“I’m afraid of three things: I’m afraid of crowds, I’m afraid of the dark, I’m afraid of heights.”

2. Rory McIlroy, on why he might not compete in the 2016 Olympics

"I feel Northern Irish and obviously being from Northern Ireland you have a connection to Ireland and a connection to the UK. If I could and there was a Northern Irish team I'd play for Northern Ireland.”

3. Johnny Miller, on what he expects from Tiger Woods in 2013

"I think he's due for a win at the Masters. It'll be interesting to see if he can get all the little bugs out of his head."

4. Carl Pettersson, on the anchored-putter ban

“It feels a bit like a witch hunt to me. They keep harping on the younger generation using them, but I think they're going to ban it because it looks bad.”

 5. Caroline Wozniacki, denying that she received an engagement ring from McIlroy

"It was a Christmas present and it fit on this finger and I put it on."

6. Gary Player, on why he supports the ban on anchored putting

“If you have a slight tremble with putting, you can never be a superstar or win majors. Straightaway, when you anchor it, it takes away the tremor.”

7. Hunter Mahan, on his off-season visit to Israel in November

“There were missiles at Tel Aviv and we were in Tel Aviv. Once we heard that and once my wife heard that, she said, ‘We're out of here.’”

8. Charlie Beljan, on disliking food

“I've eaten the same Subway sandwich five days a week for the last eight years and haven't changed it, and I'm not willing to try.”

9. Steve Stricker, on his ‘semi-retirement’ at age 45

“When I get home, I'm not there. I'm focused on where I go next. ... I've had enough of being totally focused on golf.”

10. Colin Montgomerie, on being elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame

“I had my fun in America but at the same time all good banter and good competition, and I'm very competitive, and so were they and it made it quite interesting.”

The field is set for Tiger's tournament.

The 2012 World Challenge will feature 18 of the world's top 28 players and will be sponsored for the first time by Northwestern Mutual, according to a statement released online by the Tiger Woods Foundation, the charity the event benefits.

Thirteen Ryder Cuppers will be in the field gunning for the $1 million first prize. There's no cut, so even last place takes home $120,000. Not a bad weekend, spent playing for a good cause: Proceeds go toward "the college-access programs of the Tiger Woods Foundation."

The tournament itself takes place from Nov. 28-Dec. 2 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Tiger Woods is your defending champion, which shouldn't come as a surprise: Last year was his fifth win at the World Challenge.

Joining Woods in the field will be Americans Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Steve Stricker, Bubba Watson, Nick Watney, Bo Van Pelt, Hunter Mahan, and Rickie Fowler; Europeans Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell; and Australian Jason Day.

RELATED: Tiger Woods career in photos | Tiger Woods SI covers | Tiger Woods homepage

Steve Stricker, the mild-mannered pro from Wisconsin, has been named this year's recipient of the Payne Stewart Award, which the Tour presents "annually to a player sharing Stewart's respect for the traditions of the game, his commitment to uphold the game's heritage of charitable support and his professional and meticulous presentation of himself and the sport through his dress and conduct," according to PGATour.com.

"This award means a great deal to the players on the PGA Tour, and I am truly grateful to be the recipient of the Payne Stewart Award," Stricker, 45, told PGATour.com on Tuesday. "I take great pride in being recognized for the values that the Payne Stewart Award stands for. I was fortunate enough to spend time with and compete against Payne, and I watched how he handled himself on the course, with his fellow competitors, with the fans and volunteers. I hope that by leading by example, just as Payne did, that our younger players will follow in the traditions of sportsmanship, integrity and charitable efforts that he helped bring to our sport."

Stricker continued his late-career revival in 2012, and is currently ranked 13th in the FedEx Cup standings. Earlier this month, he earned a captain's pick onto his third Ryder Cup team, where doubtless he'll play with Tiger Woods to recreate their successful two-man team. His charitable efforts, according to PGATour.com, "center around children and adults with disabilities."

"For years, Steve Stricker has epitomized everything that the Payne Stewart Award represents," said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said Tuesday. "From his professionalism on the golf course to his compassion for others off of it, it is hard to think of a more fitting recipient."

