Johnson weathers two delays, sets record

Two stoppages in play caused by threatening storms that never fully materialized put a damper on Zach Johnson's three-stroke victory over Brian Davis in the Crowne Plaza Invitational yesterday.

Oldgolfdawg turned the channel during the first stoppage to watch Tom Lehman win the Senior PGA Championship in Denver on the first hole of an anticlimatic playoff against Fred Couples and David Frost and never did see Johnson wrap up his victory. But he couldn't help but wonder if the weather delays in Texas weren't a sign of things to come at the Memorial, a tournament with a rich history of such interruptions.

Johnson, who plans to play this week in Jack Nicklaus' Memorial tournament, closed with a a 6-under-par 64 to set the a scoring record at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, with a 72-hole total of 21-under 259. The 2007 Masters champion came away with a plaid jacket given to the winner and a check for $1.116 million.

Davis, a 35-year-old Englishman still seeking his first PGA Tour victory, had a chance to get within a stroke of Johnson on the 17th hole, but his 8-foot birdie putt failed to stay in the cup. Trailing Johnson by two strokes heading up the 72nd hole, Davis needed a hole-out eagle on the par 4, but ended up with a bogey and a 68.

Davis finished alone in second at 262. Jeff Overton and Ben Crane, who both carded 67s, tied for third at 263.

In earning his seventh PGA Tour victory, Johnson joined Phil Mickelson in being the only players who have tour wins in each of the last four seasons (2007-2010). Mickelson missed the cut at Colonial at 4 over when he could have been the No. 1 player in the world with a victory.

Mickelson will pursue that goal again this week at the Memorial where six of the top 10 players in the world rankings and nine of the top 10 on the tour money list will play, including top-ranked Tiger Woods.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this post.

Memorial faces possible Wall Street fallout

Enjoyed Bob Baptist's article in The Columbus Dispatch today about how Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament could possibly lose Morgan Stanley as its television sponsor after this year's event. It would appear the fallout of the 2008 stock market crash continues to have ramifications that could change the landscape of the PGA Tour for years to come.

The tour has produced a lot of interesting stories this year with Dustin Johnson winning at Pebble Beach, Ian Poulter winning for the first time on American soil in the Match Play Championship, Anthony Kim winning in Houston with a bum thumb and Rory McIlroy winning in stunning fashion at Quail Hollow. Mix those youthful success stories with feel-good victories by marquee players such as Steve Stricker, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott and you would have to say 2010 has been a good year. But television ratings -- perhaps because of Tiger Woods' extended absence -- have not been what TV networks expect for the money they are dishing out.

Over the course of the next 17 weeks there will be three majors played, one more World Golf Championship event and the four FedEx Cup series events. During this time, television networks and the PGA Tour are going to start looking more closely at future contract talks. By this time next year, they will be seriously considering how the TV landscape will look after 2012.

The PGA Tour's ability to extract big money from the TV networks is likely to become more difficult in the future. The FedEx Cup card that helped PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem land some sweet deals in 2006 probably won't work next time around. The FedEx Cup, much like NASCAR's Sprint Cup format, hasn't been a rousing success in building more fan interest. It's possible the PGA Tour will find ways through the internet or iPad applications to generate new money, but the future remains murky.

If Morgan Stanley, which has acted as the principal sponsor for the Memorial for the past seven years, decides to end its relationship with Nicklaus' event, the tournament has a $5 million sponsorship hole to fill.

In Baptist's story, tournament director Dan Sullivan wasn't ready to hit any panic buttons, saying:

"We're going to spend the summer trying to (discuss a renewal) with Morgan Stanley. and if they're not (interested), then we'll look to ensure we have (another) relationship in place sometime in the fall."

Oldgolfdawg is going to go out on a limb and say Morgan Stanley will end its relationship with the Memorial tournament because it no longer is cool for Wall Street firms to be associated with golf. Ten years ago that might have been the case, but the fallout from Wall Street's and the banking industry's over-leveraging ploys that created a mortgage bubble and eventual stock market crash remains a public relations concern.

Baptist's article pointed out that an economic impact study in 2002 estimated the Memorial at that time brought about $35 million a year into Columbus-area businesses. Two companies that come to Oldgolfdawg's mind that could score a lot of goodwill points locally by becoming the tournament's title sponsor are Scotts Miracle-Gro headquartered in Marysville and Cardinal Health based in Dublin.

I'm sure Sullivan and his staff have those companies and others on a list to pursue if Morgan Stanley walks. Or, as Baptist's stories pointed out, it might require a collection of companies to come together to make sure the tournament continues. We can only wish Sullivan and his staff much success in their future endeavors. Having a world-class event like the Memorial in our own backyard is a plus for the community in more ways than can be measured in dollars and cents.

Information from GolfObserver.com contributed to this post.

Hogan's hold on Colonial will never fade

Ben Hogan is the first thing that comes to Oldgolfdawg's mind when Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, is brought up in any context. The association between the two is inescapable. The tournament might be named the Crowne Plaza Invitational these days, but everyone knows it's still Hogan's tournament and his presence at "Hogan's Alley" will be felt in spirit by those competing and attending the event this weekend.

In the days when it was known simply as the Colonial, Hogan won it five times (1946, '47, '52, '53 and '59). Three of the victories came after his horrific auto accident in 1949, which might have robbed him of even more glory. We'll never really know about that in the same way we'll never really know how great Mickey Mantle would have been if he hadn't caught a cleat on a drainage cover in the outfield in his first World Series as a rookie while trying to avoid a collision with Joe DiMaggio. It's simply conjecture.

Hogan, considered perhaps the game's greatest pure ball-striker, himself said he never played as well after the accident than he did in 1948 and '49. Even so, he won six of his nine majors and 13 of his 54 PGA Tour wins after the accident, a true display of will power by someone stronger than 50 pounds of Texas onions.

Outside the clubhouse on the patio overlooking the 18th green at Colonial Country Club is a bigger-than-life bronze statue of Hogan at the top of his classic swing. One the main floor of the clubhouse is the Ben Hogan Trophy Room where all of the major accomplishments of the longtime Fort Worth resident and hero are on display. The Hawk's 54 PGA Tour victories, including nine majors, are duly noted in the exhibits. A photograph of his demolished car from the accident that threatened to end his career is also there, along with a movie poster from the film Follow the Sun that depicted his courageous recovery and comeback.

The Hawk, or "The Wee Ice Mon" as the Scots liked to refer to him after he won the British Open in 1953 at Carnoustie, was something special, and the need for corporate sponsorship money can't erase or overshadow what he has meant to his hometown or to golf as a whole. Bobby Jones has The Masters, Jack Nicklaus has The Memorial, Byron Nelson has his championship and Arnold Palmer has his invitational. But Hogan has a tournament, too, even if his name isn't prominently showcasing the event. Some things go without saying. This week's tournament at Colonial is one of them.

Information from PGATOUR.com contributed to his post.

For a detailed look at Hogan, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hogan

Early focus will be on Mickelson

The final stop in the PGA Tour's swing through Texas kicks off today with the start of the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. The big question being asked in golf writing circles as play begins is whether Phil Mickelson can win and replace Tiger Woods as the world's top-ranked player.

It will take a victory by Mickelson to leapfrog ahead of Woods, but it wouldn't be surprising if he pulls it off and becomes the world's No. 1 golfer for the first time in his career. Mickelson likes "Hogan's Alley" and has two titles, 2000 and 2008, to prove it. He also has demonstrated an ability to shoot low scores at Colonial, having broken double digits under par three times in 13 starts. His final-round 63 in 2000 ties his lowest-ever score in a final round of a PGA Tour event.

Even so, he'll have to contend against a strong field that includes FedEx Cup top 10 players Jim Furyk (No. 2), Tim Clark (No. 5), Dustin Johnson (No. 7), Ben Crane (No. 8) and defending champion Steve Stricker (No. 10). Other notables in the field are Kenny Perry, Paul Casey, Stewart Cink, Lucas Glover, Y.E. Yang, Ian Poulter, Vijay Singh, Hunter Mahan and Jason Day.

