The PGA Championship, the last of the year's four majors, may be played outside the United States within the next decade, according to Golf World magazine.
PGA Championship organisers have told Golf World that preliminary in-house discussions have been held about the idea, which has already been greeted enthusiastically overseas.
Australia has thrown its hat into the ring as a possible venue, with PGA of Australia executive director Brian Thorburn selling his country's assets - great golf courses and a proven track record of organising major sporting events.
"We've hosted big American events before, the Presidents Cup in 2011, the World Cup (of golf) this year, who's to say we can't host a major?" Thorburn told reporters at Perth International.
"I'm meeting with Pete (Bevacqua) in six, seven weeks and I'll certainly make him aware that we'd bust our guts to have a crack at hosting it (the PGA Championship) if they went through with it (staging the event overseas)."
PGA of America chief executive Pete Bevacqua told this week's edition of Golf World: "This is an exercise we are going through, an analysis. It is far from a fait accompli that we are going to take the PGA Championship international.
"When we sat down to map our strategic plan ... the question arose as to what impact it would have to take the PGA Championship to an international location once or twice a decade.
"It would be something we would only do if we had the cooperation of quite a few groups. We would want the international PGAs to be a part of this and share in this. Many pieces would have to fall in place."
EARLIEST POSSIBLE YEAR
Existing contracts for the PGA Championship with television and venues are in place until 2019, leaving 2020 as the earliest possible year when the event could be held overseas.
The Olympic Games will take place in Tokyo in 2020, with golf among the sports to be contested.
Along with the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open, the PGA Championship completes golf's elite quartet of events but, with the game becoming increasingly global, it seems an anachronism that three of the four majors are played in the same country.
Though the PGA Championship regularly has the strongest field of the year based on world rankings, it suffers widely from the perception of being the least significant major, partly because it is played in the dog days of August, sometimes at mediocre venues.
Organizations in major American team sports are increasingly trying to tap the burgeoning international market.
The National Football League is playing two matches in London this year for the first time while Major League Baseball's 2014 season will start with two games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks in Sydney.
The National Basketball Association has also made a huge global push over the past decade, particularly into Asia. Just this week, Commissioner David Stern pondered the idea of starting games in the U.S. at a time more suited to a growing Chinese television audience. (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)
Golf-PGA Championship organisers ponder an overseas staging | Reuters
Tiger Woods is prepared to take legal action against one of America’s most respected golf analysts to clear his name from a “cheating” slur.
The world No 1’s agent, Mark Steinberg, has revealed the fury in the Woods camp at the claims of Brandel Chamblee, the former PGA Tour winner, on a high-profile magazine’s website.
“There’s nothing you can call a golfer worse than a cheater,” Steinberg told ESPN. “This is the most deplorable thing I have seen. I’m not one for hyperbole, but this is absolutely disgusting. Calling him a cheater? I’ll be shocked, stunned if something is not done about this. Something has to be done. There are things that just don’t go without response. It’s atrocious.... [we] have to give thought to legal action.”
Chamblee’s main contract is with the Golf Channel, who have close ties with the PGA Tour, and it is understood a complaint as already been made to that station as well as Golf-com who carried the offending article.
Chamblee claimed yesterday that he did not directly call Woods a “cheat”, but the implication in his article was clear.
In rating the respective seasons of the main players, despite Woods winning five times and reclaiming the world No 1 tag, Chamblee awarded the 14-time major winner an “F”, citing four controversies.
After reciting an anecdote which feature him cheating in a school exam and being given an F after initial mark of “100“, Chamblee accused Woods of being “cavalier with the rules” and crossed out “100“ to replace it with an “F”.
Woods was hit with three two-shot shot penalties after finishing rounds in 2013 and was also at the centre of another rules storm at The Players where it was claimed that he took an erroneous drop which went unpenalised on the way to victory. “In his rulings, Tiger accepted his penalty and moved on,” Steinberg said. “There was no intention to deceive.”
Tiger Woods could sue American golf analyst Brandel Chamblee after 'cheating' slur - Telegraph
* Birdies three of last six holes to seal victory (Adds detail, quotes)
Oct 20 (Reuters) - Former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson hit the jackpot in Las Vegas on Sunday, cruising to his fourth career victory on the PGA Tour by a commanding six shots at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Four ahead of the chasing pack at the start of play, Simpson did not allow his challengers to get any closer than three strokes before tightening his grip on the title with three birdies in the last six holes at the TPC Summerlin.
On another calm and sunny day of ideal scoring conditions in the high Nevada desert, Simpson closed with a five-under-par 66 to post a 24-under total of 260 in the second event of the PGA Tour's 2013-14 season.
"It means the world," Simpson told Golf Channel after sinking a curling 25-footer for par at the last to earn the winner's cheque for $1,080,000 and his first victory on the U.S. circuit since the 2012 U.S. Open.
"This year, I feel like I have gotten better, I just hadn't gotten the win. I was close at Hilton Head but we were working hard and it's just nice to finish the year off with a 'W'."
Simpson, who was embraced by his wife Dowd as he walked off the 18th green, lost out in a playoff with Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell for the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head in April.
Fellow American Jason Bohn bogeyed the last for a 66 to share second place at 18 under with Japan's Ryo Ishikawa (65), with another American, Charley Hoffman, a further stroke back in fourth after firing a joint best-of-the-day 64.
But it was Simpson who once again commanded the spotlight, having led the tournament since Friday's second round.
FAST START
In pursuit of his first PGA Tour victory since June last year, he made a fast start with two early birdies, draining a 16-footer at the par-four second and a 15-footer at the par-four third to stretch his lead to six shots.