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Don't worry, PGA. Your secret's safe with Stricker.

Steve Stricker, the quiet, unnassuming dude from Wisconsin, said on the Bethpage driving range Tuesday that he knows who the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain will be -- but he wouldn't reveal the name.

"I can't even answer that completely because I have an idea who it's going to be," Stricker said when he was asked who should succeed Davis Love at the 2014 Ryder Cup. "I promised my utmost -- I mean, I can't even speak a word of it. I can't even answer your question. I'll just put stuff in there -- because I know who it's going to be. Or at least, I have a really good idea who it's going to be."

With that, Stricker had a laugh and was whisked away in a cart. Ryder Cup junkies: Commence rampant speculation. Will it be current Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples? David Toms? Could it even be Stricker, who will be 47 for the 2014 Ryder Cup in Gleneagles and entering his captaining prime? Will it be someone else? Give us your prediction in the comments below.

This week's PGA Championship is the last chance for Americans to pick up Ryder Cup points. And majors count double. With 51 days until the first ball is struck at Medinah, team captains Davis Love III and Jose Maria Olazabal fielded questions at Kiawah Island. But they weren't asked about their chances this week on the Ocean Course. The two men talked captain's picks and course setups and shared a few memories on Wednesday afternoon:

MODERATOR: José Maria, start with you, please. Some thoughts about how your team at this point is shaping up.
Olazabal: Well, at the moment, I'm really happy. Every one of those ten players that are in today have Ryder Cup experience, all of them; in that regard, I'm really pleased. Obviously there are certain players that might not be at their best at the moment, but as you said, there is 51 days to go, and I'm pretty sure that they will be okay by then.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Davis, comments on your team. The top eight, again, will be in by the end of this Sunday.
Love III: Right. Obviously a big week for us, the PGA Championship and the end of the points on Sunday. I know there's several guys that are working really hard to try to make the team. So hopefully they will relax and just play the PGA this week and work their way in. But our team is shaping up very well. A lot of guys are playing well, as José Maria said, all our top really 12 to 15 guys seem to be playing very, very well.

We are very excited about it. It was a great win for Keegan [Bradley] last week and a great putt on the last hole, and obviously Jim [Furyk] is playing very well week-in and week-out now. A lot of guys-- there's not a whole lot of movement, but we have a whole lot of guys playing very, very well top to bottom.

MODERATOR: Thank you, both. And again, officially Tiger Woods is the only player on the United States Team who has officially clinched a spot for the U.S.

What about Mr. Woods?
Q. Haven't asked much about Tiger, and obviously he is your one guy right now that's in. Wondering, first of all, if you've talked to him about maybe any pressure he's feeling, not been part of a winning team since 1999, and have you picked his brain a little bit about the secret to Medinah, because he seems to have figured it out from an individual standpoint?
Love III: I've talked to him about several things but not about specifically how to play Medinah. I played with him at least two rounds one year when he won there, and I saw how he did it. He hit it really long and straight and made a lot of putts, and that seemed to work real well for him.

But like José Maria said, this is a big week and a lot of those things are starting to come together. Obviously when the team is set, then I can say, who wants to go play, and who doesn't know the course. Tiger doesn't need to go, but maybe he can tell us something to do when we do go.

I think these guys in this day and age, you see-- I heard maybe Geoff Ogilvy came here or somebody came, Adam Scott came and played early or Tiger came and played early. Guys know how to prepare now and I think don't have to tell them a whole lot about how to get ready for a golf course. I'm relying on Tiger and Stricker and Furyk, like I said earlier, to help me make those decisions and help me make assistant captain's decisions and things like that, and the golf course is going to be a big one. Luckily we know Medinah pretty well. Guys on both sides, they know the golf course pretty well. We are pretty used to it. Maybe there's some Keegan Bradleys and Rory McIlroys that are younger that don't know it. But a lot of our guys have seen it or seen something very similar to it.

