a press release:

"It was an easy decision to have Keith on my bag in Australia," Johnson said. "We're friends off the course, I trust him to build my clubs and he knows my game as well as anyone. I look forward to working with him as I continue searching for a full-time caddy."

Tweet of the Day

Greg Norman created a brouhaha when he criticized Fred Couples for selecting Tiger Woods as a captain’s pick for the upcoming Presidents Cup. Steve Stricker, though, is defending both his captain and teammate. Speaking with Gary D’Amato of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Stricker said:

"I’m for it. I think it’s a good thing. I don’t know why Greg said what he did. He did basically the same thing with Adam Scott a couple years ago when Adam wasn’t playing well. It kind of turned Adam's game around. So I don’t know where that came from.”

The Stricker-Woods team has had great success at both the 2009 Presidents Cup and the 2010 Ryder Cup, going 4-0 and 2-1, respectively, in the team portions of the events. According to Stricker, he has been in touch with Tiger and is confident that his former partner will silence many of the critics once he hits the course in Australia.

"I talk to Tiger through texting every now and then. He’s really excited. We’re looking forward to it. I think he’ll be ready, too. He’ll find a way to get it done. When you play him one on one, he’ll find a way. Just like at the Ryder Cup last year. He trounced the guy he was playing. He loves match play."

Yani Tseng says she would like to play a PGA Tour event

Yani Tseng has emerged as the most dominant force in golf this season, picking up her 11th victory of the year at the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open. Speaking with the Chinese media, Tseng expressed interest in testing her skills out on the PGA Tour in the future:

“If an opportunity presents itself, I would like to play in a PGA tournament to learn more from male golfers. I wouldn’t care about the results because I’d just want to enjoy the feeling of playing with guys and learning from them to further improve my skills.” 

Hog wild 

A gang of wild boars have inhabited the Suntree Country Club in Melbourne, Fla., tearing up the golf course in the process. Local news station WFTV has the story: 

The hogs are tearing up the grass along a number of holes on the golf course at the Suntree Country Club near North Wickham Road. 

Residents say they spotted one boar that appeared to be 300 lbs. with two and a half inch cutters, which are like small tusks. 

"They are razor sharp," said wildlife trapper James Dean, about the boars.  "They are coming into the backyards on the golf courses and rutting up the ground, and I mean tearing it up with their snout to get grubworms, insects, snakes. They just get down with their tusks and keep going and going and going.”

One resident of the golf course community described the mess he found in his back yard as a “two-foot deep, eight foot by eight foot, swimming pool.”

Trappers have already caught 17 wild boars but believe there to be at least six more of the hogs in the area. Sounds like a job for Bagdad, Fla., native Boo Weekley.

Tweet of the Day

The saga over Rory McIlroy's split from agent Chubby Chandler took another twist Wednesday as McIlroy's BFF and Ryder Cup partner Grame McDowell denied any role in luring the reigning U.S. Open champion away from Chandler's group.

"I've heard I'm supposed to have enticed Rory, well I purposely took a back seat in it all," 2010 U.S. Open champion McDowell told reporters on the eve of his Andalucia title defence at Valderrama.

"Rory makes his own decisions and doesn't listen to anybody. I certainly wasn't going to sway him about what to do with his career. Even if I could he'd only resent it if it didn't work out."

McDowell made a similar switch from ISM to Horizon earlier in his career.

"I went through the same process three or four years ago and it was very amicable. Rory's split seems pretty amicable as well," he said of his close friend and fellow Northern Irishman.

"That's life, it's business, not personal. We are one big travelling circus out here and it pays to get on with each other," added McDowell.

Day Eyes No. 1
Besides Luke Donald, Keegan Bradley and Rory McIlroy, Jason Day was another player who had a breakout season in 2011. Day didn't win this year, but he had 10 top 10s, including runner-up finishes at the Masters and U.S. Open.

So how did Day become a top-10 player this season? He credits his new mental coach, who helped him get over an early-season funk.

The 23-year-old confirmed his rich potential with his debut Tour win at the Byron Nelson Championship in May last year and cemented his place among the elite with two runner-up finishes at the U.S. Masters and the U.S. Open this year.

