VANCOUVER — Tiger Woods, supremely gifted at controlling the arc of his golf ball, may have badly miscalculated his ability to do the same with the trajectory of his life. But he hasn’t given up trying.

What the world’s No. 1 player seeks — in announcing Tuesday that he will make his long-awaited return to golf at the Masters Tournament, April 8-11 — is a rigorously controlled environment. This may work out better than the one he tried to create with that scripted, oh-so-rehearsed, no-questions-taken televised apology last month, delivered in front of his mother, business associates and a small group of reporters (many reporters boycotted the staged event).

In the cloistered, rarefied atmosphere of the Augusta National Golf Club, he’ll have a nearly ideal combination of spectator gentility and a club administration that will brook no nonsense from the great unwashed. The British bookmaker William Hill waited a full nanosecond after the announcement to install him as a 4-1 favorite to win.

“The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect,” Woods’ statement said. “After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta.

“The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it’s been a while since I last played.”

But coming back at the Masters, instead of two weeks earlier at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Invitational, is not about choosing an appropriate amount of time away to demonstrate his dedication to rescuing his marriage from the fallout of his serial cheating. It is not about TV ratings. It is not about fear of missing a chance to continue his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’s record 18 major championships.

For perhaps the first time in his life, it is not even about winning, though it’s not to be dismissed that seven of his 14 major championship victories have come at Augusta (four Masters), Pebble Beach (the 2000 U.S. Open) and St. Andrews (British Opens in 2000 and 2005), all of which play host to majors this year. With Woods, it is and always has been about control.

He simply isn’t willing to come in close contact with an unruly public or a scandal-driven media in his first time out of the box since his late-November fall from grace. The green jackets’ stringent screening will help shield him.

Said Rocco Mediate, who lost the 2008 U.S. Open to Woods at Torrey Pines: “It’s the safest place. It’s the most controlled place.”

You don’t run at the Masters. You don’t carry a cellphone. You don’t chant. You don’t boo. You don’t heckle. You may yell “Get in the hole!” when a player hits a tee shot on a par-5, but stupidity is not an attribute that the green jackets of The National have figured out how to combat.

What they do know how to do, the old boys of the greatest old boys club in golf, is keep the riff-raff out. His choosing of their glorious annual rite of spring at which to unleash the first, most ravenous pack of media hounds may be about as welcome among the members as that deep blanket of snow that fell on the club a few weeks ago, but they are tickled he’s coming, all the same. Almost as tickled as CBS, which can expect off-the-charts ratings if Woods is still alive on the weekend, after ESPN carries the first two rounds.

Said Masters and Augusta National chairman Billy Payne: “We support Tiger’s decision to return to competitive golf beginning at this year’s Masters Tournament. Additionally, we support and encourage his stated commitment to continue the significant work required to rebuild his personal and professional life.”

Even Payne and his cronies may not be able to keep reporters from asking pointed questions — his predecessor Hootie Johnson couldn’t, when Martha Burk mounted her futile 2003 campaign to have corporate sponsors boycott the tournament until the club opened up to female members — but they do have the ultimate hammer. When it comes to anyone wishing access to the grounds, and that includes the press building, the unspoken rule is: be careful, or y’all might not be back next year.

Lest we forget, Jack Whitaker never made it back onto the CBS broadcast after referring to the fans as a “mob” in 1966. Gary McCord has never been back since he told viewers that the greens were so slick because “they don’t cut the greens here at Augusta — they use bikini wax.” That was 16 years and three club administrations ago.
Augusta is long on memory and short on forgiveness. So we’re not going to be seeing TMZ or the National Enquirer in the Masters’ press room.
When a wide-eyed C. Cole first applied for a press credential, in 1993, the head of the tournament’s press committee was the late Charlie Yates, who was Bobby Jones’s playing partner the last time the Augusta National (and Masters) co-founder ever swung a golf club. It was a requirement then, probably still is, that the first-time applicant had covered golf, and that he send along clippings of golf stories he had written. Also, if memory serves, a covering letter containing the signature of the paper’s editor-in-chief, along with the company seal, was mandatory.