"The only way to do it is to win here and there is a very strong field here," Mickelson said on the eve of the tournament. "Fortunately it's on an a golf course that I have played well on in the past and that I enjoy. And I'm looking forward to that challenge and that opportunity to overtake the top spot."

Colonial is a shot-makers' course that includes 12 doglegs. It requires strategy and often takes the driver out of the hands of the bigger hitters. Historically, it has favored experienced players over younger ones. Since 1996 all the champions have won an average of 10 PGA Tour events. The biggest exception to that norm was Sergio Garcia when he won in 2001 to register his first PGA Tour victory.

So far the Texas swing of the PGA Tour has produced three champions in their 20s: Anthony Kim (Houston Open), Adam Scott (Texas Open) and Day (Byron Nelson Championship). So it will be interesting to see if a fourth young gun can rise to the occasion this week. The Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial will be telecast by the Golf Channel (today-Fri., 2-6 p.m.) and CBS (Sat.-Sun. 3-6 p.m.).

Woods, who announced yesterday on his website that he will play in next week's Memorial tournament, has reigned as the No. 1 player for the last 259 weeks and for 601 total in his career.

Information from ESPN.com, PGATOUR.com and GolfObserver.com contributed to this post.

Rough day for two dew-sweepers

Did some dew sweeping this morning with Jeremy "Lynch Mob" Lynch at a favorite old haunt, Royal American Links. Our reward for teeing it up at 6:45 was to complete our loop by 10 and then having the rest of day to pursue other interests.

As usual, Oldgolfdawg enjoyed playing the 3 1/2-dog-biscuit-rated course. The greens and fairways were in great shape, but the rough, especially on the normal back nine, had reached extreme levels because of heavy rain the previous two weeks. As a gray membership holder at the course in 2008 and 2009, I can't recall seeing the rough thicker or higher.

The course was hit with so much rain that mowing became problematic in many areas. This week's run of good weather should help return things to normal. Shots hit just barely off the green were tricky today because of the way they settled in the lusher-than-normal fringe. TV analyst Ian-Baker Finch would have described most of the areas surrounding the greens as "juicy."

Despite the rougher-than-normal rough and fringe areas, Jeremy and I had enjoyable rounds spiced with self-inflicted wounds and brief brushes of brilliance. The scoring wasn't great but the simple joy of chasing the pea still made the time well spent. The key to building on a round where the scoring is less than stellar is to remember the good shots and to not dwell too much on the bad ones. After all, the rough was brutal in spots. That's our story and we're sticking to it.

Some tests are worth the price of admission

Inspired by the latest edition of GolfStyles magazine and its list of 63 Must Play Public Courses in Ohio, Oldgolfdawg plans to roll out a list of high-fun-factor golf holes in central Ohio in the coming weeks.

Oldgolfdawg enjoyed the way GolfStyles framed its list and explained its purpose:

Rather than wading through the more than 650 public course in Ohio, subjectively trying to figure out which ones are better than the others, we offer a simple list of courses that would make a good experience for any golfer at least once during his playing career.

It's in that spirit the Oldgolfdawg will list golf holes he has taken extra pleasure in playing over the years in central Ohio because of their dramatic nature and the thrill they provided for a well-struck shot when, against all odds, it was pulled off. It's the memories of such shots on high-fun-factor holes that brings all us back to a game that can often be frustrating. In fact, holes that provide such opportunities can be worth the price of admission, or in the words of a credit card advertisement, "Priceless."

The high-fun-factor holes are going to be presented in no particular order, but the first one Oldgolfdawg wants to present today as a worthy member of this grouping is the 18th hole at Grandview Golf Course, a 340-yard par 4 from the white tees with an elevated tee box some 300 feet above the fairway. The view from the tee box is awesome and a well-struck shot from it becomes majestic as the free-falls to Mother Earth.

It's great to take some extra time on No. 18's tee box just to take in the view of the course below and also the sleepy college town of Granville itself. It's also a good idea to take some extra time because long hitters can actually reach the green if the wind if blowing right. You're smarter to let the group in front clear the green below before launching a majestic effort into the wild blue yonder, unless you're not afraid of the high cost of legal fees.

Granville Golf Course opened in 1924 and was designed by famed architect Donald Ross, the same fellow who originally designed Scioto Country Club and many other famous venues. It's a classic old course, except for the addition of three new holes, and well worth one's while to experience at least one time. http://www.granvillegolf.com/

Courses in central Ohio included in GolfStyles' must-play-list: Apple Valley, Bent Tree, Chapel Hill GC, Clover Valley GC, Cumberland Trail GC, Darby Creek GC, EagleSticks GC, Golf Club of Dublin, Granville GC, Links at Echo Springs, Longaberger GC, National Golf Links, New Albany Links, NorthStar Golf Resort, Pine Hills, Players Club at Foxfire, Royal American Links and Westchester GC.

For a complete list of GolfStyles' 63 Must Play Public Courses in Ohio, check out: http://www.golfstylesonline.com/Ohio.html

Sloppy finish doesn't ruin Day

It was difficult to watch Jason Day's breakthrough victory on the PGA Tour yesterday at the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas.

The 22-year-old Australian flirted with disaster on the final hole before registering a two-shot victory over Blake Adams, Brian Gay and Jeff Overton. CBS Sports TV analyst David Feherty described the final-hole dramatics as watching someone come to a victory party in a wheelbarrow and the analogy fit. Luckily for Day, his closing 2-over-par 72 was good enough to wheel away the first-place prize money of $1,170,000.

Day, the youngest winner ever on the Nationwide Tour at age 19, appeared to have blown his chance when his approach shot to the 18th green went left into the water. But he caught a break when playing partner Adams, who said he didn't see Day's ball get wet, knocked his ball into the water, too. At the time, Adams was just one shot back and in position to force a playoff or win.

Day, who carded six bogeys in his final round, managed to bogey the 18th while Adams, a 34-year-old PGA Tour rookie, took a costly double bogey that dropped him into a three-way tie for second. On an entertainment scale of 1 to 5, Oldgolfdawg would throw the tournament 3 1/2 dog biscuits, but not because of the excitement produced by the final-hole antics of Day and Adams.

It's very possible people will look back on the tournament and remember the outstanding play of 16-year-old amateur Jordan Spieth more than anything else. Spieth, a junior at Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas, was within three shots of the lead on the final nine holes before he fell back into a tie for 16th, an amazing finish for a teenager who last week was the Class 5A medalist in the Texas high school state tournament. He shot a 72 yesterday, his highest score of the tournament, to finish at 4-under 276, six strokes behind Day.

Spieth, the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion, would've made $91,185.71 had he turned pro this week. But he's planning to wait through another year of high school, then attend the University of Texas. Of course, that might change if he keeps playing so well against the big boys. He already has gotten a sponsor's exemption to play in Memphis next month.

Hailed as another Tiger Woods while growing up in Australia, Day began playing PGA Tour events at age 18. He played 65 tournaments before finally winning one, but figures the experience was worth it, admitting he got a bit lazy after having success and money at a young age.

Day, who has been dealing with a sinus infection since the opening week of the season, nearly withdrew Thursday morning because he felt so ill. He wound up sharing for the lead after the first round and was near the top all week. He has to be glad he gutted it out despite having to endure some anxious moments on the final hole. In doing so, he became the youngest winner of the Byron Nelson Championship since Tiger Woods won in 1997 at age 21. At 22 years, six months and 11 days, Day is the second-youngest winner on the PGA Tour this season behind Rory McIlroy (20 years, 11 months and 28 days).

Information from PGATOUR.com, ESPN.com and the Associated Press contributed to this post.

Young ambition bolsters Nelson event

A tournament in need of a boost because of its less-than-stellar field received one yesterday when Dallas amateur Jordan Spieth made the cut at the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas.

