Tiger's Abu Dhabi Presser

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I sat through this so you don't have to...

:45 First sightlines mention.

8:10: Donegan asks, "Does payment of appearance fees ever influence your scheduling?" Follows up with something about cutting his price ?

11:50 in is the first Hank-book question.

14:00 He's asked about a cricket test match...

18:40 First "traj's" reference.

20:30 Second Hank-book question, first really short and snippy answer.

21:25 First really cranky answer to a Hank-book question.

"Everyone has their price, a fact of sporting life that applies as much to Tiger Woods as it does to Hank Haney."

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Lawrence Donegan previews this week's European Tour event at Abu Dhabi and it reminds that there are two things that'll be fun about Tiger's appearance there: (A) he's playing a golf he doesn't know, which doesn't happen too often, and (B) during his Tuesday press conference, the Haney book questions are going fast, furious and fun!

Golf Channel's Morning Drive says they'll be picking up the Tiger press conference Tuesday morning, though I'm not sure yet on the exact time.

The Belfry For Sale...Donald Are You Paying Attention?

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Thanks to reader Chris for this unbylined golf365.com story revealing that former Ryder Cup host The Belfry can be had at a bargain rate even after a recent renovation of the resort hotel. The three golf courses remain forgettable except for the wild and weird short par-4 10th. The rest is screaming out to be fixed by the only man buying golf courses at the moment, Donald Trump.

There has been widespread speculation surrounding the future of the highly-rated golf estate with its 324-bedroomed hotel and upstanding conference facilities, its three courses, the Brabazon, the PGA National and the Derby, since its once-powerful owners led by Irish-based businessman Sean Quinn Junior, hit a financial crisis.

This just six years after purchasing it for £186million.

The talk is that a figure of some £60million is being asked for by the current owners of the 550-acre Warwickshire venue via their commercial property agent Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels which has been appointed to market the resort at Sutton Coldfield.

"The game at the top level has almost become one for bombers. You can’t survive out there if you are short by tour standards."

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You have to admire Andrew Coltart for not being ashamed to admit his game doesn't work with today's equipment and setups, but don't you also have to wonder if there's something wrong when the game becomes so blatantly one-dimensional? John Huggan profiles the professional, who discusses his "lack of competitiveness.
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John Daly: "I think I may get in trouble for saying this, but..."

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From an unbylined wire story:

John Daly was in the group at 69 along with Lee Westwood, Retief Goosen, Y.E. Yang and Robert Karlsson.

"With a small field like we have here, and I think I may get in trouble for saying this, but I'm kind of glad it's not sanctioned by the European or PGA Tour," Daly said. "It shows that China is doing something on their own. They're saying, 'Hey, we may not need the PGA Tour or European Tour, no disrespect."

When did China become IMG? Or IMG become China?