It was announced this morning at the PGA Merchandise Show that Meg Mallon will captain the U.S. Solheim Cup team in 2013 as they look to extract revenge on the European side when they meet at Colorado Golf Club. 

Mallon is an 18-time LPGA winner, including four major championships, and played on eight U.S. Solheim Cup teams, sporting a 13-9-7 career record. She served as an assistant captain to the victorious 2009 team and also captained a winning American side at the 2011 PING Junior Solheim Cup. 

"It's an absolute honor to be selected as the 2013 U.S. Solheim Cup Team Captain," said Mallon. "I've participated in The Solheim Cup on nine occasions and each has been a proud moment for me, but to represent the United States as team captain definitely caps off my career. I look forward to working hard on getting the Cup back in U.S. hands." 

Back to school
Rory McIlroy, the scholar. That’s right, the U.S. Open champ is set to receive an honorary degree from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. According to the Irish Times, McIlroy will be awarded a Doctor of Science degree for his contribution to golf. 

The university said: “Rory McIlroy has quickly established himself as a major force in international golf as a Major winner and Ryder Cup hero.” 

Compatriots Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke have also been honored by the university in the past. 

Other notables to receive honorary degrees from the University of Ulster this year include Manchester United skipper Sir Alex Ferguson, Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody and actor Sir Ian McKellen, among others. 

Golf’s Oprah
Looking to build on a successful first season, Golf Magazine contributing writer David Feherty’s hit talk show, Feherty, will expand to a one hour time slot, beginning February 27. Due to viewer demand, Golf Channel has also ordered more episodes for season two and has pushed the original series back to the 10 p.m. time slot. In a press release, Golf Channel stated:

“We were blown away by the positive reaction our viewers had to this show and their appreciation for the truly heartfelt moments David was able to pull from each interview,” said Golf Channel President Mike McCarley. “People know David as funny and a bit irreverent, but they never knew how much emotion would come from this series. The one comment we heard repeatedly from viewers was ‘give us more’ -- so that’s exactly what we plan to do in season two.” 

If you can’t hold out an entire month for your weekly dose of Feherty, don’t fret. Before season two airs, viewers will be treated to a special from the Super Bowl with Feherty performing before a live theatre audience, armed with a slew of guests from the world of sports and entertainment. 

Additionally, Golf Channel will be airing bonus footage shot for two of the most popular Feherty episodes, including never-before-seen interviews with Johnny Miller and Tom Watson. The episodes will be re-aired in a one-hour format on February 13 and 20, respectively. 

Speed golf
Ben Crane isn’t the only one pumping out viral videos; rally driver and drifting champion Rhys Millen has teamed up with Hyundai to bring the largely underground world of Formula D to the golf course. Millen, who will race the 500bhp Hyundai Veloster in the US Rallycross championship, shows just how fast he really is, terrorizing the Purangi Golf & Country Club in New Zealand with his turbocharged golf cart. 

PGA Tour, take notice. We just solved your pace of play problem.

Tweet of the Day

Steve Sands @ Golfchannel reports from Abu Dhabi that Tiger Woods took off his undershirt on hole 4 yesterday.... #tigersyearhasstarted

— Steve Elkington (@elkpga) January 26, 2012

Johnny Miller and Nick Faldo broadcast the first round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions [AP Photo]

The Golf Channel added some needed spice to its broadcast of the champion-challenged Hyundai Tournament of Champions (Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson all passed on the event)  by putting the network’s regular color commentator Nick Faldo in the booth with Johnny Miller of NBC. (Comcast now owns both Golf Channel and NBC.)

Here are some of their best exchanges, courtesy of the Golf Channel.

Hyundai Tournament of Champions Johnny Miller and Nick Faldo Quotes Round 1

Dan Hicks: Pretty civilized start between you guys.

Nick Faldo: We’re just warming up.

Johnny Miller: Sort of like the first round, just a few little taps.

Nick Faldo: Yep, just feeling it out.

On being inducted in the HOF together

Miller: It was very exciting. Every player was there, and that has never happened before. So we were really lucky. And we both got the 75% vote, which hasn’t happened very often since then.

Faldo: He knows his stats. What does 75% vote mean?

Miller: Well, it means they thought you were pretty good.

On the Plantation Course

Miller: When they built this course, they built it to handle wind. Big greens, big fairways, like the 18th hole has a 90-yard wide fairway, so you can sort of bomb it around on a lot of the holes.

