World Golf: November 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

A major Tiger mea culpa? Don't hold your breath

If Tiger Woods is true to form he'll say the absolute minimum publicly. The analysis of the police report and the release of the conversations contained on the 911 calls will run their course, but it's hard to imagine Woods offering spin or answering intrusive questions.

He's never been open, and now even the Florida police are finding that out. What's going to suddenly change him? He'll do whatever he has to do to protect his privacy and his family. His "brand" is the last thing on his mind now.

He's never made any claims to sainthood. He never claimed to know God better than you or me, never claimed to be leading a perfect life. Now we know he's not perfect. First, he coughed up a lead and lost to Y.E. Yang at the PGA Championship in August. Then, at half past two in the morning, he ran over a fire hydrant in his neighbor's yard. Tiger's human. Welcome to the club, guy.

The National Enquirer has a photograph of a woman, Rachel Uchitel, checking into the same hotel, the Crown Towers in Melbourne, where Tiger was staying — with his mother — during the Australian Masters in mid-November. The Enquirer has a source saying that Uchitel, a New York club promoter, and Woods were having an affair. Uchitel says she has met Woods but is not having an affair with him. Of course it's titillating. That's why the Enquirer spent good money chasing the story. It's also just more prurient crap in a world that's swimming in it. How can Woods win in a game with no rules? He can't.

By Thanksgiving, there were reports on various websites devoted to the impending Enquirer story. Could that development have led to tension in the Tiger Woods home at Isleworth? Maybe. Could it have resulted in Tiger leaving the house — which he shares with his wife of five years, Elin Nordegren, and their two young children — at half-past two on Friday morning? Maybe. Could Elin have chased after Woods's Cadillac Escalade with a golf club in hand and smashed in the rear window? Maybe. And if you add up all these maybes, what do you have? A million gigabits of nothing, not without Tiger or Elin talking. And they won't. They'll be looking out for Sam and Charlie.

In time, this will look like nothing. Look at Kobe Bryant, once accused of rape. But he took a deep breath in front of a microphone, gave one impressive mea culpa, helped the Lakers win a championship and resumed his place in the sporting kingdom. When Michael Jordan was playing for the Bulls, he had a longtime mistress. Did the public care? No. All Tiger has done, that we really know, is run over a hydrant and hurt himself along the way. Please.

He's been described in various stories over the weekend as the most famous athlete in the world, and maybe he is, but he's not the most beloved. A charm offensive from Woods wouldn't likely work here anyhow. Charm is not his strong suit. Besides, there's no great reservoir of good will stored up in Tiger's favor among mainstream reporters from TV, print and the web. I think what he has is what he wants, respect and admiration for how he goes about his business. And his business, he's always made abundantly clear, is what he does on the course. That might be his saving grace, right about now.

Jack Nicklaus, wise in his own way, has said for years that the biggest obstacle Woods faces in his quest to break Nicklaus's record of 18 major championships is the pressure that comes from being famous in America in the 21st century, of being watched and recorded and dissected all the time. A famous athlete running over a hydrant and requiring emergency medical help in the middle of the night is legitimate news. But does it warrant sending up helicopters with photographers packing long lenses trying to get a snap of ... what exactly?

Hold it, something's coming into view here. It's Tiger, with a single Band-Aid on his left cheek, left facial cheek to be more precise, looking rather like Nelly, holding up his right hand to the sky and extending a finger. It looks like-it is! It's his mid- ...

When Tiger was a Tour rookie, a GQ profile had Tiger telling racy jokes. He didn't like it and from that day forward we saw less of his inner life. From this day forward, the clamps will get only tighter. He has 14 majors and $500 million, or whatever it is, in the bank. What does he need from us?

Union to select from unprotected players Police: 911 tapes of Woods’ crash to be out Sunday

Who Is this Woman? Meet Elin Nordegren

This article originally appeared in the Sept. 14, 2004 issue of Sports Illustrated.

Golf is a lonely game — except at the Ryder Cup. There every player has 11 teammates and a captain rooting for him, and that is only part of the support group. At this year's Cup, U.S. caddies will be welcomed into the team room for the first time for meetings and meals, an acknowledgment of their importance by captain Hal Sutton. The loopers will sit elbow to elbow with the players' significant others, who have long been treated as integral members of the team.

The Ryder Cup is the only tournament in golf in which wives (and fiancees and girlfriends) are allowed inside the ropes, and the American women are always turned out in matching outfits, an affectation that draws snickers from their European counterparts, who wouldn't be caught dead in a team uniform. The American women are such a part of the action that in 1999 a handful of them joined the players in dancing across the 17th green at the Country Club — infuriating the Europeans — after Justin Leonard holed his famous putt.