In between, however, was an angst-filled period as he battled sinus problems and a dip in form that left him sapped of energy and bored with practice.

Enter Neale Smith, an Australian coach based in California, who taught Day to enjoy his "homework" and have a clearer focus on his game-plan during tournaments since being hired in February.

"It (was) very hard to get up in the morning and go, 'You know what, I want to go play golf'," Day told reporters on a conference call on Thursday.

"I wasn't playing great golf. I was very disappointed, down on myself on the golf course. I'd go, 'I don't want to be here.' I'd go home for a week or two weeks. I'd be bored. I'd go out and practice. It wasn't fun.

"I'd go back out and play. That was even more disappointing. It was kind of like a vicious cycle of me losing to myself.

Day also said he thinks he can become No. 1 in the next five years. If he keeps playing like he did this season, it may not take him that long.

Toms Backs Couples
Fred Couples has been taking a lot of heat, most notably from Greg Norman and Geoff Ogilvy, for his premature pick of Tiger Woods for the U.S. Presidents Cup team. David Toms said Wednesday as long as Woods is fit and working hard on his game, he should be on the team.

"Any time that there's a captain's pick involved, there's going to be a deserving player that gets left off because you can't pick everybody.

"I guess really the only way to do it would just be to take the 12 and just make it -- the top 12 guys make the team, no captain's picks, and that's the easy way out.

"But I think obviously something that Fred thought long and hard about. He's talked to Tiger quite a bit about it, and I still think that Tiger in a match play format is very, very difficult to beat.

"And I'm not sure as an opponent you'd want to play him. So I think it's a great pick."

China Cooling Off?
Last week Time magazine outlined several reasons why the economic bubble in China might be ready to pop. (Time and Golf.com are both owned by Time Inc.) That's not good news for golfers, as China's been seen as one of the saviors for golf course architects. Jack Nicklaus, who knows a thing or two about building courses around the world, says things aren't looking too rosy.

"China, for example, is shut down right now golf-wise. We were over there about a month ago with a course two weeks from being finished that was shut down. They put a satellite up to monitor it to see that nobody was working."

Tweet of the Day

Today's tweet in English and French courtesy of Thomas Levet ...

The late Seve Ballesteros had movie star-like charisma, so it’s fitting that his story could soon be coming to the silver screen. A draft of a screenplay about the legendary golfer’s formative years has been completed, and it already has a producer, Englishman Stephen Evans, whose credits include The Madness of King George. The biopic could go into production as early as next year, according to Geoffrey McNab of The Independent:

Evans describes Seve as a Cinema Paradiso-style drama set in the world of golf.

"He came from a very proud background, an impoverished background, and he ended up marrying into the richest, (most) wealthy business, aristocratic family in Spain," the producer explained.

The filmmakers said the role of Seve is still up for grabs. The Spaniard's spikes are undoubtedly big ones to fill, but allow us to offer a few suggestions…

Antonio Banderas: Oozes Spanish charm and his characters have a Seve-like knack for escaping trouble.

Javier Bardem: Wonderfully versatile actor who can channel just about anyone. Bonus: Seve won five majors; Bardem has won five Goyas.

Andy Garcia: Single digit-handicapper. And he can muster a glare every bit as intense as Seve’s.

Johnny Depp: Probably a reach, but if he can pull off Captain Jack Sparrow...

Sprechen sie back pain? Couples discusses his radical treatment in Germany
You’d never know it from his laconic demeanor, but Fred Couples suffers from excruciating back pain. By the end of last season, the discomfort was so great that he could barely sleep at night. In Houston this week to defend his title at the Insperity Championship, the Presidents Cup captain revealed his latest attempt at relief, an experimental procedure that isn't approved in the United States. Steve Campbell at the Houston Chronicle has the details:

Desperate times drove Couples to make the trek to Dusseldorf, Germany, for a treatment known as Orthokine therapy. Developed by orthopedic surgeon Peter Wehling and molecular biologist Julio Reinecke, the procedure involves using proteins derived from the patient's blood as medication. During a five-day regimen, Couples made six office visits.

