THE Siren call of the US Masters was always going to be a tough ask for Tiger Woods to resist and the World’s No 1 golfer has officially confirmed the event will mark his return to competitive golf.

Woods announced overnight on his website he would begin his 2010 season at the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in April.

“The Masters is where I won my first major, and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta,” Woods said.

“The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it’s been awhile since I last played.”

Woods has not played in a tournament since winning the Australian Masters on November 15. Less than two weeks after that event he was involved in a car crash at his home that touched off a global scandal involving his private life and claims of adultery.

“I have undergone almost two months of inpatient therapy and I am continuing my treatment,” Woods said. “Although I’m returning to competition, I still have a lot of work to do in my personal life.”

In recent weeks, Woods was seen with coach Hank Haney working on his game and by fellow PGA players in practice sessions.

It has also been reported he seems to be back on good terms with wife Elin.

Woods decided against playing in a lead up event as he works to tune up for the Masters, which begins on April 8.

He has won the event four times, including his first Majors win in 1997. He now has 14 major titles, four shy of the record 18 won by Jack Nicklaus.

“When I finally got into a position to think about competitive golf again, it became apparent to me that the Masters would be the earliest I could play,” Woods said in his statement.

“I called both Joe Lewis and Arnold Palmer and expressed my regrets for not attending the Tavistock Cup and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “I again want to thank them both for their support and their understanding. Those are fantastic tournaments, and I look forward to competing in them again.

“I would also like to thank the Augusta National members and staff for their support. I have deep appreciation for everything that they do to create a wonderful event for the benefit of the game.”

ERNIE ELS is finally back in the winner’s circle after claiming the World Golf Championships $A9.26 million CA Championship by four strokes.

It seems ages since “The Big Easy” has tasted tournament success and it seems the popular South African agrees.

“I’m 40 years old. I’ve had a tough run,” Els said shortly after finishing with a bogey free 66 to finish 18 under par and four strokes ahead of compatriot Charl Scwartzel.

The three time Major winner has battled injury, form and family problems for several years as hasn’t had a tour win for two years.

He struggled with his putting during the third round and apparently was uncharacteristically on the practice putting green till nightfall on Saturday night in a largely successful effort to get his short game back on track.

That short game helped him pull away down the final stretch in a stiff breeze at Doral’s Blue Monster course.

“I’ve got a take a lot of positive from this heading into the Masters next month,” Els said, clearly excited not only by the win but by what a return to form would mean for his year.

Els’ house guest and final round playing partner Schwartzel showed plenty of talent and composure to be challenging for the win on what was the biggest day of his US golfing career.

Schwartzel stumbled late to finish runner-up on 14 under with Irishman Padraig Harrington, German Martin Kaymer and American Matt Kuchar another three shots back in third place.

One time tournament leader Robert Allenby started the day two strokes behind but never mounted a serious challenge to the South Africans, finishing with 73 and equal 11th with fellow Aussie John Senden on nine-under.

The surprise packet was one of the field’s lowest ranked competitors, Australian Alistair Presnell, in his first World Golf Championships event, who carded the day’s best round – a sparkling 64 which saw him the best finishing Australian on 10 under and  equal sixth.

“I’ve had some good last rounds but this is certainly the biggest tournament I’ve played in,” Presnell said.

Quote of the Day must go to former PGA Tour player and now NBC Television commentator Johnny Miller who explained why there were so few Americans (finally one at that point during the final round) in the top ten on the leaderboard (or top 20 for that matter).

Miller said in America they had so many other glamour sports like basketball, baseball etc that attracted top athletes.

“These other countries, they have soccer and golf,” Miller helpfully informed the audience.

These “soccer and golf” only sporting nations on the list at the time included Australia, South Africa, England, Ireland, Italy and Germany.

TAIWAN’S Yani Tseng has blitzed the opposition with a  seven under final round 66 to take the 2010 Handa Australian Open at Melbourne’s Commonwealth Golf Club on Sunday.

Overnight leader Karrie Webb looked to have yet another Aussie tournament firmly in her grasp early on but seemingly ran out of gas to finish one over and outright third.

Tseng, the World No 6, finished three strokes ahead of defending champion Laura Davies, who had appeared to be Webb’s major threat throughout much of the event.