It was like applying for a job, only the paycheque wasn’t in dollars, it was in goosebumps. They still come, like clockwork, every April, but last spring was oddly anticlimactic, with Woods rehabbing after knee surgery. Three weeks from now, golf’s fallen idol — feet of clay, and all — will make Augusta the centre of the sporting universe again. It will be, unequivocally, great to have him back.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/masters-matters-to-golfs-fallen-idol-88080407.html

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It was so warm last weekend that Shooters Family Golf Centre had to cancel its snow-golf tournament.

Winnipeggers have been basking in the warm glow of way-above-normal temperatures for a couple of weeks now, hitting the driving range or going for Slurpees as shorts and sandals made their first appearance of the year. Winter doesn’t officially end until Sunday.

Shooters owner Guido Cerasani said he expected 125 people to have hit his driving range by the end of Tuesday and he’s considering opening up his golf course in 10 days or so.

“We were open until Dec. 1, so that’s three-and-a-half months between golf seasons. I drove the course today and there’s no snow on the greens and the grass is looking really green.”

As with all good things, the May-like temperatures are going to come to an end, at least temporarily. The mercury could still hit 10 C today under sunny skies and about 7 C on Thursday, but it’s back to the relative deep freeze on Friday with a forecast high of -5 C and a low of -11 C.

The weekend and early next week should see seasonal highs near zero.
The provincial government is warning Manitobans to stay off rivers and other bodies of water due to weak ice. Manitoba Conservation warns that all ice-fishing shelters should be off the Red River from Lockport to Selkirk.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/snow-golf-no-way-says-mother-nature-88080262.html

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CN announced today the selection of the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba Inc. as the official charity and beneficiary of the CN Miracle Match program that will accompany the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open. The golf championship will be held at Winnipeg’s St. Charles Country Club Aug. 23-29.

CN Miracle Match will rally the Winnipeg and Manitoba communities to make charitable donations to the Children’s Hospital Foundation. Each year since 2006, CN and the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA) have generated funds to support a children’s hospital by matching donations made through initiatives associated with the CN Canadian Women’s Open. In the past four years, this program has raised more than $3.5 million for children’s hospitals.

Michael Cory, CN senior vice-president, Western Region, said: “CN has a major presence in Winnipeg, and we want to help build a safer, stronger community here. One of the best ways we can do that is raising funds to assist the Foundation’s mission to improve the health and safety of children. We’ll be out there in the community drumming up donations for the Foundation during the tournament and run-up to it. We hope total donations to the 2010 CN Miracle Match in Winnipeg will exceed $1 million, thus allowing our Miracle Match program to top that figure for the third straight year.”

Lesia Sianchuk, executive director of the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba, said: “We are so excited to have the CN Canadian Women’s Open in Winnipeg, and to build a strong partnership with the CN organization and their many Manitoban employees. It’s going to be an excellent opportunity for our Foundation and community to not only increase support for, but to also enhance child health care and research in Manitoba. ”

“Along with our partners at CN, we believe it is very important that the CN Canadian Women’s Open leave a lasting legacy in our local host communities,” said Scott Simmons, RCGA executive director and chief executive officer. “As a national charity program with a philanthropic mandate to raise money for children’s hospitals, CN Miracle Match is a terrific initiative that helps to raise charitable proceeds in the name of Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship.”

http://www.rcga.org/news_details.aspx?ID=2184

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Imagine slicing your golf ball into the water and being able to immediately analyze what went wrong with your swing — and correct it — before you tee up again.

That’s the vision of Terry Hashimoto, one of the most successful golfers to come out of Manitoba, who has pioneered the development of a high-tech clip that fits onto the shaft of your clubs — from driver to putter — and captures the trajectory and acceleration of your swing, the flex of the shaft and the openness of the club face, and sends it to your smartphone.

