Rocco Mediate to play in NZ Open

The New Zealand Open in Queenstown has received a boost with news that colourful US Champions Tour golfer Rocco Mediate will join the field next year.

Mediate, best known for his play-off loss to Tiger Woods in the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines, was awarded the 'rookie of the year' title for his first year on the Champions Tour in 2013.

The American won his first Champions Tour event n February and added a second later in the year. His Champions Tour winnings in his debut year totalled US$1.3 million.

Mediate has career earnings of US$16.6 million, having won six times on the PGA Tour and now twice on the Champions Tour.

Rocco posted his sixth PGA Tour victory at the Frys.com Open in 2010, aged 47 years 10 months, to become the oldest wire-to-wire winner on the PGA Tour since such records have been recorded.

In announcing his intention to play in the New Zealand Open, Mediate remarked on how much he looked forward to visiting New Zealand, a country he knew much about, but had never previously visited.

A self-confessed 'adrenaline junkie', Mediate will no doubt sample some of the many treats that the Queenstown region has to offer.

"I've never been to New Zealand; this is the first time, and we are looking forward to it. I can't wait, it's going to be cool.

"I've heard so much, and it's a great event, so it's just going to be a lot of fun".

Mediate is coming to New Zealand to try and win his first-ever event outside of North America.

An outgoing individual, Mediate will no doubt entertain the crowds in Queenstown, as he strives to become the New Zealand Open champion, a title he would undoubtedly treasure.

Tournament director Michael Glading expressed his delight with the signing of Mediate to come to play in the New Zealand Open.

"We had a wish-list of players we would like to play next year, and Rocco was right at the top of this list.

"He is a warm and friendly individual who will fit into the Pro-Am format really well, but above all, he remains a competitive force, who will be aiming to win the tournament".

The tournament, a tier one event on the PGA Tour of Australasia, will be held from February 27-March 2 at The Hills Golf Course and Millbrook Resort.

It will include a unique pro-am format played concurrently with the professional tournament following the principles established for the 2013 NZPGA Championship and the total prize purse for the event will be a minimum of $900,000.

Brazilian Felipe Navarro wins Developmental Series Final

The 23-year old birdied the 72nd hole to win by one shot. The top 10 players earned the 2014 NEC Series-PGA TOUR Latinoamérica card

   This was Navarro's second career win in only two seasons as a pro. Walter Mendiola/PGA TOUR

Lima, Peru (December 21, 2013) – Brazil’s Felipe Navarro made ​​a birdie at the 72nd hole to defeat Colombia’s Diego Vanegas by one shot and claim his first international victory in the Developmental Series Final Samsung Tournament 2013.

In the event that awarded the leading ten players the card for the 2014 season of NEC Series-PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Navarro shot 68 on the final round to finish the week at 6-under par 282.

“I am very happy for this win. This is great and it puts me in position to find a sponsor in Brazil. I’m looking forward to playing the Tour and battling to be one of Los Cinco (who will move on to the Web.com Tour). I’m going to play as many tournaments as I can,” said the 23-year old champion.

Navarro, who remained inactive for eight months due to an elbow injury he suffered late last year, proved to be in top shape this week in Lima. He entered the final round in a tie for the second spot and stayed within the top 5 throughout the entire afternoon. A strong charge of birdies on 10, 11 and 13 put him ahead.

Playing on the penultimate group, Colombia's Diego Vanegas had a strong back nine as well. He matched the Brazilian score with a birdie on the final hole that secured a best-of-the-day 5-under par 67.

Navarro reached the 18th, a 503-yard par-five, needing a birdie to win and avoid a playoff for the title with Vanegas. “I knew I needed a birdie and although I missed my driver right into the rough, I knew I had a good shot at it. I put myself in position and took advantage of it,” said the champion about a hole where he executed a terrific flop and then sank a five-footer for birdie and the win.

“We Brazilians are not only good in football (soccer). We also have talent in golf,” he said with a big smile after a victory he dedicated to his father Rafael, an outstanding Brazilian pro who won 48 career titles and competed on the Champions Tour between 2002 and 2004.

Behind Navarro (-6) and Vanegas (-5), the third place belonged to Paraguay’s Marco Ruiz (-4). Venezuela’s Otto Solís (-3) finished fourth after holding the lead for the first three rounds. Brazil’s Rafael Becker, 22, secured the fifth place at 2-under par after a birdie at the last that helped him avoid a sudden-death playoff.

