Woods Struggles on Opening Day of Turkish Airlines Open

With a rain delay of about three hours on Thursday, first-round play at the Turkish Airlines Open was cut short due to darkness. Only 14 players in the 78-man field finished their opening round, but with a favorable forecast for the rest of the week, they should be able to get back on schedule heading into the weekend. Here's where things stand after the first day in Turkey:

Leaderboard: Paul Casey (-7 thru 14), Darren Fichardt (-7 thru 14), Steven Webster (-7 thru 12), Ricardo Gonzalez (-6, F), Thorbjorn Olesen (-6, F), Rafa Cabrera-Bello (-6 thru 16), Ricardo Santos (-6 thru 15), George Coetzee (-6 thru 15), Peter Uihlein (-6 thru 12), Thomas Bjorn (-6 thru 12), Justin Walters (-6 thru 11)

What it means: Overnight rain meant soft greens on Thursday, and plenty of guys went low. The Montgomerie Maxx Royal course features five par 5s and five par 3s, plus they played lift, clean and place, so scoring conditions were ideal. If you didn't go low Thursday, you missed a big opportunity to get into contention.

Round(s) of the day: Casey, Fichardt and Webster all have yet to complete their rounds, but they all ended the day at -7. Webster birdied five of seven holes before darkness halted play.

Best of the rest: Gonzalez and Olesen were among the lucky few who completed their opening round on Thursday. They both share the clubhouse lead at -6. Six other players, including Uihlein and Bjorn, are at -6 with several holes still remaining.

Biggest disappointment: On a day when scoring conditions were ideal, Woods only managed two birdies and a bogey through 10 holes. Woods struggled to find the fairway and will have to get off to a hot start Friday if he wants to have any chance of winning this week.

Main storyline heading into Day 2: Will the big names emerge from the pack? There is still plenty of golf left to be played, and several big names, including Henrik Stenson (-4 thru 10),Lee Westwood (-4 thru 11) and Ian Poulter (-3 thru 11) are lurking on the leaderboard. Woods and U.S. Open champ Justin Rose are at -1 after 10 holes and need to get moving if they want to try and keep up with the leaders.

Scott Talks Grand Slam, 'Bugs' on Masters Menu

Adam Scott is back Down Under for the first time since claiming the green jacket at this week's Australian PGA Championship, and from the sounds of things he's hungry for more majors, and possibly some home cooking.

"As long as I keep the intensity and practice and prepare I think I can win more majors, win another Masters, win the (British) Open, hopefully US Opens and PGAs.

"I'd love to win the career Grand Slam and put myself in that really small group of players who have win all four majors.

While Scott's drive to be one of the game's all-time greats probably doesn't come as a surprise to most, his first comments on the menu for next year's Masters Champions Dinner may shock a few people at first glance.

"Don't be surprised if Moreton Bay bugs are on the menu somewhere. I don't know if I'd get away with serving meat pies," he said.

Now, as much fun as it is picturing a bunch of Masters champs in their green jackets roasting insects over a campfire "Survivor" style, it turns out Moreton Bay bugs is just an unfortunate name the Aussies have given flathead lobsters.

In summary, Moreton Bay bugs ... Australian for lobster.

LPGA Gets New Title Sponsor for Canadian Open

The Canadian Women’s Open has a new title sponsor, the LPGA announced Wednesday.

Canadian Pacific, the transcontinental railway, has signed a three-year agreement as title sponsor with the LPGA and Golf Canada. The event has been renamed the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

The news includes a purse increase and a change of venues. The purse will be bumped to $2.25 million, up from $2 million, making it among the top five purses on tour. The tournament will be played at London Hunt and Country Club in London, Ontario, Aug. 21-24. It was also played there in 2006 and hosted a women's major, the du Maurier Classic, in '93.

Teen phenom Lydia Ko won the last two CN Canadian Women’s Opens, both at Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Z. Johnson's Caddie Playing Champions Q-School

  

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – One of the most notable players in this week’s field at The McGladrey Classic, Zach Johnson will be without his right-hand man as he looks to tame the Seaside Course.

Longtime caddie Damon Green, who has been on Johnson’s bag for several PGA Tour wins, including the 2007 Masters, is not at Sea Island this week, instead opting to try his hand at qualifying for the Champions Tour.

“My boy Damon fired me,” Johnson joked of Green, who sits seven shots off the lead at the regional qualifier in Winter Garden, Fla., after an opening 73.

With Green otherwise occupied with his own professional pursuit, Johnson is turning this week to Chad Reynolds, who currently caddies for Nick Watney.