The 10-gram clip contains three accelerometers and three miniature gyroscopes that capture 1,000 images of your swing per second. Using your fingers, you can get a 360-degree view of your drive, chip or putt on your wireless mere seconds later. Colour codes identify where the club head reaches its top speed, which can indicate flaws such as jerking the club back too quickly or trying to hit the ball farther than John Daly ever imagined.

“It’s not about the bad shots, you want to know what you did on your good shots,” Hashimoto said.

The idea, for which Hashimoto has applied for a patent, uses what he calls ICU technology in the lightweight clip and UCiT replay programming on a smartphone.

The technology, which also allows you to compare your most recent swing to previous ones stored on your phone and even to the swings of PGA Tour players, has been put into action by Gord Parke and Adam Tsouras, the chief technical officer and graphic designer of TGH Golf Designs, respectively. Their research has been sponsored by Memphis-based True Temper, the world’s leading manufacturer of golf club shafts.

In addition to helping golfers tweak (or overhaul) their games, Hashimoto said retailers will also be able to use the technology to determine what sorts of clubs are ideal for an individual golfer’s game.
Chad Hall, director of product marketing and global tour operations for True Temper, described it as a “very clever” technology and he’s anxiously awaiting a prototype from Hashimoto so the company can begin to estimate its full potential.

“There’s a high level of excitement on our part right now to drive it toward being a commercial product,” he said.

Hall said it would be “really valuable” in being able to give a shaft recommendation to golfers immediately after they had provided a swing demonstration.

“There’s also an opportunity to be able to walk up to a tour player and say, ‘let’s do this real quick.’ (The information they’d receive) would give them the confidence that they’re playing with the correct shaft or if we made a little tweak, they’d be even more fine-tuned than they are right now,” he said.

Hashimoto said he believes the technology could even be used during tournament play because it has no moving parts but that decision will ultimately be made by the sport’s governing bodies.

“It could definitely be used for TV broadcasts,” he said.

Hashimoto said the technology also has applications in other sports, such as baseball swings and tennis serves, and he’d also like to see it used in researching concussions by putting it in hockey and football helmets to measure the G-force at impact.

Hashimoto said he has been working on the concept on and off for the last 11 years but it’s only recently that wireless devices have been able to handle the amount of data produced.

If you thought golf had gone high-tech when the first Big Bertha driver hit the market, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

TGH Golf Designs has developed a technology that can capture a complete picture of your swing and send it to your smartphone seconds after you’re finished your follow-through. A lightweight clip attaches to your club and its three accelerometers measure the position of the club as you swing and three miniature gyroscopes measure the rotation rate of the club.
e U.S.”

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/columnists/a-lefty-eh-87610887.html

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When the dust settles on 2009, there will be a lot of faces in new places compared to the 12 months ago and GNN, in its first calendar year, was there to cover these movements and the honors that were bestowed within the Canadian golf industry.

GNN will be slowing down for two weeks over the holidays as of this Friday, but if you have any downtime while taking a breather, it’s always fun to look back on our archives for a quick look at the year that was in 2009.

It was a year in which the number of Canadian players competing on the PGA and LPGA Tours doubled for 2010 and developing pros and amateurs made it known loud and clear that the number could grow even more in future years.

It was also a year in which familiar names changed positions and honours were handed out to recognize the contributions and achievements of people within the industry.

