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Truth & Rumors: Daly explains ‘Tin Cup’ incident

John Daly caused a stir when he walked off the 11th tee in the first round of the Australian Open earlier this month after hitting six balls in the water. Reuters’ Bernie McGuire reports that Daly defended his walk-off at a media conference in Hong Kong this week. According to McGuire, Daly said he was frustrated by a penalty he incurred on the 10th hole for hitting the wrong ball out of a bunker, and then didn’t realize how many balls he had before sending them all into the lake.

“I had found the bunker with my tee shot and then when I got up there I hit a great bunker shot, and when I threw my caddy the ball to wipe it, I find it’s not my ball.

“Then on the 11th it was my ego that got in the way and I thought we had plenty of golf balls.

“But the question I keep asking is what were range balls doing in the bunkers out on the championship golf course?

Daly took issue with reports that he “stormed off” the course.

“I shook hands with Craig and Hunter and said that I’ve run out of balls, and I said that also to an official and he said to me that was unfortunate,” Daly added. “But what hurts me is that it was then reported I stormed off. Well, I never stormed off. I just walked back to the clubhouse.”

He added that he wasn’t “banned” from Australia, so he has that going for him.

Daly was fined an undisclosed sum over the incident and while his Australian PGA invite was revoked the American is still free to compete in Australia.

“I didn’t get banned from Australia but I really don’t know what is going to happen in the future,” he said.

U.S. Open champ Michael Campbell almost quit game
Michael Campbell, the New Zealander who beat out Tiger Woods to win the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst and has since fallen into the slump of all slumps, said he came close to giving up golf last year, according to Stuff New Zealand.

Campbell made his remarks in his home country, where he is playing in the New Zealand Open:

In his first extraordinary performance, albeit in the media centre at Clearwater yesterday, Campbell revealed in an all too rare interview interlaced with candour and honesty, he was on the verge of chucking it all in last year.

He had not banked a cheque for months.

He was hitting balls like a club hack.

Yesterday, he said: “I remember one time I went to bed and I said to myself ‘OK, this is it, Michael’.

“I said ‘look, go to bed with an open mind and say to yourself when I wake up tomorrow you’ll have an answer to this question. The question is, do you still want to play golf tournaments?’ I woke up the next day and I said, ‘yeah, I do’. So that was the answer.”

Tiger returns to cover of his own video game
Tiger Woods played second fiddle to Augusta National on the cover of EA Sports Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, but he’s back on the cover of the 2013 edition, along with Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy, according to EA Sports’ Facebook page

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McIlroy will play at Irish Open

Rory McIlroy confirms he will play at the 2012 Irish Open, despite a clash of dates with a major tournament in the United States.
BBC Sport | Golf | World Edition

Truth & Rumors: Nicklaus suggests changes to Gleneagles for Ryder Cup

The European host of the 2014 Ryder Cup is taking preparations seriously, to say the least. Need proof? With the event more than three years away, none other than Jack Nicklaus has provided suggestions on course changes at the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles Resort in Perthshire, Scotland, to make the event more difficult for the players and more entertaining for fans. Nicklaus wants work done on the ninth, 10th, and 18th holes, and the specific alterations are: an increase in the size of a water hazard on the par-5 ninth hole, which would increase the risk-reward quotient; new tee boxes on the par-3 10th, which will change the approach angle to the green; and a more level landing area on the par-5 18th. Organizers said they are also working to reduce the amount of water that might collect on the greens.

In light of the foul weather that plagued the last Ryder Cup, which was held at Celtic Manor in Wales, the 2014 event will be held Sept. 26-28 instead of October.  

Stevie appears on 'Least Influential' list

Adam Scott's current caddie Steve Williams has made plenty of news as of late, including some less-than-positive press after making a seemingly racist remark about Tiger Woods, his former employer. Now the New Zealand native is reaching a new audience, as he has landed on GQ's famed, "25 Least Influential People Alive" list. Yup, the guy who "won," all those majors comes in eighth on the impressive list, edging out the likes of Paul Reiser, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Bobby Bonilla. Here's a bit from GQ's funnymen: 

"Obviously it's well documented I've won 145 golf tournaments." YOU WON NOTHING, YOU BAG APE. No one has documented anything about you, other than what a prick you can be when pushing photographers out of the way. There's nothing worse than a profoundly inessential person who's deluded himself into thinking he's the opposite.  

Knowing a bit about Stevie, we're guessing he won't be too bothered by the piece, but it would be interesting to know how he feels about being ranked below Tia and Tamera Mowry. 

Woodland heading for Ryder Cup?