The 21 year old Taiwanese golfer played a near perfect bogey-free final round on the difficult sand belt course to end the event on a nine under total of 282.

“I haven’t had this feeling for a while so I am very happy,” she said of her first Australian victory.

Webb, who was bitterly disappointed with her final round, had admitted a few times she felt tired during the week of what was her fourth tournament in a row. These days she usually sticks to no more than three.

Webb had looked good early on, breaking away to a three shot lead after five holes, causing Tseng to remark to her caddie ‘Let’s try to get second place’.

“We just played our game and tried to be second and after 12 holes I thought: ‘Oh I am only two shots behind,’ maybe I need to play a little bit aggressive and smart.”

And she did, holing putts from everywhere and in her last six holes shooting four birdies.

Four time winner of the even Webb wasn’t offering any excuses.

“I didn’t feel as weary today on the course as I did yesterday although I know that it has been a long four weeks, not that I am going to use that as an excuse,” she said.

“I was feeling really good out there and then played a few scrappy holes on sicx and seven and I really lost some momentum there and just didn’t really hit it as good after that.

“I didn’t trust myself as much as I would have liked and then the putts weren’t going in and it was a tough struggle on the back nine.”

Australian Katherine Hull and Italy’s Giulia Sergas were next best on 4-under 288, a shot ahead of Australian Lindsey Wright.

DEFENDING champion Laura Davies is looking ominous after carding a first round five under 68 to lead the Handa Women’s Australian Open at Melbourne’s Commonwealth Golf Course.

Davies holed a 30 foot birdie putt on her final hole to take a two shot lead over the field.

In second place were Coonabarabran’s Rebecca Flood, Victorian amateur Alison Whittaker, Italy’s Giulia Sergas, Korea’s Soo-Jin Yang, England’s Felicity Johnson and Finland’s Jenni Kuosa.

A shot further back in a tie for 8th is World No 1 amateur, American Alexis Thompson, Australian No.3 Lindsey Wright and Austrian Stefanie Michl.

ANZ Ladies Masters winner Karrie Webb had a tough day, posting a three over par 40 on her outward nine but steadied the ship on the inward nine to finish even.

Her expected rival Katherine Hull was tied for 11th after a four birdie round that finished one under.

Davies was in a confident mood and after starting with a bogey plotted her way around the sandbelt course, often opting for a long iron off the tee.

“I took the decision to hit a couple of three irons that left me long shots in, but because I was swinging so well, I was not scared,” the 46 year old Englishwoman said.

“I had six birdies and a couple of up and downs to save good pars, which you have to do on a course like this. Luckily, I putted very well today.”

“I’ve come in here in a confident mood, thinking I am one of the players with a chance to win if I play well and putt well.”

Marquee players Davies, Webb, Hull, World No 6 Yani Tseng and World No 7, Anna Nordqvist will all tee off in tomorrow’s (Friday’s) afternoon field for the second round.

Television Coverage

ONE HD has second round television coverage from 2.30 to 6.30 pm on Friday and the final rounds will be on both TEN and ONE on the weekend.

Don’t ask us why they don’t have first round coverage (as they didn’t for the Ladies Masters).

As is usually the case with the Australian television system, it will be some (perfectly?) reasonable excuse totally incomprehensible to the average Joe.

It can’t be that ONE had an urgent need to show repeats of the Paintball and BMX instead – whatever it is those shows entail.

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POPULAR Australian golfer Rod Pampling was one of those giving the thumbs up to the announcement today that the Australian PGA Championship will be staying at its Coolum home for the foreseeable future.

Pampling was on the grounds of Brisbane’s Parliament House as a player representative to hear that an agreement including the PGA of Australia, the Queensland Government, the Hyatt Regency Coolum and the Sunshine Coast Regional Council would ensure the event remains at its well loved home for a minimum of three years.

Pampling was glowing in his praise of the Australian PGA Championship, Australia’s oldest professional golf tournament.

“As an Australian and a proud Queenslander I can say on behalf of the players that the Australian PGA Championship is our favourite event,” Pampling said.

“Coolum has such a great family atmosphere and that’s why we keep coming back. To see it continue to grow and succeed is fantastic and we hope to be playing up here for many years to come.”