Asked how important spouses are to the American effort, Sutton said, "I think some women make a difference. They say things that are important to their husbands. They might say the one thing that makes a difference in the half point that wins this thing."

At Oakland Hills no woman will be as closely watched as Elin Nordegren, Tiger Woods's fiancee. She was on his arm at the Belfry for the 2002 Ryder Cup, but their romance had been public for only six months then, and it was not clear what the future held for the former swimsuit model. Now Nordegren and Woods are engaged, their secretive wedding plans a subject of keen interest on both sides of the Atlantic.

Nordegren may have been born and raised in Sweden, but she'll be wearing red, white and blue next week, and there's no question where her allegiance lies. "Of course she's going to root for the Americans," says Jesper Parnevik's wife, Mia, who hired Nordegren in 2001 to work as one of her nannies and later served as something of a matchmaker for Woods and Nordegren. "You always root for your man. Bernhard Langer's wife is from Louisiana, but who do you think she'll be rooting for?"

Nordegren may wear the flag on her sleeve at Oakland Hills, but she is sure to reveal little else. Even in the insular world of the PGA Tour she is a shadowy figure, talked about by everyone but close to very few. "She's become like Greta Garbo," says a member of the Tour's Scandinavian clique. "When she started dating Tiger, it was like there was an unwritten agreement she wouldn't say anything to anyone. She's still nice, but when you talk to her, you don't get anything out of her." One week of forced camaraderie at the Ryder Cup is unlikely to change that.

Woods keeps a famously tight circle, and he has a history of bloodlessly excommunicating any intimate who crosses him. Nordegren knows what is expected of her. Approached for an interview at last month's PGA Championship, she smiled sweetly and said with a light accent, "I'd rather not answer any questions. Thank you."

Whether the Americans win or lose at the Ryder Cup, the cameras will find Nordegren, as they always do. But even the spotlight of golf's marquee event will do little to reveal golf's enduring mystery: Who, exactly, is the woman engaged to the world's most famous athlete?

Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren was born on New Year's Day in 1980, 10 minutes ahead of her identical twin, Josefine. They joined older brother, Axel, in the family home in Vaxholm, a small town 50 miles north of Stockholm. Their parents, Thomas Nordegren and Barbro Holmberg, divorced when Elin was six years old, and they have both gone on to lead extraordinary lives. A university-trained social worker, Holmberg has enjoyed a long career in Swedish government and last October was appointed Minister for Migration, a cabinet-level position that has made her a prominent voice among the country's Social Democrats. For two decades Thomas Nordegren has been one of Sweden's leading journalists, and presently he is based in Washington, D.C., as a correspondent for the influential Swedish Broadcasting, for whom his responsibilities include covering the White House.

Elin and her siblings grew up in an environment crackling with intellectual pursuits. "Ideas have always been important to us," Thomas Nordegren recently told SI. In 1997, when Thomas took a position with the Berlin bureau of Swedish Broadcasting, Elin and her twin enrolled at the city's prestigious John F. Kennedy School.

Other than that year, Elin and Josefine spent their time in Stockholm with their mother, who has an apartment in the picturesque Gamla Stan (Old City). Though their parents were rich in accomplishments, the girls did not lead a life of luxury. "Elin and Josefine had to find jobs every summer to buy what they wanted," Thomas told Britain's Sunday Mirror in 2002. "They worked as cashiers in the supermarket to finance their studies, and [held] other odd jobs."

Near the end of 1999 a different kind of work presented itself to Elin. One of Sweden's leading fashion photographers, the wonderfully named Bingo Rimer, happened upon a candid photo of her and immediately recognized her star quality. Rimer looked up Nordegren's phone number and talked her into a couple of photo shoots, which took place in early 2000. "She is magnificent — Swedish high quality," says Rimer, who is a regular contributor to Scandinavian Playboy. "To be a top model, both men and women have to love you. Elin is very sexy, but it's a fresh, natural, sporty look, and girls like that too. She is not the big-boobed, blonde-bimbo type that only guys like."

A Rimer photo of a bikini-clad Nordegren landed on the cover of Cafe Sport magazine in the summer of 2000, yet she did little to capitalize on this development in her career. Rimer was frustrated, and impressed, by her apathy. "Elin doesn't care about modeling," says Rimer, who remains a friend and confidant of Nordegren's. "She never has. Even the few things I got her to do, I had to drag her into the studio. Being famous, the whole celebrity thing, she really and truly does not care about that."

Instead of pursuing modeling full time, Elin (and Josefine) enrolled at Lund University, one of the top colleges in Sweden. Josefine studied law — she has one year left to finish her degree — while Elin's course load reflected her longstanding dream of becoming a child psychologist. But Elin's life took an unexpected turn in the summer after her freshman year.