"Takes 20 minutes for this procedure every day, and he talks to you for 10 minutes, and you go on your way," Couples said.

One of the patients who preceded Couples by a week, he said, was Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who was treating an arthritic right knee. Fellow golfer Vijay Singh went in for back treatment a few days after Couples and offered this testimonial: "It's worked miracles." Among the other reported patients of Wehling are former Rockets All-Star Tracy McGrady and Pope John Paul II.

"I felt better after seeing this guy than I felt when I was 30," Couples said. "It was bizarre."

Tweet of the day

Grinding it out through the Frys.com weather delay:

@PaulStankowski: My current view waiting for fog to lift!

PEDs, or Performance Enhancing Drugs (steroids, human growth hormone, etc.), have made a major impact on a variety of professional and amateur sports in the last couple of decades (a very conservative estimate), including professional baseball, cycling, football, and the Olympics. But with the exception of the Doug Barron incident and an odd outburst by Gary Player, PEDs haven't really made a lot of news in golf as of yet. Regardless, the PGA Tour has taken serious steps to prevent the problems suffered by other sports by adopting testing for both recreational and performance enhancing substances (since '08) and accepting most of the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) list of banned substances and procedures. 

The newest and possibly most surprising development on the PED front is a probe by WADA into Nicotine as a potential peformance enhancing drug. The testing, which is based in WADA's laboratory in Switzerland, has examined use of tobacco products by athletes in over 40 different sports.

“It is not WADA’s intention to target smokers, rather to monitor the effects nicotine can have on performance when taken in oral tobacco products such as snus,” Terence O’Rorke, a spokesman for the WADA, wrote to Golfweek in an email. “The sole purpose (of including nicotine on the monitoring list) is to collect data on the potential abuse of nicotine as a performance enhancer.”

 Like baseball players and many other professional athletes, golfers are not shy about using tobacco products, both on and off the job, and a ban on such products would affect a significant number of Tour members, none of whom seem to excited about a potential ban. 

Former U.S. Open Champion Lucas Glover is a regular user of smokeless tobacco and described the discussion as "crazy." 

“If you’re going to do that, you might as well outlaw drinking, too,” he said. “Alcohol is a drug, as is nicotine. I mean, if you really wanted to get down to it, caffeine is a stimulant, too.”

 Spencer Levine, who smokes on the course during tournaments, thinks a ban would be nearly impossible. 

“Half the guys out here dip,” Levin said. “I don’t think it’s going to happen because you can buy it in a store. I mean, if anybody else goes to work at a 9-to-5 job, they get a cigarette break, and guys chew in an office if they dip.”

The good news for the many smokers and dippers on Tour is that, according to Ty Votaw, the Tour's executive vp of communications and international affairs, a ban on tobacco products isn't likely to happen in the near future. 

“If WADA put nicotine on its anti-doping list, the PGA Tour would review the addition and determine if it warranted inclusion on the current PGA Tour banned list,” said Ty Votaw, the Tour’s executive vice president of communications and international affairs. “However, we do not believe that such a change in imminent.”

FRED COUPLES COMPARES TIGER TO TOM BRADY, SORT OF

Everyone loves Freddie for his style, swing, talent, and occasional Yogi-isms. Yet lately Couples has come under a bit of scrutiny for his decision, after waffling a bit, to give Tiger on of his President Cup captain's picks, regardless of the former no. 1 player in the world's lack of form and precipitous drop in the world rankings. In response to the seemingly well deserved criticism, Couples compared Tiger to Patirot's quarterback Tom Brady in a way that only he can understand. 

"At the end of the year, if [Woods is] the No. 1 quarterback for your team, and some other quarterback comes in there and leads you in the playoffs and you’re healthy, Tom Brady is the guy that is going to then take over after he’s been out six weeks with an injury," Couples told reporters on a conference call after Brady’s Pats had dispatched the San Diego Chargers, 35-21. "That’s the way I looked at it with Tiger."

OK, I guess we understand what Couples is saying - Tiger is still Tiger, he's just coming off an injury. And a huge sex scandal. And another injury. And a swing change. But clearly Freddie is trying, in his own way, to tell all the players vying for a President's Cup pick that there's only one spot open. 

