More than just Hope

After two weeks in Hawaii, the PGA Tour moves back to the mainland this week and kicks off its West Coast swing today with the start of the 90-hole Bob Hope Classic in La Quinta, Calif. While steeped in tradition, the birdie-binge in the desert has become more of a fun-fest for celebrities than a showcase of the game's best players.

The starring act on golf's stage this week is the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship where Charl Schwartzel will try to become the first player to win three consecutive European Tour events since Seve Ballesteros in 1986 when play begins Thursday.

Thirteen players in Abu Dhabi are ranked higher than the highest-ranked player at the Hope. The highest-ranked player at the Hope is Mike Weir, currently 37th in the world. The highest-ranked player in Abu Dhabi is Lee Westwood, who is fourth. The Hope will have eight of the world's top 50 players. Abu Dhabi will have 18.

Schwartzel, a 25-year-old South African, is coming off victories in the Africa Open and Joburg Open. In two weeks, he has climbed from No. 66 in the world rankings to 35th. Those within the top 50 on the list before the Masters will be invited into its field. So it looks like Schwartzel is almost a lock to be at Augusta.

Though a lesser light, the show must go on at the Hope. The experts at PGATOUR.com went way out on a limb and picked Weir as their favorite to win the tournament. Oldgolfdawg wouldn't be surprised to see someone like Tim Clark or Charley Hoffman strike it rich.

Chasing a Tiger tale
The amazing disappearance of Tiger Woods has taken a new twist. A story by Associated Press reporter Chris Talbott moved on the wire early this morning stating his attempts to verify a report by ESPN have come up empty. Yesterday, ESPN offered up the following report on its Web sites:

Tiger Woods is receiving treatment at a sex rehabilitation clinic in Mississippi, Benoit Denizet-Lewis, author of a book titled "America Anonymous: Eight Addicts in Search of a Life" and himself a recovering sex addict, wrote on his personal blog Monday, citing an unnamed source.

Denizet-Lewis says he spent some time at Pine Grove Behavioral Health & Addiction Services in Hattiesburg a few years ago while writing his book and that is where he says Woods is receiving treatment.

Last week, Radar Online and Jackson, Miss., television stations WJTV and WLBT reported through sources that Woods was at the Hattiesburg clinic. Officials at the clinic have not confirmed that Woods is there, and ESPN independently has not been able to confirm that Woods is at the clinic.

Denizet-Lewis, who has written for the New York Times Magazine and other publications, writes that he spent some time at the clinic a few years ago while working on his book and writes that the programs at the clinic include group therapy sessions and family and couple's therapy, so if Woods "and his wife, Elin, are serious about repairing the marriage, she will be spending some time in treatment with Tiger."

Though unable to find Woods in Hattiesburg himself, Talbott did confirm that there have been more reports of Woods being spotted there than similar reports on Elvis. Oldgolfdawg thinks that should tell you something.