She was working at the clothing boutique Champagne, in Stockholm, when noted shopaholic Mia Parnevik blew in. The Parneviks have four young children and employ two full-time nannies, preferably twentysomething Swedish women whom Mia brings over to the family home in Jupiter, Fla., for several months at a time. After chatting with Nordegren at Champagne, Mia all but offered her the job. "I'm really into a person's energy," she says, by way of explanation. "Elin was smart, she was down to earth, and I could tell immediately that she was great with kids." Nordegren officially signed on after further impressing Mia during a more formal interview.

In July 2001 Nordegren settled in at the Parneviks' 3,000-square-foot guesthouse, which she shared with another nanny. It was a comfortable life, Mia says, with "good pay" and two days off a week. The nannies' only responsibility was to look after the kids; they didn't have to cook or clean, as the Parneviks also employ housekeepers. "[The nannies] are not employees, they are part of the family," says Mia. Of course, Nordegren's arrival begs the question: Since she is such an attractive young woman.... "Did I worry my husband was going to screw the nanny?" Parnevik says. "Is that what you're asking? Of course not. My marriage has a lot more trust than that."

Actually, the question was going to be, Since Elin is such an attractive young woman, did you anticipate that she would attract attention from the eligible bachelors on Tour?

"No, because she had no interest in golf or golfers," says Mia. "She thought they were so silly and was always making fun of them." Another deterrent was that Nordegren still had a serious boyfriend back in Sweden, a young man who worked in real estate.

Police: 911 tapes of Woods’ crash to be out Sunday

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Police: 911 tapes of Woods' crash to be out Sunday

WINDERMERE, Fla. (AP) — Florida authorities went to Tiger Woods' mansion to clear up questions about how he crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and a neighbor's tree and said they plan to release tapes of the 911 call on Sunday.

Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said Saturday that investigators are "trying not to get on the rumor mill."

The world's No. 1 golfer smashed his Cadillac near his $2.4 million mansion at 2:25 a.m. Friday and was briefly hospitalized, police said. Though there still has been no information on where he was heading at that hour, plenty of details from the crash have emerged: His lips were cut, and Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor said Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, used a golf club to smash out a back window and help Woods from the car.

The police report said alcohol was not a factor.

There are still plenty of questions. Shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday, two patrol vehicles entered Woods' gated community of Isleworth, where more than two dozen media and clusters of TV trucks were camped out.

Montes said the investigation should be finished within the next few days.

Woods is to host his Chevron World Challenge next week in Thousand Oaks, Calif., which benefits his foundation. Woods' news conference had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, although it was not clear if he would still play, or even attend.

"We do not know if Tiger is playing; we are anticipating a great week of competition," said Greg McLaughlin, the tournament director and president of his foundation.

One of Woods' neighbors, who didn't want her name to be used, said it was quiet in front of his house Saturday. She said there are usually two or three cars parked outside his home and that was the scene now as well.

The patrol said the accident occurred at 2:25 a.m. Friday and classified the injuries as serious. The first word from Woods' camp - some 13 hours after the crash - was that it was a "minor accident," and he was in good condition after being treated and released.

Saylor said his two officers found the 33-year-old Woods lying in the street with his wife, Elin, hovering over him.

Saylor said Woods' wife told officers she was in the house when she heard the accident and "broke the back window with a golf club." He said the front-door windows were not broken and that "the door was probably locked."

"She supposedly got him out and laid him on the ground," he said. "He was in and out of consciousness when my guys got there."

In a telephone interview, Woods' father-in-law, radio journalist Thomas Nordegren, told The Associated Press in Stockholm that he would not discuss the accident.

"I haven't spoken to her in the last few ... " Nordegren said about his daughter, Elin, before cutting himself off. "I don't want to go into that."

Woods' mother-in-law Barbro Holmberg also refused to address the matter.

"She doesn't want to comment on private issues like these," Holmberg's spokeswoman Eva Malmborg said.

Roger Federer, who has become close with Woods in recent years, said after losing in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals in London, "I haven't spoken to him. I heard it's not too serious, which is a good thing."

Asked at a Friday evening news conference if the couple could have been arguing, Saylor said he had no knowledge of that.

The accident came two days after the National Enquirer published a story alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York night club hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters.

The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denied having an affair with Woods when contacted by the AP.

"I resent my reputation is getting completely blasted in the media," she said during a telephone interview late Friday. "Everyone is assuming I came out and said this. This is not a story I have anything to do with."

Uchitel said she was in Melbourne two weeks ago with clients and never saw Woods the entire time she was there.

"The story stands for itself," National Enquirer executive editor Barry Levine told the AP on Saturday.

Saylor described Woods' wife as "frantic" when two officers arrived and found her kneeling over him in the street. The couple has been married five years and have two children, a 2-year-old daughter named Sam, and son Charlie who was born in February.