Good omen for Jim Furyk?
In addition to mentioning him above, Love refered postively to Furyk and other Ryder Cup veterans -- notably Steve Stricker and Phil Mickelson -- multiple times in the press conference. Both Furyk (11th in points) and Stricker (10th) will need a Captain's selection if they don't make up ground this week.

Love, though, didn't say too much about who he's considering with his picks:

Well, I've said several times, we'll be plugging holes, matching pairings, things like that. Obviously if Steve Stricker was on the outside, we have a guy that likes to play with him, that's a lock...So you look at things like that. You want some hot putters. You might want another long-ball hitter. But I think this week is important, because it ends the points. But it's just as important as any of the guys who play at Greensboro or who plays well at Barclays. That's what we're looking for.

A Seve story, for old time's sake:
Olazabal: Regarding moments or something to remember from The Ryder Cup that we played here in'91 with Seve [Ballesteros], I would go to one of the first matches that we played, the way we started. We were hitting the ball all over the place. We ended up winning the match, and, you know, certain moments. For instance, I remember the second hole, the par5. He snap-hooked the tee shot way left into the water and I have to drop it on the ladies tee, that's how bad he hit the tee shot. (Laughter.)

I hit it onto the fairway. Obviously the U.S. Team was, like always, right in the middle of the fairway. They hit the second shot short of the green in two; Seve hit a 4-iron and blocked it right into the trees, left me against the tree, and I have to chip it out. And obviously we are lying five and the U.S. Team is like two, and I look at Seve, and I said, what the hell are we doing here, let's pick the ball up and go to the third hole. And in those days, the green had water front and water on the back. Seve said, "Just hold on a second. If we chip-and-putt, we make 7." Yes, correct, Seve. That's true.

"Well, if they miss the chip and hit it in the water and drop it and chip it on to the green and make two putts, what do they do? Seven. So we still have a chance. Let's go." (Laughter.)

So you know, that's one of the stories.

The World Golf Hall of Fame is digging deep to fill out this year’s ballot. According to PGATour.com, the St. Augustine shrine has added a trio of very active golfers to this years ballot:

New to the PGA TOUR ballot are David Duval and Steve Stricker while Padraig Harrington has been added to the International ballot.

The ballots have been delivered to their respective voting bodies, comprised of Hall of Fame members, golf journalists, historians and dignitaries from around the globe. The voting window closes on July 27 and an announcement for the Class of 2013 will be made later this year.

Mickelson Close to Padres Purchase
Phil Mickelson's bid to be a partial owner of his hometown San Diego Padres is getting very serious, according to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com. As Miller reports, Mickelson's consortium, which includes area businessman Ron Fowler, and the O'Malley family (who famously moved the Dodgers out west in the 50s) have entered into an "exclusive negotiating window" with Padres owner John Moores:

The final sale price is expected to be in the neighborhood of $800 million, though that includes $200 million of up-front television money from a new local contract the Padres signed with start-up channel Fox Sports San Diego that is worth $1.2 billion over 20 years. Moores figures to exit with that $200 million as part of the sale price.

Mickelson was born in San Diego and grew up in the city through high school. He still lives in the area, making his home in Rancho Santa Fe, in San Diego County.

Djoking Around
Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 tennis player in the world, looked like he was aiming for total country club dominance Monday during his first round match on the grass courts of Wimbledon. Djokovic pulled out an iron from his tennis bag before taking the court to beat Juan Carlos Ferraro, according to the AP.

As something of an inside joke with a sponsor, Djokovic pulled a kid's golf club out of his racket bag and put it on the sideline when he arrived to face 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero at the grass-court Grand Slam's main stadium. Then, after a bit of a slow and nervous beginning that included an early break, Djokovic righted himself and beat Ferrero 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the second round at the All England Club.

"It was a little funny thing," said Djokovic, whose racket maker gave him a bag that has posts to make it stand like a golf bag. "Being creative, that's all. But fans corrected me right away. They said, 'This is not a golf course.' I said, 'OK.'"

Well, it’s not primarily a golf course. But I’ve often dreamed of popping a wedge off the grass at All England’s Centre Court. In the first round, at least. By the end of the fortnight, the courts look like greens only Mike Davis could love.