Though Luke Guthrie briefly trimmed that advantage to five with his seventh birdie of the day at the 15th, Simpson coolly sank a 14-foot birdie putt at the par-five ninth to reach the turn at 22 under, six ahead.
Simpson had played rock-solid golf since starting the round and it came as something of a surprise when he three-putted from long range to bogey the par-four 12th for his lead to be briefly cut to three shots over Bohn.
However, he immediately rebounded with a birdie at the par-five 13th, where he sank an eight-footer, to regain a four-stroke cushion.
"I was playing good, solid golf," Simpson said of his form on Sunday before his unexpected slipup at the 12th. "I didn't look at the leaderboards all day but the course was drying out and I knew it was playing tough.
"That three-putt there kind of set me back a little bit but it was nice to birdie 13, and then made a couple more birdies coming in, which was a good feeling."
Simpson struck a brilliant tee shot to just four feet at the par-three 14th but lipped out with his birdie attempt before picking up another shot at the par-four 15th where he pitched to within two feet of the cup from in front of the green.
Another birdie followed at the par-five 16th, where he reached the green in two and comfortably two-putted, and he parred the last two holes to wrap up a commanding win.
UPDATE 1-Golf-Simpson eases to six-shot win in Vegas | Reuters
WOMEN’s professional golf in South Africa, out of action for several years, is now back in the guise of the Sunshine Ladies Tour.
With sponsorship from chief backer Investec, Didata, SuperSport and Sun International, the tour will feature seven events in February and March next year. The first six — to be played on a 36-hole stroke-play format and each with a prize pool of R100,000 — will be known as the Chase to the Investec Cup.
The top 10 on the standings will qualify for the final seventh tournament, the Investec Cup, which will be played over 54 holes and will carry a pot of R300,000.
"Ladies golf in this country hasn’t had any golf for a long time ," said Sunshine Tour executive director Selwyn Nathan, who is also an adviser to the new Women’s Professional Golf Association (WPGA) board.
WPGA chairwoman Margie Whitehouse said the fledgling tour was a start that would provide a crucial bridging gap for local female golfers. "We’ve got some fantastic amateurs but they can’t leapfrog onto the Ladies European Tour."
She said the Sunshine Tour had played an important role in the success of South Africa’s male golfers over the years, and that a local circuit for female golfers could have the same effect.
At the moment there are fewer than 40 female professional golfers. "We would like to build it (the tour) up," said Whitehouse, adding they were hoping to get two more Ladies European Tour co-sanctioned events in South Africa.
"Women’s professional golf in South Africa has been in a wasteland since 2009, but the return of the South African Women’s Open as a Ladies European Tour co-sanctioned event in April 2012 sparked a revival in the sport," Whitehouse said.
"When the new WPGA board was incorporated in October 2012, we acknowledged that our members and aspirant professionals were being forced to seek a competitive platform abroad."
Whitehouse confirmed the South Africa Women’s Open 2014 edition would be a 72-hole event at San Lameer Golf Estate from October 16-19.
"We hope to secure sponsorship to offer one or two more events, because this would not only make the trip to South Africa an even more attractive option for the world’s top players, but would create a fantastic opportunity for our local players to gain invaluable experience against international players.
"It will also excite and encourage our young golfers and cultivate a whole new focus for women’s golf in South Africa. With strong support from the corporate sector, we believe this can be achieved and we can build the Sunshine Ladies Tour into a strong, international tour over the years."
The Tiger Woods-Brandel Chamblee rift is going to be pretty fascinating to follow over the next few months.
Late last week, as you know, Chamblee essentially called Woods a cheater. Woods' agent responded by saying they might pursue legal action. And now Ed Sherman wonders if Woods will just boycott Golf Channel interview (where Chamblee works).
"Woods, though, will be looking to get even, and that could put the Golf Channel in the line of fire. There's not much he can do to get back at Golf-com. The magazine and site weren't getting any exclusive interviews anyway.
"Woods, though, does appear regularly on interviews during tournaments with the Golf Channel. Chamblee's main work is with the Golf Channel.
"I wouldn't rule out the possibility that Woods might pull an interview boycott with the Golf Channel–at least at the events where Chamblee is on site as an analyst, which are quite a few. It would be a way for the Woods camp to make Chamblee feel the heat."
That would be crazy and, honestly, entertaining as hell. Though I don't really think it will happen.
Can you imagine a camera following Tiger who is trying to avoid all Golf Channel reporters en route to his other interviews as well as the clubhouse?
That would be more exciting than most of the fall tournaments.
Will Tiger Woods boycott Golf Channel interviews? - CBSSports-com
Booo! The Brandel Chamblee-Tiger Woods feud was the best thing this golf offseason had going for it and now it's probably close to over.
After standing by his comments on Tuesday morning Chamblee decided to reverse course and apologize to Woods via Twitter for insinuating that Tiger was a cheater last week in a Golf.com article.
Some rules on how to succeed in business, through golf:
1. Memorize a few golf jokes. Here are the punch lines of two classics. (The setups are at the bottom of this story.) “Yeah, all day, it was hit the ball, drag Charlie.” “I doubt that, sir. That would be too much of a coincidence.”
2. Know that even a duffer can do “bidness” on the golf course.
3. Learn a bit about playing the game.
Recognizing that golf courses are power centers of business networking, Washington University offers international students a crash course on how to swing the sticks while working the deal.
The program, begun last year, is wildly popular. All 20 spots in this year’s class were claimed in 12 minutes and the waiting list quickly grew to 60 students.