Nordegren, a former model from Sweden who once worked as a nanny for Jesper Parnevik, is as private as Woods. She keeps a low profile at tournaments, watching her husband from behind the ropes, and moves on when photographers start taking her picture.

Woods rarely faces such private scrutiny, even as perhaps the most famous active athlete in the world.

He usually makes news only because of what he can do with a golf club. Few other athletes have managed to keep their private lives so guarded, or have a circle of friends so airtight when it comes to life off the course.

Woods' $2.4 million home is part of an exclusive subdivision near Orlando, a community set on an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course and a chain of small lakes. The neighborhood, which is fortified with high brick walls and has its own security force, is home to CEOs and other sports stars such as the NBA's Shaquille O'Neal.

Woods has won 82 times around the world and 14 majors, becoming the first player of black heritage to win a major at the 1997 Masters when he was 21.

He won six times this year after missing eight months recovering from reconstructive surgery on his left knee. Even though he failed to win a major, Woods said he considered this a successful year because he did not know how his knee would respond.

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Doug Ferguson reported from Jacksonville, Fla. Associated Press writers Tamara Lush and Lisa Orkin Emmanuel in Miami and Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm contributed to this report.

Galaxy’s Donovan faces old coach, again Tiger Woods in ‘good condition’ after car crash, spokesman says

Couples to make Champions debut in January Skins game

(AP) — Fred Couples turned 50 in October, and he could not have picked a better Champions Tour event to make his debut.

The "King of the Skins" will be playing in the Champions Skins Game in Hawaii on Jan. 16-17, joining a Hall of Fame cast that includes Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Gary Player, Ben Crenshaw and Nick Price.

While the original Skins Game held over Thanksgiving weekend has been canceled, the 50-and-older version lives on in paradise at Royal Kaanapali. The total purse is $770,000, and it features two-man teams playing alternate shot.

Couples turned the Skins Game into an annuity. He played 14 times and earned $4.183 million. In 585 official events on the PGA Tour, he made $21.319 million.

"I could not think of a better way for me, personally, to start on the Champions Tour than to play in this format and have the chance to hang out with this group of players," said Couples, who will be paired with Nick Price.

Fuzzy Zoeller and Ben Crenshaw will try to become the first team to repeat in the Champions Skins Game, and Zoeller will be going for his third straight title; he played with Peter Jacobsen in 2007.

Nicklaus and Watson will be teammates again, and the fourth team is Gary Player and Loren Roberts.

AWOL AT THE LPGA: Ever since the "Tour Championship" was introduced into golf's vernacular in 1991, the very name of the tournament suggests an elite field.

That wasn't the case last week on the LPGA Tour.

For starters, organizers decided to expand the season finale to 120 players. If not for rain that forced a 54-hole tournament, there would have been a cut to 70 players after the second round, and to the top 30 after the third round. By turning it into a full field, the LPGA Tour at least was giving some players an additional start.

However, it was difficult to ignore the number of players who didn't show up - not only players who were among the top 120, but 16 alternates. The LPGA Tour does not disclose why a player withdraws, so it's unclear how many were due to injury or travel plans.

Even so, the tour had to go down to No. 156 on its money list to fill the field in Houston.

That would be Jeehae Lee, a rookie who graduated from Yale three years ago. In the 16 tournaments Lee had played going into the LPGA Tour Championship, she made only one cut - a tie for 57th in Phoenix. Lee broke 70 only once all year and had made $3,989.

She recorded her best finish in Houston - a tie for 55th - and earned $4,197.

CAREER MONEY: As many as seven players could be taking an exemption from the career money list to keep their PGA Tour cards.

Brad Faxon (No. 37) and Corey Pavin (No. 48) already have notified the tour they will take a one-time exemption for being among the top 50 in career earnings.

The tour is waiting to hear from two players who already have used a one-time exemption from the top 25 in career money and still have the top 50 option - 50-year-old Tom Lehman (No. 21) and Chris DiMarco (No. 22).

Stuart Appleby (No. 15) expects to decide in the next few weeks whether to use his first career-money exemption or try to get by on sponsor exemptions and his conditional status.

Jesper Parnevik is No. 46 in career money and entered in the final stage of Q-school. He likely will use his exemption if he fails to make it through Q-school or is ranked low coming out of Q-school. Tim Herron (No. 42) also is in the final stage of Q-school and could lean on his exemption if he doesn't make it.

NATIONWIDE AND Q-SCHOOL: For those heading to Q-school next week: Consider what the future might hold.

Eight players who were in Q-school a year ago finished among the top 125 to keep their PGA Tour card, including PGA champion Y.E. Yang and Jason Dufner, the only two from that group who reached the Tour Championship. The average position on the money list for those eight players was 82.375, with Yang skewing the statistics at No. 10 on the strength of two victories.

