Clarke Takes Himself Out Of '14 Ryder Race

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Paul Higham reports that a two-man race has developed after Darren Clarke pulled up on the backstretch.

"As much as I would dearly love to be captain, this may not be my time," said Clarke in Durban, where he had earlier questioned whether he whether being captain this time around would be something he wanted.

"I am exempt for another three years and if I was given the opportunity to do the captaincy, I'd effectively be throwing two of those years away.

Meanwhile, Thomas Bjorn opened the door for the Duke of Dunning...

"I don't have a strong view against appointing somebody twice," said committee chairman Thomas Bjorn. "But there are a lot of other people I think could do a very good job."

Good News, Bad News: LPGA Adds Event For 2013, Still Finalizing Their 2013 Schedule

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Steve DiMeglio reports on the LPGA adding a second event to the 2013 schedule, which unfortunately has not been finalized as we...are ten days into 2013.

The positive news only: a 144 player field in May with a $1.3 million purse.

The North Texas LPGA Shootout will also provide a unique opportunity for amateur players in the area to earn spots in the field through qualifying. Tournament exemptions will be awarded to the winners of a high school and collegiate "shootout" played in advance of the event. Tournament proceeds will benefit The Nexus Club which primarily supports and raises funds for the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf in North Texas.

"I am extremely excited for the opportunity to play in my home state again," said Angela Stanford, a four-time member of the U.S. Solheim Cup Team and native of Saginaw, Texas. "North Texas is a community with a passionate golf fan base and I know they will love having the Tour in town."

Shock: Estimates Of Rory's Nike Deal May Have Been Exaggerated

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The early reports said Rory McIlroy stands to sign a 10-year, $250 million deal with Nike.

Bob Harig hears that the original number may be inflated. Severely.

But make no mistake, McIlroy is going to be paid handsomely to do so. Various reports have pegged that number at $20 million a year over 10 years, although the estimates are apparently inflated and the terms of the deal shorter. Still, what if it is "only" $10 million a year?

Ernie Paying A Compliment: "The R&A want to have the same kind of scores winning today as you did back in the 1920s."

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Martin Dempster talks to Ernie Els and Louis Oosthuizen about R&A Chief Inspector Architect Dawson's changes to the Old Course.

Louis, the last man to win the Open at St. Andrews, not surprisingly had no idea what Dempster was asking about. Els, the 2012 Open Champion, tried to defend the changes but in doing so unknowingly offered the worst indictment possible.

“Most of the courses we’ve played in the past ten or so years have changed, including Troon, Royal Liverpool and Sandwich. In fact, they’re making changes to all of the courses on the rota in a bid to make the challenge as tough as possible.”

A course designer himself, Els added: “The only thing that bothers me a bit about it is that, when the wind changes direction sometimes on these courses, it can be tough to get to the fairway from some of these new tees.

Quibble, quibble! These pros today are so spoiled. Go on...

“But I think these courses do need to change. The R&A want to have the same kind of scores winning today as you did back in the 1920s."

Psssst....Ernie, that's about the most cynical, small-minded thing a governing body charged with ensuring skill is rewarded can end up doing! Especially one constantly touting their lack of concern for winning scores far under par.

SwingTip Gets CES Launch

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John Strege wrote about it in more detail last September, but it's still interesting to see the potentially cool SwingTip data collector get a launch at the Consumer Electronics Show and backed by $4.4 million in financing.

Tiffany Hsu of the LA Times reports on the $129.99 one-ounce device that latches on to your club and can last 18 holes before sharing the data with your smart phone. Roll your eyes, but Hogan would have been all over this!

But for its Santa Clara maker, the selling point is the gadget’s ability to track and analyze users’ golf swings using motion sensors. SwingTip then wirelessly transmits 3-D animations of the golfer’s movements via Bluetooth to iOS or Android mobile devices.

The tool can gauge swing path and speed, club face angle, impact zone and more. The metrics are broken out individually into a scorecard and also used to compile an animated video tutorial showing the swing from three different angles.