"I'm picking [Tiger]...for sure, so I just decided to let everyone know that they were really playing for one spot," Couples said. "I felt it was justified to my team, also, that anyone outside of the Top‑10, they were fighting for one spot."

In regard to who Captain Couples is leaning toward for his second pick, it seems the the obvious young guns are at the top of his list. 

"I think Brandt Snedeker and Bill Haas and probably Keegan Bradley are the three leaders in this three‑ring circus right now to be the 12th guy," Couples said. "Brandt Snedeker has [been] playing incredible golf and Bill Haas has, too. "And of course, Keegan Bradley has won twice this year, including a major," Couples noted. "He fought hard playing Saturday and Sunday here, and his name is right there." 

TWEETS OF THE DAY: 

 ParkerMcLachlin RT @TheDailyShow: Happy 15th anniversary to @FoxNews. Wait, @FoxNews is a 15-year-old? That explains so much!

 IanJamesPoulter Great win by @alexisthompson ! Now she’s trying to get her 2012 LPGA Tour Card, join @cobragolf campaign to #LetLexiPlay

IanJamesPoulter Work done on the range sone good testing. Lunch going down well hope it doesn't show it's face again. I'm in the gym in 20 minutes.

If you’re looking for hints about who will get Fred Couples’s second captain’s pick for this year’s Presidents Cup team, his captain’s blog on PGATour.com is a good place to start. (Sure, take a minute to reflect on the idea of "blogger Freddie Couples.")

Couples has already said Tiger Woods will get one of his picks, and many big names will be outside the top 10 in points qualifying, which ends after this week’s BMW Championship. So is PGA Champion Keegan Bradley leading other candidates like Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson and Brandt Snedeker? Here’s what Couples said about the PGA champ.

In terms of my role as captain of the U.S. Presidents Cup Team, the last month or so has certainly been encouraging as well. From Keegan Bradley's victory at the PGA Championship to Webb Simpson's victories at the Wyndham Championship and Deutsche Bank Championship, plus Dustin Johnson winning The Barclays, it's been a great stretch for the young Americans on TOUR. I had the opportunity to play with Keegan for the first time at the Shell Houston Open back in April and was really impressed with what I saw. He's a young guy that plays fearless golf and never gives up, which really was apparent on Sunday at the PGA. If he ends up on our squad in Australia, I know he's a player we can count on.

Couples will announce his selection on Tuesday, Sept. 27. The Presidents Cup will be in Melbourne, Australia, Nov. 17-20.  

Rory McIlroy could face difficult decision on Irish Open

Rory McIlroy could have to choose between playing in the Irish Open next year and the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club, the site of his historic U.S. Open win, according to Brian Keough of the Irish Independent.

Sources have indicated that the European Tour is about to negotiate an Irish Open deal with potential sponsors Zurich that could see the event move from its recent August Bank Holiday weekend slot to the last weekend in June.

But while that comes two weeks after the US Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, it also clashes with the PGA Tour's AT&T National at Congressional Country Club, on from June 28 to July 1.

McIlroy is currently working on his 2012 schedule as he plans to rejoin the US circuit next season and play on both sides of the pond.

But the European Tour will have to be careful when deciding on a potential date change if it does not want to run the risk of losing Ireland's top-ranked player.

Stating that McIlroy could be lured to Washington DC during Irish Open week, [agent Chubby] Chandler said: "Rory is considering his options at the moment. The tournament in the States is at Congressional so it is reasonably attractive too!"

Webb Simpson goes silent Twitter over ‘negativity’

The dark side of the Internet claimed another victim in Deutsche Bank Championship winner Webb Simpson, who told reporters he deleted Twitter from his phone because he was turned off by “people saying mean things.”