Spieth, a 16-year-old high school junior playing hooky from Jesuit College Prep School, became the sixth-youngest player to make the cut at a PGA event. He qualified for the final two rounds by shooting 68-69 137 through 36 holes.

At 16 years, nine months and 24 days, Spieth is the second 16-year-old to make a cut at this level this season, joining Italy's Matteo Manassero, who pulled it off at the Masters. Manassero also has the best-ever finish by someone so young, having tied for 13th at the 2009 British Open.

Spieth can take pride in doing something Tiger Woods was unable to do. When Woods was invited to play in the Byron Nelson Championship at age 17 in 1993 he failed to make the cut, shooting 77-72. Woods returned four years later and won the event, making him still its youngest winner.

Only time will tell is Spieth can better that feat, but one has to wonder if early success at such a young age is a blessing or a curse. A look at the top five youngest players to make the cut in PGA Tour history is evidence enough to merit caution before hailing Spieth the next Woods. The top five youngest are Bob Panasik, Tadd Fujikawa, Justin Thomas, Manassero and Ty Tryon.

Panasik was 15 years, 8 months and 20 days old when he made the cut of the 1957 Canadian Open before finishing tied for 66th. Fujikawa was 16 years and four days old when he made the cut of the 2007 Sony Open before finishing tied for 20th. Thomas was 16 years, two months and 23 days old when he made the cut of the 2009 Wyndham Championship before finishing tied for 78th, Manassero was 16 years, two months and 29 days old when he made the cut at the 2009 British Open and Ty Tryon was 16 years, nine months and seven days old when he made the cut of the 2001 Honda Classic.

The jury is still out on Manassero, but he appears to have a good chance of living up to the expectations that come with early success. It's safe to say Panasik, Fujikawa, Thomas and Tryon might have enjoyed their brightest moments on golf's stage at an early age.

Spieth, who was followed by a large gallery of his high school buddies during yesterday's round at the TPC Four Seasons Resort and Club at Las Colinas, seemed very level-headed during a post-round interview with the Golf Channel's Nick Faldo and Kelly Tilghman, admitting he was a bit shocked by his own success. But success for the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion shouldn't come as a total surprise. Just last week Spieth won a state high school title. Still, one can only wish him well as he deals with the extra weight of greater expectations.

Meanwhile, the uninhibited power of youth was also on display yesterday in Raleigh, N.C., at the Rex Hospital Open, where high school sophomore Grayson Murray became the second-youngest player to make the cut at a Nationwide Tour event.

The 16-year-old birdied five of his final seven holes to shoot a second-round 66 for a 3-under 139 total after 36 holes. The reigning North Carolina Class 4-A medalist said he "didn't have too many expectations going into a professional tournament" and is approaching the final two rounds as an educational experience. Sounds like a smart lad.

Information from ESPN.com, Golf.com and the Associated Press contributed to this post.

Cooks Creek deserves a biscuit bump

Took advantage of the break in our recent run of wet weather to play a round at Cooks Creek yesterday with former Dispatch features writer Dennis Fiely. The combination of a great course, good weather and good company made for a day well spent.

Maybe it was that combination or the fact that I played well, but yesterday's round convinced me I haven't been giving Cooks Creek its just due in my best-places-to-play-in-central-Ohio list. As a result, Oldgolfdawg is throwing a half-biscuit Cooks Creek's way and elevating it to 4 1/2-dog- biscuit status.

In all the years that I've played the course, I've never seen it in better shape. Perhaps because of all the rain we've had lately, my eyes took in brilliant splashes of green wherever I looked. The fresh-cut fairways were in pristine condition, the rough was high but not unkempt, the greens were smooth and fast and the sand traps were in outstanding condition considering the recent weather.

Beyond the great playing conditions, I fell in love again with the layout of a course designed by Michael Hurdzan, Dana Fry and John Cook and given 4 1/2 stars by Golf Digest. It's an interesting mix of a links course sprinkled with some parkland-like holes that create framed shots.

The course, which opened 1993 and includes an Audubon Sanctuary and Blue Herron rookery, has three of the toughest public par 4s in central Ohio in Nos. 3 (427 yards), 12 (435 yards) and 18 (474 yards). It also includes a couple of fun pars 3s, the 113-yard, uphill 13th and the 183-yard, downhill 15th.

If your schedule allows you to play in the afternoon, it is hard to beat Cooks Creek's $30 rate for 18 holes and a cart after 2:30 Monday through Friday.
http://cookscreek.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Here is Oldgolfdawg's updated best-places-to-play-in-central-Ohio list, ranked on a scale of 1 to 5 dog biscuits:
5 dog biscuits: Longaberger (the alpha dog)
4 1/2 dog biscuits: Cooks Creek, East Golf Club
4 dog biscuits: Cumberland Trail, EagleSticks, Deer Ridge, Golf Club of Dublin, The Players Club at Foxfire
3 1/2 dog biscuits: *Apple Valley, Bent Tree, Blacklick Woods, Chapel Hill, Champions, Granville, Indian Springs, New Albany Links, The Links at Echo Springs, Royal American Links
3 dog biscuits: Darby Creek, Glenross, Mill Creek, Turnberry, Westchester
2 1/2 dog biscuits: Blackhawk, Crystal Springs Golf Club, Mentel Memorial, National Golf Links, *Licking Springs, Raymond Memorial, Safari Golf Club, *St. Albans, *Table Rock
2 dog biscuits: *Airport, *Oakhaven, *Bridgeview, Marysville Golf Club, *Minerva Lake
1 1/2 dog biscuits: *Wilson Road, *Big Walnut (executive courses)
1 dog biscuit: Let's not go there
* Indicates Oldgolfdawg has not played the course in more than five years and needs feedback from others to adjust any ranking.

Classy Nelson event lacks star power

Since the death of Byron Nelson in 2006, the tournament named in his honor has had a tough time attracting the bigger names in golf. That trend will continue today when the 57th edition of the Byron Nelson Championship tees off at the TPC at Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.

Defending champion Rory Sabbatini will compete against a field that will include only four of the top 25 ranked players in the world, the highest being 17th-ranked Hunter Mahan. The best the tournament could draw from the money-leader list is No. 9 Dustin Johnson.

“It’s sad,” said Corey Pavin, who is playing the event for the 23rd time. “I would like to see this field remain strong. ... Byron is fresh in my memory; to me, he is the epitome of golf, what it stands for."

The tournament's loss in stature is mainly due to Nelson's death. Between 1995 and 2005 the tournament was the place to play and marquee names made it a must-attend event out of respect to Nelson, who would hold court off the 18th hole and talk to players after they finished play.

But the TPC Four Seasons Resort course, designed and built by Robert Trent Jones Jr., has never been a favorite of tour players since it first opened in 1983. Over the years it has been remodeled and renovated numerous times but still isn't considered a top track. D.A. Weibring was hired after the 2007 tournament and his company came in a basically redid the greens, fairways and tees. The course has come a long way in the last 2 1/2 years since the changes and Sabbatini's record 261 total of last year could be challenged this year if weather conditions cooperate.

The PGA Tour schedule also has played in role in making the Nelson a less attractive event for golf's brighter lights, with many preferring to prepare for the U.S. Open with stops at next week's Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, or Jack Nicklaus' Memorial in two weeks instead. Adding to the problem is the fact that the top event on the European Tour, the BMW PGA Championship, is also held this week. Past Nelson champions Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els are playing in England this week instead of in Irving.

Even so, the Nelson can be proud that of any tournament on the PGA Tour dating to 1970 it has the reputation of holding the closest events. Amazingly, 26 Nelsons have either been won in playoffs or by a shot. Last year's victory by two shots by Sabbatini, who closed with a 64, was the first non-playoff or one-shot victory since 2003.

