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The Tiger Woods Foundation and the PGA are partnering to bring a tour event to Washington, D.C. The site has not yet been determined. However, the event will occur from July 5 - 8. Additionally, it is a long term agreement that will have the event in the D.C. area for several years.

The site of the event will be announced on March 7.

The Tiger Woods Foundation already benefits from two other events, the Deutsche Bank Championship played near Boston and the Tiger Woods Challenge presented by Countrywide.

Fred Funk, 50, despite experiencing back pain, won the Mayakoba Golf Classic on the second hole of a playoff with Jose Coceres.

Funk is now the second golfer to win a PGA event after winning on the Champions Tour. Craig Stadler was the first to do it in 2003.

Last month, Funk won the Turtle Bay Championship in Hawaii. He turned 50 in 2006. At the Mayakoba Classic, Funk took the lead on the first day of play, setting the course record with an 8-under 62. He never dropped from first, although other players were tied for the lead during the tournament.

It took 35 holes of golf today for Henrik Stenson to beat Geoff Ogilvy. For the effort, Stenson is now #5 in the world. In addition, he earned $1.35 million for the win.

Ogilvy took home $800,000.

It has been a good month for Stenson. Three weeks ago, he won the Dubai Classic.

With Tiger Woods out of the competition, interest was not that great. Spectator tickets were limited to 7,500. However, only about half that many fans showed up to cheer on Stenson and Ogilvy.

Nicholas Thompson, an American, beat David Morland, IV, in sudden death playoff to capture the win at the HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship.

Thompson earned $109,000 for the win. Morland pockets $61,000 for second place. Thompson now has to choose between two tournaments next week: the Johnny Walker Classic in Phuket, Thailand or the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on the PGA Tour. Given that Thompson is a Florida native, my money is on the Honda Classic.

Henrik Stenson will face Geoff Ogilvy in the final match of the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Tiger Wood's dream of becoming the first player to beat Byron Nelson's consecutive string of PGA victories (set in 1945) has ended at the Accenture Match Play Championship.

After 20 holes, Woods fell to Nick O'Hern. After only seven holes, he was down by 4. He fought back and squared it up only to lose at the 20th hole. O'Hern also beat Woods two years ago. He is the first player to beat Woods twice in a professional match play.

Tiger Woods road to his eighth consecutive PGA victory appears a little closer. After six holes, Woods was 5-up. He had a 5-4 victory and the shortest match of the second round.

Perhaps equally important, no other player seeded in the top 8 is still in contention.

Phil Mickelson was stunned by Justin Rose. Rose won the match 3 - 1.

In overtime, Chad Campbell beat Jim Furyk with a birdie.

The next round, Woods will face Nick O'Hern. O'Hern beat Woods two years ago at La Costa. The ball is traveling further in the desert air. During round one, Woods was hitting his 3-wood 300 yards ... during round two, he was hitting his 5-wood the same distance.

At the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at The Gallery in Arizona, three of the top four seeds, including Tiger Woods, advanced to the next round. The only exception was Adam Scott who lost to Shaun Micheel.

You might remember Micheel. He beat Tiger at the HSBC World Match Play Championship in England.

Woods never trailed in his match against J.J. Henry. Next, Woods faces Tim Clark.

Ernie Els failed on opening day.

In my neck of the woods (Pittsburgh, PA), the snow is beginning to melt and the thermometer is starting to rise. While I have hit some balls this winter at an outdoor range, I haven't really practiced very productively since last November. With this in mind and the golf bug biting at me, I searched for a way to use the melting snow as a practice tool.

After Phil Mickelson appeared to have won his second consecutive tournament in 2007, Lefty fell again on the last hole to tie with Charles Howell III after 72 holes. Charles Howell III made par in the group in front of Lefty, but Lefty sliced his drive after the group had putted out.

Phil put his approach shot in the rough and hit a poor pitch onto the green. A close miss left Lefty in a playoff with CH3.

Phil had said he felt in control of his game and came out as a better player due to the Winged Foot blowup. Unfortunately for Phil, he resembled Greg Norman coming down the stretch at Riviera Country Club.

On the third hole of playoff, both players' tee shots came up short on Riviera's par three. Lefty came up short of the hole after his putting from off the green. Charles Howell III then managed to stick his chip shot very close to the hole, and made the three footer for par while Phil missed.

