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

Anthony Kim finished T25 at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai in his first appearance since his controversial withdrawal from the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open after reports of a wild night in Las Vegas. He told the Golf Channel's Andrew Both that his surgically repaired thumb is feeling better.

“This is the first week I’ve hit it well since I’ve been back,” Kim told GolfChannel.com after a 2-under-par 70 left him 13 strokes from the third-round lead at Sheshan on Saturday. “I’m starting to hit my driver as far as I used to, so I’m looking forward to future success. “I have another month of rehab to go but the doctor says I’m looking good. I feel I’m about 85-90 percent there.”

Kim also disputed reports that had him yelling at craps tables and spraying the dance floor with high-priced champagne at a nightclub during the week of the Tour's Las Vegas stop.

“I didn’t even feel like I needed to defend myself, they were so outrageous,” Kim said of the reports. “I can’t do anything about it now and they’re going to say what they want to say.”

Francesco Molinari says facing Tiger was good preparation for HSBC win

Francesco Molinari won the HSBC Champions in Shanghai by going head-to-head with World No. 1 Lee Westwood. Afterward Molinari said that playing former No. 1 Tiger Woods in singles at the Ryder Cup helped prepare him for facing down Westwood. (Woods beat Molinari 4 & 3).

It's been four fantastic days, and especially the last two playing head-to-head with Lee was really tough.

I think the experience of playing with Tiger in The Ryder Cup definitely helped me in the last couple of days, because when -- obviously they are different players, but when you are playing against the No. 1 in the world, it is not easy to always stick to the game plan and do your own game.

Sergio Garcia says he's re-energized after soccer sabbatical

He’s looking to reclaim his place in the game at the Australian Masters after a difficult 2010. Yup, Sergio Garcia has his work cut out for him. However, Garcia told the Australian media that his soccer-playing sabbatical this fall helped him regain his passion and energy for golf, according to The Australian Age newspaper.

''It was something that I needed to do, mainly because I'd just been playing so much, not only as a professional but before as an amateur, too,'' the 30-year-old said. ''I just felt like I needed a little bit of recharging the batteries.''

He feels like the experience has been positive. ''I've definitely thought about a lot of things, learned a lot about myself,'' he said. ''I always enjoy life away from golf. I love life with golf, but I think one of the reasons why I love golf is because I have so many things going on in my life outside of golf, and those things help me get back to golf stronger. I feel fortunate in that way. I have really enjoyed those two months.''

Garcia also made some headlines Down Under for pointing out the obvious, that Tiger Woods does not have the same aura he brought to this tournament last year.

''Maybe not as much,'' Garcia said yesterday, when asked if defending champion Tiger Woods was as fearsome a foe as he was a year ago, when No. 1 ranking and reputation were both intact.

Perhaps pointedly, Garcia dodged an invitation to anoint Woods as ''the man to beat'' this week, saying only ''he's one of them."

Allenby paired with Tiger at Aussie Masters instead of amateur

Australian golfer Robert Allenby thought it would be great if Tiger Woods was paired with the top Australian amateur at the Australian Masters in Melbourne this week, but instead Allenby got the Tiger draw, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

[Allenby said] at last week's WGC event in Shanghai that it would be a waste to give the opportunity to seasoned players like him who play with Woods quite often on the US PGA Tour.

"It would be an awesome thing for the No.1 amateur," Allenby said. "For Australian golf, that's what they need to do."

But the organizers -- IMG and PGA Tour of Australasia -- on Monday announced Allenby and experienced West Australian pro Brett Rumford would play with Woods in the opening two rounds at the Victoria course on Thursday and Friday.

Scottish pro thanks girlfriend for supporting him

In pro sports, the guys at the top are celebrated so much that it’s easy to forget about the hundreds of players in that next tier just struggling to get into the next tournament. Which is why it was nice to hear Scottish golfer Richie Ramsey thank his girlfriend after his third-place finish at the HSBC Champions got him into the Euro Tour’s Dubai World Championship later this month, according to The Scotsman.

The Scot sealed his place in the 60-man field after finishing third behind Italian Francesco Molinari and world No 1 Lee Westwood in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

He's delighted his hard work in recent weeks has paid off in securing his top target for the year and says the support of his American girlfriend, Angela Hudinski, has been invaluable.

"She has two jobs and works really hard but still finds the time to support my golf," said Ramsay after picking up a £232,000 prize. "Hopefully she'll be able to come to Dubai as a little treat and a thank-you for all of the support she's given me."

Stray Shots: Stuff we saw while wondering if John Daly is going to sue the creators of the HBO series Eastbound & Down for stealing his life story.