It also should be noted that no other event on the PGA Tour has raised more money for charity than the Byron Nelson Championship. Since 1973 more than $112 million has been raised by the tournament's sponsor, the Salesman Club of Dallas. Last year in a bad economy $4.4 million was raised while in 2008 $6.1 million was given to charities.

A positive for the Nelson this week is the fact that the qualifying period for the U.S. Open and British Open for those outside the top 50 of the world golf rankings ends Sunday. That puts extra pressure on Graeme McDowell (currently ranked 50th), Vijay Singh (51st) J.B. Holmes (52nd) and PGA Tour rookie Rickie Fowler (54th).

A top-five finish in the Nelson would lift Fowler into the world's top 50, earning him an automatic exemption into the upcoming majors. Fowler, a 21-year-old Californian who would love to compete in next month's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, skipped last week's Texas Open in San Antonio in order to be well-rested for the Nelson.

"I wanted to have a fresh week coming to these three tournaments -- the Colonial and Memorial but focusing on this week to play well," he told reporters at the TPC Four Seasons on Tuesday. "Now I know I need to finish top-five. We'll try and block it out but it will certainly be in the back of my mind."

Fowler, who turned professional last year and earned his PGA Tour card by tying for 15th at the qualifying tournament, has performed well this season after taking a week's break.

"I had a week off before (the) Phoenix (Open), I got second there; I had a week off before Hilton Head, and I tied for eighth," he said. "Those were some of my better finishes so I feel good coming in after a week off."

It will be interesting to see if the strategy pays off. The Golf Channel (today: 3-6 p.m.; Friday: 8:30-11:30 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday, Sunday: 3-6 p.m.) will be telecasting coverage of the Byron Nelson Championship.

For a better understanding of why Nelson is held in such esteem, check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Nelson

Information from GolfObserver.com, ESPN.com, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this post.

(Click video screen for full picture)

Doctor who treated Woods charged

One of Tiger Woods' off-the-course distractions made news yesterday when Dr. Anthony Galea was charged with unlawful distribution of drugs, including human growth hormone (HGH), to NFL players.

Federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint at the U.S. District Court in Buffalo charging Galea with making false statements to federal officials, smuggling, unlawful distribution of HGH, introducing an unapproved drug (Actovegin) into interstate commerce and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Galea, the Canadian doctor who treated Woods after the golfer had surgery on his left knee in 2008, faces as many as 28 years in prison for the charges and millions in potential fines. The crux of the complaint involves Galea's treatment of three NFL players who are not identified.

According to prosecutors, Galea repeatedly entered the United States to treat numerous professional athletes from 2007 to September 2009, including athletes from the NFL, Major League Baseball and the PGA Tour. According to a witness cooperating with prosecutors, Galea is not a licensed doctor in the U.S. and he understood that treating patients inside the U.S. was unlawful.

"The medical procedures described by the cooperating witness that Dr. Galea performed in the U.S. included but were not limited to a plasma rich platelet (PRP) injections, injection of drug mixtures or 'cocktails' into athletes' knees; IV drips; and ultrasounds and injections of drug mixtures into the sites of muscle tears," the complaint said. "The PRP procedure involved withdrawing blood from a patient, spinning it in a centrifuge, and re-injecting the plasma into the patient's body at the site of an injury."

Several reports identify the cooperating witness as Galea's former assistant Mary Ann Catalano. According to ESPN, Catalano identified 23 athletes during interviews with U.S. and Canadian authorities whom she said Galea treated in the United States.

At the Masters, Woods said that federal investigators had contacted his agent, Mark Steinberg, about the Galea probe, but had not asked to interview him. During that same media conference, Woods unequivocally denied taking any performance-enhancing drugs and said that Galea was treating his left leg after knee surgery in 2008.

"(Galea) never gave me HGH or any PEDs. I've never taken that my entire life. I've never taken any illegal drug, ever, for that matter," Woods said, going on to explain that Galea had given him "platelet-enriched plasma treatments," a blood-spinning technique described in the complaint.

In a recent interview with The Golf Channel, Woods's ex-coach Hank Haney said he witnessed Galea treating Woods' knee.

"I was there and watched the whole procedure," Haney said. "There was never anything that went into Tiger Woods' body that didn't come out of his body. They take blood out, they spin it, they inject the plasma back in. I totally believe that Tiger Woods has never taken any performance-enhancing drugs."

* * *

SINGH COULD MISS U.S. OPEN: Vijay Singh picked a bad time to drop from the world golf rankings' top 50. For the first time in nearly 18 years, he lost that status by slipping to No. 51 in the world rankings published Monday after he failed to make the cut at the Texas Open. It marked the fifth straight tournament in which he earned no ranking points.

Singh, the only other player besides Woods to be No. 1 in the world during the last decade, has one week to get back into the top 50 or he will have to qualify for the U.S. Open. He has played 63 consecutive majors, the longest active streak, and began the year at No. 26 in the world. He has been dealing with a back injury for the past two months but is expected to play this week in the Byron Nelson Classic.

Information from Golf.com, ESPN.com, Golf Channel, the Associated Press and PGATOUR.com contributed to this post.

"Heartbreak Annie" shows no mercy

Attending a college graduation ceremony last weekend has inspired Oldgolfdawg to finish something he started back in January, his version of the toughest 18 holes in central Ohio, aka The Elegant Eighteen.

The final addition to the group is the 16th hole at The Players Club at Foxfire, which was referred to as "Heartbreak Annie" in an earlier post. It's the final test in a difficult three-hole stretch I call "The Gantlet," Nos. 14-16 at The Players. As a season pass member for two years at Foxfire Golf Club, I have to admit "The Gantlet" wore me down to the point that I grew tired of the test. And as one might expect from any gantlet worth its salt, the most difficult hole of the stretch was the last, a 426-yard par 4.

Numerous times Oldgolfdawg was on track to break 80 at The Players Club when the wheels would fall off on No. 16. The scenic hole starts from a tee box cut into the woods like a cove or inlet. A babbling brook that cuts across it about 50 yards from the tee box adds to its beauty and difficulty. Once a drive escapes the tighter confines of the tee box and clears the brook, the fairway widens but still remains dangerously tight on the left side. There is more room on the right side, but if one strays too far the second shot from deep rough becomes very difficult.

If you hit a good drive, say 250 yards in the fairway, then you are left with an uphill second shot of about 175 yards to a green you can't see because of the elevation change. But the shot to a narrow and deep green plays more like 185 or 190 yards. The front of the green is protected by three bunkers with just a small little alley available to shoot through between the traps.

Oldgolfdawg would take aim at the flag and just hope to hit the ball solidly enough to carry the three traps in front. Anything on the green was considered a good shot because of how narrow it was. But being on in regulation was no guarantee of success. The green, which is some 35 yards deep, is basically sloped from back to front but has enough undulations to make 80 percent of the first putts very difficult and often scary.

