My Sports News Digest

Brandt Snedeker will be out of action for 6-8 weeks following a second hip surgery in a year. The surgery on his labrum was performed on Tuesday in Vail, Colo., by Dr. Marc Philippon. The 31-year-old withdrew from this week’s WGC-HSBC Champions, citing pain in his right hip. “I am certainly disappointed I will not be able to fulfill some obligations I had ahead of me during the next few months,” said Snedeker. “However, I realize I needed to get this done now so that I can get back to competition for the 2012 season.” Snedeker was scheduled to round [...]

Read the full story

The 2012 PGA Tour schedule is … pretty much the same as the 2011 schedule. In other words, no major differences, only a few minor tweaks to the schedule. A couple of tournaments have new title sponsors: The Bob Hope Classic in 2012 becomes the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation; and what was The Heritage becomes the RBC Heritage. There are a few events that have some minor shuffling of dates. Perhaps the most interesting is the move that brings the late-season, unofficial money WGC HSBC Champions inside the PGA Tour schedule. This year, the HSBC Champions [...]

Read the full story

Yani Tseng will be offered an exemption to the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open for next season, according to Golfweek. Sidney Wolf, general chairman of the event, said he intends to invite Tseng to compete in the opposite field event in 2012. The tournament will be held Mar. 8-11 at Trump International in Puerto Rico, opposite the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral. “Having the No. 1 player here would open our event to a broader audience,” Wolf told the publication. “It could open up the possibility of a LPGA event here, and ultimately help us raise funds for our charities. It [...]

Read the full story

Last Halloween, Lee Westwood took over the No. 1 ranking from Tiger Woods, ending Woods’ 218 consecutive weeks atop the Official World Golf Ranking. A year later, the Englishman could be passed by Rory McIlroy for the second spot in the world ranking. Separated by .16 points, the U.S. Open champion can pass Westwood this week in a variety of ways. McIlroy can finish solo second or better and improve a spot in the ranking if Westwood does not win. If McIlroy finishes solo 13th or better and Westwood finishes worse than 55th in the 78-man field, then McIlroy is [...]

Read the full story

The PGA Tour’s March stop at Innisbrook will need a new title sponsor after 2012, as eyewear maker Transitions has notified the tour of their intention not to renew their deal. Tampa-based Transitions Optical has been the sponsor of the tour event in the area as part of a 4-year deal with the PGA Tour. According to Golfweek, the company told the tour of their decision last week. “All along, we had said we would make a decision in the final year,” said Connie Falvo, director of external affairs for Transitions Optical. “We’ve reached a very large number of golf [...]

Read the full story

The HSBC Champions takes place in China this week, the fourth tournament on the World Golf Championships schedule. The HSBC Champions is part of the schedules of the European Tour and Asian Tour, meaning it is an official-money tournament on those tours (although its purse is so much larger than other purses on the Asian Tour that only 50-percent of winnings are counted toward the Asian Tour money list). But on the PGA Tour, this tournament is only kinda sorta an official tournament. It’s half an official tournament. The winner of the HSBC Champions will be credited with an official [...]

Read the full story

Count 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell among a group of players furthering the conversation on the topic of golf adopting a fifth major championship. In remarks made to promote the Barclays Singapore Open on the Asian Tour, McDowell said the $ 6 million Asian Tour event has all of the characteristics of a tournament that could someday become a major. “The Barclays Singapore Open is one of the biggest tournaments of our season, globally,” said McDowell. “It has always had a strong field fighting for a piece of the excellent prize fund. Barclays are great sponsors of big tournaments [...]

Read the full story

Steve Stricker is supportive of Fred Couples’ decision to appoint Tiger Woods to the Presidents Cup team heading to Australia next month. “I think it’s great. I talk to Tiger through texting every now and then. He’s really excited. We’re looking forward to it. I think he’ll be ready, too,” Stricker said to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “He’ll find a way to get it done. When you play him one on one, he’ll find a way. Just like at the Ryder Cup last year. He trounced the guy he was playing (Francesco Molinari of Italy, 4 and 3, in singles). He [...]

Read the full story