Here are some of the highlights:

Recognized for Contributions/Achievements

Mike Weir is inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame during a ceremony at his home course of Huron Oaks in Bright’s Grove, Ont., at the end of November … Lorne Rubenstein receives the George Gross Achievement Award from Sport Media Canada for contributions to sports journalism … Former du Maurier Classic executive director and LPGA Tour player Jocelyne Bourassa receives the Trainor Award from the Duramed Futures Tour for lifetime contributions … Mary-Jane Hall is recognized for 30 years of service at Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto.
Association Honours

In September, the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association names David Boyd of Heritage Pointe in Dewinton, Alta., as its Superintendent of the Year. Other winners include Cameron Kusiek of Wolf Creek in Ponoka, Alta., as its Future Superintendent of the Year and former association executive director Vince Gillis as the winner of the John B. Steel Award … The Canadian PGA announces its award-winners including Bill Wogden of the Barrie Country Club in Barrie, Ont. (Club Professional of the Year), Rob Anderson of Shadow Mountain Golf Course in Cranbrook, B.C. (Teacher of the Year), Tim Moore of Thornhill Golf and Country Club in Thornhill, Ont. (Merchandiser of the Year) and Mike Kelly of the Golf Association of Ontario (Jack McLaughlin Junior Leader of the Year) … Montreal’s Claude Brousseau of the Kapalua Golf Academy in Maui is named PGA of America’s Aloha Section Teacher of the Year … RCGA national men’s coach Henry Brunton is named to the Top 50 Kids Teachers list by U.S. Kids Golf … Dallas Desjardins of Summerside Golf and Country Club in Prince Edward Island and Peter Stewart of The Country Club in Woodbridge, Ont., share the Tex Noble Award.

Association Moves

Steve Carroll is named director of membership and business development for the Royal Canadian Golf Association in November after resigning as Canadian PGA executive director in August and leaving the job at the end of October … Dean Spriddle resigns in October as head coach of the RCGA’s national women’s team and is replaced a few weeks later by former Canadian PGA Teacher of the Year Derek Ingram of Winnipeg … Tom McCarthy of Halifax is introduced as RCGA president in January … Peter Beresford is named the RCGA’s chief operating officer in October … Erica Duffy resigns as Canadian PGA communications coordinator to join Research In Motion in Waterloo, Ont. … Four-time national women’s champ Mary Ann Lapointe joins the Golf Association of Ontario as sports development coordinator for high performance programs in March … Jon Roy is named the GAO’s provincial head coach in December.

Industry Moves

Kevin Thistle leaves Angus Glen in Markham, Ont., after 16 years to join Coppinwood in nearby Uxbridge in May. He later joins GNN as a regular blogger. Nigel Hollidge, formerly of the Club at Bond Head and Taboo, returns to Angus Glen … Former Canadian Amateur champ Rob McMillan of Winnipeg is named executive chairman of the Canadian Tour’s Players Cup. Wife Nicole McMillan is named executive director of the tournament … Preben Ganzhorn is named director of marketing for Callaway Golf Canada, replacing Chris Walling who started his own marketing/communications business, in June … Greg Hubert is named director of sales for Nike Golf Canada in March … Warren Mape, formerly of PING, joins Flightscope as director of sales development … Keira Meixner of Richmond, B.C., turns pro in August after a four-year run on the Canadian amateur team … Ryan Brown is named vice president of marketing for Golf Town in June … Patty Howard, the 2007 Ontario and Canadian PGA Club Professional of the Year, announces she is stepping back from day-to-day operations at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club in London, Ont. Howard, who has been affected by rheumatoid arthritis, will still remain involved in club events and keep her director of golf title … Brad Matthews resigns as director of golf at Whistle Bear in Cambridge, Ont., after eight years. He is replaced by Doug Lawrie … Sue Gallagher is named managing director for Nancy Lopez Golf, a division of Tournament Sports … Shaun Shienfield of Knetgolf is named 2009 entrepreneur of the year by eBay Canada.

