Stuart Appleby tries to outhit a speeding Lamborghini

By Jay Busbee

Stunt marketing time! To help celebrate the debut of its new Diablo Octane Driver, Callaway pressed Stuart Appleby into service against a shiny 550-hp Lamborghini Gallardo. The challenge: Could Appleby's Octane-enhanced drive outdistance the Lamborghini over 275 yards? Let's find out:

Callaway and Lamborghini developed the Forged Composite used in the club's crown. Both car and club are on sale right now, though one is slightly cheaper than the other. Slightly.

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Martin Kaymer joins the growing list of stars staying in Europe

It's a growing story, and an even bigger problem, as another one of the top golfers in the world has decided to stick to Europe in 2011 instead of coming over to the states for competition.

Martin Kaymer, current PGA Champion and third-ranked player in the world, has announced he will be sticking mostly to the European Tour next season instead of focusing his game on the PGA Tour, where he has only the lone win.

The German-born player said he feels more comfortable on the European Tour, and will stay on that side of the pond for most of the year.

Kaymer is the third big-name player to do this, after Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy announced their intent to stick to the European Tour in 2011, with Ian Poulter still threatening to play most of his schedule in Europe. That means four of the top-11 players in the world would be opting out of PGA Tour play, meaning the talent pool that has always swayed the PGA Tour's way is in serious limbo and could eventually lean towards the Euros.

The PGA Tour faces a real problem here, and it seems not a lot are addressing it. While sponsors are slowly making their way back to golf, it seems a tougher sale if most of the top names are competing elsewhere.

The only positive is the buzz that will surround the four major championships. While they're always the best events of the season anyway, having all these names together for just a short list of events means the majors will be all that more exciting.

No matter, in just a few short seasons, with the uprising of talent in Europe, this could be the trend that'll be tough to buck, mostly because everyone enjoys their own bed over a hotel, and being able to play golf near home is just an advantage the PGA Tour won't be able to offer Europeans ... ever.

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Is it possible that Thanksgiving '09 was good for Tiger Woods?

shanebacon. 

Fight, fire hydrant, floodgates. That was the order of events for Tiger Woods at this time a year ago, when he went from "most popular athlete in the world that everyone knew nothing about" to "golfer that was hated by most, because he tricked us all into believing something he wasn't."

He ruined his reputation. He tarnished his legacy. He mutilated his marriage. But, what if all this ends up helping Tiger? What if that horrible Thanksgiving a season ago ends up being the best thing that ever happened to Mr. Woods?

You're probably shaking your head, and I can understand that. Nobody would ever look at events like this and think positive about them. Tiger went from beloved superstar to scumbag in a matter of one measly fire device, but look at what we're being told is going on.

Tiger speaks of being more at peace. He mentioned on Mike & Mike that he's not sure he'd be any different if all these facts didn't surface. He has mentioned he was confused, and frustrated and mad at the way he was acting. Is any of that true? Who knows, Tiger never really gives us a straight answer, but it does seem that these types of things come from the heart (and we're assuming in this paragraph that Woods does, in fact, have a heart). He says he's thankful for his kids, which I'm sure is true. He comments that he's still got the fire to take down Jack Nicklaus' major championship record, something he used to pin on his wall when he was a kid.

While 2010 wasn't really a good look at what the "new" Tiger could be (he was dealing with all of this, plus a divorce, and other personal stuff the entire season), 2011 might give us a better idea of exactly what this guy could be again, free from all the things that were floating in his head (and on his cell phone).

Since his knee surgery in 2008, Tiger hasn't won a major championship, and while it was easy to blame that on the injury before last Thanksgiving, it's easier to see now that maybe Tiger wasn't completely invested in these events like he used to be.

Now, am I naive enough to think that Tiger wasn't chasing women and texting multiple females at all times during his entire career? No, of course not. I'm sure as both a single and married man, Tiger spent a lot of his time balancing his "perfect" life with that other side, filled with porn stars and waitresses and whoever else made the cut.