Australian fans who heckle Tiger Woods will be booted from the course after one warning. (Via The Australian Herald Sun)

The family of superagent and IMG founder Mark McCormick donated his archives to UMass-Amherst. The archives include letters to Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. (Via The Boston Globe)

Rickie Fowler committed to play in the season-ending Children's Miracle Network Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. Fowler is just one stroke behind in the $1 million Kodak Challenge, the Bizarro World FedEx Cup, which consists of a player's best cumulative score on 18 of the 30 holes throughout the year. The Kodak hole at Disney’s Magnolia Course is the par-4 No. 17. (Via PGATour.com)

Many professional golfers have a charity that means something special to them. Greg Stoda of the Palm Beach Post gets behind the scenes with Australian Robert Allenby to see how he does his part to help seriously ill children. Allenby lost his own mother to kidney cancer at the start of 2009 and wears a pink shirt in her memory now on Sundays at PGA Tour events.

Allenby got involved  in an Australian charity, Challenge Cancer Support Network, almost 20 years ago to help a friend whose fund-raising tournament wasn't raising much in the way of funds. Allenby says the group has raised more than $12.5 million since then, thanks to Robert Allenby Golf Day in Melbourne.

The Challenge was established to give children living with cancer and other life-threatening blood disorders the opportunity to experience life, to use Allenby's word, as an "adventure." Every other year, Allenby, who lives in Jupiter, welcomes a group of kids into his home and his family's life. There are stops on the way — Las Vegas was a big hit — and golf, of course, and shopping and sightseeing and even fishing aboard Allenby's own C'mon Aussie on the Atlantic Ocean.

"To see the look on the kids' faces when they hook something really is extraordinary," Allenby said. "Maybe they forget just for a little while everything they have to deal with on a regular basis. It's an escape.

"A lot of them are away from their parents for the first time, too, which can be interesting to watch. But they're such a joy to be around. My bit is easy. Their bit is what's difficult. We're trying to put a smile on the face of a child who is facing the prospect of death. It's so hard to take when we hear about someone who has visited us who has passed away. But there's a reward when you hear from a parent who writes or calls to say they've never seen their son or daughter happier than when they were talking about the trip."

And so the Allenbys and Challenge cull thousands of applications from children who dream of... living that adventure.

Some college golfers got a small taste of charity work recently that is also worth noting. Sean Martin blogged on Golfweek.com about how the University of San Diego men's golf team, coached by Tim Mickelson (yes, his brother is that Mickelson), got a humbling look at reality when it won the Mardi Gras Invitational at TPC Louisiana in suburban New Orleans.

Two days before the tournament, the Toreros spent five hours building a house for Habitat for Humanity.

"As we left from building the house, that was my proudest moment as a coach," said Tim Mickelson. "It was a really good experience for the guys, and in return, a family got a house."

The New Orleans trip replaced the team's annual trip to Hawaii. Mickelson had his team watch a 45-minute video on Hurricane Katrina before the trip. After the tournament's practice round, Mickelson drove his team through the Lower Ninth Ward. It was one of the hardest-hit areas of the city.

"It had a lasting impact in that they now realized how bad (Katrina) truly was," Mickelson said. "I had a couple guys say, 'Thank you for letting us do that.' "

With the likes of Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els and Robert Allenby in the chase, you weren't the only one who was surprised by Ben Crane's victory in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. So, too, was Crane, who up until now has been best known for being golf's poster boy for slow play.

Seriously, Crane two-putted the final green, holing a three-footer, and still didn't know he'd won. Take it from Mick Elliott of AOL Fanhouse:

That's when Crane turned quizzically to caddie Joel Stock, looking very much like a man suddenly realizing his pants were on fire.

"You know, I did not know that I had won when it was over," Crane said. "I didn't know who was playing well. I didn't know what was really going on in front of me. I had no idea what was going on. I'm thankful I didn't. Someone said, 'one-shot lead' when we were going to the last hole, so I thought he might be right."

Still, Crane insisted victory did not register until final-group playing partner Ryuji Imada made it official. "He goes, 'Congratulations,' and I go, 'Did I win?' " Crane said. "He kind of looks at me. I said, 'Did I win the tournament?' He's like, 'Yeah.' "

The funny thing was, the guys who didn't win got almost as much attention as Crane. The most noteworthy story belonged to Aussie Allenby, whose chances of winning vanished when his 7-iron approach shot air-mailed the green at the 14th hole. It was the dreaded flyer shot that everyone has been talking about -- a ball jumping farther than normal off the face of the club from the rough due to the new grooves.

On ESPN.com, Bob Harig focused on Allenby's wayward shot:

"I think it's still going," the Aussie said disgustedly afterward. "It's going for a surf."