Taking It Up A Notch

Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, B.C., gets her full-time LPGA Tour card through the Duramed Futures Tour money list after two wins in 2009. In early December, Montreal’s Lisa Meldrum gets her card through qualifying school to bring to four the number of full-time Canadians on tour including Hamilton’s Alena Sharp and Charlottetown’s Lorie Kane … The men use the same methods as Chris Baryla earns his PGA Tour card through the Nationwide Tour money list and Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., gets his through qualifying school in early December. They will join Weir and Stephen Ames on tour in 2010 … Danielle Mills of Pointe Claire, Que., earns her Futures Tour card for 2010 by finishing second at that circuit’s qualifying school … The future for Canadians on tour is also made brighter through the performances of other developing pros and outstanding amateurs such as Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., Matt Hill of Bright’s Grove, Ont., and Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont., among others.

http://www.golfnewsnow.ca/2009/12/14/industry-looks-different-after-2009/

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The greens will still be covered with white snow for another few weeks, but organizers of this summer’s CN Canadian Women’s Open are already busy planning for the tournament. It will take 1,400 volunteers to run the weeklong golf event, the only Canadian stop on the LPGA tour, taking place at Winnipeg’s St. Charles Country Club from Aug. 23 to 29.

Already, Winnipeggers have stepped up to help, with nearly 1,000 signed up to volunteer. Organizers are hoping to recruit the remaining volunteers well before summer arrives.

St. Charles Country Club general manager Cameron Gray said he is confident Winnipeggers will come through, as they have for many other national and international sporting events such as the Pan Am Games, the world junior hockey and women’s world hockey tournaments and the Brier, in addition to past golf tournaments that have been held at the St. Charles Country Club.

“I’ve experienced first-hand many of these sporting events that have taken place in Winnipeg. It’s a very, very broad cross-section of Winnipeggers who come out from all walks of life who have a multitude of interests,” said Gray, who personally helped out at the Pan Am Games and the Brier.

He said people chose to donate their time for a wide variety of reasons — they may have an interest in the specific sport taking place, in supporting the community or just being involved in events that are providing some cherished memories for the community.

“Whether it’s looking at a Pan Am uniform 10 year later or a Brier pass that you’ve got, it means a lot. I think that there is a lot of pride in participating and being involved in an event of this magnitude, seeing it come off successfully, the opportunity for the image of Winnipeg to be a major player within Canada and North America for these kinds of events,” said Gray.

He said events such as the CN Canadian Women’s Open rely heavily on the support of the volunteers, who help with everything from hospitality services to transportation, and from scoring to security.

“These events wouldn’t come off as they do if it wasn’t for Winnipeggers from every walk of life coming forward, giving up their own personal time, often taking a week’s vacation to be able to participate in these and be a part of it,” said Gray, pointing out golf events of this calibre stop in Winnipeg roughly once every 10 years.

“There’s a huge contribution on their part in the success of these events… . Their motivation is much higher than just watching golf, it’s a love for the game, to contribute to the event, to contribute to the city to make these things better.”

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/step-up-to-tee-for-golf-event-85799297.html

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MARANA, Ariz. — The latest gossip has Tiger Woods resuming his therapy some 2,000 miles away from where he made his public apology last Friday, which — if true — would be a comical coincidence in one respect.
He made more news in Arizona when he wasn’t even there.

If nothing else, last week showed how much control Woods wields in the world of golf.

The opening round of the Match Play Championship typically is one of the most exciting days in golf, and it was every bit of that. Not because Steve Stricker became only the second No. 1 seed to go home or because 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa won his last three holes to stay. The buzz centered on Woods’ camp announcing that he was going to make his first public appearance in three months.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem might have set a record by meeting with the media three times in five days. The first session Wednesday was to say very little. The third one Sunday was to take blame for not saying enough. In between was a news conference at the Sawgrass Marriott before more media than ever has covered The Players Championship.

Ernie Els was upset, and this was after he won his match.

Upon hearing that Woods was to speak in the middle of the first World Golf Championship of the year, Els tried to choose his words carefully until he said to Golfweek magazine, “It’s selfish.” And that was putting it mildly.

Other players who felt just as strongly managed to bite their tongues, or at least ask that tape recorders be turned off.

Ian Poulter inquired about the scene at the TPC Sawgrass during his final match, and when it was suggested that the only new development was Woods being seen and heard, Poulter stretched out his arms as if to say, “There is nothing else to add.”