The top 5 finishers earned fully exempt status for the 2014 season of NEC Series-PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. Meanwhile, those who claimed spots 6 through 10 earned top conditional status.

Argentina's Paulo Pinto took the sixth spot, while his countrymen Lucho Dodda and César Monasterio finished in a two-way tie for seventh. Dodda, in a tie for tenth with two holes left to play, secured his position inside the top 10 by finishing birdie-birdie.

In a two-way tie for ninth, the last two spots went to the Peru’s Alan Fort, who closed birdie-birdie for a round of 69, and Argentina’s Franco Romero, who closed bogey-birdie. At age 18, Romero is in position to remain the youngest NEC Series-PGA TOUR Latinoamérica member for the third consecutive season.

Tiger is top, but challengers abound

Tiger Woods regained the world No.1 ranking after an absence of two-and-a-half years in 2013, but the debate over who is currently the best golfer in the world rages on.

Woods owes his return to top spot to his wins in five tournaments, but crucially he came up short once again in the four majors, failing to end a drought that dates back to June 2008 when he won his 14th at the US Open.

Instead, four players shared the honours in the tournaments that are the crown jewels of golf.

Adam Scott finally smashed the Aussie jinx at the Masters, Justin Rose became the first Englishman to win the US Open in 43 years at Merion, Phil Mickelson took the British Open at his 20th attempt and Jason Dufner was a popular winner of the PGA Championship.

With his 38th birthday coming up on December 30, Woods can hardly be called a veteran just yet, but he admits that the golfing landscape around him is changing fast.

"It's a whole different generation of guys," he said.

"I've played probably more head-to-head matches against Ernie (Els) than anybody because we played around the world; and Vijay (Singh) would probably be the second and Phil (Mickelson) would probably be third.

"But along the way ... I had Goose (Retief Goosen) in there and (David) Duval in there as well for a number of years.

"It's a different crop of guys. All those guys are in their 40s and 50s. So we got a whole new crew, and I think the youngest probably being Rory (McIlroy).

"But there's a lot of guys who are in their late 20s, early 30s that are right in their prime."

McIlroy in fact started the year as the world No.1 but, after a change of golfing equipment, his season went rapidly downhill as he became distracted by business affairs and a clear loss of form.

Still there were some signs that he can put all that behind him and he has plenty of career time left to significantly add to his majors haul of two.

"Golf's a long career and I'm 24 years old," said McIlroy in Sydney earlier this month after overhauling Scott to win the Australian Open - his first and only tournament victory of the year.

"I get a little impatient at times and if I actually just took a step back and looked at the bigger picture, it hasn't been too bad a year.

"It's obviously been made a lot better with the win. You know you have to go through the lows and I'm not saying it was a low this year. It's not like I plummeted off the face of the earth.

"I'm still sixth in the world so it's not too bad."

McIlroy's win in Sydney prevented Scott from becoming just the second player to achieve the Down Under "Grand Slam" of Australian PGA, Australian Masters and Australian Open which would have brought down the curtain splendidly on a breakthrough year for him.

Long touted as set to become a dominant figure in the game, Scott had - until April - flattered to deceive.

But all that changed at Augusta National - where he beat Angel Cabrera in a drama-filled playoff.

He nearly - once again - won the British Open three months later and many see Scott as being the next player to hold the world No.1 spot.

Others point to Henrik Stenson, the big Swede who started 2013 way down the rankings after a miserable last two years and wasn't even eligible for the Masters until the week prior to the tournament.

But in a super summer, Stenson tied for third at the Scottish Open, was runner-up at the British Open, runner-up to Woods at Firestone and third in the PGA Championship.

He then won the FedEx Cup in the United States and the final event in Europe to become the first player to win the FedEx Cup and the Race to Dubai in the same season.

He was rightly named as European Tour Player of the Year.

"It just reflects the stellar year I have had," Stenson said.

"You can call it a dream season, year of my life, whatever you want. It has been an unbelievable year and I am delighted to win this award, especially as I am the first Swede to do so."

Local golf: Locals excel in Dixie Amateur

CORAL SPRINGS — Two area golfers finished strong in the Dixie Amateur on Friday.