“I know Chad. He’s a good player, and he’s been out here a number of times,” explained Johnson, who lives a short distance from the Seaside Course. “I just wanted to find somebody that I didn’t really have to worry about.”

The veteran admitted he considered having a friend or family member tote the bag this week, but opted to go with Reynolds in an event where he, like many in this week’s field, hope to do especially well because of his ties to the local area.

“This is a big week for me,” he added. “I wanted to get somebody that really is a professional caddie, and I know I’ve got one.”

PGA, Players Purses Swell To $10 Million In '14

 

The PGA Tour and PGA of America announced new joint initiatives Wednesday, perhaps finally putting to rest the apparent confusion of Vijay's attorney and the endless list of publications that still confuse the two organizations. Oh, and they are raising purses for 2014 that will force the Masters and USGA to give players a bit more from their petty cash stashes.

 For Immediate Release:
SEA ISLAND, GA (November 6, 2013) – PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem and PGA of America President Ted Bishop today announced a significant expansion in cooperative initiatives that benefit the membership of both organizations and help grow the game of golf.

Among them, Bishop said, is The PGA of America’s intention to increase the PGA Championship’s purse to $10 million, which will equal that of THE PLAYERS Championship as the highest in professional golf. This represents a $2 million increase over last season’s PGA Championship, while Finchem said THE PLAYERS’ purse will increase by $500,000 over 2013. In addition, the PGA TOUR will increase its longstanding support of the PGA Professional National Championship and various PGA Section Championships.

Appearing at a press conference during The McGladrey Classic at Sea Island Resort, Finchem and Bishop outlined a program aimed at highlighting the vital role of PGA of America Professionals in teaching and growing the game of golf:

· A PR campaign that will include PSAs during PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Web.com Tour telecasts; exposure on PGATOUR.COM; and features on Sirius/XM Radio’s PGA TOUR channel, and will focus on the efforts of PGA professionals in teaching and growing the game of golf; Because we know how well those work!

· A weekly segment on “Inside the PGA TOUR” shown on Golf Channel, featuring the host PGA Professional’s knowledge of the competitive aspects of the tournament course;

· PGA Professional presence at selected PGA TOUR events, commencing in 2014 with THE PLAYERS, the three domestic World Golf Championships, The Barclays, the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, the Northern Trust Open and The Presidents Cup, in which PGA Professionals will interact with fans in various ways, such as providing mini lessons and distributing information about golf instruction.

“We have always believed that working together with The PGA of America enhances efforts to grow the game and benefits the membership of both organizations,” Finchem said. “Today’s announcement reflects what regular communication between our organizations can accomplish, and we look forward to continuing discussions with Ted and The PGA of America regarding further opportunities.”

“The relationship between The PGA of America and the PGA TOUR has never been stronger for a variety of reasons,” said Bishop, 38th president of The PGA of America. “There have been a series of cooperative efforts and today’s announcement is a further reflection that the essence of our relationship has been our ability to jointly do what is best for golf and our respective memberships. After all, PGA TOUR players are also members of The PGA of America.”

More interesting in this is the obvious bond built out of the PGA and PGA Tour's mutual disdain for the anchoring ban dating back to last winter. And what better way to annoy the USGA by asking them to give up a few more million dollars to players instead of to a hedge fund manager. The U.S. Open and Masters purses in 2013 were $8 million each.

Snedeker Injures Knee in China

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) Brandt Snedeker injured his left leg when he lost his balance and landed awkwardly when he hopped off a Segway in China.

Snedeker was at a corporate outing at Sheshan International on Monday when he injured himself. He immediately withdrew from the Australian PGA Championship and returned home to Nashville. Doctors say he bruised his left tibia and strained the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Snedeker says surgery will not be required. He says his injuries could heal in a couple of weeks, or take as much as two months. He is scheduled to play the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge in California on Dec. 5-8, and the Franklin Templeton Shootout a week later in Florida.

Snedeker missed six weeks earlier this year when he cracked a rib.

Mickelson to Start Next Year in the Middle East

 

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Phil Mickelson is starting his 2014 schedule in the desert - not California, but Abu Dhabi.

Organizers said Tuesday that Mickelson will play in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Jan. 16-19, the same week as the Humana Challenge. Mickelson is expected to make his first PGA Tour appearance of 2014 a week later at Torrey Pines, not far from where he lives.

It will be the first time since 2011 that Mickelson plays in Abu Dhabi. Rory McIlroy and U.S. Open champion Justin Rose also are playing the event.

Abu Dhabi is the first of three straight Europe Tour events in the United Arab Emirates. Tiger Woods has played Abu Dhabi the last two years. This time, he is going to Dubai to help celebrate its 25th anniversary.