But, free from that (and again, I'm assuming he isn't doing this as much anymore), maybe Tiger could be great again. Maybe 2011 is a year that Woods could approach with a free mind. Maybe that Buddhist bracelet thing he sold us on earlier this year could be true. Maybe he just needed to push all this behind him, move into a new home, get a new teacher, and re-create the talent we were used to seeing pre-Torrey Pines.

Or maybe not, but as a golf fan, I'm hopeful ... hopeful that the guy that we used to root for can once again be good at this sport, even if he can't be good at being a human. Does the Twitter campaign and the radio show appearances and the Newsweek article do anything to people that really follow this guy? No, we get that it's a PR push. But we can sit back, around a holiday set for thanks, and give thanks that at least Tiger is somewhat understanding what was missing for all these years.

If he changes it, we might see a different type of golfer next season. If not, we might be stuck with the watered-down version we got this season, and the PGA Tour, golf fans and sponsors alike don't want anything to do with that.

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Can Tiger Woods still catch Jack's 18?

It was the only number that meant anything to Tiger Woods since he was a kid. Forget the 100-plus PGA Tour wins. Forget the cut streak. Forget all of it. Tiger's career is measured in majors and majors only. When he won the Masters in 1997, people started to look at Jack Nicklaus' major championship record of 18 and think if Tiger could surpass it.

It seemd for a while that it wasn't even a question, but his recent troubles have caused us to reconsider. So, can Tiger get past his current number of 14 and do it? 

Here are some facts we examined back in August when Tiger used Ben Hogan as an example of the age he's at, and how many more he could win before it's all over. Tiger noted that Hogan won all of his majors at the age Tiger's currently at. 

You can take that point two ways. The first is to talk about how hard it is to examine a golfer that played in the '40s and '50s, but Phil Mickelson was very much like Hogan. 

People talk about Tiger's age, and how he is 34 and is sneaking past his prime. The thing is, Mickelson didn't start winning majors until he was 33, and has claimed four in the last six years. He's 40 now, and still very much a threat to take down a few more before his career is done. Also, Nicklaus won majors up to the age of 46, and we had a 59-year-old Tom Watson nearly sneak out of Turnberry with a British Open a year ago.

Is it likely that in 20 years, Tiger will be competing at majors? No, not really. What I am saying is that yes, it seems that at 34, Tiger can still win five majors before his career comes to a close. We've seen him win majors in bunches before, and while he is in a major slump (his last win was at the '08 U.S. Open), he still finished in the top five twice this season, with a chance at both the Masters and U.S. Open.

Tiger is still a great talent, but it takes a certain ability to win majors. He hasn't showed that lately, and if he went 2011 without another one, it would be really hard to imagine he could cash in on five more before his career really sputtered to a halt. 

It's weird that something off the golf course might have actually stopped Tiger at taking down one of the most famous (and unreachable) numbers in sports. If Woods can't beat Jack's record, it seems that nobody will ever be able to.

That is, until the next Tiger really shows up.

Related: Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods

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In the battle of the tours, PGA blinks before European

It seems the high-and-mighty PGA Tour might finally be realizing that it's not the only show in town. Like many a behemoth before it that assumed it would be at the top of the heap simply because it had always been at the top of the heap, the PGA Tour has been slow to adapt to the changing golf environment, but at last, change it has.

In its battle to assert supremacy over new No. 1 Lee Westwood, the PGA Tour is apparently the first one to blink. Westwood had been told he would only be permitted to play in 10 events in the United States, but he wanted to play in 11, counting the St. Jude Classic in Memphis. (He won the event last year.) But the PGA Tour said he could play in only 10, right?

Guess what? Westwood is going to be playing in 11 events.