Not that someone didn’t try.

After winning the Match Play Championship — the biggest win of his career and his first victory on American soil — the Englishman dressed all in pink nearly turned red when he heard a question from the back of the room.

“Does the Tiger Woods drama take away or diminish this championship to you in any way, just the media attention?”

Poulter’s eyes widened and he stared for a second.

“Next question,” he replied.

Some players get tired of taking Tiger questions when he’s winning all the time. They don’t like them any more when he’s simply reading a statement into a camera.

The Golf Writers Association of America usually doesn’t get this worked up unless the shuttle bus at the U.S. Open is running late. Woods created a flurry of passionate opinions that led the group to reject an offer of three seats in the room where Woods spoke, lobby for more reporters, receive a compromise of six seats, then vote 19-3 (with four abstentions) not to participate.

Could this all have been avoided? Woods said he was on a break from therapy (without saying what kind of therapy) and was to return the next day. Even if he had waited until the tournament was over, and had spoken on Monday, it still would have meant notifying everyone on Saturday — and that would have stolen attention away from Poulter’s 7-and-6 semifinal victory over Sergio Garcia.

In the end, the resentment was over Woods still calling the shots. Most agree that he should have lost that right through so many selfish decisions that culminated with a sordid sex scandal, which brought disgrace to his family and damage to a sport that made him who he is, or was. It may be years before the extent of that damage is known.

His management team could have diffused some of the resentment by making more clear what this event was all about. The first word was an e-mail to say Woods was going to speak to a small group of associates and friends, and while it was not an open media event, “it is understood that there are many media who are interested in what he has to say.”

Then came word that pool reporters — three wire services, three picked by the GWAA — would not be allowed to ask questions. It appeared to be another outrageous attempt to control the media.

For now, however, Woods does have the right to speak on his terms. He is not playing golf.

That day is coming, even if no one knows when. Woods only said that he would not rule out him playing this year. Once he returns to the PGA Tour, the only control he has over the media is what he chooses to answer. He can say he won’t discuss his personal life. That won’t stop the questions, and dodging them won’t do him any good.

Former Masters chairman Hootie Johnson chose to speak to only five reporters during the nine months that Martha Burk became part of the golf vernacular with her campaign for Augusta National to have a female member.

Johnson was flanked by 60 members in green jackets when he spoke for the first time on the Wednesday before the 2003 Masters. He concluded his opening remarks by saying, “I will have nothing further to add about our membership or related issues.” Then came more than 30 questions related to the controversy, and Johnson answered them all (just not to the media’s liking).

The Masters has tight restrictions on the media that gets a credential, just not the questions they ask.

The ultimate question — whenever he decides to play — is how Woods chooses to answer them.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/2010-02-23-2012216176_x.htm

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Just for fun, let’s do this before the Royal Canadian Golf Association makes it official. It’s fitting that the first player to say she’ll be at this summer’s CN Canadian Women’s Open in Winnipeg is No. 1 in the world.

“Yes, I will be playing for sure,” said Lorena Ochoa, who played the past three years, winning in 2007 and earning top-10s in the other two. “It’s a tournament that I love to go to. I think CN has done a wonderful job just getting more fans and putting a top tournament together.

“It’s just wonderful to see the volunteers and the sponsors and the community to get involved and help. I have nothing to say but good things. It’s been a great experience.”

There are few, if any, who disagree that CN has elevated the Canadian event to premier status, which makes it critical that the RCGA extend that title sponsorship past Winnipeg.

Solid sponsorships are critical on a tour that has been hit hard by the economy and has a schedule that includes just 24 events, including this week’s season-opener in Thailand.

The cynics might get out the calculator and point out that Ochoa played 22 events last season, leaving few tournaments for even top players to take off, unlike the PGA Tour. The flip side is that the tournaments that remain, especially the premier events such as Canada, attract strong fields.