Allenby was kicking himself for blowing his second chance at victory in two tournaments -- in both, a "flyer" cost him. He was very much in favor of the new rule in place this year that limits the space in grooves -- the intended consequences now biting Allenby twice.

"I think, if you really look at it, it's cost me two tournaments, definitely," Allenby said. "I was in the groove. And feeling ready to do it today. It was such a shame that it happened... You know what, I don't have a problem with it (the rule). Obviously, two shots have cost me two tournaments. But at least they're costing me tournaments."

Meanwhile, fellow Aussie Michael Sim (perhaps the leader of the up-and-coming-young-stars group) astonished the CBS telecast crew by not going for the par-5 18th green in two when he trailed leader Ben Crane by one shot. Instead, Sim played it safe, laid up and made a par, allowing Crane to win with a routine par.

No writers took Sim to task, but Brent Read let Sim explain himself in The Australian

"I think I could have got there, but I had to hit it flush, and I wasn't swinging that well and just decided to lay up to a comfortable number. I felt like I hit a great shot, landed in a perfect spot. I just had too much spin on it. I'm sure a lot of guys probably did the same on that last hole today... I won three tournaments last year on the Nationwide Tour, and it was just different out there today. You know, you're out there to try and win your first PGA Tour event, and I felt like I handled myself pretty good after getting off to such a rough start. I felt like I struggled with my swing, especially today and yesterday. It was a mentally tough week. So to finish in second place, (I'm) extremely happy."

Hometown hero Mickelson didn't get the job done in the final round, either. He shot 73 and dropped from fifth to 19th. His final-round charge never materialized after he opened with three straight bogeys. As the San Diego Union-Tribune pointed out, it was the ninth straight year he failed to win his hometown event and, coincidentally, it's been nine years since the South Course was remodeled by Rees Jones. The Union-Trib's Phil wrapup:

“Yeah, I would like to play better out here,” Mickelson said when asked if he’s frustrated by the victory drought here. “I’ve struggled on the course since it’s been redesigned, but everybody’s got to play it. I just haven’t played it as well as others. I still look at this tournament with a great fondness... I know where I want to go with my game. It didn’t feel as bad as the score reflected. I’m looking forward to L.A. I’ve had some good results there in the past."

Adding to yesterday’s frustration was that Mickelson’s coach, Butch Harmon, came to Torrey Pines for some pre-round work and Mickelson said he had a “good warm-up session.”

“He was so amped up and excited to play he almost was like a racehorse in the gate, biting at the bit to get out,” Harmon said. “To me he was so ready to play that he almost put too much pressure on himself. He was so anxious, more than anything. But he’s fine.”

Poor Robert Allenby. He knows his outspoken ways can get him in trouble, yet he just can't stop speaking his mind. Fans of golf should appreciate the guy; we don't have many players like him. At the Dubai World Championship, a reporter asked Allenby why more American players don't play international events. You can almost hear the angel and devil arguing across his shoulders.

"You know what, I've got to word this right so I don't get into trouble, because I'm good at getting myself into trouble," Allenby said.

Did he word it right? Sure, if he meant to say that American players are spoiled and that PGA Tour courses are dull. Common enough opinions, but not usually heard from a Tour pro. Here's his answer:

"You know, Americans play for so much money, and when you've got a purse where $1 million, a million plus, is first prize, not to say that they are spoiled, but it's a little bit that way. It's like, well, why would I want to travel, when I can make a million bucks instead of going to Europe and only making $500,000 or $600,000?"

"The reason why I want to travel and play elsewhere is because I want my game to get better, and always, even at the age of 38, I want to get better. And the only way you can get better is to play different golf courses. If you're playing the same golf course every week, every year that you come back to, it just gets a little boring. For me, that's what I've found. I've got a little bit bored playing in America. I'll still play there full time, but I'm still going to try to play more tournaments in Europe at the same time and combine the two together."

"But I just think, you know, they have got it a little bit too easy. It's just everything is handed to them on a silver plate. And not to be rude or anything like that, because I'm very respectful for the amount of money that we do play for in America. We are very lucky and very fortunate. But I think the money that we play for in America, that's the reason why you don't see a lot of Americans or a lot more international players coming over and playing in Europe. They are in a comfort zone, and I think that's pretty much what it is."

Follow Mike Walker on Twitter.

Anthony Kim must love these guys.