Charles Howell III picked up his second career victory, his first since 2002. Howell, who works with David Leadbetter, won on the PGA Tour at 22, but has yet to win since. He came up close several times this year, and finally came through in the clutch.

On the second hole of playoff, Howell put his drive on a cartpath. With trees on both sides, he was stymied into hitting off the concrete. His 8 iron clipped the trees and fell short, but he knocked his pitch shot very close to the hole.

Howell takes home a $936,000 paycheck and is now the leader in FedEx Cup points. Mickelson is second in FedEx Cup points. Howell has played in 195 events in his career and this was only his second career win. He has also finished in second place ten different times without pulling through.

Rich Beem, who had won a car on Saturday with a hole in one, had a tough final round and finished the day in 13th place. Padraig Harrington had his worst game of the week and shot a 73.Three players finished the day tied for third place: Ernie Els, Robert Allenby and Jim Furyk. Phil appeared to be in control for most of Sunday after keeping a 3 stroke lead on the rest of the field for several holes. Rookie Anthony Kim made a run into the top of the leaderboard after firing a 7 under par final round, but never posed a threat to the leaders.

Scott Sterling, a 35 year old Texan, now knows what success on the Nationwide Tour feels like. He parred the 18th hole at Australia's Jacob Creek Open and secured the win by one stroke over Australian David Lutterus, who had bogied the hole.

In his 11 years as a professional, Sterling has competed in 122 events and made the cut 57 times. He had never been a top three finisher before winning the Jacob Creek Open. In 11 years, he has earned $419,003 with more than one quarter of that amount, $108,000 coming from today's event.

The event is actually a joint Nationwide - Australasian PGA event

Mickelson was hot today at the Nissan Open. He had back to back birdies as well as an eagle on the back nine and ended the day tied for the lead with Padraig Harrington.

They were 11 under at the end of today, three shots ahead of Charles Howell III at the Riviera County Club. The projected cut is +1 . Among those that should make the cut are Corey Pavin, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, golf commentator Rocco Mediate and Reteif Goosen.

It's just about official now. Tadd Fujikawa is the best player who hasn't graduated high school in Hawaii. Also, he is currently paying for his own expenses as he holds onto his amateur status to finish out his junior career.

On August 27th, 2006 I started a site called Golf Heaven. With a dot blogspot address, I began to share my ideas and thoughts pertaining to golf.

Fast forward a half a year, Golf Heaven developed into ZealousGolfer.com with readers from 6 continents. I'm glad that I have reached my first 300 posts, and I hope the next 300 will be even better.

Thanks for reading.

Fans who remember the 1994 US Open played at Oakmont Country Club will be astonished at the course when the tournament is played June 11 - 17.

Somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 trees have been removed from the areas around the tees, greens and fairways at Oakmont. There are no longer trees on any interior portion of the course. The restoration began after the 1992 U.S. Women's Open.

Because of the changes, Golf Digest now lists Oakmont as the #5 course ... right behind New Jersey's Pine Valley Golf Club, Augusta National Golf Club, Long Island's Shinnecock Hills Golf Club and Cypress Point in Pebble Beach, CA.

Many consider Oakmont's greens to be the fastest in the world. The course boasts more than 180 bunkers, including the legendary Church Pews. Although right now, ice and snow cover the course.

Tom Meeks, the USGA's director of rules and competition said about the changes to the course, "In all my years of doing championships, I have never seen a course looking better."

Before it was founded in 1903, Oakmont was a farm. The land resembled the barren appearance of the Scottish links that founder Henry C. Fownes, a Pittsburgh industrialist, admired.

In the 1960's, Robert Trent Jones was commissioned to plant more 3,500 trees, including crab apple, blue spruce and flowering cherry. The course went from the link-style course to a parkland-style course.

The removal of the trees, for the most part, was done secretively. Mark Kuhns, the superintendent of the course, and a crew of 12 workers would begin cutting down trees at 4:30 a.m. They used lights from the maintenance carts to illuminate the area.

"We'd take out three or four trees at a time," said Mr. Kuhns, who is now superintendent of Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, NJ. "We had all the equipment loaded the night before and everyone knew their job. We'd spread out tarps so we didn't get a lot of sawdust on the ground. We had two sweepers who would sweep up all of the leaves.

"We'd cut the trees, grind the stumps down to nothing, throw down some soil and plant sod. We would even fluff the grass back up. We would be cleaned up before the players got there."