Ten of the 25 players from the Nationwide Tour kept their card, with only of them - Marc Leishman - advancing to the Tour Championship based on two good weeks outside Boston and Chicago. The average position on the money list for Nationwide grads was 86.8.

DIVOTS: Americans won only five of the 27 events on the LPGA Tour schedule this year. ... The U.S. Open has been a sellout the last 23 years, although this year remains a challenge. The USGA is offering a promotion in which anyone who buys tickets before Dec. 14 will receive a gift set - a ball marker and divot tool - to wrap in time for the holidays. Tickets would not be mailed until May. ... Rory McIlroy moved to No. 10 in the world with this third-place finish in Dubai. He joins Sergio Garcia as the only 20-year-old players to reach the top 10 in the world. Tiger Woods did not get there until he was 21, and then he never left. ... The PGA Tour has signed an eight-year deal with Sky Sports to broadcast its tournaments live in the United Kingdom. The tour had left Sky for Irish-based Setanta until that network filed for bankruptcy protection in June.

STAT OF THE WEEK: Europe has six players among the top 10 for the first time since the world ranking began in 1986.

FINAL WORD: "What's he got going for him? Twenty years old. Millionaire already. Hits it miles. Nice-looking girlfriend. Drives a Lamborghini. Yeah, it's hard, isn't it?" - Lee Westwood on Rory McIlroy.

HSBC returns to sponsor LPGA event Garber, Roth, players build playground for Seattle school

Tiger Woods says his Jack Nicklaus chart has been 'exaggerated'

(AP) — Tiger Woods had not been to Australia in 11 years, giving him the occasion to set the record straight on that chart of Jack Nicklaus he had taped up in his bedroom as a kid.

"People have kind of exaggerated the record list," Woods said.

He said it contained only four or five items and was more of a timeline - when Nicklaus took up golf, when he first broke 40, when he won his first junior event, his first U.S. Amateur and when he turned pro.

"It was just a benchmark for me growing up that here's the greatest player of all time and this is what he did when he was 13, 17, 18," Woods said. "As a junior, you're always trying to compare yourself to, 'When did he do it?' And hopefully, I can do something a little bit better and maybe that might springboard myself into having a good career.

"It has turned out OK."

MLS Cup 2009 notes & facts Tiger Woods says his Jack Nicklaus chart has been ‘exaggerated’

Friday, November 27, 2009

David Feherty reluctantly joins Twitter

I really don't understand why I have to write this column at this time of year. It's late November or early December, a time when playing golf should be both out-of-season and a federal offense. Game wardens should patrol deserted Florida and Arizona golf courses, noting the number of quail or other shootable beasties, and writing golfers tickets. Every self-respecting golf writer (at least an endangered species, and possibly extinct) should be at home with his or her family, hiding from other media and the general public, too. But in direct contravention of my own guidelines, I—and I can't believe I'm going to write this—am now Twittering.

That's right, the man who once tried to start his own "antisocial notwork" called AssBook (so he could post a picture of his buttocks and tell anyone who recognized him deliberate lies about his actions and whereabouts or to otherwise bugger off and leave him alone), is now posting inane "tweets," about his beagle, that She Who Must Be Obeyed (SWMBO) has taken to using snail slime serum for something even he doesn't want to know about, and assorted gratuitous, self-promotional crap.

It all started when I was informed that I was on Match.com. That's right, yours truly, on a dating site, looking for love in all the wrong places. There I was, "Goodguy," from Dallas, Texas, with a geeky photo from the 1994 PGA Tour media guide, spewing icky garbage like, "I'm looking for a woman in the Lewisville area who is interested in boating (which I consider to be prison with an elevated chance of drowning), cooking barbecue (at which I suck), and cats (which I detest)."

First, the name "Goodguy" is an insult to the assholiness for which I stand, so gloriously windswept and majestic, I can hardly keep my hands off myself. Me? I'd probably go with "Douchenozzle," or something similar. And as I explained to SWMBO, I would certainly not be looking for a woman, as I already knew where one was, the irrefutable proof being there was an astoundingly beautiful one glaring at me at that particular moment. Not that she took this seriously for a moment, mind you. My wife knows perfectly well that no other woman on this planet could stand to be with my beagle and me for more than a few seconds. The smell alone is unbearable.

However, the fact that someone could take my name and likeness and use it for a purpose that wasn't going to get me laid really pissed me off, so I began to wonder. If I knew someone on Match.com (and I don't), maybe I could get her to make a date with this disingenuous dung-bucket of a man, and instead of her showing up for it, it would be me! That's brilliant, I thought! I could meet this face-hole ass to ass and find out what his problem was. But then I thought that it was probably safe to assume that anyone who had to resort to the use of my name and image to attract members of the opposite sex would have problems, and maybe my intrusion into his/my own private cyber life would cause the poor, ugly, lonely, stupid and miserable wretch even more unhappiness. But no, that was actually working for me.