The Players Club, which measures 7,077 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 132 and a 74.2 USGA rating, is well represented in the Elegant Eighteen with three holes earning the distinction. From the white tees, where Oldgolfdawg hangs out, The Players Club still measures 6,705 yards and has a slope rating of 128 and a 72.4 USGA rating.

http://www.foxfiregolfclub.com/

Here's a rundown of the Elegant Eighteen, which is always open to revision when a need is identified:

No. 1: The second hole at Royal American Links, a 324-yard par 4 with a demanding second shot.
No. 2: The seventh hole at Chapel Hill Golf Course, a 411-yard par 4 that can easily become a trail of tears.
No. 3: No. 13 at Champions, a 394-yard par 4 with an intimidating tee shot.
No 4: No. 14 at The Players Club at Foxfire, a tight 547-yard par 5 requiring three well-placed shots to reach a well-protected green.
No. 5: The seventh hole at Deer Ridge Golf Club, a 156-yard par 3 requiring an accurate uphill tee shot and a steely putting stroke.
No. 6: No. 10 at Eagle Sticks Golf Club, a 193-yard par 3 with a demanding tee shot from an elevated tee box.
No. 7: No. 12 at Darby Creek, a 411-yard par 4 that includes a touch of Augusta.
No. 8: No. 12 at New Albany Links, a 406-yard par 4 best seen in one's rearview mirror.
No. 9: The fifth hole at Bent Tree Golf Club, a 412-yard par 4 that asks the question: "Am I feeling lucky."
No. 10: No. 18 at Cooks Creek, a 474-yard par 4 that makes finishing strong a tall order.
No. 11: No. 17 at Turnberry Golf Course, a 384-yard par 4 with a flashing yellow traffic light.
No. 12: No. 11 at The Players Club at Foxfire, a 165-yard par 3 that always delivers an anxious moment.
No. 13: No. 12 at Cumberland Trail, a 529-yard par 5 requiring a well-placed tee shot.
No. 14: The third hole at Blackhawk Golf Club, a 431-yard par 4 requiring a well-struck shot from a downhill lie.
No. 15: No. 11 at Chapel Hill, a 399-yard par 4 that makes one want to muscle the second shot even when they know it's a bad idea.
No. 16: The fourth hole at Indian Springs Golf Club, a 432-yard par 4 that doesn't need any tricks to trip you up.
No. 17: The fifth hole at East Golf Club, a 155-yard par 3 protected by water and a devilish green.
No. 18: No. 16 at The Players Club at Foxfire, a 426-yard uphill par 4 with a blind second shot to a narrow and dangerous green.

* * *

WOODS UPDATE: Tiger Woods posted on his website yesterday that he has added the British Open to his summer schedule. He has a chance to become the first player in the 150-year history of the British Open to win three times at St. Andrews, where golf's oldest championship will be held July 15-18. His two previous titles on the Old Course came in 2000 and 2005.

Woods, who withdrew from the final round of The Players Championship on May 9 with a neck injury, also has the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and the AT&T National at Aronimink on his schedule. He has not yet entered Jack Nicklaus' Memorial tournament, where he is the defending champion.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this post.

Scott victory offers hope to others

Oldgolfdawg was glad to see that Australian Adam Scott prevailed in the Valero Texas Open yesterday at the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course. After spending much of a drive from Stow to Columbus thinking about his own missed opportunities on the greens of Silver Lake Country Club earlier in the day, Oldgolfdawg found it encouraging to learn after he arrived home that a player battling putting demons had ended a two-year victory drought with a 66-67 finish on the final day of a tournament delayed by a deluge of rain on Friday.

Scott's one-shot victory over Fredrik Jacobson came despite the fact that he bogeyed two of his first three holes to fall four shots off the lead on his way to a third-round 66. Scott then built his lead with six birdies on his way to a closing 67 to finish at 14-under 274. His 11-under performance on the 36-hole final day earned him $1,098,000 and was good for his seventh PGA Tour victory, his first since winning the 2008 Byron Nelson Classic.

More than anything, the victory was an affirmation that his game has finally come back to him after the worst season of his career in 2009. The 29-year-old Australian, once ranked as high as No. 3 in the world, has been working hard to improve his putting, which has always been the Achilles Heel of his game. The hard work paid off in San Antonio as Scott missed just one putt from inside 6 feet all week. The miss was on the final hole, but luckily for him it didn't come back to haunt him or ruin his feel-good story.

The comeback road for Scott, always known as a good ball-striker, began last year when Greg Norman selected him for The Presidents Cup and then continued late in the year when he won in Australia. But it was an impromptu putting lesson from Dave Stockton the Friday of the Quail Hollow Championship that turned him around for his success in San Antonio.

“He said he could fix me in 15 minutes and he was right,” Scott told CBS Sports after his victory yesterday. “The game is a lot more fun when you’re making putts.”

Oldgolfdawg would dare anyone to disagree with that statement. Making putts certainly helped Scott deliver one of the best performances of his career yesterday.

“When you get hot, sometimes it’s good to play 36,” Scott said. “You want to just keep going and going. I was really struggling with my putting and that was bringing the rest of my game down.”

Oldgolfdawg can relate to that sentiment. Luckily the weather was great and the company of old friends Dennis Altieri and Cornelius Bulman was even better during Oldgolfdawg's round at Silver Lake CC. Time spent playing golf with good friends is priceless no matter how many train wrecks occur on the greens.

Victories like Scott's are inspiring. The only way to overcome putting problems is to keep working at it like Scott, who recorded his first top-10 finish this year, two weeks after he missed the cut at Quail Hollow and tied for 26th at The Players Championship.

Information from PGATOUR.com contributed to this post.

New course spices start of Texas swing

No one knows what to expect when the Valero Texas Open begins today in San Antonio, not even defending champion Zach Johnson, who will be trying to score a three-peat in the fourth-oldest tournament on the PGA Tour schedule. One might think Johnson would have an edge, but the event is being played on a course that just opened in January, a twist that leaves everyone guessing on how things will unfold as the tour begins a three-tournament swing through Texas.

Last year the tournament, which has gone through 16 name changes while maintaining ties to San Antonio, moved to the spring from the fall for the first time since 1972 as the tour revamped its schedule. Johnson made a birdie on the first playoff hole to top James Driscoll at The Resort at La Cantera, which had played host to the event since 1995. This year the event is moving to the new TPC San Antonio (AT&T Oaks Course) and Johnson will try to win it a third straight time against a field that includes only two of the top 25 players on the PGA Tour money list (Ernie Els and J.B. Holmes).

In the past, the tournament has been associated with low scoring. In 2003, Tommy Armour III shot a 254 at La Cantera to set the record for lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history. His score of 26 under was a tour record for par-70 courses. But that association is likely to end this week because the AT&T Oaks won't stand for any such assault, not with its course rating of 76.5 and a slope of 148.

The par-72 course, which can play at 7,522 yards, was designed by Greg Norman with Sergio Garcia acting as a player consultant. It features thick rough, tight fairways and three par 5s measuring more than 600 yards. It will be the second-longest course among primary PGA Tour stops so far this year, the longest being Torrey Pines South.

Johnson was four strokes worse last year in defense of his title but still managed a repeat. In 2008, he was 19 under in defeating Charlie Wi, Tim Wilkinson and Mark Wilson by two strokes. Johnson has yet to finish inside the top 10 in 11 PGA Tour starts this year and has managed just five finishes inside the top 25 this year after registering 16 in 2009. His biggest problem has been putting. His one-putt percentage is just 38.6, which ranks 61st on the tour.

Els, a two-time winner this year, will be making his first start in the tournament this week in an effort to pad his lead in the FedEx Cup standings. Garcia, who is seeking is first win since the 2008 Players Championship, will be making just his second career start in the Valero Texas Open. He finished 79th in 2003.

Three-time Valero Texas Open winner Justin Leonard will also be in the field along with Vijay Singh, Bo Van Pelt and Nick Watney. Golf Channel (today-Fri., 3-6 p.m.) and CBS (Sat.-Sun. 3-6 p.m.) will telecast the action.

WOODS INJURY UPDATE: After a magnetic resonance imaging yesterday in Orlando, Fla., it was determined that Tiger Woods has an inflamed facet joint in his neck. When the facet joints are inflamed, it causes pain in the affected area as well as headaches and difficulty rotating the head.

"I want to thank everyone for their caring and concern," Woods said on his website. "I now need to take care of this condition and will return to playing golf when I'm physically able."

Physical therapy, including soft-tissue massage, rest and anti-inflammatory medicine will be used to treat the injury. The prognosis for Woods is a full recovery, although a return date to competitive golf is contingent on how quickly the condition heals.

Information from GolfObserver.com, ESPN.com, PGATOUR.com and TigerWoods.com contributed to this post.

Woods confirms split with Haney

In a short statement released yesterday, Tiger Woods confirmed his split with swing coach Hank Haney and thanked his former instructor.

"Hank Haney and I have agreed that he will no longer be my coach," Woods said on his website. "Hank is an outstanding teacher and has been a great help to me, but equally importantly he is a friend. That will not change. I would like to thank him for all he has done for me the past six years."