“I think it’s very amazing how every tournament we have the top players and I like that,” said Ochoa, who plans to play the same number of events as last season. “I think the better the competition gets, the more exciting for the media, for us, for all the fans that come and watch us play, so I like that,” However, there are some stretches of inactivity in the schedule. For example, after next week’s event in Singapore, the tour doesn’t resume until the last week of March, just a week before its first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

The next two majors are only a couple of weeks from one another, with the final three occurring within a five-week span, so it’s either feast or famine.

However, Ochoa has more to occupy her time these days. Like any 28-year-old, her life is changing after getting married. Her new family includes three children and like other working women, Ochoa must balance profession and family so the breaks in the schedule allow for that.

“I’m really happy. To me, it looks good,” she said. “That’s the way it is and I just think we need to try to work around (the schedule). I think as much time for me as I can spend at home is great news.

“Now that I’m married, everything is good for me and it’s just nice to be home. At the same time, I get to practice, have a lot more practice time with my coach here in Mexico.”

That practice time will be critical as Ochoa fends off competitors for her No. 1 ranking after three wins and her fourth consecutive player of the year award in 2009. That follows eight wins in 2007 and seven in 2008.

“With all of that (marriage, a family) and being able to maintain my title and stay at the No. 1 player in the world, it means a lot,” she said. “When it’s tougher and when you achieve something, it feels a lot better, so I’m really happy the way I finished.”

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/golf/2010/02/15/12883506-sun.html

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Graham DeLaet had a relaxing holiday season — well, relaxing in Graham DeLaet terms.

After tying for eighth at the PGA Tour qualifying school, DeLaet’s holiday itinerary included Maui, Seattle, Boise and Arizona, where he watched the Fiesta Bowl won by his Boise State Broncos.

“It was amazing, awesome. It was the best sporting event I’ve ever been to. It was cool,” said DeLaet, who was tuning up his game at TPC Scottsdale before returning to Hawaii for this week’s Sony Open in Honolulu.

“It was a nice break,” DeLaet said. “I hadn’t touched my clubs since the final stage (of Q-School) until (last Tuesday) and I was definitely pretty rusty.

“I’m looking forward to getting back at it. I’ve got the itch to play again. I needed a break, but I’m ready to get going.”

It’s little wonder that the Weyburn, Sask., native would require a break after an exhausting 2009 that saw him travel across this country on the Canadian Tour, where he won twice and finished on top of the money list, but also make stops in distant lands such as Estonia, China and South Africa.

If the old saying that what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger is true, DeLaet’s busy schedule might be an advantage going into his rookie year.

“It’s exciting more than anything,” said DeLaet, who planned to be in Carlsbad, Calif., today for a club fitting before heading over to Hawaii tomorrow for his first tour event as a carded player.

“I’m anxious to see where I stack up against those guys. If I’m playing well, I should be able to be right there (on the leaderboard).

“I really have high expectations for myself. Going into the year, I obviously want to keep my card, but I want to win a golf tournament. That’s what I’m going to play for every week.”

Rookies who went before DeLaet often comment that it takes a while to get used to new hotels, cities and golf courses. While he wasn’t on the tour, DeLaet experienced much of that with his extensive 2009 travel schedule.

“It’s definitely going to be nice to be just, basically, in the U.S. all year and if I want to go home (to Boise) for the weekend, I can just catch a quick flight,” he said.

“I’m not halfway across the world and away from my wife. It’s going to be a lot easier getting on a flight and going for an hour, instead of 16 or whatever it was last year for a lot of my flights,” he said.

“I enjoy traveling and even though it’s just going to be mostly in the U.S. and going to a lot of the places that they play on the tour, I’m looking forward to that.

“As far as the golf courses, we play, pretty much the best golf courses all over the country in the best possible condition, you can’t ask for much more.”

The uncertainty of the schedule is another challenge faced by rookies who are down the totem pole in priority for entry into early season events.