The fact that the PGA Tour backed down is significant, as it generally only rolls over like that for Tiger Woods. But it's yet another signal that the tour is realizing that it may not hold ultimate domination over the world of golf. With Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter all deciding to play significant stretches of their 2011 schedule overseas, the tour finds itself bereft of many of the most talented players in golf.

Certainly, everyone still wants to play in the United States; many of the world's finest tournaments are still here, along with most of the world's golf legends. But the PGA Tour has to continue to recognize that what has brought them to this point won't bring them any further. It's a new world out there, and it's not completely enamored of the PGA Tour.

US concessions to Lee Westwood show strength of European Tour

What do the LPGA ladies say inside the ropes?

By Jay Busbee

LPGA legend Juli Inkster got mic'd up during the recent Lorena Ochoa Invitational. What did she have to say? Hear her expound on putting lines, peanut butter n' jelly, and oh so much more:

We need much more of this. I'm thinking Anthony Kim after a late night out would be a joy to hear.

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Tiger Woods' stint in Australia spells out his season

In the third round of the Australian Masters, the uber-famous golfer in the fitted Nike golf shirt and flawlessly clean golf shoes walked to the first hole hoping to make up some ground. He hit two good shots on the first hole and was hoping to make birdie for the third straight day, but missed a 5-footer. Then Tiger Woods three-putted the second hole, and so on, and so on, until he was in the clubhouse with a disappointing 71, falling 10 shots behind a leader nobody's heard of.

That is the thing about Tiger this season. Like a basketball player that loses his legs, or a baseball player that doesn't have the same pop on his throws to first, we don't totally grasp what is happening until it has happened for a long, long time. Finally, we collectively realize they aren't the same player anymore, a "doh" moment that happens to the best of athletes (think Michael Jordan on the Wizards). Do we want to keep seeing them perform? Of course, they're legends. Is it a JV version of what they used to do? Absolutely, no chance that guy would make varsity.

All season, I've been a big advocate for Tiger being fine, just needing a season to find his game, get his life back on pace, and work everything out with his new instructor. But, the past couple of weeks have made me doubt my stance, and this week has been the cherry on top to my thinking. Maybe Tiger won't ever be the same. For golf, that's a scary thing.

Look at just a few of the obvious factors in this. Tiger is currently tied in a tournament with names like Aaron Townsend, Paul Sheehan and Kurt Barnes. At an event he won last season by two strokes, Tiger isn't even in the hunt.

He will end 2010 without a win for the first time in his career. It's the first season ever that Tiger didn't win a World Golf Championships event, dating back to their inception in 1999. This is only the second time in his career that Tiger finished outside the top 20 in the last two majors in a season.

But all that you know. He has had a HORRIBLE year, probably the worst of his life. He's been called names, heckled, divorced, berated, and for the first time in his career, questioned.

Still, when you see this Tiger walk the golf course, it just isn't the same guy. His confidence seems shot. His ability to let the round come to him seems gone. He is grinding like a guy that knows it isn't there. He doesn't seem like he even believes he can do it anymore.

Tiger will turn 35 at the end of next month, and while he keeps hiding behind the fact that Ben Hogan didn't win all his majors until after 34, the fact is, it isn't 1946 anymore, and Tiger isn't the most dominant golfer in the game like Hogan used to be. He has become just another good golfer, that has the ability to woo audiences with his shot-making, yet crush our hearts with his missed putt that would have taken his round from good to Tiger-y.

I expect on Sunday, Woods will close with a good score in Australia, just like he opened with an impressive number in the first round at Augusta, which seemed like a decade ago. He will toy with us once more, make us think he found something, and possibly leave us from competitive tournaments for the season with a taste in our mouth like he could be back in 2011.

But what if he's not? What if he's done? That's scary, but for the first time ever, I'm talking myself into it.

UPDATE: Australian Stuart Appleby won the Australian Masters at 10-under. Tiger Woods shot a 6-under 65 and finished three shots back.

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Check out Tiger Woods' sparkly new $50 million bachelor pad

jaybusbee.