When Woods first employed Haney their relationship was kept secret for months so it is unlikely another swing coach will be named to replace Haney in the near future. Rumors have linked Woods and Sean Foley, an Orlando-based instructor who works with Sean O'Hair and Hunter Mahan, but Foley has denied any future arrangement is in the works.

Under Haney's guidance, Woods posted 57 top-10 finishes in 78 tournaments starting in 2005.




MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT: Masters champion Phil Mickelson has committed to play in Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament next month. The world's No. 2-ranked player will be making his 11th appearance in the tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club, which runs from June 3-6.

Mickelson, who skipped the tournament a year ago after complaining the rough was too thick, has two top-10 finishes in his previous trips to the Memorial. The addition of Mickelson gives the tournament nine of the top 10 money-winners on the PGA Tour. Tim Clark, winner of The Players Championship last weekend, also has committed to playing in the Memorial.

Woods, a four-time winner of the Memorial, has yet to commit to this year's event after withdrawing from The Players Championship last week with a neck injury.

Information from ESPN.com and the Associated Press contributed to this post.

Woods' world shaken further by Haney decision

TV analyst Johnny Miller should be happy to learn swing coach Hank Haney has resigned as Tiger Woods' coach. Haney made his decision known in a statement to the Golf Channel last night.

Miller had suggested that Woods' swing was out of whack because of his relationship with Haney and that the world's No. 1-ranked player would be better off returning to some of his old swing habits learned while under the tutelage of swing coach Butch Harmon. Woods had shrugged off the notion during The Players Championship last weekend, but apparently Haney had grown tired of the criticism and constant focus that troubles with Woods' swing brought him.

"I have informed Tiger Woods this evening that I will no longer be his coach," Haney said in his statement. "I would like to thank Tiger for the opportunity that I have had to work with him over the past six-plus years. Tiger Woods has done the work to achieve a level of greatness that I believe the game of golf has never seen before and I will always appreciate the opportunity I have had to contribute to his success.

"However, I believe at this time that it is in both our interests for me to step aside as Tiger's coach. Just so there is no confusion, I would like to make it clear that this is my decision. Tiger and I will always be friends but I believe there is a time and place for everything and I feel at this time and at this place in my life I want to move forward in other areas."

Haney's decision probably caught Woods off guard. During a news conference yesterday at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa., to promote his July 1-4 AT&T National in suburban Philadelphia, Woods said that he was working on his swing.

"I talked to Hank about some of the stuff. We're still working on it," he said. "We have a lot of work to do. I can't make the movements that I made before because of the neck. I need to get healthy to play the proper way."

Woods withdrew from The Players Championship in the middle of the final round on Sunday after completing six holes, citing a neck injury.

Woods said in yesterday's news conference there is "zero connection" between the neck pain that forced him to withdraw from The Players and his Nov. 27 car accident. He also added that his neck started bothering him two weeks before the Masters, his first competition in five months. Woods brushed it off as "no big deal" until it kept getting worse.

"I'm at a point now where I just can't go anymore," he said. "I want to practice, I want to play, I want to compete, but this is not allowing me to do the things that I need to do on my golf swing to hit the proper shots. I need to get to where I can do that again."

Woods said he's been taking anti-inflammatory drugs, but they have not helped. He plans to have a magnetic resonance imaging when he returns to Orlando, Fla. He indicated that his schedule is "up in the air" and could be shaped based on what the MRI reveals.

In November, Woods was briefly hospitalized after he crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his home, resulting in a sore neck and a cut lip. Yesterday, Woods insisted he can deal with the pain, which he feels in the right side of his neck, but cannot deal with the spasms that affect his ability to turn his head.

"For me not to play all 18 holes, that was as angry and as frustrated as I've been in a long time," Woods said of withdrawing from The Players. It was Woods' first withdrawal from a tournament since the Nissan Open at Riviera in 2006.

Woods said he never reached a point until this weekend where he felt he needed more serious treatment on his neck to alleviate the pain.

"It's possible one of the reasons I think this thing flared up is because I wasn't conditioned to it," he said. "I'd been away from the game for such a long time, then came back and ramped up really quickly in order to try and play the Masters. The body wasn't quite ready for that."

After tying for fourth in the Masters, Woods looked lost on the course as he missed the cut at Quail Hollow on April 30 with the highest 36-hole score of his career.

He was noncommittal about playing the U.S. Open on June 17-20.

"I'm trying everything I can to get back as soon as I can," Woods said.

Whenever that is, it apparently will be without Haney.

Information from ESPN.com, PGATOUR.com, and the Associated Press contributed to this post.

Clark upstages the big boys

South African Tim Clark used a brilliant 5-under-par 67 final round to prevail in the battle of bridesmaids yesterday, winning the $9.5 million Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., by one stroke over Australian Robert Allenby.

Clark, who started the day three strokes behind overnight leader Lee Westwood, produced the day's best round in demanding conditions at the Sawgrass TPC in earning his first PGA Tour victory after finishing second eight times on the circuit. He finished at 16-under 272, spurred on by a string of birdies starting at No. 9 and ending at No. 12 that staked him to a lead he did not relinquish.

Allenby, who closed with a 70, could not pick up a birdie on the final two holes that he needed to force a playoff and finished second for the fifth time since 2008. Lucas Glover (70) claimed third at 14 under. Westwood, the Brit who keeps knocking on the door of a major victory, crashed and burned when he double-bogeyed the treacherous 17th hole and finished with a 74, which left him sharing fourth place with Heath Slocum, Davis Love III, Bo Van Pelt and Ben Crane at 12-under.

With his victory, the diminutive Clark, nicknamed Penguin for the waddle in his walk, shed the tag of being the most successful player on the PGA Tour money-wise to have never won a tournament. The NBC television executives might have been hoping for a different kind of ending for this year's tournament, but Oldgolfdawg enjoyed pulling for the plucky underdog, the little guy battling for respect and redemption on one of the game's biggest stages. On an entertainment scale of 1 to 5, Oldgolfdawg would throw the outcome 4 dog biscuits.

Clark's stellar play, which included a 66-67 finish on baked greens, stole the show after world number one Tiger Woods created an early sensation yesterday -- even though he wasn't in contention -- when he withdrew complaining of neck pain that he said he feared could be caused by a bulging disk. Though he did make the cut, his withdraw marks the first time in his career that he didn't finish tournaments on back-to-back weekends.

Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson's bid to seize Woods' world number one ranking fizzled with a final-round 74 and a tie-for-17th-place finish. And the question of whether Rory McIlroy could build upon his victory at Quail Hollow was answered Friday when he missed the cut.

ESPN.com, and PGATOUR.com contributed to this post.

Greens at Blacklick Woods get green light

Returned to Blacklick Woods yesterday for a round of golf with Dennis "Dr. Feelgood" Fiely and Jeremy "Lynch Mob" Lynch. After issuing a warning two weeks ago that the greens were still recovering from an aeration, Oldgolfdawg is happy to report the putting surfaces have recovered and are in good condition.

The course, part of the Metropolitan Park system, is in great condition overall. We even saw a work crew edging a sand trap. The walking rate of $16 Monday through Thursday makes Blacklick Woods one of the best values in central Ohio.

Price is right at National Golf Links

Revisited National Golf Links yesterday for the first time in a long time during a round with Steve Blackledge and Mike Munden and had a very enjoyable time. We walked the links-style course for $18 and wore ourselves out chasing the pea.

The course, designed by Jody Kinney and opened in 1995, plays 7,200 yards long from its longest tees with a rating of 74.2 and a slope of 138. That was a bit more than we wanted to try to chew so we opted for the white tees, which played 6,618 yards long with a course rating of 71.5 and a 132 slope.