Students from India, China, Iran, Romania, South Korea, and Mexico signed up to add basic golf to their studies of business, engineering, chemistry or law. The 16 beginners who arrived Tuesday on a chilly afternoon in Forest Park fell in line next to Mark Lewis, club pro at the Highlands Golf and Tennis Center.
Lewis showed the students, which included five women, how to hold a club. The students imitated Lewis’ grip. He demonstrated a few short swings with his 5-iron.
“We call this a waggle,” he said. “This is how you swing the club.”
The students waggled.
Then they got their first cracks at hitting yellow range balls. The students grimaced or winced as their clubs whiffed the air above the balls or tore divots in the driving-range tee. Some balls dribbled only a few feet off the tee. Others sliced into a small ravine. A few balls soared more than 100 yards.
Lewis exulted over the successes.
“That’s it,” he said to four smiling grad students from India. “That’s exactly it! You guys ever play cricket?”
Watching it all was Michael Chapin, a competitive golfer and assistant director of the university’s Career Center, which runs the golf outings. He told the students golf is key to making business contacts, networking and interviewing for jobs.
“You can say your name, but if you can mention a common denominator, such as golf, you can include that in the conversation,” Chapin said.
At about that time, Lewis pointed out to some students that they were lunging at the ball and taking overly mighty swings with their irons.
“How much do you think this club weighs?” he asked the group, balancing his 5-iron in one hand. “Ten pounds? Four pounds?
“It weighs less than a pound. You’re swinging it like it weighs 10 pounds!”
Lewis let that sink in as he described various clubs and the effects they produce on the ball. To make sure the students understood what they were up against, he added, “The object of the game is to do it all in as few shots as possible.”
GETTING AHEAD
Washington University isn’t alone in showing students how to mix golf, academics and the art of getting ahead in business.
For example, the University of Maryland has its campuswide Business Golf Club. It says its mission “is to promote a casual and social environment while learning the basics of conducting business on the golf course.”
The Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon, in Pittsburgh, has a golf club to help students confidently approach the game as a business networking tool.
At Sacred Heart University, in Connecticut, Welch College of Business students get a discounted membership fee at a local golf course. The college, named after benefactor and former General Electric boss Jack Welch, includes on its website this scenario:
“Imagine it is the second week of your first job, and your boss says, ‘I have a tee-time this Saturday with our CEO and our top client. Can you join us?’
“Don’t blow an opportunity to network with important people. Learn the game. It opens doors!”
The Washington University students took their hacks on the driving range and visited the practice green, where they got putting basics from assistant club pro Chris Liszewski.
Leaning nearby on his 5-iron, Chapin looked over a list of golf networking tips from Forbes columnist Cheryl Conner, checking off those that apply to his program. Among them:
• Avoid diving into business talk early in the round.
• Exchange business cards before the end of play.
• Never cheat.
• Don’t play too aggressively.
• Keep tempers in check. No cursing or throwing clubs.
• Make time for lunch or a post-golf happy hour.
• Be pleasant to golf partners and course employees.
Chapin said golf enhances a person’s discipline, focus, consistency, strategy and competitive skill.
“These are certainly needed for career development,” he said. “Beyond those skills, golf gives the opportunity for great communications and interpersonal skills.”
To further the networking aspect of golf, Chapin will gather the golf beginners next week for pizza and more talk about blending the game with business.
Participants include doctoral candidates in various studies but most are MBA students. Among them is Manish George, 28, from Kerala, a coastal state in southwest India. He said he has discovered that business discussions in the United States often begin with talk about football, baseball or golf.
George’s cricket skill gave him an edge over other students who had never picked up a golf club. Several of his shots flew straight down the driving range. Afterward, he said his first golf lesson “gave me the idea of how to hold the paddle,” quickly correcting himself to say he meant “club” instead of referring to a cricket bat.
Moments later, a stiff breeze pushed a light shower across Forest Park and the students quickly dispersed after their 90-minute golf lesson.
And now, the jokes’ setups:
Appearing distressed, a man returns home from a golf outing. He tells his wife that his friend Charlie suffered a heart attack on the first tee. That’s awful, she says. (See punchline, above.)
A poor golfer was having a typically bad round despite help from an ex
England's Simon Dyson was sensationally disqualified from the BMW Masters before teeing off his third round in Shanghai on Saturday.
Dyson had been among six players tied for second place on four-under par after day two of the $7 million event at Lake Malaren.
Several emails and tweets from television viewers resulted in European Tour Chief Referee, John Paramor, calling for video footage of Dyson tapping down what looked like a spike mark with his golf ball on the eighth green on Friday during his second round.
Dyson was lying close to the hole and after marking his ball, he then used it to reach forward and tap down something directly on his putting line.
Paramor said in a statement: "Simon Dyson has been disqualified from the BMW Masters presented by SRE Group under the rules of golf (6-6d).
"Simon was found to have breached rule 16-1a, which states that a player must not touch his line of putt.
"Television viewers alerted the European Tour to the incident, which took place on the eighth green during the second round.
"When the footage was reviewed Simon was seen to touch the line of his second putt after marking and lifting his ball on the green.
"He subsequently failed to add a two-shot penalty to his score when signing his card, and as a result has now been disqualified."
The six-time European Tour winner, who had carded two rounds of 70 on the first two days to stand at four-under par overnight, was informed of his disqualification on Saturday morning as he was preparing for his third round.
When asked by reporters for comment, Tour organisers said Dyson was too upset to talk about the incident.
Speaking to European Tour television Paramor added: "It's a very sad thing to have to do, but unfortunately his event is now over."
It now means Dyson, who arrived in China lying in 66th place on the Race to Dubai, will not earn any money this week.
He had not qualified for next week's WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai and will now have to stake his chances of qualifying for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on the Turkish Airlines Open the following week.