Q. You Tweet fairly often. Some guys have decided that they don't want to Tweet. What do you get out of it?

WEBB SIMPSON: Well, I like Twitter. I like the social media aspect of it. But kind of the main -- my main reason I signed on was just kind of to read what other people said. I loved hearing what other athletes say or other people I like to follow. But at the same time, getting in contention, I get more followers; I win, I get more followers, and there's a lot of negativity there, people saying really mean things. So last week I deleted it on my phone. I still have the account, but it was just kind of -- it's hard not to read what people say. Don't get me wrong, 90 percent of the people were very complimentary, but you still have people out there that they want to share their opinion any way possible. I'm signed off currently right now.

Q. So you're not worried about getting a lot more followers if you were to win like $10 million?

WEBB SIMPSON: Well, I figured I'd keep the account because in case my sponsors want me to do a little more talking on Twitter about my sponsors. But I might sign back on to check it out if I won the FedExCup.

Lee Westwood had a similar issue with Twitter, although he apparently can’t resist the opportunity to tweak his pal Rory McIlroy. Sounds like these guys would be great on "H8R," the new reality TV show where celebrities like Snooki and Kim Kardashian confront their online critics.

Tweet of the Day

From LPGA player Paige Mackenzie.

Tiger Woods said he hopes that U.S. captain Fred Couples picks him for this year's Presidents Cup team, according to a blog post on TigerWoods.com, and he might be willing to change his schedule to help his chances.

Woods is currently 28th on the qualifying list for the biennial matches between the United States and "the World." The tournament will be played Nov. 17-20 at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia. (The Ryder Cup is the U.S. vs. Europe; The Presidents Cup pits the U.S. against an International team, which can include players from any non-European country.)

The top 10 Americans in the rankings make the team automatically, and each captain has two wild-card picks. Couples has said he wants to pick Woods for the team, providing Woods plays more tournaments before he goes to Australia. (Woods has committed to playing the Australian Open on Nov. 10, a week before the Presidents Cup, and he is likely to play the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai on Nov. 3.)

"I've had some conversations with U.S. captain Fred Couples, and we'll see how it goes." Woods said. "Of course, I want to be on the team. It's always fun to play for your country, and we did pretty well two years ago in San Francisco.

"I'm just going to keep practicing and try to get better," he continued. "It's Freddie's call, and he can make any choice he wants."

Woods confirmed that he will play at college friend Notah Begay's charity tournament in upstate New York on Aug. 31. He also said he might add another PGA Tour event to his schedule.

Because Woods failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs, he is not eligible to compete in a PGA Tour event until after the Tour Championship, which concludes Sept. 25.

"I might add another PGA Tour event to my schedule," Woods said. "Right now, I'm looking at my options."

If Woods adds an event, it means he'd be playing in the PGA Tour's Fall Series, the golf equivalent of Derek Jeter making a rehab start in Trenton, N.J. The Fall Series events are the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, the Frys.com Open in Northern California, the McGladrey Classic in Sea Island, Ga. and the Children's Miracle Network Classic in Orlando.

In other news, Woods said he has not hired a permanent replacement for longtime caddie Steve Williams. His childhood friend Bryon Bell caddied for Woods at the Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship.

"I haven't decided on a new caddie yet, but am definitely thinking about it a lot." Woods said. "There's a few guys I'm looking at, but it all depends on timing. At this point, I'm in no hurry to make a decision.

"What am I looking for? Two things: A person with a lot of experience, and a person I'll have fun with."

Photo: Robert Beck/SI

Tiger Woods missed the cut at the PGA Championship, and fresh off his worst showing of the season, we asked our Top 100 Teachers if Fred Couples should select Woods for his Presidents Cup team in November. Below are the results --and some memorable quotes from the teachers. What do you think? Should Freddy pick Tiger? Leave your vote in the comments section below.

Should U.S. captain Fred Couples select Tiger Woods for the Presidents Cup team?