PGA of Australia Chief Executive Officer Max Garske said: “A significant part of the success of the Championship was the fact that we had a tri-partied sponsorship with Queensland Events Corp, the Hyatt Regency Coolum through their owners Lend Lease and with the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and we are delighted to expand and continue this relationship for the next three years.”

“Our relationship with the Queensland Government dates back to 2000 and with their support the tournament has grown, attracting quality fields and record crowds and with Coke coming on board in 2009  as a long term presenting sponsor the tournament is in a very secure position moving forward. The strategy for this tournament has always been to engage with the Asia Pacific region. With the formation of the OneAsia Tour in 2009 this event is perfectly placed to realise that major objective.”

Queensland Minister for Sport Phil Reeves said that the Government was thrilled to continue its investment in the award winning event.

“The Queensland Government, through Queensland Events and the PGA of Australia have worked together to renew this fine partnership, and we’re thrilled to keep this great event in Queensland,” Mr Reeves said.

“2010 marks a decade of support for the Championship and in that time the event has celebrated its centenary in 2005; increased its profile as part of the OneAsia Tour; and attracted international broadcast coverage which promotes Queensland around the globe.”

The Australian PGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola is again the final event on the Australasian and OneAsia Tours in 2010 and will be held at the Hyatt Regency Coolum from December 9-12.

AMERICAN Fred Couples has won his second straight Champions Tour title with Australia’s Peter Senior again in the top 15.

Couples shot a final round six under 65 for a four stroke victory in the Toshiba Classic at the Newport Beach Country Club in California whilst a five birdie front nine helped Senior to a 67.

Both golfers are in their rookie years in the lucrative 50 and over tour.

Couples won the ACE Group Classic on February 14 in Florida and finished second behind Tom Watson in the season-opening event in Hawaii.

“In a good way I am full of confidence in my game,” Couples (66 64 65) said. “I talked to Jay Haas a long time ago and when you are 50 you are the youngest guy out here and if you are a good player like I think I am, I thought I would have some opportunities to win out here.”

Couples finished the tournament 18 under, with Ronnie Black (65) second on14 under, Tom Lehman (69) and Chien Soon Lu (69) tied for third at 12 under, and Watson (62) and Loren Roberts (68) following at 11 under.

Senior (71 68 67) finished at 7 under. He was 11th at the ACE Group Classic, his first Champions Tour event.

NOW that’s what they call an emphatic victory. Karrie Webb has shot a course record 61 to win her 7th ANZ Ladies Master by six strokes at Royal Pines.

Webb’s 26 under total (68 69 64 61) equalled her 1999 PLGA tournament record and she will now go into the Handa Australian Womens Open in Melbourne this week as a firm favourite.

The 36 year old former World No 1 blitzed her playing partners, fellow Queenslander Katherine Hull and Korean Bo-Mee Lee, who finished tied for second on 20 under.

Webb started her final round on Sunday on 15 under, one ahead of her playing partners, but when she holed her nine iron second shot into the cup at the seventh hole for eagle, tournament officials should have known it was time to start searching the record books.

At some point they did. Her seventh win in one tournament was being claimed as a Ladies European Tour record, beating Annika Sorenstam’s six Swedish Opens.

She has also equalled Tiger Woods performance of seven wins at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational but will need one more to equal the PGA’s record of eight wins held by the legendary Sam Snead.

“The quality of golf today you were seeing was unbelievable,” Webb said. “Katherine was pushing me all the way. Every time I thought I’d created some breathing space, she came back with a birdie. I’m actually really, really exhausted.”

”Who would have thought I’d be standing on the 13th tee, eight under for the day and only two shots ahead? I was really starting to struggle and was very mentally tired at that point. My hat’s off to Katherine how she played for inspiring me to get to another level. I knew she was going to bring it all today and she did. One of us was going to break, we couldn’t go on making birdies forever.”

Hull acknowledged Webb’s brilliant performance and was looking forward to round two at the Australian Open at the Commonwealth Golf Club beginning on Thursday.

”It was impressive to watch,” Hull said. ”It was an absolute clinic on Karrie’s part. It was nice that I challenged her there for a bit, but she came home all guns blazing and deserved to win. She played great.”

PORT MACQUARIE local Brian Sams has won the 2010 NSW Senior Amateur Championship with three rounds of consistent golf at his home club.