Only the top 60 money earners on the European Tour's "Race to Dubai" standings gain automatic qualification for the $8 million tournament.
The DP World Tour Championship also carries a $3.75 million bonus pool which will be divided among the top 10 after the event.
America's Luke Guthrie was leading the BMW Masters after two rounds of 65 and 71 left him at eight-under par, four clear of now five players tied at four-under in second place.
Second-placed Dyson disqualified from golf BMW Masters - Yahoo!7 Sport
Former world No.1 golfer Rory McIlroy stormed off the 18th green at the BMW Masters on Saturday after a great chance to challenge disappeared into a greenside bunker.
The 24-year-old banged his putter angrily on the steps leading to the scorers' hut at Lake Malaren in Shanghai after a double-bogey six at the fearsome finishing hole all but blew away his title hopes.
American Luke Guthrie - tournament leader from the outset - was joined on top of the leaderboard on eight-under-par by Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello at the end of day three.
Guthrie suffered bogeys at the 16th and 18th to drop him back to the field with an even-par 72, while the Spaniard shot a five-under 67.
But the huge crowds had come to see McIlroy and he had looked all set to get into contention as he began the back nine with four straight birdies to get to four-under.
Struggling with his game all year, he showed some of his old magic as his birdie blitz propelled him up the leaderboard.
With a birdie opportunity at the par-5 15th to come, it looked odds-on that McIlroy would be within touching distance of the leaders going into Sunday's final round of the $US7 million ($A7.3 million) event.
But his touch on the greens deserted him and three putts after splashing out to 15 feet at the last put him back to two-under and provoked his angry response.
McIlroy had been in jovial mood all week after finishing second in Korea last Sunday, but refused to talk to reporters as he stomped back to the clubhouse.
Playing partner Gregory Bourdy of France completed a bogey-free round of 67 to sit fourth at six-under.
In third place is another Spaniard, Fernando Gonzalez-Castano, on seven-under. He was one of the few players to tame the fearsome 471-metre 18th hole as he made a birdie to return a 67.
Australian Marcus Fraser was five shots off the lead on 213 after rounds of 73, 70 and 70. Fraser was equal tenth with three others including England's Lee Westwood.
England's Simon Dyson was sensationally disqualified on Saturday before starting his third round.
He had been among six players tied for second place on four-under-par after day two.
Several emails and tweets from television viewers resulted in European Tour chief referee John Paramor calling for video footage of Dyson tapping down what looked like a spike mark with his golf ball on the eighth green on Friday during his second round.
Tour organisers said Dyson was too upset to talk about the incident.
Tiger Woods put the heat on Golf Channel over analyst Brandel Chamblee's insinuation of cheating, saying Monday that he was ready to move forward and that now it was up to what Golf Channel was prepared to do.
Woods spoke publicly for the first time since Chamblee, a longtime critic of the world's No. 1 player, wrote a column for SI Plus in which he gave Woods an "F'' for his five-win season because of a series of rules violations.
Chamblee wrote that Woods was "a little cavalier with the rules," and he made the analogy of the time his fourth-grade teacher crossed out "100" and gave him an "F'' for cheating on a math test. Chamblee last week went on Twitter to say the cheating comparison went too far, and he apologized to Woods for "this incited discourse."
"All I am going to say is that I know I am going forward," Woods said before his exhibition match with Rory McIlroy at Mission Hills. "But then, I don't know what the Golf Channel is going to do or not. But then that's up to them. The whole issue has been very disappointing as he didn't really apologize and he sort of reignited the whole situation.
"So the ball really is in the court of the Golf Channel and what they are prepared to do."
Golf Channel has not commented on the flap. Chamblee is an analyst, but he wrote his column about Woods as a contributor to another publication. Chamblee has said he was not asked to apologize by anyone.
Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, was so incensed by the column that he issued a statement to ESPN-com that raised the possibility of legal action. Steinberg shared his client's views.
"I'm all done talking about it and it's now in the hands of the Golf Channel," Steinberg said. "That's Tiger's view and that's mine, and all we want to do is move forward. And whether the Golf Channel moves forward as well, then we'll have to wait and see."
Woods accepted a two-shot penalty in Abu Dhabi for taking relief from an embedded ball in a sandy area covered with vegetation. Augusta National gave him a two-shot penalty for taking the wrong drop in the second round of the Masters. And the PGA Tour gave him a two-shot penalty after his second round of the BMW Championship when video evidence showed that his ball moved slightly from behind the first green. Even after watching the video, Woods insisted that his ball only oscillated.
Also in question — at least on Internet blogs — was the drop Woods took on the 14th hole of the TPC Sawgrass during the final round of The Players Championship. Woods checked with playing partner Casey Wittenberg on where to take the penalty drop, which is standard procedure. Wittenberg said it was the correct spot.
Chamblee said in an email last week to The Associated Press that he never said outright that he thinks Woods cheated, and that was by design.
"I think 'cavalier with the rules' allows for those with a dubious opinion of the BMW video," Chamblee said. "My teacher in the fourth grade did not have a dubious opinion of how I complete the test. But she was writing to one, and as I was writing to many, I felt it important to allow for the doubt some might have, so I chose my words accordingly.
"What people want to infer about that is up to them," he said. "I have my opinion, they can form theirs."
Chamblee has developed a reputation for being critical of Woods, mainly regarding his golf game. His column struck a nerve with many, however, because of the implication that three rules violations and a penalty drop involving Woods amounted to cheating — the strongest accusation possible in golf.