Faldo: [Shaking his head] See, he is exaggerating already. 74.

Miller: I walked it this morning.

Faldo: I’ve got 74 and you’ve got 90.

Miller: Well you’ve got those little short English legs.

Hicks: Just a taste folks. It’s going to be a long ride.

On surfing

Faldo: Did you used to go paddle boarding and surfing when you used to play your events, Johnny?

Miller: No

Faldo: I didn’t either.

Miller: I did a little fishing but that’s it.

Faldo: Well, at least if you go fishing, the worst that can happen is you get the fly stuck in the back of your head.

Miller: Yeah, that’s not the worst thing, is it?

On Bill Haas winning the Tour Championship 

Hicks: I will never forget there was that drought in Atlanta, had there not been that drought for several weeks, that water would have been up on the bank and Bill Haas’ miraculous shot…Hunter Mahan would have been hoisting the trophy.

Faldo: That’s destiny, isn’t it.

Miller: Yep. I don’t know about that but I’ll go with it.

Faldo: Well it is. Things are going to happen in life for it to then happen, isn’t it? If it rained more he wouldn’t be here. With his 10 million dollars, he was building a house and they couldn’t decide about a pool in the back garden, and obviously that 10 million bucks made that a very easy decision.

Miller: Ok Sir Nick, that is enough of that.

Faldo: What? That’s how it happened. That’s how he got a swimming pool.

On the Plantation Course at Kapalua

Terry Gannon: It can sneak up on you though, with the wind, especially the opening holes here, if you take it for granted, Nick.

Faldo: Absolutely. It’s very interesting. Johnny sounds so good folks, he’s got all of these stats in front of him. All of these numbers.

Miller: Hey, what’s wrong with that?

Gannon: And here is what Faldo has in front of him.

Faldo: Yep, here is my information for the week [holds a Golf Channel coffee mug].

Breaking down Keegan Bradley’s swing in slow-motion

Faldo: Let’s have a look at this in close-up. Look at his lower back.

Miller: Low hands.

Faldo: Low hands, but the most important thing is his lower back and lower spine angle. He sets that pretty steep, just like you, Johnny, on your back swing.

Miller: Yeah I was going to say that looks familiar.

Faldo: Actually, that is you, we just cut your head off.

Miller: He braces that right leg at the top of the back swing.

Faldo: And he just feeds into it and traps the ball beautifully and cleared his way out.

Miller: The right hip at the two position coming down perfectly.

Faldo: Geez, that is a lot of information.

Miller: Hey, you know, we’re just saying what we see that’s all.

On Scott Stallings

Faldo: He’s a great story. He went to Augusta. He was so inspired obviously by the Masters. He took a Masters pencil, you know, the Augusta National pencil. And he has used the same pencil ever since. He uses that all of the time. That was his inspiration to win the Greenbrier. He was visualizing getting back to the Masters.

Hicks: See guys, just some of the tidbits you can have even without a handful of notes up here.

Miller: Yeah, it helps when you have won it three times too.

On Bubba Watson’s drive on 18 rolling down the fairway

Mark Rolfing: You can do a commercial break on one of these.

Faldo: Or you could just listen to us talking about how much the ball is rolling end over end.

Miller: And by the way Nick, I walked that twice today, it is 90 yards wide.

On Keegan Bradley teeing off at 18

Rolfing: He is looking at the chimneys. See the clubhouse there in the distance? There are two chimneys. The line is the chimney on the right. That is exactly where he is looking.

Faldo: Mark, what did the big chimney say to the little chimney?

Miller: Oh, here we go, this English humor.

Faldo: You are a little too young to smoke.

Rolfing: Johnny, are you laughing at him or with him?

Miller: I was thinking I was back in elementary school, I wasn’t sure.

Faldo: Gotta entertain the children.

On the 18th hole at the Plantation Course 

Rolfing: It is a huge elevation change going down. There is a difference of opinion whether the fairway is 90 yards of 76 between Johnny and Nick, but it’s wide.

Miller: What do you expect, an NBC guy to get along with a CBS guy?

Rolfing: I hope you guys do. We are all in here for four days. On watching surfers in the ocean:

Miller: Would you like to be that guy?

Faldo: I’d like to be able to do that. That is pretty darn cool.

Miller: Would you give up one of your Masters titles for that?

Faldo: Nuh-uh. Nuh-uh.