In the midst of Tigermania at the Australian Masters, Peter Hanlon of The Age newspaper found "Robbie Rousers," a group of fans who come to cheer the golf and heckle Australian player Robert Allenby, who withdrew from this year's event. It's a must-read. Here's Hanlon's description of the shirts:

Beneath a pair of clinking beer tankards* on the left breast, their mission was writ large: ''Robert Allenby Cheer-Up Squad.'' On the back, Allenby's face was superimposed onto a large image of the elusive children's book character in the red and white hoops, Wally, carrying a giant dummy under the reworked slogan, ''Where's Robbie?''

Allenby got under Kim's skin after this year's Presidents Cup when he accused Kim of partying until 4 a.m. the night before their match. (Kim won easily.) The guys in the Robert Allenby Cheer-up Squad have a similar beef with Allenby, according to Hanlon.

Their testy relationship with Allenby goes back to The Vines a couple of years ago. ''He just came over to us on one hole and said, 'How's the beers working out for you boys?''' one of the Colins said. ''We were like, 'Yeah, good thanks.' Next hole he comes over and has another crack: 'Jealousy's a wonderful thing, isn't it boys?' We all blew up. We followed him for the rest of the round just giving it to him. My brother's said to him on the par three, 'Robert! Water on the right mate! Water on the right!' Sure enough, he's hit it in the piss. Next hole he's walking up the fairway flipping us [the bird]. His caddie's come over and had a go at us. He got security involved in the end. We actually didn't say too much to him, apart from just giving him a bit of heckling after he started into us. We saw him in the bar afterwards and said, 'Come and have a beer, Rob'. Nah, he was filthy at us. He's just a miserable so-and-so. Am I allowed to say that?''

*Tankards just means beer mugs. I had to look it up too.

Follow Mike Walker on Twitter.

Charles Barkley may not be the right man to turn to for swing tips, and he's had his share of off-the-course problems, including a DUI arrest last February. Still, Anthony Kim might want to pay attention to Sir Charles's most recent advice. Referring to the Presidents Cup controversy surrounding Kim and his exchange of words with Robert Allenby, Barkley offered a few suggestions this week during an interview with ESPN Radio Dallas:

I have become friends with Anthony Kim and I was talking to him the other day trying to tell him: Let this B.S. with Robert Allenby go. Nothing good is going to happen if you all are going back-and-forth. The one thing that I will say about Tiger is that when we go out, he can drink. He drinks but he never drinks when he has got a tournament. So I think you distinguish those two. If we are just going to Vegas to screw around or we are just going around, he might have a couple of beers or something. If he has got a tournament, he does not drink. .... You can have fun when you are off: Ok, I got a tournament this week. Tiger won’t even do caffeine the week of a tournament. He thought that it screwed up his putting stroke. You know how sometimes caffeine has got you jittery? I mean just simple stuff like that. (Host: What about sex?) What about sex? I sure hope that nobody stops that. I hope nobody stops that.”

Listen up, squirt! If you’re fixing to be the next Tiger Woods or Greg Norman, Aussie pro Peter Lonard has a word of advice: Don’t be a wuss. Lonard dished the tough-love tip yesterday at the Australian PGA, saying the game’s elite players have become too reliant on the likes of psychologists, yoga instructors and mystical gurus.

"With all those people helping, you don't want to make players wussy. They've got to be tough and do it themselves," Lonard said.

"Obviously, it's a fine line. Some guys improve with help. Others get worse because of too much input and too much rubbish to worry about which doesn't have a whole lot to do with playing golf."

Lonard has never had a particularly sunny disposition. (After finding himself a couple shots off the lead after the second round of the 2007 Players Championship, he told reporters, “Well, if I had a psychologist I would say my glass is half full, but if I was a pessimistic individual like I am, I'd say the other way.”) But he’s right about the preponderance of pep teams in the pro game. Stroll the range at any Tour event and, for better or for worse, you’ll find players encircled by packs of supporters  — coaches, trainers, even the odd masseuse.

Clearly not all Tour pros share Lonard's skepticism. Stewart Cink regularly speaks with psychologist Preston Waddington. Cink hired Waddington seven years ago because he could barely face the pressure of teeing it up on Tour. “I’m a nervous wreck before I play,” he told Waddington, according to a 2007 interview in our magazine.

Robert Allenby, long plagued by a fiery temper, now works with “lifestyle coach” Peter Crone, whose web site warns: “LISTENING TO PETER MAY SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR EGO AND INSPIRE UNUSUAL SENSATIONS OF FUN, VITALITY AND HAPPINESS.” And birdies, it seems. Since teaming with Crone, Allenby has resuscitated his game and climbed (quite happily) to 27th in the world.   
 
Then there’s Phil Mickelson, perhaps the game’s most psychologically intriguing player. Mickelson doesn’t work regularly with a shrink — at least not that we know of — but he’s clearly a believer in the practice. He majored in psychology at Arizona State.