Here’s a quick video of Djok’s joke, via YouTube.

According to Emily Kay at SB Nation, the faithful were not amused. Perhaps golf’s No. 1 Luke Donald will even the score with one of those stringed-flyswatters at Royal Lytham next month. At this point, he’d try just about anything to win a major.

Irish Sells Out
How excited is Northern Ireland to get this week’s Irish Open? Pumped to capacity, according to the UKPA:

This week's Irish Open at Royal Portrush will be the first sell-out the European Tour has ever had for a regular event.

It is the first time the tournament has been held in Northern Ireland since 1953 and local heroes Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell are all taking part along with USPGA champion Keegan Bradley and three-major winner Padraig Harrington.

"We are preparing for a crowd around the 100,000 mark for the week," championship director Antonia Beggs said.

Bravo. And the way Northern Irish golfers have played the past couple years, there are plenty of reasons for excitement. And if one of their own takes home the trophy? Well, I don’t know what might happen, but I suspect I’d like to be there to find out.

Tweet of the Day: Oh, the Emerald Isle...

You know the weather getsbad here wenit's 50 blowing 20 sprinkling and the people keep saying"hope the weather holds out like this all week"

— Keegan Bradley (@Keegan_Bradley) June 26, 2012

Each week, 15 staffers from SI Golf+, Golf Magazine and GOLF.com vote for their top 10, awarding 10 points to their first choice and proceeding in descending order to the 10th player, who gets one point. The points are then added and the ranking calculated. This ranking aims to be an of-the-moment measure of who’s playing the best right now. Tell us your top 10 in the comments field below.

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

1.  Rory McIlroy (149, 14, 1)   - Last three finishes: 3, WGC-Cadillac Championship; 1, Honda Classic; 2, WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 2

2. Luke Donald (132, 1, 7) - Last three finishes: 1, Transitions Championship; T6, WGC-Cadillac Championship; T33, WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 1

3. Lee Westwood (90, 0, 3) - Last three finishes: T29, WGC-Cadillac Championship; 4, Honda Classic; 4, WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 3

4. Justin Rose (77, 0, 6) - Last three finishes: T29, Transitions Championship; 1, WGC-Cadillac Championship; T5, Honda Classic
- Official World Golf Ranking: 8

5. Phil Mickelson (76, 0, 2) - Last three finishes: T43, WGC-Cadillac Championship; T2, Northern Trust Open; 1, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
- Official World Golf Ranking: 13

6. Keegan Bradley (72, 0, 4) - Last three finishes: T8, WGC-Cadillac Championship; T12, Honda Classic; T17, WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
- Official World Golf Ranking: 20

7. Hunter Mahan (64, 0, 5) - Last three finishes: T24, WGC-Cadillac Championship; 1, WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship; T24, Northern Trust Open
- Official World Golf Ranking: 12

8. Bill Haas (29, 0, 8) - Last three finishes: T29, WGC-Cadillac Championship; T33, WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship; 1, Northern Trust Open
- Official World Golf Ranking: 15

9. Charl Schwartzel (22, 0, 9) - Last three finishes: MC, Transitions Championship; T4, WGC-Cadillac Championship; T5, Honda Classic
- Official World Golf Ranking: 6

10. Bubba Watson (21, 0, 10) - Last three finishes: 2, WGC-Cadillac Championship, T17, WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship; T13, Northern Trush Open
- Official World Golf Ranking: 16

Others receiving votes:
Brandt Snedeker (15)
Steve Stricker (14)
Kyle Stanley (11)
Mark Wilson (11)
Webb Simpson (9)
Matt Kuchar (8)
Sang-moon Bae (7)
Jim Furyk (5)
Johnson Wagner (4)
Bo Van Belt (3)
Tiger Woods (3)
Martin Kaymer (1)
Alvaro Quiros (1)

They're not just PGA Tour players -- they're Tiger Woods fans, too.