The large greens were in good shape and rolled nicely. The fairways were in decent shape but nothing to brag about. The rough was ... well, kind of rough in spots and the traps weren't anything to brag about either. The course management was very pleasant and appreciative of its patrons. If you like links-style golf and don't demand pristine conditions, this course is a viable option, especially because of its reasonable prices.

I enjoyed the layout, especially the back nine, which included several drives off elevated tees and a couple of difficult par 4s (Nos 11, 15). But overall I didn't feel the course merited the 3 dog biscuits I gave it in my original ranking of best places to play in central Ohio. By the number of cars in the parking lot, it would seem as I wasn't alone in that assessment.

http://www.nationalgolflinks.org/

Here is Oldgolfdawg's updated Best-places-to-play-in-central-Ohio list, ranked on a scale of 1 to 5 dog biscuits:

5 dog biscuits: Longaberger (the alpha dog)
4 1/2 dog biscuits: East Golf Club (another classic Arthur Hills layout)
4 dog biscuits: Cooks Creek, Cumberland Trail, EagleSticks, Deer Ridge, Golf Club of Dublin, The Players Club at Foxfire
3 1/2 dog biscuits: *Apple Valley, Bent Tree, Blacklick Woods, Chapel Hill, Champions, Granville, Indian Springs, New Albany Links, The Links at Echo Springs, Royal American Links
3 dog biscuits: Darby Creek, Glenross, Mill Creek, Turnberry, Westchester
2 1/2 dog biscuits: Blackhawk, Crystal Springs Golf Club, National Golf Links, Mentel Memorial, *Licking Springs, Raymond Memorial, Safari Golf Club, *St. Albans, *Table Rock
2 dog biscuits: *Airport, *Oakhaven, *Bridgeview, Marysville Golf Club, *Minerva Lake
1 1/2 dog biscuits: *Wilson Road, *Big Walnut (executive courses)
1 dog biscuit: Let's not go there
* Indicates Oldgolfdawg has not played the course in more than five years and needs feedback from others to adjust any ranking.

The Players will answer a lot of questions

There will be numerous storylines to consider when play begins today in the 37th edition of The Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and all of them are juicy.

Early on the focus will be on Tiger Woods to see if he can bounce back from missing the cut last week. Woods' missed cut at Quail Hollow came by eight strokes, the widest margin of his career. The previous worst was three, at the 2005 Disney tournament and 2006 U.S. Open.

In practice rounds earlier this week, Woods still appeared to be struggling to find his past form and that might not bode well. The TPC Sawgrass has never been one of his favorite courses and chances are good that he'll struggle if he can't get his game under control because architect Pete Dye's course design ruthlessly punishes imprecision. Since winning The Players Championship in 2001, Woods has played the Stadium course six times and only finished in the top 10 once, an eighth-place finish last year.

Much attention also will be paid to Phil Mickelson, who can bump Woods from the No. 1 spot in the world golf rankings with a victory and an-outside-the-top-five finish by Tiger. Mickelson has momentum on his side coming off his Masters victory and a second-place finish last week. But he wasn't ready to make any predictions during a pre-tournament news conference.

"It's every player's goal and intent to strive to be recognized as the No. 1 player in the world relative to the rankings," Mickelson said. "It's certainly something that I have been striving for but have not achieved yet. And so it would mean a lot to me.

"But for me to accomplish that, I can't focus on that. I've got to go out and get ready to play this golf course because it's not an easy challenge, and for me to have a chance to achieve No. 1, I've got to win. So I've got a lot of work ahead."

Besides Woods and Mickelson, the golf world will be closely watching Rory McIlroy, the freshest face on the PGA Tour. After barely making the cut last week, the just-turned 21-year-old from Northern Ireland finished with rounds of 66 and 62 to win the Quail Hollow Championship by four shots. Was his amazing performance down the stretch a fluke or a turning point in his career? Only time will tell. Before winning at Quail Hollow, McIlroy had just endured two missed cuts in Houston and at the Masters.

Defending champion Henrik Stenson will be trying to jump-start his season this week against a field that includes 40 of the top-50 ranked players in the world. Stenson shot a final-round 66 on baked-out greens last year to beat Ian Poulter by four shots. Of the 10 top-50 missing this year, Steve Stricker, Anthony Kim and Retief Goosen are hurt. Edoardo Molinari, Miguel A. Jimenez, Ryo Ishikawa, Yuta Ikeda, Louis Oosthuizen, Michael Sim and Soren Hanson have simply elected not to play.

One of the biggest oddities of The Players Championship is the fact that nobody has ever repeated as champion. Five players have won this event multiple times. Jack Nicklaus is the only three-time winner (1974, 1976, 1978). Two-time winners include Steve Elkington (1991, 1997), Hal Sutton (1983, 2000), Fred Couples (1984, 1996) and Davis Love (1992, 2003).

The tournament will be telecast by the Golf Channel (today: 1 p.m.-7 p.m.; Friday: 9 p.m.-12 a.m.) and NBC (Saturday: 2 p.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday: 2 p.m.-7 p.m.).

Information from PGATOUR.com, ESPN.com and GolfObserver.com contributed to this post.

Mill Creek deserves another biscuit

Got a kick out of playing the course that helped mold Ben Curtis into a British Open champion yesterday, and the chance to get together for a round with former Dispatch colleagues Mike Munden and Ray Belew at Mill Creek Golf Club in Ostrander produced a "Michelob Day."

The course, which Oldgolfdawg hadn't played in more than 20 years, was in great shape, the management could not have been nicer and the price to walk 18 holes was right at $20.00. What stood out to me the most was the great condition of the greens. Even though I had a tough time reading a lot of the breaks in them, the greens looked beautiful and rolled nicely.

My biggest regret was three-putting on the 18th green, where a young Curtis was sometimes found putting in his pajamas by family members. Curtis grew up in a house a stone's throw away from the 18th green and honed his skills at the course before going on to enjoy great success at Kent State and later joining the PGA Tour. Curtis won the British Open in 2003 at Royal St. George's when he sank about a 10-foot par putt on the final hole. He was on the practice range waiting for everyone else to finish when he learned he had won.

In my 25-plus years with The Dispatch, Curtis' British Open victory and Buster Douglas' upset of Mike Tyson in Japan were the two most memorable individual sports stories with local ties the newspaper covered. Curtis has gone on to have a solid PGA Tour career with more than $9 million in earnings. His best finish this year came in the Arnold Palmer Invitation at Bay Hill, where he finished sixth.

Oldgolfdawg needs a mulligan for throwing Mill Creek only 2 dog biscuits in his original list of best places to play in central Ohio. That was based on a faded memory. After playing the course yesterday, an adjustment has to be made because the course has aged like a fine wine. So Mill Creek is being upgraded from 2 dog biscuits to 3 in my latest rankings.

Mill Creek promotes itself in the following manner:

Opening in 1973 by Dwight and Myrtie Black, Mill Creek is one of the best conditioned family run courses in Central Ohio with a friendly staff that will serve you a great day of golf at an affordable price. The fairways are beautifully lined with mature trees and 5 ponds will test the shot making skill of all players. Located 10 minutes north of the Columbus Zoo, the Mill Creek Family and Staff welcome you to a club in the country.

During yesterday's round I didn't see one dandelion on a course that features 6,300 yards of golf from its longest tees and has a slope rating of 116. The layout is interesting but not overly penal. I also was impressed with how well maintained the tee boxes were. The bottom line on Mill Creek is that it is a great value and an enjoyable experience I would recommend to anyone.

Mickelson hopes to join elite club

Phil Mickelson will be trying to become only the 13th player to be No. 1 since the world golf rankings began in 1986 when he tees it up Thursday in The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

His second-place finish in the Quail Hollow Championship, secured by a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole, put him in position to overtake Tiger Woods, who has held the No. 1 ranking for five years. There is one catch. Woods has to finish outside the top five in order for there to be a changing of the guard. But considering how poorly Woods played at Quail Hollow in missing the cut, the chances of that happening appear to be good.