And then the absolute worst-case scenario hit me. What if I went through with this, and the guy sitting at the table for two with a yellow rose hanging out of his left nostril was actually me? You know, the old parallel universe theory. I mean, think about it, what would you say to yourself? "Uh, hullo there. Are you 'Goodguy?'" Do you just dump yourself there and then, leaving yourself to wallow in self-pity, if in fact by grammatical and social definition you could even call it self-pity? Half-self-pity, maybe. One of me might start drinking again, which would be a disaster for, for...well it couldn't be good for somebody. Or, maybe it could be...I don't know. But it gets worse! What if I really, really liked me? Could I possibly be easy enough to end up having a sleazy one-night-stand with myself, and if I did, would that mean that I'm gay? A scene like this would have simultaneously made Sigmund Freud's pipe go out and his sack fall off, so I decided against it.

And so now I'm Twittering, pretty much just to let people know that if they're on Match.com and they expect to see me on the other end of this thing, they may be disappointed, or elated, or whatever...either way, it won't be me. But you never know—it could very well be a 95-pound brunette with a bad attitude and a 1932 E.J. Churchill side-by-side 12-gauge. And if she shows up, good luck with her, pal—that's all I can say. She's from Mississippi, and if you do survive, she has one hell of an attorney.

Kim wins 2 matches, Casey falls twice Thornton named Goalkeeper of the Year

Tiger Woods says his Jack Nicklaus chart has been 'exaggerated'

(AP) — Tiger Woods had not been to Australia in 11 years, giving him the occasion to set the record straight on that chart of Jack Nicklaus he had taped up in his bedroom as a kid.

"People have kind of exaggerated the record list," Woods said.

"It has turned out OK."

MLS Cup 2009 notes & facts Tiger Woods says his Jack Nicklaus chart has been ‘exaggerated’

Tiger Woods in 'good condition' after car crash, spokesman says

Tiger Woods was injured in an accident early Friday when his sports utility vehicle struck a fire hydrant and a tree near his Orlando-area mansion in a gated waterfront community.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the world's top golfer hit the hydrant and then a tree after pulling out of his driveway in his 2009 Cadillac SUV.

Woods spokesman Glenn Greenspan said the golfer was treated at Health Central Hospital and released in good condition. The accident report classified Woods' injuries as serious, but patrol spokeswoman Kim Montes said troopers consider the injuries serious if they require more than minor medical attention.

The FHP said alcohol was not involved, though the accident remains under investigation and charges could be filed. No one else was in the car, Montes said.

The accident happened at 2:25 a.m., though the FHP did not release the accident report until nearly 12 hours later.

Gary Bruhn, mayor of the adjacent community of Windermere, said police from that village were among the first on the accident scene and saw Woods with cuts on his face.

Woods' $2.4 million home is part of the exclusive Isleworth subdivision near Orlando, a community set on an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course and a chain of small lakes. The neighborhood, which is fortified with high brick walls and has its own security force, is home to CEOs and other sports stars such as the NBA's Shaquille O'Neal.

The 33-year-old Woods, who has won 82 times around the world and 14 majors, attended the Stanford-Cal football game last Saturday, where he tossed the coin at the start of the game and was inducted into Stanford's sports Hall of Fame at halftime.

He also traveled to China and Australia earlier in the month, winning the Australian Masters on Nov. 15.

Woods was to host his tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, on Monday at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

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Doug Ferguson reported from Jacksonville, Fla. Associated Press writers Tamara Lush and Lisa Orkin Emmanuel in Miami contributed to this report.

Tiger Woods says his Jack Nicklaus chart has been ‘exaggerated’Football Manager 2010 looks like best yet

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Italy's Molinari wins Dunlop Phoenix in playoff

MIYAZAKI, Japan (AP) — Italy's Edoardo Molinari has won the Dunlop Phoenix, beating Sweden's Robert Karlsson on the second playoff hole.

Molinari made a 4-foot birdie putt on Sunday to win the $2.2 million tournament after both players finished regulation at 13-under 271.

Molinari shot a 5-under 66 in the final round, while Karlsson had a 65.

Karlsson missed a 12-foot birdie attempt on the second playoff hole and Molinari calmly sank his winner in steady rain at the Phoenix Country Club.

Ireland's Shane Lowry finished tied for third with Japan's Hirofumi Miyase at 7-under 277 after both shot 69 in the final round.

Japanese teenager Ryo Ishikawa had a 71 to finish in a tie for 20th at 1-under 283.