The long time Port Macquarie Golf Club member finished with a 54 hole total of 218, just five over par.

With the extra expectation, local knowledge isn’t always what it is cracked up to be and Sams did a great job to claim what is his second NSW title, having won the event in 2005.

The strong final round challenges expected from defending champion Bill Banks and winner of last week’s Tasmanian Senior Amateur Championships Stefan Albinski didn’t really eventuate.

Instead, Tura Beach’s Russell Rogers continued his recent good form to take second place 4 strokes behind Sams on 222.

Third place was shared by previous Australian Senior Champion Rick Oliver and fellow NSW player Roy Vandersluis who has now finished in the top five in his last three Australian Senior Ranking events.

Considering the heavy rain earlier in the week, it was a very successful tournament for the Port Macquarie Golf Club, currently celebrating its centenary year.

Walking Stick Trophy
In the Walking Stick Trophy teams event, NSW proved far too strong to win comfortably from Queensland and the Combined States Team, with Victoria 4th.

Leading Scores:
218 Brian Sams 73 70 75
222 Russell Rogers 74 75 73
223 Rick Oliver 79 71 73, Roy Vandersluis 77 74 72
224 Noel Wood 74 75 75
225 Alan Bullas 76 75 74
226 Stefan Albinski 75 74 77, Grahame Macdonald 78 71 77
      Peter King 74 76 76, Ian Read 77 75 74
227 Bill Banks 74 76 77, Terry Jones 75 75 77
      Cliff Chidlow 76 75 75, Denis Dale 81 73 73
      David Limbach 78 77 72

Full 2010 NSW Senior Amateur Golf Championship Results (NSW Golf Association)

TWO weeks of top class women’s golf is off to a fine start at the ANZ  Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast with defending champion Katherine Hull just one stroke behind the leader at the Royal Pines Resort.

Leading the top class international field is 23 year old rookie American Amanda Blumenherst, who fired an opening round 6 under 66.

In bright and breezy conditions there was little sign of the heavy rain that caused the cancellation of the Pro-Am earlier in the week.

Hull was happy with her performance, particularly her back nine where she birdied her 10th, 11th, 12th and 18th holes.

“It was pretty good out there. It was soggy walking off greens and onto tees but overall it was good,” Hull said.

World No 11 and six-time Masters winner Karrie Webb was one of a number of players a shot further back on 4 under 68. This group includes world no. 7 and last year’s LPGA rookie of the year, Anna Nordqvist and the Royal Pines course record holder, Kristie Smith.

The ANZ Ladies Masters will be followed next week by the 2010 Handa Women’s Australian Open, to be played Melbourne’s Commonwealth Golf Club, from March 11-14.

TEN @ ONE HD Television Coverage

Coverage of the Ladies Masters Second Round will be shown on ONE HD from 5.15 pm to 7.30 pm EDST Friday and the final rounds on TEN and ONE from 1pm – 5 pm Saturday and Sunday.

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THE irrepressible Gary Player talks about longevity in golf and also weighs into the debate about the length of some modern golf courses in the latest edition of a new Australian based magazine that focuses on the golf industry.

And when a 74 year old with 164 professional wins starts talking about durability in golf you think he might have something to say on the subject.

“Longevity is the beautiful thing about golf. In most other sports athletes have to retire in their 30”s,” Player says in the latest edition of Golf Industry Central Magazine, a free online publication.

Many ridiculed Players’ fitness routine when he first went on tour in 1953 and the South African says other professionals doubted he had a future.

“…people said Gary Player would never last,” the winner of nine Majors and 19 Champions Tour events says. “I was known as a nut, but now all the modern day players are working out.”

Player also speaks about modern course design and says his philosophy when designing a new venue is to build a course “that the weekend golfer, who is the heart of the game, can enjoy.”

He says club committees should stop trying to build courses for pros with the usual futile aim of attracting major tournaments.

“Think of your members,” Players says. “We have got to build beautiful courses where members, who have been working all week, can come out and relax.”

You can read the full story, and many other interesting articles focussing on the golf industry, by first going to the Golf Industry Central website and downloading the free February magazine edition.

The website, run by golf industry management and operations specialist Mike Orloff, offers a host of international and local golf industry news, job listings and operational advice.