Apparently, the thought of losing the No. 1 ranking doesn't sit well with Woods. He arrived at the TPC Sawgrass course today for a practice round with Rod Pampling and Jay Haas. Practicing on the course of an upcoming event on a Monday is unusual for Woods, who has finished out of the top 20 at least five times in The Players Championship despite winning it in 2001.

These are difficult times for Woods. While various sources have reported he is facing an imminent divorce, a Sports Illustrated survey recently published indicates that one out of four players suspect Woods of using performance enhancing drugs. Seventy-one players took part in a series of poll questions, all on the condition of anonymity, and questions linger about his association with Dr. Anthony Galea. But Woods has never failed a PGA Tour drug test.

Some golf insiders also have been questioning Woods' relationship with swing coach Hank Haney despite the success he has had with the instructor's help since 2005. Under Haney's tutelage, Woods has won six major championships and has had more consistently high finishes that at any point in his career. But his swing problems at the Masters and last weekend's Quail Hollow Championship have once again turned up the scrutiny.

But before everyone buries Tiger and hands the No. 1 spot over to Mickelson, it should be noted that Woods has a history of bouncing back from missed cuts. After missing the cut at the 2006 U.S. Open, he won six of his next seven tournaments. He also won three of his next seven tournaments and finished second in three others after missing the cut at the 2009 British Open.

QUICK PITCH SHOTS: Rory McIlroy's final-round 62 at Quail Hollow created such a buzz in golf circles that some are calling it an historic turning point. That may be a bit over the top, but the four-shot victory over Mickelson did propel the young Irishman to No. 9 from No. 13 in the official world golf rankings released today. ... McIlroy's stunning victory wasn't the only noteworthy performance last weekend. Ryo Ishikawa fired a Japanese tour record 12-under-par 58 Sunday in winning the Crowns tournament in Nagoya, three years after he became the tour's youngest winner at 15. ... Ai Miyazato won for the third time in just five LPGA events in 2010 when she shot a 67 and edged Stacy Lewis by one shot and Michelle Wie by two in the Tres Marias tournament in Mexico. Lorena Ochoa, in her last tournament before stepping away from the LPGA Tour to pursue other interests, finished sixth, handing over the No. 1 spot in women's golf to Jiyai Shin, who won in Japan. Shin became the first person to hold that spot since Ochoa took it over in April of 2007. ... Finally, Alvaro Quiros joined Seve Ballesteros and Sergio Garcia as the only home winners of the Open de Espana since 1972 when he beat James Morrison on the first hole of a playoff.

Information from GolfObserver.com, ESPN.com, PGATOUR.com, Golf.com and the Associated Press contributed to this post.

McIlroy victory freshens golf landscape

Rory McIlroy's brilliant 10-under-par 62 finish in capturing the Quail Hollow Championship today stole the spotlight from runner-up Phil Mickelson and added an exclamation point to the coming out party of a fast-rising Irish star two days shy of his 21st birthday.

McIlroy's course-record 62 included a back nine 30 that saw him record 3s on his last six holes, an amazing accomplishment considering the last three holes at Quail Hollow Golf Club are considered among the toughest three-hole-finishing stretches on the PGA Tour. His first victory in the United States solidified his status as one of the game's most promising players and even prompted CBS announcer Jim Nantz to wonder if we will look back on this tournament as a watershed moment in the sport.

Only time will tell if the likable McIlroy will continue to climb to the top of the world golf rankings, but his scintillating breakthrough victory on U.S. soil coming on the same weekend that Tiger Woods missed his first cut in a regular PGA Tour event since 2005 made it easy to wonder if a glimpse of golf's new world order was beginning to take shape.

Mickelson narrowed the gap on Woods' lead in the world golf rankings with his second-place finish and could move into the top spot with a victory this week in the Players Championship and another outside-the-top-five finish by Woods. McIlroy, ranked 13th in the world entering the Quail Hollow Championship, will move into the top 10 for the second time in his career when the new rankings are released Monday.

McIlroy sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to finish in style and bring a roar of approval from the gallery gathered around the final hole. He finished at 15-under 273 and won $1.17 million.

"I suppose I got into the zone," McIlroy told CBS analyst David Feherty afterward. "I hadn't realized I was going in 9, 10 under. I just know I got my nose in front and I was just trying to stay there."

Mickelson, expected to face Woods in the showdown of the No. 1- and No. 2-ranked players in the world at the start of the tournament, appeared in good position to challenge for the lead until he had to play a right-handed shot from the woods on the 10th hole and made bogey. When he finally got around to making a charge, McIlroy was too far ahead. Mickelson closed with a 68, which he figured would be good enough to win, and finished four shots back.

"I've got to congratulate Rory," Mickelson said. "He played some incredible golf. He's an amazing talent. You knew he was going to come out and win out here. He is some kind of player."

Two-time major winner Angel Cabrera was tied for the lead with eight holes to play until his putter let him down. The former Masters and U.S. Open champion missed five putts inside 10 feet on the back nine and shot 68 to finish alone in third five shots back.

Oldgolfdawg didn't watch McIlroy's amazing closing round unfold so he won't offer a critique on its entertainment value. But he knows he picked a bad week to attend a Quarter Century Club gathering sponsored by his former employer. From watching the tournament highlights and catching the last half-hour of the telecast, it appears McIlroy put on a truly memorable performance.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this post.

Crystal Springs is a fun thrill ride

Forrest Gump's momma was right when she said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." As Oldgolfdawg pulled into the parking lot of Crystal Springs Golf Club yesterday for a round with old friend Scott Minister, he was afraid he might be sinking his teeth into something he might regret.

At first glance, Crystal Springs looks like a former goat ranch decorated with colored flag sticks scattered here and there. But I was determined to keep an open mind after being labeled a "golf snob" by old friend Steve Blackledge, and I'm glad I did. As Scott and I began to play and the round progressed, it became clear to me why he had labeled Crystal Springs "a poor man's EagleSticks." This mom-and-pop golf course located in the boonies of Hopewell, just off of Old U.S. Rt. 40, was like a roller-coaster ride, with potential thrills and spills all over the place. And the price was right, just $22 including the cart.

The front nine, in particular, features an abundance of elevated tee shots into valleys that are filled with danger for balls hit astray. The elevation changes, much like EagleSticks Golf Club in Zanesville, are what really make Crystal Springs fun and challenging. The seventh, eighth and ninth holes are beautifully designed and feature elevated tees that produce shots that are really fun to watch as they free fall into the distance.

The back nine, with the exception of Nos. 10 and 18, doesn't have as many dramatic shots because it takes on the characteristics of a links course. But the holes are very exposed to any wind that might be blowing and certainly are not pushovers. The 15th hole, a 288-yard, par-4 dog-leg left, departs from the links style mode and is reachable with a tee shot. But the tee shot is fraught with danger because of three well-placed sand traps and the fact that trees line the fairway where the dog-leg begins to bend.

From the back tees, the par-71 course plays 6,493 yards long. It carries a course rating of 70.1 with a 125 slope. It features just two par 5s and three par 3s. The par 3s are difficult, with Nos. 4 (176 yards) and 6 (228 yards) being all uphill and No. 14 (206 yards) being long and usually into the wind from a somewhat elevated tee.

Overall, the course maintenance was credible except for taking care of the sand traps, which were basically in a state of disrepair. Scott and I ruled we would just consider them ground under repair and wondered why they just didn't make them grass bunkers if they weren't going to take better care of them. Beyond that, the greens rolled nicely despite an occasional splotch here and there and the ball sat up nicely in the fairways.

On a scale of 1 to 5 in terms of desirability, Oldgolfdawg would throw the course 2 1/2 dog biscuits based mostly on its interesting layout. It's a 47-mile drive east from downtown Columbus to Crystal Springs and, for that reason, it doesn't deserve to rank high on anyone's must-play list. But if you're in that area and can't get a tee time to EagleSticks, a round at Crystal Springs is a good option to consider.