"What brought me here was the realization that my comments inflamed an audience on two sides of an issue," Chamblee wrote on Twitter when he apologized. "Golf is a gentleman's game and I'm not proud of this debate. I want to apologize to Tiger for this incited discourse."
Woods Says the Next Step Is up to Golf Channel - ABC News
Brandel Chamblee, the Golf Channel commentator who suggested on Golf magazine’s website that Tiger Woods was a cheater, resigned from the publication on Wednesday but will stay at the television network. His assessment earlier this month was part of Chamblee’s season-ending PGA Tour report cards for various golfers. Chamblee gave Woods an “F.”
Chamblee’s comments, insinuating that Woods had cheated during the season, upset Woods. Woods’s agent, Mark Steinberg, called them “shameful, baseless and completely out of line,” and said that he was looking into legal action.
In an interview on Golf Channel, Chamblee said that his mistake in writing about Woods’s season was to compare his own cheating on a fourth-grade math test with Woods’s being a “a little cavalier about the rules” in incidents that led to three two-stroke penalties.
“Cheating involves intent,” Chamblee said on the “Golf Central” studio show. “Now, I know what my intent was on that fourth-grade math test. But there’s no way that I could know with 100 percent certainty what Tiger’s intent was in any of those situations.”
Chamblee, who had apologized on Twitter, said that he was resigning from Golf-com, where his remarks were published, not Golf Channel. “Tiger and his camp, they’re upset at Golf Channel,” he said. “This column appeared on Golf-com. Nobody here at Golf Channel knew anything about it and my editor at Golf-com asked me to rewrite the ending when I sent it to him.”
He added that he realized that a conflict existed in working for Golf Channel and Golf magazine, which is owned by Sports Illustrated. Now, he said, “if Tiger and his camp have an issue with something I write, they will at least be yelling at the right people.”
Mike McCarley, the president of Golf Channel, declined to comment.
Tiger Woods issued a veiled challenge to Golf Channel over a column written by analyst Brandel Chamblee that a series of rules violations by Woods amounted to cheating. Woods spoke publicly for the first time since Chamblee, a longtime critic of the world's No. 1 player, wrote a column for SI Golf Plus in which he gave Woods an ''F'' for his season for being ''a little cavalier'' with the rules.
Chamblee is best known for his work with Golf Channel, though he also is a contributor to SI Golf Plus. He took to Twitter last week to apologize to Woods for ''this incited discourse,'' though not for the content of his column.
''All I am going to say is that I know I am going forward,'' Woods said before his exhibition match with Rory McIlroy at Mission Hills. ''But then, I don't know what the Golf Channel is going to do or not. But then that's up to them. The whole issue has been very disappointing as he didn't really apologize and he sort of reignited the whole situation.
''So the ball really is in the court of the Golf Channel and what they are prepared to do.''
Golf Channel has not commented on the flap. Chamblee has said he was not asked to apologize by anyone.
Chamblee saved Woods for last in his report card of 14 players in a column posted Oct. 18 on Golf-com. He told of getting caught cheating on a math test in the fourth grade, and how the teacher crossed a line through his ''100'' and gave him an ''F.'' Chamblee followed that anecdote by writing, ''I remember when we only talked about Tiger's golf. I miss those days. He won five times and contended in majors and won the Vardon Trophy and ... how shall we say this ... was a little cavalier with the rules.'' He then gave Woods a ''100'' with a line through it, followed by the ''F.''
In one of his tweets last week, Chamblee said he intended to point out Woods' rules infractions, ''but comparing that to cheating in grade school went too far.''
Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, was so incensed by the column that he issued a statement to ESPN-com that raised the possibility of legal action. Steinberg shared his client's views.
''I'm all done talking about it and it's now in the hands of the Golf Channel,'' Steinberg said. ''That's Tiger's view and that's mine, and all we want to do is move forward. And whether the Golf Channel moves forward as well, then we'll have to wait and see.''
Woods accepted a two-shot penalty in Abu Dhabi for taking relief from an embedded ball in a sandy area covered with vegetation. Augusta National gave him a two-shot penalty for taking the wrong drop in the second round of the Masters. And the PGA Tour gave him a two-shot penalty after his second round of the BMW Championship when video evidence showed that his ball moved slightly from behind the first green. Even after watching the video, Woods insisted that his ball only oscillated. Also in question - at least on Internet blogs - was the drop Woods took on the 14th hole of the TPC Sawgrass during the final round of The Players Championship. Woods checked with playing partner Casey Wittenberg on where to take the penalty drop, which is standard procedure. Wittenberg said it was the correct spot.
Chamblee said in an email last week to The Associated Press that he never said outright that he thinks Woods cheated, and that was by design.
''I think `cavalier with the rules' allows for those with a dubious opinion of the BMW video,'' Chamblee said. ''My teacher in the fourth grade did not have a dubious opinion of how I complete the test. But she was writing to one, and as I was writing to many, I felt it important to allow for the doubt some might have, so I chose my words accordingly.
''What people want to infer about that is up to them,'' he said. ''I have my opinion, they can form theirs.''
Chamblee has developed a reputation for being critical of Woods, mainly regarding his golf game. His column struck a nerve with many, however, because of the implication that three rules violations and a penalty drop involving Woods amounted to cheating - the strongest accusation possible in golf.
''What brought me here was the realization that my comments inflamed an audience on two sides of an issue,'' Chamblee wrote on Twitter when he apologized. ''Golf is a gentleman's game and I'm not proud of this debate. I want to apologize to Tiger for this incited discourse.''
Tiger Woods issued a veiled challenge to Golf Channel over a column written by analyst Brandel Chamblee that a series of rules violations by Woods amounted to cheating - News | FOX Sports on MSN
England's Simon Dyson, who faces suspension from the European Tour for cheating, has withdrawn from next week's Turkish Open.