If you happen to be a single dude in south Florida and you think you're going to impress the ladies with your car or your oceanfront condo, you might just want to pack it in now. Tiger Woods is in town, friends, and his place has room to store yours in a forgotten corner of the attic.

Behold Tiger Woods' personal Xanadu, the recently completed $50 million estate in Jupiter Island, Florida. In this aerial photograph, commissioned by Jeff Lichtenstein Realty, you can clearly see not only the $35 million original estate but much of the $15 million sunk into improvements. As FanHouse noted when Woods purchased the property in 2007, the original estate was 9,729-square feet on a 12-acre lot. The additions included a 6,400-square-foot gym/media room/bar, as well as an elevator, a reflecting pond, and a slim lap pool.  

Tiger Woods closes with 65, all smiles in Australia

Glimpses. That's what Tiger Woods gives us. He toys with us at times, coming out on a random day in Australia, posts an absolutely glorious 6-under 65 just so we know, "Yep, I'm still not dead."

I wrote on Saturday that Tiger would probably do this. He'd probably close strong in Australia just so we all wouldn't forget him before his competitive season ends. Starting on a hole he had birdied the first two days, Tiger made a bogey, and added another bogey on the eighth, before he turned his game to another notch. He turned in an even-par 35, making it seem like it would be another forgettable Woods round to add to this long season, but he did something we were used to in the past, not so much anymore: He turned. it. on.

Tiger closed with two birdies and two eagles, posting a 6-under 30 on his final nine holes in Australia to move to fourth place, a respectable finish for Woods this season (I say that because a year ago, a fourth-place finish would be means for red lights and sirens, but at this point is a step in the right direction for Tiger).

What can we take from this? Nothing, really. He played well in one round to finish high enough in a watered-down event that was so B Team to the Singapore Open that Adam Scott, an Australian, decided to play in Singapore instead of his home country.

But, still, it's progress, and Tiger will again let the media know in his next press conference that he really feels he's going in the right direction, or whatever else cliche phrase he feels like pulling out that day.

Tiger Woods. Sixty-five. Australian Masters. Hey, it's something!

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Couples, Norman name Presidents vice-caps, including ol' No. 23

With the epic Ryder Cup now fading in our collective rear-view mirrors, it's now time for the Ryder's oft-neglected little brother, the Presidents Cup, to take center stage. In 2011, Fred Couples will captain the United States against Greg Norman's non-European world squad. It's a rematch, captainly speaking, of 2009, in which the United States threw a beatdown on the world.

And since you don't mess with a hot hand, Couples will bring back his two vice-captains, Jay Haas and some other guy. You know Haas; nine PGA Tour wins and three senior majors, among his many other accomplishments. The other guy -- fella by the name of Michael Jordan -- is a more curious choice, as he can barely break 80. It's a choice that'll surely meet with some controversy in Charlotte, but hey, whatever works, right?

On the International side, Norman selected Frank Nobilo, now best known as a Golf Channel commentator but for a brief period a legit threat in golf. Norman has indicated that he'll name his other vice-captain next year, and it'll be a non-golfer who'll match up with Jordan. (I vote for Allen Iverson. Or Jordan's ex-wife's lawyers. Or any Double-A level pitcher from the early '90s.)

The tournament takes place next November. Mark your calendars now!

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With Presidents Cup invite, are Michael Jordan's priorities right?

This is a golf blog, and we know you come here for news on that little white ball, but give us a second to report something about another round ball. Michael Jordan, basketball Hall of Famer and well-known golf enthusiast, has been named to his second Presidents Cup team as a vice-captain for Fred Couples in 2011.

Last year, Jordan was part of a winning squad that took home the cup -- which pits Americans against an international squad -- for the third straight time, and Couples, a good friend of Michael, decided to add him again.