Other changes since the last time the event was at Oakmont include:

• a 50,000 square foot facility will be constructed on the public course Oakmont East that will house merchandise sales. (In 1994, it was simply a small merchandise tent.) Nearly every manufacturer in the industry will be selling their merchandise
• Three hospitality villages will be erected
• A 35,000 square foot media village
• More grandstands for spectators -- space found due to the expansive tree removal program

To learn more about this topic, go to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, February 11, 2007

Phil Mickelson is still in the lead after shooting a 2-under 70. He is tied for the lead with Kevin Sutherland, who birdied the last hole at Poppy Hills. It was the second time in three weeks Sutherland birded the final hole to lead going into the final round.

This is the first tme Mickelson has led going into the final round since last summer at Winged Foot.

Jim Furyk had a rough time. The rain was driving sideways in 20 mpg guests. The tenth hole was particularly tough for Furyk, when he shot a double bogey. He shot a 76 and is now six shots behind the leaders.

Vijay Singh was doing well until the last hole, when his game fell apart. He sunk his tee shot into the ocean. Another shot flew over the corporate boxes on 18. He finished the hole with a double bogey.

Tom Watson, one of my favorite players, is 8 shots behind the leader. He and his son, Michael, made the pro-am cut and are tied for second.

Jim Furyk poured it on today. He had three birdies in the last three holes and finished the day with a 7-under-65. Mickelson had 7 birdies today and finished the day with a 67. Both are tied for the lead at the AT & T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Fred Couples, a fan favorite, withdrew from the tournament due to severe back spasms that left him "barely able to walk," according to a witness.

One of my all time favorites, Tom Watson, is only six shots back from the leaders -- very respectable.

Tiger Woods has given indication that he will not be playing in next week's Nissan Open.

Although nothing is official yet, his website, Tigerwoods.com lists his next event as WGC - Accenture Match Play which will be held the weekend of February 21.

When Woods was 16 years old, he received a sponsor's exemption to play in the Nissan Open, which was then called the Los Angeles Open. He missed the cut that year. He has played in the event eleven times, and has yet to win it.

One of the Tour's more light-hearted events takes place this week as players and celebrities go to Pebble Beach. On one of golf's most historic and storied courses, the rich and famous will hack by the side of the world's best players. At least some of them. Tiger will not be teeing it up, but Vijay and Jim Furyk will be there.

Golf is unlike any other sport in the massive amount of clubs, videos, aids, and other equipment promising to significantly lower your scores. As a golf addict, I have used many of these in a futile attempt to improve my game. Most cover only very basic flaws, or only correct the "over-the-top" move. With this in mind, I set out to find a great product which can address virtually any fault. That search led me to the Path-Pro, a unique device which is truly so versatile, every problem can be fixed. The Path-Pro comes at the perfect time too. Most golfers will hit the links in the Spring with much difficulty and frustration due to the rust from the Winter. The Path-Pro is a great way to start the season off right, so you can spend time improving instead of relearning the elements of the golf swing after ingraining faults.

My Thoughts:

Having tried and failed with many other golf training aids, this one is definitely a winner. A few months ago, I purchased the Medicus Iron to try to eliminate my inside loop (resulting in a draw/hook). The Medicus failed to help me with this problem, so I was out $125. However, the Path-Pro is always brutally honest. Using the guide and video that comes with the unit, I set it up so that I would hit the bar if I dropped the club far inside. Crack! I hit the foam bar straight on for several runs. Luckily, your body learns to work the club away from the bar if you collide with it enough times. Eventually, I was able to swing through the ball clean. The Path-Pro can get rid of your slice from the outside-in move too. Aside from fixing my swing plane, the detailed manual had more subtle suggestions on how to improve your game. I worked on hitting flop shots and improved my balance by using the Path-Pro. With all my faults, I am glad the product is easy to move and rearrange. Two small screws allow the Path-Pro to be adjusted to perfection to fit the needs of each golfer.

Tech:

The Path-Pro is relatively simple for its user. All you do once you take it out of the box is stick the main part (with dial) onto the platform. From there, you slide the foam tube onto the bar and you are ready to hit some straight shots. To adjust the Path-Pro to fix a specific fault, a dial and small screw allow golfers to easily customize the product to meet their needs. The brochure with 9 basic positions and the DVD are two handy tools which suggest and visually show players how to set the Path-Pro to fix different faults.