The six-times European Tour winner is not on the final entry list for the $7 million event in Antalya, which means the Englishman's season is over.
He is 68th on the European Tour's money list, with only the top 60 qualifying for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in a fortnight.
Dyson's withdrawal from Turkey comes in the wake of his disqualification from last week's BMW Masters in Shanghai after he fixed a spike mark in the line of a putt.
The European Tour will hold a disciplinary hearing for Dyson at a date yet to be determined to decide whether the golfer should be further penalised.
Possible penalties range from a reprimand to expulsion from the Tour, but the prevailing belief among other players is that he is more likely to be suspended for several months.
Dyson, 35, released a statement earlier this week vehemently denying that he deliberately cheated, saying he had made an "accidental mistake".
Dyson withdraws from Turkish Open - Golf | The Star Online
Against an all-world cast of contenders, Dustin Johnson pulled away with power and a clutch putt to win his first World Golf Championship on Sunday.
Johnson played a pivotal five-hole stretch on the back nine in 5-under par, seizing control by pitching in for eagle from just short of the green on the par-4 16th. He followed with an 8-foot birdie putt on the 17th and closed with a 6-under 66 for a three-shot win over Ian Poulter in the HSBC Champions.
"It was a lot of fun out there," Johnson said. "Those guys put a lot of pressure on me. I'm really proud of the way I handled myself."
Johnson set a tournament record at 24-under 264.
He started the final round with a three-shot lead and lost it in two holes. But it wasn't just Poulter who made the 29-year-old American sweat.
Graeme McDowell also had a share of the lead of the lead at one point, and they battled across Sheshan International for the better part of four hours on a cloudy, hazy afternoon that made it feel like twilight.
Poulter, who won last year at Mission Hills, closed with a 66 to finish alone in second. McDowell also had a 66 to finish third. Sergio Garcia birdied half of his holes for a 63. At one point, the leaderboard featured Johnson and half of Europe's winning Ryder Cup team from Medinah.
It was the second straight PGA Tour season that Johnson won the first tournament he played — even though it was in the same year. His last win was the Tournament of Championship at Kapalua in January. This is the first time the tour has gone to a wraparound season, which began a month ago.
Johnson now has won in each of his first seven seasons on the PGA Tour, the most by any player since Woods in his first 14 seasons through 2009.
He opened with a three-putt bogey and muffed a chip on the second hole, keeping from making birdie. Poulter birdied his opening two holes. McDowell started with three straight birdies, and all of them were tied at 17-under.
Johnson began to recover by closing out the front nine with back-to-back birdies.
The tournament took shape, however, over the final two hours starting on the 13th. Johnson hit a massive tee shot over the corner of the slight dogleg, leaving him a short wedge to 5 feet for birdie to tie Poulter for the lead, with McDowell one shot behind.
On the par-5 14th, Poulter appeared to have a big edge. He reached the green with a fairway metal and lagged his 40-foot eagle putt to within inches. Johnson found the rough off the tee, had to lay up, and hit a poor chip to 20 feet. McDowell was in the deep collar of rough around a bunker and did well to hit a chunk-and-run to 40 feet. McDowell's long birdie putt banged into the back of the cup, and Johnson rolled in his birdie putt to stay tied.
Poulter fell back with an approach into the bunker left of the 15th green for bogey.
Johnson put them away with his power on the 16th. The pin was to the front, making it risky for anyone to try to drive the green. Johnson has such strength that he was able to hit 3-iron off the tee — as he has done previous rounds — to 25 yards short. His pitch was so pure it rolled into the cup as if it were a putt.
The eagle gave him a two-shot lead, and he widened it with another great shot for birdie at the 17th.
"Dustin Johnson was in a different league off the tee and gave us a little bit of a sniff, and then promptly slammed the door," McDowell said. "So a lot of fun. Really enjoyed it."
U.S. Open champion Justin Rose (68) finished alone in fifth, while Rory McIlroy (69) and Graham DeLaet (69) were another shot behind.
McDowell's third-place finish at least allowed him to make up big ground on Henrik Stenson in the Race to Dubai, now trailing about 140,000 euros. McDowell is not playing the Turkish Open next week, but did enough that a shot at the European Tour money title is still in reach when he gets to Dubai in two weeks.
Johnson Pulls Away for 1st World Golf Championship - ABC News
You can check the time and calculate your next move on the golf course with Garmin's Approach S4 GPS golf watch. Preloaded with more than 30,000 golf courses, the watch can display the distance to the front, back and middle of the greens on courses throughout the world. If you want to view the green, it can display its shape with the push of one button. The watch also can keep track of your score and stats, so you can look for ways to improve. The watch has a touch-screen display that can be read in the bright sun and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that can deliver about 10 hours of golf play. It also can receive e-mail and text messages from compatible iPhones. Available in black or white, the watch costs about $350.
New products: GPS golf watch helps you plan your game
Each week, GolfChannel-com offers thoughts on "what we learned" from the world of golf. In this edition, our writers weigh in on the future of athletic players, the evolution of the silly season and the potential of the Asian golf market.