On the Hyundai Tournament of Champions

Hicks: If you don’t get off to a good start, you have this beautiful surf behind you. People with their families over here. It is an interesting mix of pleasure and business.

Miller: Well. let’s put it this way. There’s not too many players without their wives or family. If they left them home, there is a little problem, I think.

Faldo: Marriage guidance by Johnny Miller.

Hyundai Tournament of Champions Johnny Miller and Nick Faldo Quotes Round 2

Top of the Show

Dan Hicks: Guys, pretty much incident-free through day one. Nick you didn’t even get a chance to cut Johnny’s cable.

Nick Faldo: Best buddies.

Hicks: It was fun.

Faldo: Yeah, good day.

Hicks: But I think it is going to intensify as the round goes on. I’ve got a feeling

Johnny Miller: It’s got to come naturally, though, right.

Faldo: We are going to go with the intensity, which is from the player. We will respond that way. If they are jumpy and are having a few fights out there, I think we will.

On Jonathan Byrd

Hicks: He’s got some Johnny Miller pants of yester-year on.

Miller: Yeah, they just never go away.

Hicks: Nick went plaid a few times as well.

Faldo: I wore plaid. Ever watch Johnny at Troon? I was there as a young kid in the crowd.

Miller: Oh yeah, didn’t match though.

Faldo: Didn’t match and that is what was wrong.

On Webb Simpson’s pitch at the 15th hole at the Plantation Course

Miller: Look at how close that right toe is to the ball. He puts it right on the ball, and it is just a real quick little flick, as probably Nick would say. They probably have a word for that in England. What is that shot, quick flick?

Faldo: Quick flick is very good, Johnny.

Hicks: You know, you are rubbing off on Johnny here. As the golf broadcast season goes on here, you might hear traces of some Nick-isms in Johnny’s vernacular.

Faldo: I’ll have him talking English by the time we are finished this week.

Hicks: Johnny has his own language.

Miller: That’s right, I’ve got my own way of doing things.

Faldo: Really?

Miller: I have about 50 swear words that are not swear words.

Faldo: That’s useful.

On the Maui scenery 

Hicks: Well, Nick and Johnny, I believe it was close to 60 degrees in Central Park, New York, today, so we’re not going to wow you. But, pretty unbelievable scenery Nick, and you have been coming here for years. It never gets old.

Faldo: And now we have got this plane that we can see these aerial shots. It’s quite amazing. All of these natural things. We have got the rainforests on top of the hill and we have got the whales…

Hicks: Has it all distracted you from Johnny?

Faldo: It makes Johnny look way more beautiful than he really is.

Hicks: I can’t top that.

On Nick and Johnny shooting 63s

Hicks: Johnny, you had 10. The great Jack Nicklaus had six. And Nick, do you care to venture what your number was?

Faldo: Three

Hicks: You did have one.

Faldo: Well, a really good one. No, wait, I had more than that. Oh, on the U.S. Tour, yes, but I’m an International golfer. I had a couple more of them.

Hicks: We do need to do a little more research.

Nick: Yeah, come on, come on.

Hicks: But you got Stricker and Johnny in the Major department.

Faldo: I shot a 62 up in Yorkshire, I did. I finished 64-62 to win.

Frank Nobilo: The Lawrence Batley International.

Faldo: That’s right, the Lawrence Batley International.

Miller: I’ll just let the facts state just what it is.

Faldo: At least we’ve shot 63, Johnny, in Majors, so that’s all right.

Miller: Yeah, that’s true.

Faldo: We just don’t want anybody to shoot a 62 in a Major, we want to just keep that record.

Miller: Nah, I don’t care.

Faldo: Really?

Miller: You can have it.

Faldo: Oh, no, I want to keep that one.

Miller: I had enough fun in my career. I would have liked to have won a couple more majors, but it was fun walking up that 18th hole 25 times for the win.

Tiger Woods played well toward the end of 2011, including a birdie-birdie finish to win the Chevron, and now the golf world is buzzing about his chances to get back to his old self in 2012. One man never shy on opinions, NBC's Johnny Miller, thinks Woods will have a very big year with at least four wins.

"I think Tiger is the breakout player of the year in 2012. I really do believe that," the NBC golf analyst said. "I think he'll win probably at least four times.

"I always analyze from how bad a bad shot is. Tiger's bad shots, especially with his long clubs, were pretty bad. Now his bad shots with the long clubs are quite good. Almost in the 2000, 2001 range. His irons were never that poor, even when he was struggling, and his short game has really come along. I think he is very determined to show the naysayers that they didn't know what they were talking about when they sort of wrote him off.

