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Some people may tell you he isn’t…physically.

For years, Torrey Pines has been the venue for Tiger Woods to display his golfing prowess. For 2012, he begins his season in Abu Dhabi while Torrey Pines is hosting the Farmers Insurance Open. I mean, Torrey Pines was the location of Tiger’s last major win, the 2008 US Open.

But what has caused the swell of grumblings is…money? Really?

Really, and I’m actually siding with Tiger here.

If you caught part of his pre-tourney presser, one thing Tiger noted was that HSBC has been prominent in donating funds to the Tiger Woods Foundation. Sure, the rumored seven-figure appearance fee seems less than genuine, but Woods has to make a dollar, right?
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And it shouldn’t be that way either.

After firing a second round 6-under-par 64 and entering the clubhouse as the tournament leader, Every was set to be interviewed by Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman. Little did he know what was about to explode. If you watched the interview live, you were almost stupefied. If you watched the interview on tape, you were almost dumbfounded. Why?

Apparently, the subject of Every being suspended by the PGA TOUR for a period of 90 days seemed to be the pressing matter. In 2010 while preparing to play in the John Deere Classic, Every and two other men were charged with possession of a controlled substance. He posted bond and was released. Every’s management released a statement where Every denied possessing any controlled substance (in this case, marijuana), but cited poor judgment. Every apologized.
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Having one less day to recover from a win can be a bad thing. Well, unless you’re Steve Stricker.

Coming off a win at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Stricker was set to head over to Honolulu after the tourney’s Monday finish. It hasn’t deterred him thus far as he currently sits at 6-under-par through 26 holes as of this writing. But Stricker won’t use that one less day of rest as an excuse should he not pull off the Hawaiian double. In fact, he rarely uses one.

Take when it came to the Presidents Cup. Stricker was mending from a neck injury that had produced weakness in his left arm. This was all caused by a herniated disc. Taking time away from the game and resting paid dividends as Stricker arrived at Royal Melbourne rearing to go. The native of Edgerton, Wisconsin left Australia with a 2-2-0 record as the United States once again won the Cup.
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There wasn’t a lot of suspense on the LPGA for 2011. You could sum up the season with two words…Yani Tseng. Tseng seemingly kept us all at bay as she dominated the year. She did stumble a time or two…but bounced back with some good performances.

The upcoming season will bring a young face, a possibly renewed confidence, and maybe even a “old” name showing new form.

Well, as we look to 2012, here’s a list of players that I will be watching.
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Golf action begins in earnest this week with the Hyundai Tournament of Champions from the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii. The total purse is $5.6 million with a winning share of $1.2 million and a total of 500 FedExCup points at stake. A total of 28 players will participate in the PGA Tour’s opening tournament.

There will be three top ten finishers from last year’s FedExCup standings in the event with (1) Bill Haas, (2) Webb Simpson, and (9) Nick Watney. On the top 10 money list from last year comes the addition of (4) KJ Choi, (8) Steve Stricker, and (10) David Toms. Last year’s winner of the event, Jonathan Byrd, will also be on hand. Stricker is ranked 6th on the Official World Golf Ranking and Simpson is ranked 10th.

There is a reason for the short number on the field and that is because the Hyundai Tournament of Champions is the most difficult event on the PGA Tour to qualify for and that makes for a near perfect setting at the gorgeous Plantation Course. It is also a rare tournament that starts on a Friday rather than a Thursday. The Hyundai Tournament of Champions is a winner’s only event that had a total of just 39 golfers who were eligible to participate.

Kapalua is a par 73 and has a tour high 8000 square feet of greens and the object of the game is to have a good enough of a game to take advantage of all of the green space and shoot for birdies.

With that type of game in mind, Gary Woodland seems to be an ideal candidate to take advantage of the Plantation Course layout with a game that is both long and precise. He comes into action this weekend having finished in the top 10 in 7 of his last 10 tournaments.

One of the favorites in golf betting for this weekend’s event is Webb Simpson who is considered to be one of the up and coming young golfers. Also in the mix could be Nick Watney who is a two time winner of this event and was the regular season leader in FedExCup points last year. And of course Bill Haas has to be among the favorites as the defending FedExCup champion. Last year he finished an impressive 8th at Kapalua in his first ever try at the event.