There isn't much that's very silly about the silly season anymore. Late fall and winter are peppered with competition that becomes more meaningful every year. Dustin Johnson just won a World Golf Championship event (HSBC Champions) that now comes with FedEx Cup points. He did so in an event that is also part of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai. With Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Justin Rose picking up big paychecks behind Johnson on Sunday, the Race to Dubai tightens going into this coming week’s Turkish Airlines Open, the second-to-last event in the race’s Final Series. Henrik Stenson’s bid to win both the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai in the same season is in jeopardy with McDowell, Rose and Poulter now breathing down his neck. Adding to the intrigue at the Turkish Airlines Open is Tiger Woods, who makes his last tournament appearance this season in an event that is considered official on any tour. – Randall Mell
I don’t know exactly what the future of professional golf will look like, say, a decade or two from now, but an athletic player built more like a basketball small forward than a traditional golfer winning a limited-field tournament in China sounds about right. Considering I’ve just described Dustin Johnson’s victory at the HSBC Champions, perhaps we’re closer to the future than we realize. It should come as no secret that the game is attracting better athletes these days. (If you’re 16 and built like a linebacker, would you rather pursue a dangerous game with a short shelf life of a career or a safer endeavor where careers never end?) Don’t be surprised if limited-field events become more of the norm. (It’s a win-win for both the organizing body which gets an elite field and the players who compete for guaranteed money and more world ranking points.) And clearly Asia is the game’s greatest growth region. (Hosting a WGC was one step, having it considered fully official for the first time this year was another; there’s no going back from here.) That’s not to say the game will see major changes, but more athletic players, limited-field events and increasingly important tournaments in Asia are all on the short list of what we’ll likely see. This week gave us a glimpse into that future. – Jason Sobel
The European Tour may have been the first world circuit to recognize the growth potential of the Asian golf market, but it won’t be the last or the largest. News on Sunday that the PGA Tour will launch PGA Tour China next season comes on the heels of the circuit’s first official swing through Asia. It took Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., some time, but it turns out there is meaningful golf outside the Lower 48.
It's no coincidence that some of the world's most prolific writers have Bovada Sportsbook in there list of what I feel to be the Nr: 1 greatest sports books ever.
His heritage bridges continents. Now his game has, too. Tiger Woods hit balls from Europe into Asia on Tuesday when half of the six-lane Bosphorus Bridge was closed for the world’s top-ranked golfer.
In a publicity stunt for this week’s Turkish Open, Woods stood on a makeshift tee and launched drives along the world’s fourth longest suspension bridge, which spans 5,118 feet and is 210 feet above the Bosphorus River. Woods said: “To be the first golfer to do this was very cool.”
About 180,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily, many so drivers can say they crossed from one continent to the other.
Woods is the only non-European in the Turkish Open that starts Thursday. The tournament also features Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Padraig Harrington.
Pictures: Tiger Woods hits golf balls from Europe into Asia: ‘To be the first golfer to do this was very cool’ | National Post
Management of Monroe County's three golf courses is being audited by the state comptroller following years of complaints from players about the maintenance and quality of the links.
The office of Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli notified the county in August that it intended to scrutinize the county's contract with Jack Tindale Inc. to run the courses at Durand Eastman, Genesee Valley and Churchville parks.
An office spokesman, Brian Butry, confirmed this week that the audit was under way and estimated it would conclude early next year. He said the office decided to audit after receiving complaints about course standards, and conducting a risk assessment that determined a closer look at the contract was warranted.
The county outsourced management of the golf courses in 1997 to Jack Tindale Inc., the namesake company of Jack Tindale, a master PGA professional and former head pro at Genesee Valley.
Reached by phone, Tindale declined to comment and referred questions to the county Parks Department. Phone and email messages left for a county spokesman and Parks Director Larry Staub were not returned.
Gripes about course conditions and concerns over whether Tindale was meeting its contractual obligations have been around for years, prompting Democratic county legislators to ask the state for an audit as early as 2007.
But the intensity of complaints heightened last year when dozens of regular golfers banded together to enact change. In response, the county Parks Department told the Democrat and Chronicle it had developed a maintenance plan to improve conditions.
Ed Gartz, a Greece resident and Kodak retiree who frequents county courses and has spearheaded the golfers' movement, said he relayed his concerns about management of the courses to state auditors last month.
He said he told auditors he doubts Tindale is meeting contract demands to have a full-time golf pro at each course and to employ a trained agronomist to maintain the grounds. "He can't be doing this stuff because the courses wouldn't be in the condition they're in," Gartz said. "It's cost avoidance ... it adds up quickly."
Tindale and Staub, the parks director, acknowledged last year that improvements to the courses could be made. At the time, Staub also said Tindale was doing a "good job" and that he was "pleased" with the operation.
Legislator Joe Morelle Jr., D-Irondequoit, who frequently golfs at Durand Eastman Golf Course, and has fielded complaints about conditions there, said he met with auditors in September.
He said he did not know why the contract was being audited now, but that he welcomed the scrutiny.
"The conditions are terrible," Morelle said of Durand Eastman. "There are spots where there isn't even grass."
State auditing Monroe County golf course management
The Miami Dolphins continued to rally around suspended offensive lineman Richie Incognito Thursday in light of allegations that he bullied teammate Jonathan Martin, but a police report from 2012 highlighted his boorish side with crude details.
Incognito allegedly harassed a 34-year-old African-American female volunteer at the annual Fins Weekend Golf Tournament on May 18, 2012, by touching her privates with a golf club and emptying bottles of water in her face, according to a police report obtained by Local 10 News in Miami.
The allegations added up to another disturbing day of BullyGate. Earlier in the day there was a report that Incognito was ready to file a grievance against the Dolphins. Later Thursday, high-profile attorney David Cornwell released a statement on Martin’s behalf, in which he claimed Incognito wasn’t the only Dolphin harassing Martin. Martin, a fellow offensive lineman who is biracial, has not spoken publicly since he left the Dolphins last week and returned to his home in California.