"I think he's going to have a big year."

Extreme Home Makeover: Elin Edition
So what's Elin Nordegren doing with her reportedly $100 million divorce settlement? According to TMZ, she just demolished a $12 million mansion in Florida to build her own dream home while living in another mansion nearby.

Elin bought the 9,000 square foot North Palm Beach home in March ... right after she struck a $100 million divorce settlement with Tiger Woods.

Apparently, Elin felt the modest 6 bedroom, 8 bathroom pad wasn't quite up to her standards ... so she did the only reasonable thing -- KNOCKED THE WHOLE PLACE DOWN!

We're told Nordegren has hired a high-priced architect to build her dream home ... and sources say every single worker is required to sign a confidentiality agreement.

No word on how long the project is expected to take -- but we're told Elin is living in a nearby mansion inside the private community while the new place is under construction.

Take it away, ABBA!

More Good News for Northern Ireland
Want to generate buzz for your small country? Start winning majors! The Irish Golf Desk reports Royal Portrush, home course to British Open champ Darren Clarke, might host this year's Irish Open, a possible test run to try and land an Open Championship.

However, with McIlroy and Portrush residents Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell all now major winners, it is believed that the tour and the Northern Ireland government are keen to ride that momentum and bring forward plans to take the Irish Open back to Ulster for the first time since 1953.

Royal Portrush wants to host the Open Championship itself and while that appears unlikely in the short term due to political and logistical reasons, the Irish Open is considered the logical “test” event for staging a major.

However, while it was believed that the funds were not in place to host the Irish Open in the North until 2013, Royal Portrush is again being mentioned a potential venue from June 28 to July 1 this year.

PULL!
Hopefully these guys didn't use the fine china ...

Tweet of the Day

I think it's cute when the internet asks for my personal information and pretends that it doesn't know everything already.

— Ben Crane (@bencranegolf) January 5, 2012

Listed in roughly chronological order...

1. "It's disgusting what he's just done there. You look at his work ethic, and he's a credit to the game and an inspiration to all of us who are trying to be professional golfers, but some parts of him are arrogant and petulant. Somebody has to come on the green and maybe putt over his spit — it doesn't get much lower than that.” --Sky Sports commentator Ewen Murray after Tiger Woods was shown spitting on the green at the Dubai Desert Classic. Woods was later fined by the European Tour and apologized for the incident.

2. "I'm glad he's out playing golf. I happen to be a golfer. I think presidents deserve down time. And believe me, he is in constant communication with what's going on." --Former Vice President Dan Quayle, on criticism of President Obama for playing golf

3. “Tiger was the dominant player. He won 14 majors. Think about it, 14 majors, in such a short period of time. Who is ever going to do that again? Who knows? That is pretty dominating. So for us, myself, Phil, Vijay, Davis, Fred Couples, guys like that to have played under a guy who was that good, we took a beating, not only from him, but from you guys, too. It's been a tough -- it was a tough 10, 12 years for us.” --Ernie Els at the WGC-Cadillac Championship

4. “As my social status in Japan is getting higher, I believe that is one of the responsibilities, to provide for those people who are in need." --Ryo Ishikawa, on his decision to donate all of his 2011 earnings to earthquake relief in Japan

5. "I’ve gone back and putted that putt a hundred times since. … [and] it’s never broken left again." --Jack Nicklaus at the 2011 Masters on his birdie putt on 17 at the 1986 Masters 

6. “I hate that word. It's just a terrible word. It's not something you want to be associated with -- worst thing you can be called in golf, apart from ‘cheat.’” --Rory McIlroy, on the c-word –- “choke” -- after his final-round meltdown at the 2011 Masters 

7. “I still can’t believe, with just 45 minutes left in that broadcast, how many people could have conceivably won it. It was so exhilarating because that’s what you want—to have the chance to keep people on the edges of their seats. I can’t tell you how many e-mails I got from people saying, ‘I couldn’t even go to the bathroom. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to miss anything.’ ” --Jim Nantz, on Sunday at the 2011 Masters

8. "You could see it a couple of weeks ago at The Masters. Tiger was playing fantastic the first nine on Sunday but there wasn't really somebody who was scared of him any more.” --Martin Kaymer after the 2011 Masters