Jordan is now 47, long retired from his athlete days, but is still involved in a lot of opportunities, including a majority ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats. Now, nobody can dog the way Jordan played basketball, he will most likely go down as the best ever, but as an owner, he's left plenty to be desired. So, this raises a simple question: Should Jordan continue to put himself in these types of situations when the Bobcats continue to struggle?

Since MJ has been involved with the Bobcats, they've had one winning season, in 2009, and are 6-11 this season. Their roster gives them little chance to do much past the first round in the playoffs if they even make it that far, and that seems to be a trend that will continue. If you're a Charlotte fan (all six of you), aren't you perturbed when you see that Jordan again is going to partake in a golf event that, let's face is, is more exhibition than exhilarating (and that's not to say we don't love the Presidents Cup, but it will always be second to the Ryder Cup)?

Maybe it's a reason to let Jordan and Couples hang out a few times a year without much excuse. When Jordan played in the U.S. Open Challenge, Freddie caddied for him. I'm sure having friends around that understand competitiveness and can fire up a squad is helpful, and honestly, Jordan can do whatever he wants, but the Presidents Cup is in the middle of November next season, right when the NBA is heating up.

Wouldn't the Bobcats rather have Jordan around firing them up rather than him being in Australia at some golf tournament? You'd have to think so.

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Quietly, Martin Kaymer becomes best young talent since Tiger

In four weeks, Martin Kaymer will turn 26. Young for any sport not named women's tennis, Kaymer has put together a pretty respectable resume for himself since turning pro in 2005.

Kaymer has shot 59 in a professional event, won seven European Tour events, been a member of a winning Ryder Cup team, moved up to third in the world rankings, won a major championship and, on Sunday, took home the Race to Dubai, the award given to the top European Tour member.

Along with that, Kaymer became the first European to win three successive tournaments since Nick Faldo did so in 1989, and just this season, went from "solid golfer that is on a short-list to win big events" to "greatest young player since Tiger Woods."

Yep, as us golf writers spent months and months rambling on about Rory McIlroy, Ryo Ishikawa, Anthony Kim and Rickie Fowler, Kaymer was going about his business. He finished in the top-eight in the last three majors in 2010 after missing the cut at the Masters, and his win at the PGA Championship really solidified his position.

Could Kaymer get to number one in the world at some point next season? Absolutely, he has all the tools to move there, and has played well enough in the past to keep the momentum going. He led the European Tour in stroke average this year, along with finishing in the top-35 in all the major statistical categories.

So why is it so easy to forget about Kaymer? Maybe it's because a lot of these other young players have a bit more appeal. While Martin appears to be a genuinely nice guy, you can't help but root for the McIlroys and Kims of the world.

Kaymer is just another quiet, solid player that could win six or seven majors before this is all said and done. Like I've written before, at this point, for a young player to win a major, they're probably going to have to fall into it. There is so much pressure on the leaders as they head into the final day, that without the experience of a win at one of the big four, it is really tough to control your emotions.

Kaymer got lucky at the PGA Championship, but if not for his solid play to end, he wouldn't have been there to land in a playoff to begin with. His win just means he's a step up on all the other young players, and he's now a force in golf that won't be going away anytime soon.

Related: Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy, Anthony Kim, Ryo Ishikawa, Rickie Fowler, Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods

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Tiger Woods' Dubai golf course plans are on shifting sand

There was a time when the touch of Tiger Woods was finer than Midas, bringing wave upon wave of profit and adulation to whatever product or service bore his name.

But all that changed a year ago, and nowhere is the change more visibly apparent than in Dubai, where Woods had planned to build his first golf course. "Had" being the key word there. As The Guardian's Lawrence Donegan tells us, all is not right in Dubai for Mr. Woods: 

Drive for a mile over the speed bumps, past an abandoned security hut, until Tarmac becomes gravel and then another mile until the gravel becomes sand, and there it is: The Tiger Woods Dubai. The first golf course in world designed by the man many consider, or at least considered, the greatest ever to play the game.