Davis: Defense wins championships Peter Senior wins Champions Tour Q-school

Lee Westwood of England wins Dubai, money titles

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Lee Westwood of England became Europe's No. 1 golfer on Sunday after winning the Dubai World Championship by six strokes.

Westwood shot a course-record 8-under 64 in the final round at the Earth Course to finish at 23-under 265.

He earned $1.25 million with the 31st victory of his career to overtake Rory McIlroy on the season-long money list and win the European Tour's first Race to Dubai since it changed from the European Order of Merit.

Ross McGowan of England was second after a 68, and McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, shot a 67 to finish third on 273.

The 36-year-old Westwood's $1.5 million bonus for finishing atop the money list took his total European Tour earnings to $6,376,984. McIlroy was next with $5,432,358.

Westwood, who won the European Order of Merit in 2000, couldn't hold back tears after finishing his round.

"This is definitely the biggest moment of my career today," he said. "Rory is only 20 - I can't even remember what it was like to be 20 - and he will have many more chances ahead of him to win the money list.

"But this is my moment."

Westwood led by two shots entering the final round and opened it with five birdies in his first seven holes. He later revealed caddy Billy Foster had given him some advice at the beginning of the week in Dubai.

"Billy told me to go out and bully other people. To make them take notice of me, rather than the other way round," Westwood said.

McGowan lost touch with Westwood when he bogeyed his first hole. However, a run of five birdies from the 12th ensured he would finish second. McGowan is in his second season on the tour and only recorded his first win at the Madrid Masters in October.

McIlroy, who had a lead of $120,000 in the Race to Dubai at the beginning of the week, made eight straight pars to kill any chance he had of making a run at Westwood.

McIlroy's frustration boiled over at the seventh, when he smashed a club through a wooden advertising billboard after mishitting an approach out of wood chippings lining the fairway.

However, he then produced a run of six birdies in nine holes.

Geoff Ogilvy of Australia (67) and Padraig Harrington of Ireland (68) finished tied for fourth at 274.

Lee Westwood of England wins Dubai, money titles Davis: Defense wins championships

Nordqvist wins LPGA Tour Championship

RICHMOND, Texas (AP) — Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin's duel for LPGA player of the year fittingly came down to the final hole of the season.

Anna Nordqvist won the LPGA Tour Championship on Monday and Ochoa finished second to earn the top player title for the fourth consecutive year.

The 22-year-old Nordqvist shot a final-round 65 to finish 13 under par. Ochoa was two strokes back and won the top player honor when Shin couldn't chip in for birdie from the front of the 18th hole.

"I always say that I want to stay on top as long as I continue playing, so this is just a great year for me," Ochoa said. "It's been tough in many different ways, but the important thing is I'm at the top."

Shin led Ochoa by eight points (156-148) in the race entering the tournament. Once Ochoa secured second place, Shin had to finish no worse than seventh to win the player of the year award. Point totals are based on top-10 results.

Shin seemed to take the inside track when Ochoa needed two shots to escape a greenside bunker on the par-3 17th hole. Ochoa sank a bogey putt, virtually ending her chances of winning the tournament, as Shin and Nordqvist watched from the tee.

But Shin also hit a bunker on the 17th, blasted out short of the green and bogeyed.

Ochoa dropped her approach to the 18th hole about 16 feet away and studied the leaderboard as she walked to the green. She and caddie Greg Johnston talked about the situation before Ochoa curled in the putt, giving a modest fist pump after it fell.

Shin's second shot to the 18th hole stopped a few feet off the green. Her chip missed the hole by inches and Ochoa patted her heart, embraced Johnston and held back tears near the scorers' tent.

"I'm happy I can make history, and my goal is to continue that," said Ochoa, who's getting married in two weeks. "Hopefully, I'm going to get back home and work hard and be ready for next year."

The 21-year-old South Korean fell short in her bid to win the rookie and player of the year awards. Nancy Lopez remains the only player to sweep both titles, in 1978.

The good-natured Shin was still smiling after coming up short.

"I learned a lot from this year," she said. "I need more focus, concentration, and everything. I really made my goals. I just missed player of the year, but I still had a good year."

Ochoa also won her fourth straight Vare Trophy, honoring the season's lowest scoring average. Ochoa and Shin were separated by decimal points in that race award coming into the tournament.

Though she was constantly aware of where she stood with Shin, Ochoa said she never lost focus on the task at hand.

"I was just trying to win the tournament, so I didn't have to worry about how she finished, or the points at the end of the day," Ochoa said. "I'm just really proud of the way I finished."

Nordqvist, meanwhile, earned her second career victory and made it through the season without missing a cut in 15 starts. She also won the LPGA Championship this year.