As Woods's second-round match against Nick Watney at the Accenture Match Play Championship made its way to the 18th hole, some PGA Tour players joined the crowd around the 18th green. Karen Crouse of the New York Times has the details:

As Woods examined his last putt, all activity on the practice green between the 18th hole and the clubhouse ceased. Steve Stricker, who gave Woods a couple of tips on the greens when they played a practice round Tuesday, gingerly made his way into a patch of cactus so he could get a better look at Woods’s putt.

Dustin Johnson, who had joined Stricker in the Round of 16, is 6 feet 4 inches but was not tall enough to see above the crowd ringing the back of the green, so he stood on the seat of a golf cart.

Woods missed the putt and lost the match, of course. Johnson and Sticker remain alive in the tournament.

Jupiter, Fla., replaces Orlando as center of the golf universe
Jupiter, Fla., probably became the capital of professional golf when Tiger Woods moved to nearby Hobe Sound last year, but it's official now that Rory McIlroy is coming to town. From CBSSports.com's Steve Elling:

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, 22, has rented a home in the Jupiter area, through the Players Championship in May, and said he will be spending his time in the States working out of the Bear's Club, the place Nicklaus designed a few years back which serves as his Florida home base.

McIlroy said he will play three straight events starting this week at the Accenture Match play, followed by the Honda Classic and Doral, two events within a few miles of his new South Florida abode. He will take the next three weeks off before playing the Masters.

Other pros who play at the Bear's Club: Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson and Camilo Villegas.

Northern Ireland getting first new links course in 100 years
Bushmills Dunes announced plans this week for a new links course on Northern Ireland's northern coast, according to a statement from the proposed resort:

The first golf links course to be built in Northern Ireland for almost one hundred years has been given the green light by Minister Alex Attwood.

Plans for the £100 million ($159 milllion) Bushmills Dunes Golf Resort & Spa which will create approximately 360 direct jobs and an estimated further 300 ancillary jobs through suppliers and construction were approved today. It will be located just outside the village of Bushmills.

An 18-hole championship golf course designed by Scotsman David McLay Kidd will be supported by environmentally sensitive accommodation provision including a 120 bedroom world-class hotel and 75 garden residences. A golf academy and a unique eco sensitive clubhouse with full restaurant and bar will also be provided, together with conference facilities catering for up to 400 delegates.

David McLay Kidd is famed for his designs which include The Castle Course at St Andrew’s, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, the TPC in San Francisco Bay and Macrihanish Dunes across the Irish Sea in Scotland.

Famed British golf broadcast Peter Alliss called Bushmills Dunes a "very exciting project," according to the BBC.

"I'm always excited when a new project, a new course of quality, is about to happen," Mr Alliss said. "Because of various regulations over the years, opportunities to make a golf course in that kind of spectacular area are very few and far between."

SI Golf Group's Damon Hack wins Golf Writer's Award
Spots Illustrated senior writer Damon Hack won the Golf Writers Association of America award for "Non-Daily Features" for his SI Golf+ profile of Tommy Gainey, "The Legend of Two Gloves".  

Here are the complete award results:

The following is a full list of the winners, including honorable mentions. There were 492 entries in the contest. (Note: *Category with fewer than 10 entries had first place only.)

DAILY COLUMNS – 1, Scott Michaux, Augusta Chronicle, Remembering Seve; 2, Scott Michaux, Augusta Chronicle, Wild final round at the Masters; 3, Ron Green, Jr, Charlotte Observer, McIlroy handles Masters collapse with grace. Honorable mention: Dave Anderson, The New York Times, Seve Ballesteros’ death; Gary D’Amato, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sherri Steinhauer pushes on after her mother’s death; Dave Hackenberg, Toledo Blade, USGA setup as soft as the conditions at U.S. Senior Open.

DAILY NEWS – 1, Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times, A Toast to Darren Clarke; , Doug Ferguson, Associated Press, Mystique eroding, Tiger goes on like nothing has changed; 3, Adam Schupak, The New York Times, U.S. wins The Presidents Cup. Honorable mention: Gary D’Amato, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, McIlroy makes U.S. Open look easy; Hank Gola, New York Daily News, Keegan Bradley wins PGA; Mike Kern, Philadelphia Daily News, McIlroy wns U.S. Open going away.