Read the three-year-old press releases and gasp at the numbers. Fifty-five million square feet. Two hundred "residences" – £7m villas, £10m mansions and "palaces". A boutique hotel, a spa and a Michelin-starred restaurant. And then the centrepiece: the Al Ruwaya Golf Club. Eleven thousand imported trees; 22m cubic meters of earth to be moved; and 3m square feet of water. An 18-hole masterpiece hewn from the sand. All hail the winner of "best golf development" at the 2008 Arabian Properties Awards. Estimated total cost on completion: $1.1

Ian Poulter nearly became first Mr. 59 On European Tour

Before this season, only three men had broke the 60 mark on the PGA Tour. The sub-60 score is the number in golf, and while five men have now done it in the States, none have done it on the European Tour.

That nearly changed on Friday at the Hong Kong Open, when Ian Poulter shot a 10-under 60 in the second round to take the lead into the weekend, but more importantly, fire the lowest score of his career.

How good was it? Poulter was nine-under with four holes to play, and really though he'd reach that incredible 59 number before making three pars in a row, ending with a birdie.

It was Poulter's lowest score as a pro, and although he did have a chance to get even lower, it just wasn't going to happen.

"I would rank it pretty high to be honest," Poulter said. "I hit 61 in Italy in 2002 I think, so it’s my lowest round of golf to date, so I would have to rate it up there. I had a lot of chances today and I could have holed a couple more but it’s a good round of golf."

You'd think rounds of 67-60 would have him well ahead of the field, but the Hong Kong Golf Club seems to be yielding low scores. On Thursday, Mark Brown opened with 62, and while Poulter was putting the finishing touches on that 60, Anthony Kang was making his way around in 61 shots.

How could the Poulter round been better? If he had made a putt of this length, like he did last week at Singapore.

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Lee Westwood sets the record straight about his world ranking

Last week, Lee Westwood became the number one golfer in the world, replacing Tiger Woods from a stint he had atop the Official World Rankings for more than five years.

While the system isn't perfect, people are up in arms about how a guy with two PGA Tour wins in more than 12 years can be called the top golfer in the game. Butch Harmon was quoted as saying the system "sucks," being just one of many critics about the changing of the guard.

No matter, Westwood is the top golfer in the game, and he had some choice words about all the confusion after his third round 67 at the HSBC Champions that has him in the final group of Sunday, just a shot back of leader Francesco Molinari.

"I think people have their favorites. A lot of people get confused. A lot of people get confused about Major Championships and who is the most consistent player in the world."

I know that I haven't won a Major Championship. I'm very well aware of that. But I do know I've probably played the most consistent golf in the world over the last two years, and that reflects in my World Ranking. I think that's why people get -- it's not a complicated system. It's a good system and it's a fair system, and you don't hear the players complaining about it; so it must be right."

The bottom line is, Westwood is right. The world ranking system is what the golf world has to dance with, and there isn't much you can do about it. For two years it tried to track the best golfer, and for now, that's Westwood.

I will say this; if Lee really wants to slam the door on all this talk about him being a puzzling choice up top, he could win on Sunday in a packed event with Tiger, Phil Mickelson and Martin Kaymer all around in China to witness it.

If he did that, I think the critics would quickly quiet. Sure, he hasn't won a major championship, but I'd be willing to put up a few dollars of my own money to say not a lot of guys have won an event the week they became the number one ranked golfer in the world. 

Related: Martin Kaymer, Francesco Molinari, Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods

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For the first time ever, Tiger Woods will end a season winless

Here are some astonishing facts about Tiger Woods since he turned pro in 1996; he has 71 PGA Tour wins, including 14 majors. He has finished a season with nine wins (2000) and just one win (1998). He won twice his rookie season, despite turning pro in September.

All of these things are incredible impressive, and might be the foundation of a career bettered by no one, but 2010 will not be one of those seasons we will talk about when praising Tiger.