With the PGA season set to start anew, I have a list of a few players to be mindful of during the upcoming year. Some won’t surprise you, others might.

Quickly, what I took away from the 2011 season was that of one thing: no dominant player. Of course, some of us will look to one or maybe even two that could possibly change the landscape.

Here’s a few guys I will look at for 2012.
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From an emotional and mental point of view, winning the Chevron was a good thing, but I’m sure Tiger Woods would say there is still work to be done. My quandary is why this is such a huge event? You know, the win?

Before I go into detail here, I will be the first person to confess that with no one dominating player in the world of golf, the PGA TOUR needs its “money man”. No one should be naive enough to believe otherwise. But an interesting point was brought up at the post tourney presser…
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Have you noticed a void within the book world where there are little, if any, books with golf as a backdrop that are aimed at the juvenile crowd? Me, too. Well, that void is hopefully in the process of changing as I bear good news.

Actually, it’s great news. The Magic Driver by Jason T. Ross fits this mold perfectly and is the first in a series of The World Golf Adventures of Justice & Gigi.

When you first delve into The Magic Driver, you are immediately on a golf course…and in the middle of a tournament which Justice is a competitor with his sister Gigi on the bag. Justice is battling his nemesis Brady Locker for the Cougar Classic. Ross creates a excellent backdrop for the tourney describing the course and particular holes. He does not confuse us with his narrative of the holes either. It’s all in order here as he even provides a little tip on course management. Well, the course at Spann Lake Golf Course, that is.
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Here’s a handful of intriguing information that hit the internet this past week…

Clipped from: sports.yahoo.com (share this clip)

So Greg Norman will not be returning as the captain for the International Team at the next Presidents Cup. That doesn’t shock me one bit. His criticism of the format, only having two picks and the right of deferral were only a small number of items where the Shark may have hit a nerve or two.

Don’t get me wrong. There really are other issues that face the International team that are not format related.

I’m wondering if he’d feel this way if the Internationals had won.
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The US successfully defended the Presidents Cup and will be bringing back to American soil for another two years. The next defense will be at Jack’s House of Muirfield Viallge in Dublin, OH in 2013. Here’s a daily look back at some items as they stood out in my mind from each of the day’s events.

Day 1 – “Get it out of the way.”

Previous to the beginning of the competition, the speculation ran rampant about any match pitting Tiger Woods and Adam Scott (and Steve Williams) in light of remarks made by Scott’s caddie at a recent function. So…get it over and out of the way early. It wasn’t exactly early as it was the last match. Woods was paired with his Harding Park teammate Steve Stricker and Scott found himself employing K.J. Choi as the second.

Things didn’t work out that well for the Woods-Stricker combo as they were thrashed by Scott-Choi, 7&6, but that wasn’t really the highlight, or lowlight if you were rooting for the International Team, of the day.
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That’s all he fell short. Two strokes.

Tiger Woods made a run at the Emirates Australian Open Championship, but came up short despite a rally during the final round. But it wasn’t the bogeys on holes 11 and 13 that sealed his doom. That would be his start to the third round, bogey-bogey-bogey. The first three holes on Saturday left Tiger staring up at the leaderboard for the remainder of the tournament.

There are still positives to garner from this week as we head into the Presidents Cup.
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Is this really happening? Can it last? Will it last? Is he all the way back? These questions and a host of others surround the events transpiring down in Sydney, Australia after Tiger Woods claimed the lead after the second round of the Emirates Australian Open.

Yes, it is not a mistype, misprint, whatever you want to call it. Tiger Woods holds the second round lead after firing rounds of 68 and 67 for a 9-under-par. A pair of Aussies lurk behind as Peter O’Malley is one shot back and Jason Day, who idolized Woods when he was a “youngster”, is a pair of shots behind.

Sure, the tournament is only two rounds in the books, but to look at the leaderboard and see the name of “Woods” resting at the top is a sight not seen for a while. A long while, in fact.
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