“I don’t know for sure really what I’m going to be playing in, especially early in the year. I guess that’s just part of it and I’ve just got to deal with it,” said DeLaet. “If I can get into a tournament, I’m going to be ready to play. If I don’t get in, I’ll prepare for the next week’s event.”

Two more in Hawaii Another Canadian rookie, Chris Baryla of Vernon, B.C., will make his debut at the Sony. Also playing is Calgary’s Stephen Ames.

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As he hits one of those milestone birthdays in 2010 — he’ll be 40 in May — former Masters champ Mike Weir still believes his best golf is ahead of him.

Weir, with eight PGA Tour titles to his credit, hasn’t won a tournament since 2007. The last two years have yielded decent results — he’s been in the top 30 of the FedEx Cup points standings in each — and he told a conference call with reporters on Friday that during the off-season he was as dedicated to his profession as ever.

“I’ve kind of been on a mission, let’s say that,” Weir said.

“I do what I always do, and that’s training very hard in order to keep up with some of these young guys and try to outwork some of them to start the season.”

The annual new wave of talent on the PGA Tour isn’t the only thing that drives Weir.

“In my mind, I feel like I can get better at so many things and I honestly feel my best golf is ahead of me,” he said.

The Sarnia, Ont., native, who now lives in Sandy, Utah, also has a long-term goal in mind.

“The thought of being an Olympian is very motivating,” he said, referring to golf’s re-introduction to the Games in 2016 in Brazil.

But knocking on 40 just can’t mean that Weir has the same energy as a fresh college or lower-tour graduate, can it?

“Honestly, the most difficult part is balancing the schedule,” Weir said of his preparations this year. “I’m going to be 40 this year, but I have a tough time remembering what I felt like at 30. I probably didn’t feel any better than I do now and I feel especially better than I did three or four years ago when I was having problems with my neck.”

And his schedule means including his family, he said.

“It’s planning around the kids (he has two daughters), their spring breaks, the summer when they’re out of school. I’m still trying to be the best dad I can be and be active in their lives.

“When they were babies, they were looking to mom most of the time and it was easier for me to get away. But I want to be an active dad and that’s the hardest balancing act.”

Chatting with a PGA Tour player these days always includes a question about Tiger Woods, who has not been heard from since the late-2009 eruption of allegations about affairs.

“I have not talked to him at all, though I did reach out to him right around Thanksgiving,” Weir said. “I guess he’s been unavailable but I suspect — and this is just my guess — that he’ll be back for the Masters. In fact, every major is at a great venue this year, courses he’s done very well on.

“And me, I want to see him out there. As a competitor, I want the best there to compete against. And the tour wants that. It’s good when he’s around and my guess is that he’ll be back sooner than later.”

What Woods, Weir and all the rest of the world’s best players will find on the 2010 PGA Tour is a significant rule change, one Weir has been preparing for.

He has changed all of his irons and wedges in the off-season in order to conform to the new groove rules implemented this season.

“I’ve noticed it a little bit, playing down in L.A. (in December) in Tiger’s charity event,” Weir said. “The ball, especially with the wedges, flew a little higher and didn’t spin as much. And bunker shots, they’re releasing an extra three or four feet.

“It’s kind of going back (in time) but it doesn’t feel unfamiliar. It’s a slight adjustment but we’ll get used to it. I don’t think it’ll be a factor on the West Coast but it’ll be interesting to see how things go when we get to Florida.”

Veterans Weir and Stephen Ames will welcome two Canadians to the tour this season, Chris Baryla and Players Cup champion Graham DeLaet.

Weir, who won’t play until next week’s Bob Hope Classic, said he hasn’t talked to the rookies yet.

“You kind of have to find your own path on how to do things but I’ll definitely make myself available to them,” he said. “I’m not into giving advice… unless they ask for it.

“As a tour rookie I remember having Richard Zokol out there to ask him about different things on tour and it was a big plus, even just to go to dinner or have somebody to chat with.”

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