"If Woods is considering entering the Arnold Palmer Invitational before its deadline on Friday week then he should also be considering the flak he would receive. And he would be wise to line up a few more apologies."

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James Corrigan is the first to take a hard look at the question of how the Tiger Woods of a couple weeks ago could go from say he just didn't know when he'd return to golf and not ruling out this year, to being on the cusp of a return at Tavistock or Bay Hill or both.
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Y.E. Yang And TPC Scottsdale's 17th

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In this week's Golf World I penned a story (not posted online) about the strategic joys of the 17th hole at TPC Scottsdale. While I spent much of the week out on the tee or green, the beauty of the architecture and pressure of a final round tour event all came into focus when Y.E. Yang arrived at the tee with a two shot lead. The following sequence, as seen from behind the tee, pretty much tells the rest of the story...

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Captain Pavin Taking His Time Getting Around To Talking Ryder Cup Strategy With Captain Azinger

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I went down to Newport Beach for the Toshiba Classic Pro-Am day to interview some geezers outside the coveted demos. Lunching with Ben Crenshaw, we were joined by Paul Azinger and Ron Braund. You may recall it was Braund who helped Azinger develop the pod system that was so influential in the underdog American's triumphant 2008 Ryder Cup win at Valhalla. Azinger and Braund have a book coming out in May that promises to offer some pretty shocking revelations about the system and in particular, how Azinger made his Captain's picks.
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Hopes Dim For Daly Suspension After Golf Writers Request PGA Tour To Intervene

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The Commish and Drones 1-6 were reportedly in an intense meeting discussing the length of John Daly's next suspension after his posting of writer Garry Smits' phone number on Twitter when a low level VP interrupted with the GWAA's letter requesting a suspension.

GWAA president Vartan Kupelian told PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem in a letter on Wednesday that Daly should be suspended given the vindictive nature of his actions, adding Smits was reporting on a matter that was public record. The golf writers organization also wants the PGA Tour to make public any suspension since the Tour’s policy is not to disclose player discipline.

Sources say the meeting was immediately adjourned, the whiteboards scrubbed clean of Daly's name and by the dinner hour, several VP's were reportedly mentioning a possible award for Daly. Just kidding.

Stricker Commits To Bay Hill...Therefore Tiger Must Be Playing!?

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One joy in the otherwise messy Tiger saga will arrive in the form of watching mainstream news media and sports blogs attempt to cover golf. For example, there's today's hilarious SportsByBrooks.com post suggesting that a Tiger appearance at Bay Hill is looking more likely after Steve Stricker committed to the even for the first time in years. They even went to the trouble to make a snazzy graphic to commemorate this great moment in utterly comical dot-connecting.
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“We are not involved in any discussions to add to his sponsorship portfolio at this time."

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Alex Miceli reports that Irish bookmaker PaddyPower.com has proposed a deal to Tiger Woods' camp that would top out at $75 million over five years. Agent Mark Steinberg says it's not an option.

“We are not involved in any discussions to add to his sponsorship portfolio at this time,’’ Steinberg said in an e-mail response to Golfweek.

Can we really call it a portfolio at this point?