9. “How are we going to count all the shots? I can’t keep track.” --Kevin Na, on his way to a 16 at the Valero Texas Open

10. "Our hat policy is the same as Augusta’s. Turn your hat around.’” --Quail Hollow member to Rickie Fowler

11. "His swing is definitely better than mine was at the same age. But in '99 my swing came together, and I had a pretty good next two years." --Tiger Woods, on Rory McIlroy’s U.S. Open win

12. “I can't f***ing hit it. I'm f***ing useless.” --Darren Clarke, on the putting green the week before winning the British Open

13. "I've caddied for 33 years, won 145 times and this is the most satisfying win of my career." --Caddie Steve Williams after Adam Scott won the Bridgestone invitational

14. “I don’t have any.” --Phil Mickelson’s caddie Bones Mackay after being asked how many wins he has

15. "I would rather eat a golf ball than see this movie again." --Roger Ebert, on the golf movie Seven Days in Utopia

16. "I don't recall ever saying the Tiger era is over." --Luke Donald after The Daily Express published a story with the headline, "Luke Donald: The Tiger Woods Era is 'Over' "

17. "If it were going to be banned, it should have happened 20-plus years ago. But now that it's been legal, I don't think you can make it retroactive." --Phil Mickelson, on belly putters

18. "Almost every guy who finished at the top of the leaderboard was in the top five in greens hit and ball-striking. To me, that's the ultimate.That's pure golf, not a bunch of scrambling crap." --Johnny Miller’s defense of the Cog Hill redesign after criticism from Phil Mickelson and others

19. “I feel like even if I went to HSBC and won, they’d find another event to add.” --Luke Donald, on learning that the PGA Tour decided to include the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai in the Player of the Year vote after Donald won the money title

20. “No. I make sure I remain totally illiterate in that state." --Jack Nicklaus after being asked if he tweets

All photos from the Associated Press, except for Johnny Miller (Getty Images)

The chatter over Tiger Woods’s future has reached a fever pitch in recent days with opinions registered by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Luke Donald, and Greg Norman. (Even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad weighed in, clearing the floor of the U.N. with his bold prediction that Tiger would win 40 majors and reunite with Elin.) Next on the podium? Johnny Miller, of course! In a chat with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Miller was surprisingly upbeat about the state of Tiger’s game.

"If Tiger sticks with it, stays patient, he’ll have a second career. It won’t be like the first. It could be like a Phil Mickelson career. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win three, four more majors. I don’t see him winning a fifth one, the big one."

Miller also offered up a brief psychoanalysis of Woods:

"Tiger’s intellect is such, that he’s so curious you can tempt him into trying something that might be the nirvanic swing. If there’s a weakness for Tiger, he’s looking for that pot of gold. Well, he’s had that pot, but he can’t resist trying new swings. If he had stuck with his Adam Scott swing, he never would have had a lull."

Less optimistic about Woods is former European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, who pulled out his tarot cards for Reuters and proclaimed that if Tiger’s poor play continues, the World No. 49 might soon head for the hills:

"I've got huge respect for Jack and he thinks Tiger will come back (to form) and has a good chance of beating his record. Frankly I think it's 30-70 against him getting back to the level he was at.

I can see a possibility of Tiger packing it in. I can see him getting to the point where he is fed up. If he doesn't feel like he can win majors any more then he might just pack it in and concentrate on his foundation and try to redeem himself to the public by doing good work for his foundation.

If he is outside the top 50 and doesn't qualify for World Golf Championship (WGC) events and the FedEx Cup he might say, 'I'm hitting my head up against the wall and might not bother."

UBS follows trading scandal with Pebble Beach boondoggle

Four years after Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O’Neal was pilloried for playing too much golf while Wall Street burned, banking behemoth UBS is under attack this week for descending on Pebble Beach for a golf boondoggle in the wake of losing $2.3 billion in a trading scam. As the New York Post put it: “Nothing washes away the tarnish of a $2.3 billion rogue trading scandal like fine wine, ocean vistas and a few rounds of golf on the legendary links of Pebble Beach.”

Bloomberg Businessweek procured this defense from the bank:

“The 2011 Invitational is a long-standing tradition at UBS where clients of our investment-banking practice have an opportunity to confer with one another and their advisers in a relaxed and informal setting,” Peter McKillop, a bank spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement.

Relaxed and informal? Van Cortlandt Park wouldn’t do? On the flipside...