Final Thoughts:

The Path-Pro is likely the best training aid money can buy. The great thing is that it can be adjusted to fix any swing fault. That means plane, path, swaying, flopping, chipping, impact, setup, posture, etc. It really doesn't get much better than this. The adjustable nature of the product is also a big plus so that as your game changes, the practice changes. Having practiced a lot over the years with little success, I know as well as most that practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent. The Path-Pro is a great way to make your practice constructive and finally fix your nagging swing faults. The Path-Pro doesn't lie, if you hit the bar, you're doing something wrong. As the company says, "150 players on the PGA, LPGA and Champions Tours, and 70 of Golf Digest's and Golf Magazine's Top 100 Instructors rely on the Path Pro for instant feedback and permanent results." This product can benefit players of all levels. Make sure to check it out at http://www.pathprogolf.com/. The product may be purchased for $99.99 USD. The Path-Pro receives a 5 out of 5 rating for its versatility and instant feedback.

The FBR Open is known for its crowds. Even though Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday, the crowds came. 93,475 fans came today and set a new record for the Sunday crowd. The total number of fans for the event was 507,990 .. which was short of last year's total crowd.

The 2008 event will also end on Super Bowl Sunday, even though the Super Bowl will be played in nearby Glendale, AZ.

The 16th hole provides a stadium-like atmosphere for players. Those who knock it stiff are cheered, those who do not will be rattled by thousands of boos. Long driver Bubba Watson was booed Sunday, but was prepared having visors to throw to the fans in the stands.

With so many juniors taking up the game at an early age, competition is needed to match these interests. The Golf Channel is continuing its highly successful Drive, Chip, and Putt skills contest sponsored by the Mutual of Omaha.

There is no cost to compete. Children compete in four age groups. The tour travels to 85 cities in the USA and Canada. Participants at the local level may qualify for a regional qualifier in their age group, and may possibly qualify for the national championship.

The event starts in March in Houston, Texas and finishes in Florida in September.

To sign up for an event near you, check out GolfChannel.com.

Following the completion of the Dubai Desert Classic, the Gilette Company announced that Tiger Woods, Roger Federer (tennis) and Thierry Henry (soccer) will star in television commercials that will air around the world.

Australian Aaron Baddeley claimed the lead on Sunday for his second TOUR victory at the FBR Open. Third round leader Jeff Quinney had a 3 stroke gap on the rest of the field, but went bogey-bogey on the 17th and 18th holes to fall to Badds. Baddeley finished the week at 21 under par.

Quinney was in control for most of Sunday's round, but missed a key put on the 15th that probably would have led him straight to victory. Despite Quinney's failure to convert key putts, Aaron Baddeley can remember winning this tournament, not Quinney losing it. Badds made the shots and the putts when they were needed most, ending with a spectacular shot on 18th while Quinney dumped his ball into a bunker on the drive and the approach shot.

The FBR Open nearly resulted in a playoff as John Rollins shot 63 to end his week at 20 under par. Rollins would have took the lead had he not found the drink coming down the stretch. Without a slight meltdown, Rollins could have fired a 60 in the clutch.

The final player in the last pairing on Sunday, Brett Quigley, had a disappointing day as he slowly drifted away from contention.

Aaron Baddeley is starting to find his stride on the PGA Tour. After winning the Verizon Heritage last year, Badds found his second win in his current home state. Quinney was not so lucky as the Arizona State graduate found no home court advantage on Sunday.

Henrik Stenson, playing in what he termed his "home tournament", won the Dubai Desert Classic today finishing one stroke ahead of Ernie Els and two strokes in front of Tiger Woods.

Els started the day in the lead with Stenson two strokes back. Stenson had five birdies. On the ninth hole, Stenson's ball got blown onto the room of a spectator's pavillion. The referee forced Stenson to climb onto the roof to identify his ball before making a penalty-free drop. Stenson claims he scraped his ribs in the climb.

Going into the 18th hole, Stenson was leading by only one stroke on the par five hole. Els just missed an eagle. Both finished the hole with a birdie, securing Stenson's win.

The day had other challenges ... strong winds blew a lot of sand and made play difficult.

Ross Fisher finished fifth and was paired with Woods today. He was awestruck to be with Tiger and extremely proud that he lead for 15 holes.