This week, at the HSBC Champions, Woods opened with a 68. Talk of him getting back to his tireless practicing regiment seemed to be very true, and he was back in the hunt at an event he has finished second in twice. But, much like his season has gone, it was only a glimpse of the old Woods.

Tiger made five bogeys in his second round, and four more in the third round, after a birdie on the opening hole looked like it might help vault him up the leaderboard.

Unless a typhoon blows in on Sunday and wrecks the leaders chances, Tiger will not be a winner on the PGA Tour for the first time in his career, and as sad as that is to think, it really should be the way it is. Tiger has never looked comfortable all season. Not with the press, not with his game and never when he was in the hunt.

He got people chattering at the Masters when he played solid to start, but for every good round Woods pieced together, a nasty, frustrating one was lurking in the shadows.

This season was never going to be about his golf, as weird as that seems. It was always about his personal life, and his marriage, and his kids and the mistresses. We spent way too much of our time analyzing things we knew nothing about, and as glad as we are that this season is soon to be over, I'm sure Tiger couldn't be boarding his private jet quicker when his final competitive putt drops and he can sneak away for a few months.

Nobody will look back at 2010 as the year of Tiger's failed wins, it will be about all his losses both on and off the golf course.

(And yes, we know he has two events left to play, but neither count as PGA Tour wins.)

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Robert Garrigus gets one last shot to hang on the PGA Tour

Sometimes, golf just keeps twisting the knife. You remember Robert Garrigus, right? Journeyman tour player, standing on the tee of the 72nd hole in the St. Jude Classic this past June with a three-shot lead, and he gives it all away.

As it turned out, his miserable tee shot and accompanying playoff loss didn't just cost him half a million dollars in that tournament. It cost him an easy ride to get his tour card via both money and a two-year exemption, and now he's sweating in 122nd place. He's just three spots over that cut line.

Last year, in the same position, he fell short, shooting ugly-twin 74s and missing the Disney cut. He finished at 127. 

He's in good shape so far this year, having carded a 4-under 68 in the first round and opening the second round with a pair of birdies and an eagle that left him inside the top 5.

"Last year gave me a good idea of what I was going to be feeling like, because I was in the exact same position," he said after Thursday's round. "I was 122 last year and came out here and didn’t think the right way and didn’t play the right way."

So far, it's working out just fine. But as Garrigus well knows, it's not how you play the first 71 holes, it's how you play that last one.

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Sergio Garcia, relaxed and rolling once again

We bust on Sergio Garcia all the time around here, but every so often he reminds us who exactly the multimillion-dollar world-traveling golf pro is, and who he isn't. 

In the second round at the Australian Masters, Garcia rolled in a putt that would have been five stories high had it been straight down. Now, after two rounds, Garcia is the only non-Aussie in the top 10, ranking alone in fourth with a 4-under, six strokes behind leader Adam Bland. (For the curious: Tiger Woods is 1-under.) It's a major turnaround for a guy who as recently as last month was in the curiously honorary position of assistant Ryder Cup captain.

So yes, Sergio is surging. However, as Golf Girl's Diary pointed out, there may well be a reason for his success: the as-yet-unnamed lovely lady who's been spotted accompanying Garcia around town. Makes sense, right? If the guy falls apart when breaking up with a girl, he must play better when he's in love, right? Whatever, we're veering into dangerously Lifetime TV-esque territory.

Anyway, good on ya, Sergio. Keep 'em in the fairway. (I'm being literal, but feel free to entendre that to death.)

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Tiger Woods stint in Australia spells out his season

In the third round of the Australian Masters, the uber-famous golfer in the fitted Nike golf shirt and flawlessly clean golf shoes walked to the first hole hoping to make up some ground. He hit two good shots on the first hole and was hoping to make birdie for the third straight day, but missed a 5-footer. Then Tiger Woods three-putted the second hole, and so on, and so on, until he was in the clubhouse with a disappointing 71, falling 10 shots behind a leader nobody's heard of.