After finishing 17th on the money list in 2011 with close to $ 3.5 million in earnings and snagging his first career win at the Transitions Championship, you'd think young Gary Woodland would be satisfied. Nope. To cap off the year, the former Kansas State standout traveled to China and won the World Cup with Matt Kuchar, marking the first time the U.S. has taken home the trophy since Tiger Woods and David Duval teamed up to win the event in 2000. 

Now that Woodland has finished off his dream season he's eyeing another goal he says he's always dreamed of – playing in The Ryder Cup. 

Ever since I turned professional I have dreamt about being in a US Ryder Cup team and it now seems a big step closer. I had the goal at the start of the year to make the Presidents Cup. That didn't pan out but then Matt chose me to partner him in the World Cup and I could not have been happier. Europe has kind of had the States's number in most of the recent Ryder Cups but it would be nice to be in the team that win back the trophy on home turf. It's been a long while since the States had the Ryder Cup, World Cup and Presidents Cup in the same trophy cabinet but for me winning the World Cup is going to be a big inspiration to make the Ryder Cup team.

Woodland was also highly complimentary of Kuchar, whom he credits for helping him adapt to the team format. 

I've learned so much from playing alongside Matt and that's going to be a great springboard for me to take into 2012. He was always very positive, very encouraging and always very helpful in putting me at ease. It helps my confidence and it further boosts Matt's confidence given that he was also on the winning Presidents Cup side the week before. Hopefully both he and I can play well enough in 2012 to make Davis's side. I grew up watching the Ryder Cup and it would be an honor for me to play.

When you consider the would-be Ryder Cupper's PGA Tour stats from '11 (Driving Distance: 5th, Greens in Regulation: 12th, Birdie Average: 13th, Scoring Average: 14th), it's a good bet Woodland will be at Medinah next year: 

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Ask Brady Riggs Live! Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Will Fix Your Faults

Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher Brady Riggs will be online Tuesday at noon EST to answer your swing questions and analyze your swing videos. If you have a question for Brady, leave it in the comments section below.

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SI Golf Ranking: Schwartzel returns to top five

SIGG-Ranking-logo3Each week, 15 staffers from SI Golf+, Golf Magazine and GOLF.com vote for their top 10, awarding 10 points to their first choice and proceeding in descending order to the 10th player, who gets one point. The points are then added and the ranking calculated. Tell us your top 10 in the comments field below.

RANK (TOTAL VOTES, FIRST PLACE VOTES, LAST WEEK'S RANK)

1. Luke Donald (147, 12, 1)
– Last three finishes: 1, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic; T11, Madrid Masters; T9, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
– Official World Golf Ranking: 1

2. Rory McIlroy (136, 3, 2)
– Last three finishes: 4, WGC-HSBC Champions; 1, Shanghai Masters; 2, Kolon Korea Open
– Official World Golf Ranking: 2

3. Webb Simpson (102, 0, 3)
– Last three finishes: T6, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic; 2, The McGladrey Classic; 22, TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola; 5, BMW Championship;
– Official World Golf Ranking: 9

4. Lee Westwood (86, 0, 4)
– Last three finishes: 13, WGC-HSBC Champions; 5, Shanghai Masters; T30, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
– Official World Golf Ranking: 3

5. Charl Schwartzel (77, 0, T5)
– Last three finishes: 1, WGC-HSBC Champions; T16, Shanghai Masters; T9, Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
– Official World Golf Ranking: 13

6. Keegan Bradley (71, 0, T5)
– Last three finishes: 16, WGC-HSBC Champions; 12, Shanghai Masters; T11, Tour Championship
– Official World Golf Ranking: 27

7. Adam Scott (35, 0, 7)
– Last three finishes: T4, Australian Open; 11, WGC-HSBC Champions; T6, Tour Championship
– Official World Golf Ranking: 7

8. Nick Watney (35, 0, 8)
– Last three finishes: T4, Australian Open; 33, WGC-HSBC Champions; 2, Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
– Official World Golf Rank: 10

9. Martin Kaymer (33, 0, 9)
- Last three finishes: 1, WGC-HSBC Champions; 23, Andalucia Masters; 8, Portugal Masters
– Official World Golf Ranking: 4

10. Steve Stricker (17, 0, 10)
- Last three finishes: 15, Tour Championship; WD, BMW Championship; 42, Deutsche Bank Championship
– Official World Golf Ranking: 6

Others receiving votes:
Bill Haas (16)
Dustin Johnson (16)
Jason Day (13)
K.J. Choi (9)
Darren Clarke (6)
Jim Furyk (6)
Sergio Garcia (6)
Tiger Woods(5)
Hunter Mahan (3)
Graeme McDowell (3)
Bubba Watson (2)
Phil Mickelson (1)

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Dates unveiled for 2014 Ryder Cup

The 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles will take place from 26-28 September.
BBC Sport | Golf | World Edition