DAILY FEATURES – 1, Steve Adamek, The Record, Stacy Lewis overcomes scoliosis 2, Tim Cronin, Southtown Star, Legally blind golfer on varsity; 3, Gary D’Amato, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Steve Stricker searches for major. Honorable mention: Doug Ferguson, Associated Press, Money games Phil Mickelson plays; Hank Gola, New York Daily News, The state of American golf; David Westin, Augusta Chronicle, Masters caddie Carl Jackson celebrates milestone.

DAILY SPECIAL PROJECTS – 1, Scott Michaux, Augusta Chronicle, Team Mickelson revisits 2010 Masters. I

INTERNET NEWS – 1, Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM, Masters winner calm amid the chaos; 2 (tie), Dave Shedloski, Golf World Monday, Internationals searching after U.S. wins Presidents Cup again; Jason Sobel, GOLFCHANNEL.COM, The Rory McIlroy Era. Honorable mention – Mick Elliott, ESPNw.com, Yani Tseng wins LPGA Championship; Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM, Cabrera jumps into contention at the Masters; Cameron Morfit, Golf.com, McIlroy cruises to first major title.

INTERNET COLUMNS – 1, Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com, The slowest player on the planet; 2, Dave Kindred, GolfDigest.com, Rory’s remarkable growth captured in a single shot; 3, Alan Bastable, Golf.com, Open letter to Rory McIlroy from the media. Honorable mention: Jeff Babineau, Golfweek.com, Phil Mickelson’s exciting adventure in opening round of the U.S. Open; Michael Bamberger, Golf.com, Seve tribute; Cameron Morfit, Golf.com, An obit for Tiger’s aura.

INTERNET FEATURES – 1, Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com, Rory McIlroy Goes Home; 2, Jay Flemma, Cybergolf.com, Dan Jenkins goes into the World Golf Hall of Fame; 3, Jeff Ritter, Golf.com, Gallery guards at Augusta National. Honorable mention – Rhonda Glenn, USGA.org, Remembering Babe Zaharias; Dave Shedloski, USGA.org, Ken Venturi recalls his 1964 U.S. Open victory; Mike Walker, Golf.com, The Siller brothers remember their firefighter brother.

INTERNET SPECIAL PROJECTS – 1, Mercer Baggs, GolfChannel.com, Revisting New Orleans five years after Hurricane Katrina; 2, Ron Whitten, GolfDigest.com, Augusta National through the years; 3, Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.com, 40 years later: Alan Shepard’s moon shot. Honorable mention: Mercer Baggs, Bailey Mosier, GolfChannel.com, A year with three mini-tour players; Rex Hoggard, Randall Mell, Jason Sobel, GolfChannel.com, Death of Seve Ballesteros; Rex Hoggard, Randall Mell, GolfChannel.com, A primer for the year’s first major

NON-DAILY COLUMNS – 1, John Feinstein, Golf World, Athletes need to remember they are accountable for what goes on in their lives; 2, David Feherty, Golf Magazine, The sorcerer from Santander: Seve Ballesteros; 3, Ron Sirak, Golf World, Rory McIlroy establishes himself as the anti-Tiger. Honorable mention: ; John Huggan, Golf World, Saying goodbye to Seve. Mike Purkey, Global Golf Post, Australia kicks John Daly out; Mike Purkey, Global Golf Post, Steve Williams goes racist; Steve Rushin, Golf Digest, Obama vs. Boehner: A wedge issue.

NON-DAILY NEWS – 1, Damon Hack, Sports Illustrated Golf Plus, Tommy Gainey and his two gloves; 2, Bill Fields, Golf World, Death of Seve Ballesteros; 3, Jim Moriarty, Golf World, Darren Clarke wins British Open. Honorable mention – Jim McCabe, Golfweek, Who is Keegan Bradley?; Jim Moriarty, Golf World, McIlroy wins U.S. Open; Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, Bill Murray wins at Pebble.