The advantages of hosting the annual golf event may outweigh any “negative” publicity for the Zurich-based firm, said Steven Kaplan, a professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

“If it made business sense a month ago, it makes business sense today. There's a benefit to getting in front of your clients. Given what happened, there's an additional benefit to reassure them.” 

Tweet of the day

NBC announcer Johnny Miller defended Rees Jones after Jones got an earful from some Tour players over his redesign of Chicago’s Cog Hill, site of last week’s BMW Championship. Teddy Greenstein and K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune have the details:

At one point during Saturday's broadcast, NBC analyst Johnny Miller weighed in on the Cog Hill debate. As always, he made his feelings crystal clear.

"Anybody who complains about this course," he said, "needs to have his head examined."

After leaving the booth Sunday, Miller told the Tribune: "The guys who complained were the ones who weren't hitting it good. They deserved to do lousy."

Top-five finishers Luke Donald and Geoff Ogilvy left no doubt they don't fancy the 2008 Rees Jones redesign, but the loudest voices in opposition were Phil Mickelson, who tied for 56th, and Steve Stricker, who withdrew after the second round because of neck pain.

"Almost every guy who finished at the top of the leaderboard was in the top five in greens hit and ball-striking," Miller said. "To me, that's the ultimate. That's pure golf, not a bunch of scrambling crap."

“Scrambling crap” sounds like a dig at Mickelson, of whom Miller once said, “If he couldn’t chip, he’d be selling cars in San Diego.”

McIlroy, Westwood trash-talk about Seve Trophy

Friends -- or is it frenemies? -- Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood had another one of their entertaining Twitter battles Sunday after McIlroy tweeted that he was rooting for Continental Europe against the Great Britain and Ireland in the Vivendi Seve Trophy, a Ryder Cup-type event for European pros. Westwood was playing for the GB&I team, while McIlroy took the week off. (GB&I won the event, but Thomas Bjorn beat Westwood in singles to make it very close.)

But Holly Sweeney, model and McIlroy ex, got the last word.

 

Tweet of the Day

From Sports Illustrated's Alan Shipnuck...

Osama Bin Laden had been hiding in an affluent Islamabad suburb near a golf course (map below), according to the Huffington Post’s Richard Eskow.

A quick round of Internet research reveals that he lived in a beautiful climate, in a town along a well-traveled tourist route, near some military sites that included an advanced hospital. He lived in a luxurious neighborhood, a short drive from a golf course and an airport.

And if all that weren't enough, the most hunted man on the planet was also just down the road from a Red Onion Restaurant.

View Larger Map

Tiger wore a protective boot at Tiger Jam in Las Vegas
Tiger Woods, who will miss this week’s Wells Fargo Championship because of injury to his left knee and Achilles tendon, wore a protective boot on stage at his Tiger Jam benefit concert Saturday, according to The Las Vegas Sun. He also had a protective schedule at his charity event, speaking onstage for less than a minute.

After canceling last year’s Tiger Jam fundraiser because of scandals and tabloid trouble, golfer Tiger Woods stepped cautiously back into the Las Vegas spotlight last night. Cautiously because he had to walk onstage at his Mandalay Bay Events Center concert with Keith Urban and John Mayer with a boot on his Achilles heel injury and knee injury.

But also cautiously because of the unknown audience reaction for his Las Vegas return. There were many empty seats at Mandalay Bay Events Center. Tiger was uncomfortable being back onstage and kept his welcome speech to less than 30 seconds.

In fact, Tiger’s return here was so under the radar in terms of a fast in-and-out, he even shot a 60-second TelePrompTer video about his charity and its educational work for underserved youth that played before he hobbled onstage. That’s all fans got to see of him in his shrouded-in-secrecy return to the city where the scandalous stories of his extra-marital affairs first broke.

Johnny Miller says revamped Napa Valley course ready to host events again
Co-owner of the Silverado Resort, Johnny Miller said the course has been redesigned and is ready to host professional events again, according to The Napa Valley Register. (The last pro event at Silverado was the Champions Tour Napa Valley Classic nine years ago.)

“We’ve had every tour inquire about coming here already, because they’ve heard we’re re-doing things,” Miller told Silverado members during a grand re-opening of the North Course over the weekend. “Everybody wants to come to Silverado. I feel really good about what we have here. I did my homework prior to coming here.”

