REWARD! Tiger's Stolen/Lost/Disappearing Ball!

Doug Ferguson with the strange saga of Tiger's lost/stolen/disappearing/still-in-the-tree ball at Quail Hollow. Can't wait for the follow-up stories and of course, the video.

Well, the follow-up stories anyway.

“These are the kinds of stories you hear from the past.”

He trails the first round Wells Fargo Championship leaders by one but as Sean Martin explained before an opening 66, Patrick Reed is just the kind of refreshing, retro, free-market success story that the tour needs more of. But with fewer Monday qualifiers and Q-School's demise, don't count on them coming along too often.

Reed was a first-team All-American last year at two-time national champion Augusta State but is without status on any major tour. After finishing 35th at the Texas Open, he made the nine-hour drive with his fiancee, Justine Karain, to New Orleans. They arrived at 2:45 a.m., sleeping four hours before the Zurich Classic’s Monday qualifier. An 8-iron to 2 feet on the second playoff hole earned him a second consecutive start. He birdied five of his final eight holes at TPC Louisiana to tie for 24th.

The pair took a circuitous route to this week’s Tour stop in Charlotte. Their first flight went from New Orleans to Chicago’s Midway International Airport. The next one landed in Greenville, S.C., some 90 minutes from Charlotte. They arrived at the hotel around 1:15 a.m. Monday, with another Monday qualifying round awaiting. He shot 65 to advance to the Wells Fargo Championship.

Reed is accompanied by his fiancee, Justine Karain, who works as Reed's caddie.

“It’s been a very hectic couple of months, but a very happy couple of months,” Reed said. “I’m in a great state of mind and very happy. She’s keeping me calm. She’s the most positive one on the golf course. When I get down, she picks me up.”

Reed proposed to Karain, whom he met while attending high school in Baton Rouge, La., in January, shortly after returning from a victory in a professional event in Trinidad & Tobago. They also moved to Houston that month.

She does more than carry the bag. Karain, a former high-school golfer, helps read the putts.

Tour Finally Puts Quail Hollow Fazio Tee To Rest

Players have long hated a back tee added by the course renovator-to-the-stars and like so many of his modifications to tournament courses over the last decade, the back tee on Quail Hollow's par-3 17th will be retired to the delight of players.

Steve Elling reports.

"I think it's a great decision just because of the way the green is designed," said Phil Mickelson, who was one of those who pushed for the modification.

"It's designed to receive the shot from over there," he added. "When the green gets firm like it will be this week it's a much better hole from over there. There is more decision-making and more risk-reward as opposed to 100 percent defense. I think it's a great hole from over there."

Update on 2012-05-03 14:37 by Geoff

**Ron Green Jr. has the full story behind the tee change including a priceless quote from Tiger and some insight into the thinking of architect Fazio and Johnny Harris, Mr. Quail Hollow.

First, Tiger on seeing the left tees in use.

Pleased with what he saw, Woods told a hole marshal, “We used to play this as a short par-4.”

And...

“Clearly Tom Fazio and I didn’t get the message like everyone else did,” Quail Hollow president Johnny Harris said.

“We finally decided to listen to the pros. We can make the course unplayable if we wanted to but that’s not our intention. We have nine years of data from the right side. Now we can get it from the left side.”

Robust Advance Sales For BMW At Crooked Stick Confirm There's Very Little To Do In Indianapolis

From an unbylined AP story suggest the four-day September tournament could approach galleries of 150,000. Or, what Scottsdale actually gets for the week.

Organizers already have announced the tourney will return to Chicago in 2013 and 2015, with Denver hosting it in 2014. But Indy's response could push the city into the BMW rotation or perhaps prompt tour officials to give Indianapolis a chance to fill a hole on a future schedule.

"At the present time, we don't have any openings," PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said Tuesday. "But certainly, Indy's record makes it a market that we would always be interested in at looking at if there was an open spot. A significant number of our events are signed through post-2014."

Phoenix typically has the largest announced crowds for non-majors, but Midwestern cities such as St. Louis and Minneapolis traditionally have drawn well when they make it onto the schedule. Crooked Stick has, too.

Video: "That's above and beyond the call of duty for a tour caddie."

Kip Henley earning his pay from boss Brian Gay during round one of the RBC Heritage...

Update on 2012-04-13 20:50 by Geoff

**Brian Wacker talked to Henley about what he was thinking.

Just three weeks ago at the Transitions Championship, Henley grabbed one by the tail — though that episode was not captured by television cameras, nor was the gator as large. Henley, who grew up in Tennessee and still lives there, estimates that he’s grabbed about five gators by the tail.

“I’m not afraid of them if they’re facing away from you,” he said. “They won’t snap back around at you. If they can get in the water they’ll take off. This was the most stubborn one I’ve ever seen. I thought it might be a bad time with the cameras on me for him to snap around and actually get me.”

Gay, who missed the cut, joked he might not have minded if it did.

“I didn’t want to see him get hurt, but I was hoping he would so he wouldn’t do it again,” Gay said. “What have you got to gain?”