In the statement, Cornwell said, “Jonathan Martin’s toughness is not at issue” and claimed “Jonathan endured harassment that went far beyond the traditional locker room hazing. For the entire season-and-a-half that he was with the Dolphins, he attempted to befriend the same teammates who subjected him to the abuse with the hope that doing so would end the harassment. This is a textbook reaction of victims of bullying.
“Despite these efforts, the taunting continued. Beyond the well-publicized voicemail with its racial epithet, Jonathan endured a malicious physical attack on him by a teammate, and daily vulgar comments such as the quote at the bottom. These facts are not in dispute,” the statement continued.
“Eventually, Jonathan made a difficult choice. Despite his love for football, Jonathan left the Dolphins. Jonathan looks forward to getting back to playing football. In the meantime, he will cooperate fully with the NFL investigation.”
According to Cornwell, the vulgar comment from a teammate was: “We are going to run train on your sister. . . . She loves me. I am going to f--- her without a condom and c--- in her c---.”
The statement, along with the police report, certainly paint a different picture of Incognito and the Dolphins than what was presented in the Miami locker room the past two days.
The police report says Incognito “used his golf club to touch the unnamed victim by rubbing it up against her vagina, then up her stomach, then to her chest. He then used the club to knock a pair of sunglasses off the top of her head. After that, he proceeded to lean up against her buttocks with his private parts as if dancing, saying, ‘Let it rain, let it rain!’ ” Incognito was drinking at the time, according to the victim.
Incognito finished his performance by emptying bottles of water in her face. The victim notified her supervisor of the incident, and the supervisor notified Dolphins security, which advised it would take care of the situation, according to police. The victim maintained that one of the event sponsors or organizers had witnessed the incident, but had done nothing to help. She also said that Nat Moore, a former Dolphins star and a team vice president who was at the tournament, had heard about the incident and apologized for what had taken place.
“(Moore) stated that the incident would be taken care of and handled,” the police report said.
The volunteer told Local 10 that she can’t talk about the incident because she had signed a confidentiality agreement.
The actions by Incognito contrasted with the maturing image that teammates offered about him in recent days, reiterating on Thursday their unqualified support. Asked why Martin wasn’t receiving as much backing as Incognito from the locker room, left tackle Bryant McKinnie said, “That’s because Richie is the one being bashed.”
On Thursday, it was also reported that the nightclub security guard Incognito allegedly punched in June in Miami was ex-NFL player Carlos Joseph.
GM Jeff Ireland allegedly told Martin’s agent, Kenny Zuckerman, to tell Martin to “punch” Incognito if he felt abused, according to ProFootballTalk-com. The team has declined to comment, citing the league’s ongoing review of the situation.
“I feel a responsibility for this entire workplace atmosphere,” coach Joe Philbin said. “As a coach your job is to help develop players... and that’s what I will do every day that I am here.”
However, Martin’s camp added that the Stanford product had been disturbed by the actions of other teammates as well.
Martin’s decision to leave the team and let the media in on its locker-room culture was criticized by many players.
“You kind of wish people went about it a different way,” defensive lineman Jared Odrick said. “There’s other ways that this has been handled. It’s tough to speak on.”
Back on the golf course, it was Incognito’s actions that left the victim uncomfortable. She initially told police she saw no accountability from Incognito after his alleged misconduct toward her.
“She felt like he didn’t care and thought the whole incident was in fun and games,” the report said. “Other people apologized for him, but not him.”
Read more: Miami Dolphins' Richie Incognito allegedly harassed a female worker at golf outing - NY Daily News
PGA Championship organisers have told Golf World that preliminary in-house discussions have been held about the idea, which has already been greeted enthusiastically overseas.
Australia has thrown its hat into the ring as a possible venue, with PGA of Australia executive director Brian Thorburn selling his country's assets - great golf courses and a proven track record of organising major sporting events.
"We've hosted big American events before, the Presidents Cup in 2011, the World Cup (of golf) this year, who's to say we can't host a major?" Thorburn told reporters at Perth International.
"I'm meeting with Pete (Bevacqua) in six, seven weeks and I'll certainly make him aware that we'd bust our guts to have a crack at hosting it (the PGA Championship) if they went through with it (staging the event overseas)."
PGA of America chief executive Pete Bevacqua told this week's edition of Golf World: "This is an exercise we are going through, an analysis. It is far from a fait accompli that we are going to take the PGA Championship international.
"When we sat down to map our strategic plan ... the question arose as to what impact it would have to take the PGA Championship to an international location once or twice a decade.
"It would be something we would only do if we had the cooperation of quite a few groups. We would want the international PGAs to be a part of this and share in this. Many pieces would have to fall in place."
EARLIEST POSSIBLE YEAR
Existing contracts for the PGA Championship with television and venues are in place until 2019, leaving 2020 as the earliest possible year when the event could be held overseas.
The Olympic Games will take place in Tokyo in 2020, with golf among the sports to be contested.
Along with the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open, the PGA Championship completes golf's elite quartet of events but, with the game becoming increasingly global, it seems an anachronism that three of the four majors are played in the same country.
Though the PGA Championship regularly has the strongest field of the year based on world rankings, it suffers widely from the perception of being the least significant major, partly because it is played in the dog days of August, sometimes at mediocre venues.
Organizations in major American team sports are increasingly trying to tap the burgeoning international market.
The National Football League is playing two matches in London this year for the first time while Major League Baseball's 2014 season will start with two games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks in Sydney.
The National Basketball Association has also made a huge global push over the past decade, particularly into Asia. Just this week, Commissioner David Stern pondered the idea of starting games in the U.S. at a time more suited to a growing Chinese television audience. (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)
Golf-PGA Championship organisers ponder an overseas staging | Reuters