Miller, one of the owners of the resort, completed a re-design of the North Course that took six months. Opened on Saturday, the championship course features new championship and forward tees, new fairway and greenside bunkering with the introduction of new sand, a better quality of fairway turf, and new markers, giving more movement to the holes and challenging angles for golfers for their drives, second shots and approach shots. It’s a spectacular new look, one that Miller, a World Golf Hall of Fame member, is very proud of.

Smoltz and Romo to compete in U.S. Open qualifying
Cowboys quarterback and ex-Braves pitcher John Smoltz are among the 8,300 entries for U.S. Open qualifying accepted by the USGA. (Smoltz shot 84-87 in his Nationwide Tour debut last week.) Bloomberg News’ Michael Buteau has the details:

Romo, who won a four-man playoff to reach the final qualifying round for the 2010 tournament before withdrawing due to a weather delay, will be trying for the third time to qualify for golf’s second-oldest major championship. He never has made the field.

The 31-year-old quarterback will take part in the 18-hole local qualifying round at Stonebridge Ranch and Country Club in McKinney, Texas, on May 9. He would then need to advance through a second 36-hole qualifying round to compete in the U.S. Open, to be played June 16-19 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.

The U.S. Open field will consist of 156 players, including 65 who are already exempt. To be eligible for qualifying, amateurs must have a handicap index -- a measure of a golfer’s skill in relation to par -- no higher than 1.4. The deadline to enter was April 27.

Tweet of the Day

Fuel of Champions
Golf's No. 1 player, Lee Westwood, showed that plenty of elite golfers are just like us when it comes to what they like to eat and drink before heading to the course.

Rocket Man
While he lost in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship to Stewart Cink, Ian Poulter showed the world just how much he still loves seeing a space shuttle rocket up in the sky.

Double Victory
After Rickie Fowler won his first-round match this week, he went to dinner with a few friends ... and collected his second win of the day!

Parking Problems
Zach Johnson was a little surprised by what he saw on the pavement in a parking lot in Tucson. I guess we can assume he's not used to seeing these on St. Simon's Island.

Power Pairing
The Golf Channel heavily promoted Nick Faldo and Johnny Miller both appearing on the network's coverage of the of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Sounds like SI's Gary Van Sickle got a little confused.

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Miller Time

Johnny Miller is never one to pull punches, so he was the perfect person to ask about the buzz that Tiger Woods is getting close to regaining his old form. Luckily for us, Tod Leonard at Sign On San Diego thought the same thing:

"In golf, 'close' is like the north and south rim of the Grand Canyon," the NBC/Golf Channel commentator and former player said Tuesday.

"I've been there...You do one little tweak and you're on the other rim of the big gulf. When you go off one rim, you’ve got to crawl up the other side. Not that many guys have done it."

"I used to say that Tiger could win with a rental set and one eye closed," Miller said. "But he's had a lot of things happen, and it's mostly self-inflicted. He’s having to pay the price. He’s facing these young guys who are saying, 'Move over pal, you've had your day in the sun.' I'm sure he'd like to make these young guys eat their words, but he’s got to get some confidence back, quick."

I agree with Miller in one respect: Tiger needs to win, and he needs to win soon. Woods is begging for a slump-buster, but, unlike most pros, a really good Sunday or a second place finish isn't going to do the trick. Only the sight of Tiger holding a trophy will put fear back into the hearts of the other competitors.

Thompson Beats the Boys

Lexi Thompson may not have official status on the LPGA Tour, but she's still determined to make her mark on golf as quickly as possible. As the Orlando Sentinel's Jeff Shane reports, the 16-year-old phenom became the first woman to win on the Minor League Golf minitour.

Alexis Thompson wasn’t the first contemporary women’s pro to fill her time between LPGA starts by teeing it up against a field of minitour guys. However, the South Florida teen is the first to take home a trophy. Thompson triumphed over Brett Bergeron in a two-hole playoff on her home course at TPC Eagle Trace, earning a footnote as the Minor League Golf Tour’s first female champion. Thompson, who turned 16 earlier this month, collected $1,100 for the victory. Her 4-under-par 68 was better than 75 other golfers, with only Bergeron holding a chance to finish in front.

Thompson may have had an advantage on her home course, but the win was certainly no fluke--she had already finished second twice with another top-3 finish in 13 MLGT events. We've learned enough not to over-hype these kids at such young ages, but we can at least give a nice golf clap to Thompson for this accomplishment.