YES: 20%
NO: 80%

"God no!" - Rod Lidenberg

"I love to watch him play, and I think the game needs Tiger. The fans need Tiger. He is like the Miami Heat. It's just as fun to root for them as it is to root against them." -Eden Foster

"Tiger needs a big break. Other players deserve to play." - Jim McLean

"Only reason to pick him is to pump up TV ratings." - Jon Tattersall

"We need to field our best current players. Tiger is not one of the best 12 American players today. No way." - J.D. Turner

"There are other great young stars that deserve the chance. Tiger had his chance; he made the wrong choices!" - Craig Shankland

"He's not one of the top 50 players in our country at this point." - Steve Bosdosh

"Right now, he is nothing more than a distraction to a team concept." - Jim Suttie

"After being last in driving at Firestone, and a pretty poor PGA Championship, nothing in that golf swing shows me that he is ready to play." - Eric Johnson

"Friends or no friends, put the best team together and let them play." - Nancy Quarcelino

"I think his presence would adversely affect both the U.S. team's camaraderie and performance." - Dom DiJulia

"Tiger isn't getting any more freebees. The respect is done and over. He has to earn it just like he did when he came on Tour." - Shawn Humphries

"Tiger hasn't earned it with his play the last two years, and it's not fair to take a spot away from someone who has." - Brian Mogg

"You've got to be kidding me. That would be like the New York Mets rewarding people for what they did in the past, not for what they are doing now or in the future." - Mike Adams

"Yes! I would not trade him for a bluegrass farm!" - Mike Perpich

"Golf is a sport based on current performance, not past reputation." - Bryan Gathright

The Tavistock Cup pits Tour pros from Orlando’s Isleworth gated community against the nearby Lake Nona gated community; a better name might be the Let Them Eat Cake Open. Lake Nona has boasted stars like Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Sergio Garcia since the event’s 2004 inception, while Isleworth has had Stewart Appleby, Charles Howell III and Tiger Woods. However, Woods, who is an Isleworth resident until he moves into his James Bond villain hideout on Jupiter Island, might be changing sides this year, according to The Orlando Sentinel. 

Woods is a co-investor — along with Tavistock Group and Ernie Els — in the new luxury community rising in the Bahamas, making him eligible to be plucked from red-clad Isleworth in the Cup's version of an expansion draft. Albany and England's Queenwood Golf Club join the competition this year, giving even more of an international scope to the all-Orlando showdown between Lake Nona and Isleworth touring pros.The two-day event begins March 14 at Isleworth.

Ian Poulter, a homeowner at both Lake Nona and Albany, disclosed in a Twitter post last week he is changing sides and noted Woods would be an Albany teammate.

McDowell aces poker game, world rankings

Phil Mickelson has had a chipper start to his 2011 season (two top 10s in four starts, including second at the Farmers Insurance Open), but it wasn’t enough to hold off Graeme McDowell in the Official World Golf Rankings. McDowell overtook Mickelson for the No. 4 spot in the latest rankings. Here’s how the rankings look now:

1. Lee Westwood

2. Martin Kaymer

3. Tiger Woods

4. Graeme McDowell

5. Phil Mickelson

6. Paul Casey

7. Rory McIlroy

8. Steve Stricker

9. Luke Donald

10. Jim Furyk

For his part, McDowell wasn’t too interested in the weekly ups and downs of the rankings; he was more concerned about winning his poker game with Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and caddie Kenny Comboy, if McDowell's Twitter feed was any indication:

Poker update- I was chip leader for a long time but finished 2nd. My caddy Kenny Comboy took the loot. Henrik and Poults battled out for 3rd

McDowell also posted video of the game here. Sadly, no commentary from Gabe Kaplan. 

Human target practice helps Compton shoot 64

We had a lot of great story lines at the Northern Trust Open last week: 1. Aaron Baddeley’s return from the wilderness to win; 2. Fred Couples making another thrilling run on Tour at age 51; and 3. Vijay Singh getting his putting groove back. Still, Erik Compton’s 64 on Sunday might have had the best ending of all.

Compton, who’s had two heart transplants, made the field through a Monday qualifier and finished T25 after shooting a tournament low 64 on Sunday. SI Golf Plus contributor Stephanie Wei of WeiUnderPar caught up to Compton on the driving range Saturday as Compton was doing an unusual drill:

I noticed his caddie was standing in the line of fire … and catching the shots hit near him with a towel. I asked, "Did he give you the wrong yardage today or something?"

“No, I’m trying to figure out my yardages,” explained Compton. “I haven’t played in a while, so I don’t know my distances. I keep feeling like I’m going to fly the green.”