That is the thing about Tiger this season. Like a basketball player that loses his legs, or a baseball player that doesn't have the same pop on his throws to first, we don't totally grasp what is happening until it has happened for a long, long time. Finally, we collectively realize they aren't the same player anymore, a "doh" moment that happens to the best of athletes (think Michael Jordan on the Wizards). Do we want to keep seeing them perform? Of course, they're legends. Is it a JV version of what they used to do? Absolutely, no chance that guy would make varsity.

All season, I've been a big advocate for Tiger being fine, just needing a season to find his game, get his life back on pace, and work everything out with his new instructor. But, the past couple of weeks have made me doubt my stance, and this week has been the cherry on top to my thinking. Maybe Tiger won't ever be the same. For golf, that's a scary thing.

Look at just a few of the obvious factors in this. Tiger is currently tied in a tournament with names like Aaron Townsend, Paul Sheehan and Kurt Barnes. At an event he won last season by two strokes, Tiger isn't even in the hunt.

He will end 2010 without a win for the first time in his career. It's the first season ever that Tiger didn't win a World Golf Championships event, dating back to their inception in 1999. This is only the second time in his career that Tiger finished outside the top 20 in the last two majors in a season.

But all that you know. He has had a HORRIBLE year, probably the worst of his life. He's been called names, heckled, divorced, berated, and for the first time in his career, questioned.

Still, when you see this Tiger walk the golf course, it just isn't the same guy. His confidence seems shot. His ability to let the round come to him seems gone. He is grinding like a guy that knows it isn't there. He doesn't seem like he even believes he can do it anymore.

Tiger will turn 35 at the end of next month, and while he keeps hiding behind the fact that Ben Hogan didn't win all his majors until after 34, the fact is, it isn't 1946 anymore, and Tiger isn't the most dominant golfer in the game like Hogan used to be. He has become just another good golfer, that has the ability to woo audiences with his shot-making, yet crush our hearts with his missed putt that would have taken his round from good to Tiger-y.

I expect on Sunday, Woods will close with a good score in Australia, just like he opened with an impressive number in the first round at Augusta, which seemed like a decade ago. He will toy with us once more, make us think he found something, and possibly leave us from competitive tournaments for the season with a taste in our mouth like he could be back in 2011.

But what if he's not? What if he's done? That's scary, but for the first time ever, I'm talking myself into it.

UPDATE: Australian Stuart Appleby won the Australian Masters at 10-under. Tiger Woods shot a 6-under 65 and finished three shots back.

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Tiger Woods isn't quite pulling 2009-level mobs in Australia

That shot above was from last year's triumphant Tiger Down Under Tour, a.k.a. The Last Time We Thought Of Woods As Just A Golfer. Back then, Woods stormed his way around the continent, commanding (and justifying) seven-figure appearance fees and generally getting treated like a conquering hero.

This year? Not so much.

In a Tuesday report (it's news from the future!) the Sydney Morning Herald notes that demand for tickets is way, way down from last year, when Tiger won the Australian Masters. In 2009, the 20,000 general-admission tickets for each of the event's four days were sold out six weeks in advance. This year? Good seats will still be available as of game day.

Australian Masters officials said that familiarity, not scandal, is the reason for the reduced demand. Last year was Woods' first visit to Australia in 11 years. This year is his first visit in, uh, 12 months. 

Still, Tiger is Tiger, and he'll draw plenty of attention even when he's tossing grass in the air to test the wind. He'll have plenty of company there, as Camilo Villegas, Sergio Garcia, Geoff Ogilvy and Robert Allenby have all agreed to appear. It's not a star-studded field, but it's a solid one.

And if Woods should happen to get out and claim a lead? Let's just say that whole unsold-ticket problem will cease to be a problem pretty much immediately.

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