Close Call in New Zealand

Among the stories emerging from the tragic earthquake in New Zealand, there's this note from NBC's Ryan Ballengee:

A good number of LPGA Tour players who did not make the field for the Honda LPGA Thailand jumped over to New Zealand for their national women’s open tournament. The hotel for the field was reduced to rubble by the earthquake.

Several LPGA Tour players expressed their concerns over Twitter on Tuesday. Among them was veteran Sophie Gustafson, who said, “The player host hotel for the New Zealand LET tournament last week was as good at flattened today in the earthquake. Very scary stuff!”

As for the players that stayed behind and experienced the earthquake, they were safe, reported Nicole Hage. She tweeted, “I’ve heard that all the girls that were still in NZ sight seeing and such are all safe and sound!”

So at least there's one good story coming out of a very scary situation. If you're interested in helping the relief efforts in New Zealand, you can donate to the New Zealand Red Cross here.

Ever wonder what would happen if Johnny Miller and Nick Faldo sat in the same TV studio? Would one man dominate the conversation? Would they bloviate over each other the entire time? Would they argue? Throw punches? On Friday we will have our answer. This week's Match Play will be NBC's first event since forming a partnership with Golf Channel, a venture that will continue throughout each of NBC's 10 tournaments this year. In addition to new graphics, promotions and branding, Golf Channel and NBC will do a little mixing of on-air talent. Mike Reynolds of Multichannel.com breaks it down:

Perhaps the biggest showcase for the nets' expanded field will come via a Golf Central special at 8:30 p.m. on Friday Feb. 25. State of the Game Live will showcase NBC's Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller and Roger Maltbie discussing the sport with Golf's Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo and Nick Faldo. The group will dissect the WGC action, the status of one Eldrick Woods, and the emergence of European stars and their impact on the PGA Tour, among other topics.

"This is a unique golf-television event that for the first time brings together the two premiere voices in the game...Johnny Miller, who I have had a special relationship with for many years, and Nick Faldo," said Ebersol. "Beyond all of their credentials on the course, their voices always resonate with fans on the significant issues that affect the game. Our goal is to utilize our combined assets for more events such as this in the future."

Take Your Pick
This week 64 of the top 65 players in the world will play the Accenture Match Play Championship. British sports book Ladbrokes has installed Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Paul Casey as the favorites, at 14/1. Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy are next at 16/1. Here are a few other notable odds:

Dustin Johnson: 25/1
Graeme McDowell: 25/1
Rickie Fowler: 33/1
Ian Poulter: 33/1
Padraig Harrington: 50/1
Bubba Watson: 66/1
Ryo Ishikawa: 80/1
Zach Johnson: 100/1

The longshot of the week is Brendan Jones, who drew Phil Mickelson in Round 1, at 500/1. Who's your pick? Let us hear it in the comments section below.

Tweets of the Day

Paul Azinger took to Twitter to voice his displeasure with tournaments like the Match Play that use World Rankings to determine who gets into the field. The rant caught the attention of the No. 1 player in the World, and a little back-and-forth ensued.

@PaulAzinger: Using Wrld Rank to exmpt players into biggest events is a joke. Plyrs shld know what they're choking for.Use money lists, high finishes ect.

WestwoodLee: @PaulAzinger captain azinger have you lost the plot?

PaulAzinger: @WestwoodLee using world rank for match play event is ok, but previous years money list or high finishes in specific events has more meaning

WestwoodLee: @PaulAzinger wouldn't that be slightly biased towards a tour that played for the most money?

PaulAzinger: @WestwoodLee No. Each tour takes X no. of players off money list from previous yr. Japan gets X, S Africa gets X Australian gets X, ect...

WestwoodLee: @PaulAzinger sounds more complicated than the world rankings system? I have a feeling it's fairly accurate as it is.

PaulAzinger: I think players choke for 2 things, cash & prestige. Winning most prestiges event is more pressure.Can't win?Choking for cash not WR points

Westwood never responded with his thoughts on choking, but it seems that Azinger has a point about the impact a flawed world ranking system has on pro golf.

STRAY SHOTS: Things we read while debating whether to shell out the cash for two tickets to the Knicks' next home game.

* Nice feature from the Sydney Morning Herald on Match Play longshot Brendan Jones, who faces Mickelson on Wednesday. The Aussie hasn't played a competitive round in three months, making a first-round upset even more unlikely.

* India's Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia won the Avantha Masters last weekend, and apparently he's so big in his homeland that he's simply known as "SSP."