After about 20 balls, Compton switched clubs and hollered, “130!” His caddie walked back ten yards.

Compton also said he hasn’t been working with a swing coach in the last year, saying he’s just been “trying to get back to swing.”

“I’m trying to keep my arms closer to my body (through impact),” Compton said. “I think I’ve been pulling across (in my downswing) and the ball has been going left."

Riviera’s seventh hole was end of the road for Fred Couples

After his final round 73 at the Northern Trust Open, Fred Couples had no difficulty pinpointing where it all went wrong: his drive on the seventh hole, which landed way right on a bank covered in primeval-looking rough. Couples, who suffers from severe back pain, said he never hit another good shot after ripping his second shot on 7 out of the rough. He made a double-bogey 6 on the hole.

Q. What went wrong?

FRED COUPLES: You know, I hit a poor shot on 6 and then drove it in that stuff on 7. We were lucky to find it. Then when I hit it out of there, I just didn't feel the same after that. I didn't really hurt myself, but I never hit a shot, and I just got it around. I mean, I couldn't hit an iron. I hit a few good drives, but I was like afraid to hit the ground, hitting it that hard out of that stuff. But again, I did get off to a good start, and that was where it ended.

Q. Were you worried about that when you saw your ball and knew it was in there?

FRED COUPLES: Well, I knew it wouldn't feel very good, but nothing bad happened, I just didn't feel at all. I started snap-hooking them and didn't hit it very far. I hit a drive on 18 and it didn't go anywhere, then I snap-hooked it on 9. I started getting outdriven by 20, 30 yards, and I did hit a couple good ones, but it just was rough. It's nothing bad, I'm not having any excuse. It's just after that point I never hit a shot.

Tweet of the Day: From golf writer Geoff Shackelford on Kevin Na’s slower-than-a-Denny’s-waitress play at Riviera last week:

@geoffshac: New Rule: If Your Caddy Is Plum-bobbing Your Putts, You're On The Wrong Tour: http://bit.ly/ijM4eu.

The Big Fijian
Vijay Singh turns 48 on Tuesday, but he's not biding his time until he gets the call to join the Champions Tour. After dealing with a knee injury for two years, Singh is back in contention, only two shots off the lead as he tries to win his 35th PGA Tour event on Sunday.

Singh's putting and short game saved him on Saturday -- 3-for-3 in bunker saves with 25 putts. For the week, Singh ranks third in putting, a good sign for someone who's tried every kind of putter and putting grip imaginable.

"I had one of the best putting rounds I've had for a long, long time," Singh said after carding a 4-under 67. "Didn't hit the ball like my score reflected, but I putted and I scored really well, like I did yesterday, too. My game is coming along, but my short game and my putts are paying off."

Singh has been showing signs this season that his game is back on track. He tied for 20th at Torrey Pines, then he shot four rounds in the 60s for a T3 finish in Phoenix. Singh opened with 69-68 at Pebble Beach before fading on the weekend.

"I don't know what to expect right now," Singh said. "I'm really -- you know, really fired up for tomorrow. I know I have a good position. I'm in a good position to win tomorrow, so we'll see what happens."

Top Trio
Sunday could be a huge day for Aaron Baddeley, Fred Couples and Kevin Na. Baddeley, who has a one-shot lead over Couples and Na, is trying to get his first win since the 2007 Phoenix Open. Baddeley would also join Dustin Johnson, Anthony Kim, Sean O'Hair, Hunter Mahan and Camilo Villegas as the only 20-somethings with three or more wins.

Couples, 51, admits he's a Champions Tour player now, but he could further pad his resume for the World Golf Hall of Fame with a 16th PGA Tour win. Despite his bad back, Couples is averaging more than 296 yards off the tee and tied for third in greens hit in regulation.

Na is still looking for his first win, and it couldn't come at a better time. His father is battling leukemia back in South Korea, and Na said he hopes his mother can take a trophy to him. The key for Na will be getting his approach shots close to the hole. Averaging only 257 yards off the tee, Na will be giving up more than 20 yards to Baddeley and almost 40 yards to Couples.

(Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

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