The US Open is adamant about keeping the current 18-hole play-off format, despite being the only major that does so.  USGA Executive Director David Fay, when asked if the format would change anytime soon, said, “We are doggedly determined to go 18 holes.”

One has to question why we need a full 18-hole play-off.  Last years battle between Tiger Woods and Rocco Meidate, while fantastic, is a rare occurrence.  The extra day also puts a drain on the USGA’s finances.  With the extra day, the USGA spent extra money on:

- Another day of buses: $120,000 ($45,000 for smaller buses)

- Security: $30,000

- Parking: $60,000

- Lunches and travel costs (no amount given)

Overall, the costs added up to just over a half a million dollars.

It would seem to me that with that much money being shelled out and the rarity of match-ups like last years, the US Open would follow suit with the other majors and go with a sudden death play-off.

And I’d be all for it.

What do you think?  Should the US Open keep the 18-hole format or move to sudden death?

The first golf course designed by Tiger Woods will not open as scheduled due to worsening economic conditions in Dubai.  The scheduled opening has been delayed by at least 6 months.

“It’s six months as of right now,” Woods said in an interview at the Memorial. “It’s going to be behind schedule. Obviously, the economy has turned over there and they’ve slowed down construction because of it.”

The total project, called “Tiger Woods Dubai”, includes 100 villas, 75 mansions, 22 palaces and a 360,000 square foot luxury hotel.  The course only had 3 holes under construction when the project was halted.

Woods has 2 other courses in the works – one  in North Carolina (The Cliffs at High Carolina) and one in Mexico (Punta Brava).  Both courses are awaiting permits but otherwise are on schedule.  The North Carolina course is expected to open in the middle of 2010 and the Mexico course is slated to open in late 2010.

While John Daly still has 4 months remaining on his PGA Tour suspension, he is starting to get his game back on the European Tour.

Daly, who had tied for 31st at the Spanish Open last week, finished tied for 2nd at this weeks BMW Italian Open.  Daly shot at 31 on the back nine Sunday, with birdies on 11, 14, 16, and 17, in route to a 5-under 66.  It marked the 5th consecutive round in which Daly broke 70.

Daly has lost about 50 pounds and perhaps has matured since undergoing gastric band surgery in February.  When he finished second to Tiger Woods in the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship in San Fransisco, Daly drove to Las Vegas and lost $1 million gambling in just 30 minutes.

While the PGA Tour and its tournaments have donated over $1 billion to charity in the last 70 years, David Toms wonders how high that number would be if it counted what the players do separate of the PGA Tour.  For example, the figure doesn’t include the millions the Tiger Woods Foundation has contributed to scholarships and grants or Phil Mickleson’s Start Smart or Birdies for the Brave programs.

That is going to change.

Commissioner Tim Finchem announced a plan Tuesday to highlight what golfers do for charity and get more tournaments, sponsors, volunteers and fans more involved so the tour can do even more.  The campaign will be called “Together, Anything is Possible” and will be launched in 2010.

The most visible part will be letting fans know what players are doing through different charities.  The Tour’s website will enable fans to see which players support which charities.  The thought is that this will drive fans to become more involved with charities supported by their favorite players or find out which players support their favorite charity.

Another key piece will be bringing tournaments, sponsors and charities together to learn different ways to raise money.

Finchem has said that the campaign has nothing to do with criticism from Rep. Barney Frank and Senator John Kerry over title sponsorship of golf tournaments.

The British Open will return to Muirfield in 2013, the links course on the eastern shores of Scotland where golf’s oldest championship has been played for centuries.  Murifield last hosted the Open in 2002, when Ernie Els won in a four man play-off and Tiger Woods shot an 81 in the third round.

This will be the 16th time the Open has been played at Murifield and the 11 year gap between hosting is the longest since it was without an Open between 1948 and 19s, 59.

The HSBC Champions in China has been added as a World Golf Championship this year, with a new qualifying criteria and a $7 million purse.  This will be the largest purse ever for a golf tournament in Asia.

The HSBC Champions began in 2005 and has been sanctioned by every major golf tour with the exception of the PGA Tour.  That now changes with its status as the 4th World Golf Championship and the only one not staged in America.

Tiger Woods and defending champion Sergio Garcia have both committed to playing in this years tournament.  It will not be know exactly how many American players will play until the fall.  The event is played after their official season is over and any money earned will not count towards the PGA Tour money list.

Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning will be teaming up in this weeks pro-am at Quail Hollow.  Manning and Woods tee off at 7:30 AM Wednesday.  Woods is making his first PGA Tour start since finishing 6th at this years Masters.  Manning teamed up with Kenny Perry in last weeks Zurich Classic pro-am.

Other notable celebrities participating are NASCAR drivers Jimmie Johnson and Michael Waltrip, former NBA great Julius Irving and ESPN’s Chris Berman.

Tiger Woods will play in his first tournament since the Masters when he enters the Quail Hollow Championship.  Woods committed to the event (formerly called the Wachovia Championship) on Friday.  The last time Tiger was here, he won the event in 2007.  He missed last years event due to knee surgery.

Joining Tiger at Quail Hollow are 9 more of the world’s tp 14 golfers.  Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Masters Champion Angel Cabrera and defending champion Anthony Kim have all committed to the tournament.

Will golf make a return to the Olympics in the 2016 games?  It will if Tiger Woods and other prominent golfers have anything to say about it.

Woods and several other players have recently made a push with the International Olympic Committee to have golf added as an Olympic sport again.  Golf was last recognized as an Olympic sport at the St. Louis games in 1904.

Read the full article here.

Anyone want to see golf played in the Olympics?  Or, given the number of foreign born players on the PGA Tour currently, would it be just like any other tour event?  What sort of format would you want to see?

Tiger Woods announced the birth of his son, Charlie Axel Woods, via his website today. Charlie was born on Sunday, February 8, 2009. Charlie and his mother Elin are both doing well, per Tiger’s post. Charlie joins big sister Sam in the Woods family.