Steiny Still Trying To Get Tiger To Commit Early, To No Avail!

From Tod Leonard's update on the Farmers Insurance Open field at Torrey Pines in three weeks:

Tom Wilson, tournament director and executive director of the Century Club, said six-time tournament champion Tiger Woods has not committed, but the expectation remains that Woods will be here for the first time in three years.

"I talked to Mark Steinberg (Woods' agent) last week, and he said unless something disastrous happens he feels Tiger will be here," Wilson said. "He's trying to get Tiger to commit earlier, as he did for some tournaments last year. What earlier means, I'm not sure. I hope it's sometime in the next week or two."

"The golfer was once the most sought-after pitchman in sports and was the first athlete to earn $1 billion from endorsement agreements."

I learned something new in the unbylined AP story on Gillette dropping Tiger at year's end when his contract is up.

The golfer was once the most sought-after pitchman in sports and was the first athlete to earn $1 billion from endorsement agreements. However, many corporations cut ties or distanced themselves from Woods after the scandal that broke just over a year ago and dominated headlines for months.

Remember when it used to be widely reported that he was the first athlete to earn a billion, now he's the first to do it on endorsements alone!

"Tiger's talk was golf's TV moment of the year, but he provided more highlights when he made his highly anticipated return to golf at the Masters."

Gary Van Sickle reviews the stories of the year and concludes item No. 1 on Tiger with this:

ESPN's first-round Masters coverage averaged 4.9 million viewers, the biggest cable audience ever for a golf telecast. Woods played with Matt Kuchar and K.J. Choi and shot a stunning 68, the best first-round Masters score of his career. Woods stayed on the fringe of contention all week, thanks to a tournament record-tying four eagles, until a careless three-putt on the 14th green on Sunday killed his chances. He finished a remarkable fourth.

I'm not sure what's more amazing, Van Sickle using that much hyperbole or Tiger's T4. In hindsight, Tiger's performance at the Masters just gets better and better considering what we know now about the state of his game and life during the remainder of 2010.

Tiger's Half-Brother Wants To Reconnect, But He's Glad To Bad Mouth His Little Half-Bro In The Meantime

Nothing like a wonderful family story this time of year...



The Ramifications of Sunday's Impressive Chevron Rating

The most impressive thing about the Chevron final round 2.7 rating, a smidgen higher than this year's Open Championship: the event was up against the NFL.

The most unfortunate ramification: it underscores the power of Tiger, likely inspiring the PGA Tour to lean on his star power, without digging a little deeper to improve the "product" for the long term benefit of the tour and the game.

Tiger Has Clubs, Needs Membership

Bob Harig on Tiger's upcoming move from Orlando to Jupiter and ramifications for his current club, and interestingly, his game.

Going forward, Woods will have some decisions to make about where to play and practice on Jupiter Island.

"The problem is, I don't have a place to play yet," he said. "I have to figure that out. I've got a nice practice facility in the backyard [at his new home]. As far as playing holes ... I don't have any holes to play. That's kind of an up-in-the-air deal. I'm trying to figure that out now. There are so many good places down there."

Woods does have several options, including The Medalist Club (designed by Greg Norman), The Bear's Club (a facility built by Jack Nicklaus) and the McArthur Golf Club in nearby Hobe Sound (where Nick Price has an interest).