Shannon Aubert, a senior at The Pine School who won a Florida High School Athletic Association state title this fall, finished in a tie for first in the women’s division at Heron Bay Golf Club. Aubert, who will attend Stanford next fall, had four sub-par rounds (68-70-71-71) to finish at 8-under-par overall. Simin Feng, who was 4-under-par on Friday, tied Aubert at 8-under overall.

Richard Donegan, an Okeechobee High School graduate who plays for the University of Florida, tied for second in the men’s division at Woodlands Country Club\. Donegan had an even-par round on Friday and finished the four-round event at 6-under-par.

Chris Carlin won the men’s division with a 8-under-par total.

Asia close to defending Royal Trophy as Europe trail by two points

Asia require three-and-a-half points from Sunday's eight singles matches against Europe to defend the Royal Trophy after the teams split Saturday's fourballs at the Dragon Lake Golf Club in Guangzhou, China to give the holders a 5-3 advantage.

Leading 3-1 after Friday's foursomes, Asia stretched their advantage to three points thanks to Thai pair Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Thongchai Jaidee's 2&1 victory over Scots Paul Lawrie and Stephen Gallacher.

Europe, led by Ryder Cup-winning captain Jose Maria Olazabal, looked set for victory in the second match with Britons David Howell and Marc Warren two-up on the 17th tee against Liang Wenchong and Wu Ashun only to crumble at the finish.

Chinese duo Liang and Wu went birdie-birdie over the closing holes to snatch what looked to be a crucial half with Howell and Warren only able to bogey the par-four 18th.

Austria's Bernd Wiesberger and Dane Thorbjorn Olesen managed Europe's only win of the day with a 2&1 victory over out-of-sorts Japanese pair Ryo Ishikawa and Hiroyuki Fujita to make the score 4.5-2.5 in Asia's favour.

South Korean duo Kim Hyung-sung and Kim Kyung-tae appeared on the verge of restoring Asia's three-point cushion in the final match but they too let slip a two-up lead with two to play against Spain's Alvaro Quiros and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts.

Quiros hit a brilliant approach from the trees to within four feet that set up a birdie on the last to grab the unlikely half and stay within two points of Asia.

Lindsey Vonn's Knee Gives Out During Race, Tiger Woods Supports His Girlfriend

Lindsey Vonn suffered a setback with her right knee at the Women's World Cup downhill on Saturday, Dec. 21 in Val d'Isere, France.

The 29-year-old athlete skied out of the race after it looked like she lost her balance, lifting her left ski which put all of her weight on her surgically-repaired right knee. This stumble caused the Olympic gold medalist to miss a gate. After she leaned over in pain and took a brief pause, Vonn finished the run.

Tiger Woods watched his girlfriend compete from the finish line and was seen wincing after her race mishap.

"Everything's great besides my knee," Vonn told reporters after the race. "Life is great, I'm really happy that Tiger's here supporting me. Like I said, I'm skiing well and I feel confident, unfortunately my knee isn't holding up the way it should because I have no ACL. That's the only negative thing going on in my life right now, everything else seems to be pretty good."

The golfer was seen giving Vonn a hand as they left the course.

While Vonn's plans for the Sochi Olympics remain uncertain after this latest disappointment, she stressed that she is "not giving up."

"Bummed about today," she tweeted. "Skiing with no ACL is hard! Will see how it responds over the next few days and then make a plan #notgivingup #Sochi2014"

Vonn suffered serious injuries on Nov. 19, including a mild strain to her right knee, partial tear to her right ACL, minor facial abrasions and scapular contusions from her fall, while training for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, her publicist told E! News at the time. 

The sports star pursued "aggressive physical therapy" following the incident.

E! News is heading to Sochi! Don't forget to tune in this winter for our gold medal-worthy coverage.

Robinson (No. 86, 2015) commits to Wisconsin

Brett Robinson of Tustin, Calif., gave a verbal commitment to play college golf at Wisconsin in 2015.

Robinson made unofficial visits to Oregon, Loyola Marymount and Oregon State.

"Wisconsin was the perfect fit for me as a student-athlete,” Robinson said. “It has amazing facilities, great coaches and most important, it's a great school. With the facilities, I am certain I will be able to take my game to a higher level and contribute to a Big 10 Championship."

The junior at Beckman High School in Irvine, Calif., had three top-15 finishes at three AJGA events in 2013. He is a two-time Pacific Coast League first-team player and won the individual league championship by six shots as a freshman. Robinson also had six top-15 finishes in Toyota Tour Cup events.