NON-DAILY FEATURES – 1, Chris Millard, Golf World, Profile of Verne Lundquist, who delivered the call on Nicklaus’ putt at 17 in 1986; 2, Jim Moriarty, Golf World, Roger Maltbie; 3, Cameron Morfit, Golf Magazine, Erik Compton new shot at life. Honorable mention: Jaime Diaz, Golf Digest, Tiger’s swing evolution; John Garrity, The Memorial, Nancy Lopez reflects upon a Hall of Fame career; Steve Rushin, Golf Digest, Police, firemen and golf.

NON-DAILY SPECIAL PROJECTS – 1, Ron Sirak, Golf World, Professional golf expands into Middle East; European Tour deepens roots there; 2, Brian Hewitt, Vartan Kupelian, Lewine Mair, Mike Purkey, Art Spander, Global Golf Post, The Five Greatest U.S. Opens; 3 (tie) John Garrity, Sports Illustrated Golf Plus, Hebridean villagers restore Old Tom Morris’s “ghost course; Dave Shedloski, Golf World, Jack Nicklaus’ 1986 Masters victory recounted. Honorable mention: Beth Ann Baldry, Gene Yasuda, Golfweek, Blackwelder building U.S. women’s golf; Mike Cullity, Bill Fields, Geoff Shackelford, Golf World, Golf’s rules; Mike Purkey, John Steinbreder, Global Golf Post, The Two Irelands.

Tweet of the Day

Each week, 15 staffers from SI Golf+, Golf Magazine and GOLF.com vote for their top 10, awarding 10 points to their first choice and proceeding in descending order to the 10th player, who gets one point. The points are then added and the ranking calculated. Tell us your top 10 in the comments field below.

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

1. Luke Donald (148, 13, 1) - Last three finishes: T12, JBWere Masters; 3, Dubai World Championship; 7, Nedbank Golf Challenge
- Official World Golf Ranking: 1

2. Rory McIlroy (136, 2, 2) - Last three finishes: T11, Dubai World Championship; 1, Hong Kong Open; T4, WGC-HSBC Champions
- Official World Golf Ranking: 3

3. Lee Westwood (104, 0, 3) - Last three finishes: 1, Thailand Golf Championship; 29, Dubai World Championship; 1, Nedbank Golf Challenge
- Official World Golf Ranking: 2

4. Webb Simpson (995, 0, 4) - Last three finishes: T38, Sony Open; T3, Hyundai Tournament of Champion; T13, Chevron World Challenge
- Official World Golf Ranking: 7

5. Steve Stricker (77, 0, 6) - Last three finishes: T38, Sony Open; 1, Hyundai Tournament of Champion; 16, Chevron World Challenge
- Official World Golf Ranking: 5

6. Charl Schwartzel (74, 0, 5) - Last three finishes: MC, Joburg Open; 2, Thailand Golf Championship; 5, Dubai World Championship - Official World Golf Ranking: 9

7. Keegan Bradley (41, 0, 7) - Last three finishes: T13, Sony Open; 16, Hyundai Tournament of Champion; 17, Chevron World Challenge
- Official World Golf Ranking: 26

8. Nick Watney (34, 0, 8) - Last three finishes: T12, Hyundai Tournament of Champion; 18, Chevron World Challenge; T4, Australian Open
- Official World Golf Rank: 12

9. Martin Kaymer (33, 0, T9) - Last three finishes: T11, Dubai World Championship; 8, Nedbank Golf Challenge; 1, WGC-HSBC Champions; 23, Andalucia Masters
- Official World Golf Ranking: 4

10. Adam Scott (24, 0, T9) - Last three finishes: T4, Australian PGA Championship; T4, Australian Open; T11, WGC-HSBC Champions
- Official World Golf Ranking: 7

Others receiving votes:
Tiger Woods (11)
Jason Day (9)
Bill Haas (8)
K.J. Choi (7)
Matt Kuchar (6)
Sergio Garcia (5)
Dustin Johnson (5)
Louis Oosthuizen (5)
Aaron Baddeley (3)