Woods admitted being frustrated by his putting game and said he is going to get his putting organized before his next tournament. One example of his frustration, was after bogeying the 11th hole, Tiger tossed his club.

On hand to watch Tiger were Roger Federer, tennis player, and former race car driver, Michael Schumacher.

In true Cinderella fashion, TOUR rookie Jeff Quinney arrives at the summit of golfing talent and flourishes. Yes, he may be a rookie. But three consecutive top 15 finishes means something. He's in it to win it.

Quinney goes into Sunday with a two stroke lead over Aussie Aaron Baddeley. Can Quinney perform in the clutch? At the Bob Hope, needing a miracle at 17 and 18 to make it into the playoff, Quinney aced the 17th with 35 mph winds gusting. He stands currently at 16 under after a mediocre three under round on Saturday with Badds hot on the trail.

Sumo Saturday, the release of Nike's new line of square drivers, came and went on this Saturday. A day that will live in infamy...I think not. The opinions about the new driver range from extremely good to extremely bad.

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, the 2005 European Tour Rookie of the Year, had a memorable second round at the Dubai Desert Classic. He used a six iron to ace the 188 yard fourth hole at the Emirates Golf Club.

He stands at four under par after two rounds of play.

Jeff Quinney, a PGA Tour Rookie, took lead yesterday at the FBR Open before play was suspended due to darkness. He is leading by three strokes. Quinney admits his performance at last week's Buick Invitational has dramatically boosted his confidence.

He was paired with Tiger Woods. "Just to be thrown into the fire, playing against the number one player in the world. It seemed like he was heads above everyone else. I was right with him for 18 holes. I think I bogeyed the last hole and lost to him by one stroke. It proved to me that I can play at this level."

Billy Mayfair and Bart Bryant were three shots back of the leader.

Two time FBR champion, Phil Mickelson, shot a 69 on Friday and will probably miss the cut.

Rhiannon Linacre, 9 years and 75 days in June, was playing at the Coxmoor Golf Club in Notts (United Kingdom) and a par 3 hole and had a hole in one. That shot, the family learned yesterday, has landed the child in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Fate makes folks cross strange paths, sometimes. After round two of the Dubai Desert Classic, Ross Fisher, 26, an Englishman, is leading. Tiger Woods is five strokes behind Fisher.

Fisher only encountered Woods once before. When he was 18, he worked at a driving range at the World Match Play Championship in Wentworth, England. Fisher said he picked up Tiger Woods' golf balls. He has never spoken to him. The possibility exists, though, that the twosome could be together this weekend.

Woods had five birdes and no bogies, but trouble with his putting game continued.

Play was delayed for two hours due to an unlikely thunderstorm. Ernie Els had an eagle on the 13th which put him two strokes behind the leader. But, play was cut short by darkness.

Tiger Woods had a few things to be frustrated about in Dubai. While he was swinging, photographers continued to click away. Woods' shot went awry and landed in the grass on the edge of the fairway. "Nice going, guys, thanks," he said sarcastically.

As his frustration mounted from the unrelenting persistence of the cameramen, making putts became more diffcult. Finally, Tiger did a very un-Tiger-like thing .. he tossed his club.

Maybe he's human after all.

George Burger, 50, vice president of the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup competition died Wednesday evening in Jacksonville, FL of complications from bacterial spinal meningitis.

Burger experienced severe back pain during the Sony Open in Honolulu. He is survived by his wife, Patti.

PGA Tour Commissioner, Tom Finchem, said, "We are shocked and saddened by the loss of our partner and good friend."

Dudley Hart is leading at the FBR Open, but play has been suspended due to darkness. Round one will continue tomorrow at 8 a.m.

Things are tight at the top. Six players are tied for second place (David Toms, Tom Pernice, Jr., Paul Azinger, John Rollins, Aaron Baddeley and Brian Gay). Six other players are only two strokes from the lead; they include Billy Mayfair, Bart Bryant, Daniel Chopra, Bubba Watson, Jeff Quinney and Robert Garrigus.

The FBR Open is in the Sonoran Desert at the TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course.

Tiger Woods spent today at the Emirates Golf Club at the Dubai Desert Classic, had six birdies, and finished the day with an opening round of 4-under-68. He is tied for tenth and is three strokes behind the leaders: Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and Ross Fisher of England.

Dubai has a special charm for Tiger. It is where the first golf course he designed will be located. The course has been named Al Ruwaya (which means serenity).