Shin and Nordqvist played in the day's final group, right behind Ochoa. The Houstonian Golf and Country Club was still soggy after more than an inch of weekend rain and players were allowed to lift, clean and place their balls.

Nordqvist surged to the lead at 12 under with five consecutive birdies between Nos. 8-12. She bogeyed the 13th, then added birdies on 14 and 15 to settle the tournament and clear the way for Ochoa and Shin to decide their duel.

"I definitely tried to be aggressive," Nordqvist said. "It was pretty tight up the leaderboard, so you were really going to have to shoot low in order to pull it off. I'm just very, very happy that I did."

Na Yeon Choi (64) and second-round leader Kristy McPherson (70) finished 10 under, tied for third. A trio of players finished 7 under and Shin's costly par dropped her into a four-way tie for eighth.

Choi surged up the leaderboard in the early afternoon with a 30 on the front nine. She holed a 175-yard shot from the ninth fairway and birdied the 10th hole to reach 10 under.

Shin struggled to make putts on the front nine and didn't make her first birdie until No. 11. By then, Ochoa was within a shot of the lead. But Ochoa dropped shots at Nos. 8 and 9, and Nordqvist to zip past her.

Ochoa got back on track with an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 15, setting up the dramatic finish.

The event was shortened to 54 holes after weekend rains forced long delays. The second round was completed Monday morning, the cut was made and the third round began immediately in sunny, calm conditions.

Song-Hee Kim leads Lorena Ochoa Invitational Davis: Defense wins championships

McPherson leads LPGA Tour Championship

RICHMOND, Texas (AP) — The sky cleared and Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin were left with one day to settle their duel for LPGA Tour player of the year.

Kristy McPherson took the lead at 8 under in fading sunlight at the LPGA Tour Championship on Sunday before the second round was suspended because of darkness.

The second round resumed at daybreak Monday, after a weekend of delays caused by heavy rains. Shin parred two holes in the morning to wrap up a 67; Ochoa played one hole to finish a second-round 72.

McPherson is one stroke ahead of Shin and two ahead of a group that includes Ochoa, the first-round leader.

The cut was made at 3-over par, and the 79 remaining players started their third rounds early Monday.

Shin is trying to become the first player since Nancy Lopez in 1978 to sweep the money title, rookie and player of the year, and the Vare Trophy. She led Ochoa by eight points for player of the year entering the tournament.

"I have a good shot at it," Shin said. "It's going to be very close. It will be the most important day of my life."

For Ochoa to win her fourth straight player of the year title, she must win the event or finish no worse than third and then hope Shin places out of the top 10. The two are also decimal points apart in the race for the Vare Trophy, awarded for the season's lowest scoring average.

"Tomorrow, everything will be answered," Ochoa said. "I am very excited."

The 28-year-old McPherson is merely looking for her first LPGA Tour victory. She picked up five birdies without a bogey in her second round after a 69 on Thursday.

McPherson is one of the few players who completed two rounds without interruption.

"Our goal was to get in before the sun went down, so we were happy to do that," she said. "We were fortunate to get through."

Before Sunday, rainy weather had been the big story.

Heavy downpours swamped the Houstonian Golf and Country Club on Friday and Saturday, forcing organizers to cut the event to 54 holes. The fairways were still water-logged Sunday, so players were allowed to lift, clean and place.

Shin was four shots behind Ochoa after the first round, but picked up four birdies in a seven-hole stretch Sunday to tie her. She holed a birdie putt on the par-5 16th, her last shot of the day, to move one shot ahead of her rival.

"The course conditions were really wet, the greens were really soft," Shin said. "That was a big help to us. We could be more aggressive. There was no wind - the conditions were perfect."

Ochoa hit the first shot of her second round a full 72 hours after sinking a 15-foot birdie putt to wrap up a first-round 66 on Thursday. She dropped a shot on her front nine Sunday, then birdied Nos. 14 and 16 to move to 7-under par.

Ochoa hit into a greenside bunker with her tee shot to the par-3 17th, just before the horn sounded. She decided to finish, took a bogey and headed straight to the practice green.

As the rain lingered over the weekend, players raised concerns about the availability of flights leaving Houston with Thanksgiving approaching.

Michelle Wie dropped out Thursday because of a sprained left ankle after shooting a 72, and seven others withdrew later.

Ching hits ’sweetest’ shot of season McPherson leads LPGA Tour Championship

Tiger Woods says his Jack Nicklaus chart has been 'exaggerated'

(AP) — Tiger Woods had not been to Australia in 11 years, giving him the occasion to set the record straight on that chart of Jack Nicklaus he had taped up in his bedroom as a kid.

"People have kind of exaggerated the record list," Woods said.

"It has turned out OK."

Woods trying to close out victory Down Under MLS Cup 2009 notes & facts