I took the photo above on Tuesday evening from the first tee of PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament course. Then I added the captions with an app on my phone (I don’t have Photoshop skills, unfortunately, so I consider this my finest work to date) and voila! The setup at the first tee of the Stadium course is similar, along with the tenth tees at both. They think of everything, don’t they! (continue reading…)

Oh no...not now...no, please...uh oh...no...wait...oh, crap.

Thirteen pre-qualifier tournaments, thirteen first-stage events and six second-stage events later, the pool of thousands of golfers hoping to re(earn) their place on the PGA Tour in 2012 has been dwindled down to 173 players, ranging from recent college grads, mini-tour grinders, journeymen, has-beens, major champs, former Tour winners, past Ryder Cup members and guys who had a tough season. All of whom will kick off the grueling six-round, 108-hole marathon at PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament and Stadium courses this morning. At the finish line, the top 25 (and ties) will collect their cards. (continue reading…)

Adam Hadwin, the Great Canadian Hope...(the highest-ranked Canadian since Mike Weir can no longer break 80)

Adam Hadwin estimates he’s played roughly 80 holes in practice rounds since arriving in the desert last Wednesday, a week before the first of six grueling rounds at the final stage of Q-school, to fine tune his preparation for the test that — if he passes — leads to attaining his lifelong dream: a PGA Tour card. (continue reading…)

TAIII returns to Q-school: Mid-life crisis?

The last man standing at the driving range at PGA West on Monday evening was the oldest player in the field at the final stage of PGA Tour Q-school. Tommy Armour III has enjoyed a long, fulfilling career, which includes playing professional golf since 1981 (before probably half of the guys in the field were even born).

At age 52 the two-time PGA Tour winner played full-time on the Champions Tour in 2011, notching four top-tens in 23 starts to finish 28th on the money list. While he didn’t play any events on what he calls the “regular” tour for the first time since 1982, Armour decided to give it a go again, signing up for Q-school and winning second stage at the Hombre GC site to advance to this week’s final test. (continue reading…)

Meet the latest WUP “intern,” Shoshana, who is a prolific tweeter and history-trained sports junkie, not to mention a huge Tiger fan, which you may find hard to believe after reading her post below…

It appears that Tiger's knees are back

Tiger Woods is coming into the Chevron World Challenge following a year in which he’s dealt with injury and poor form, but recently he’s been playing well. He just had a strong finish in Australia and annihilated his opponent in Sunday singles. Except that I am writing about 2010, not 2011. (continue reading…)

Just another day in paradise!

While the majority of the media corps arrived in the L.A. area for the Chevron World Challenge, Tiger’s money-grab event (but proceeds all go to charity so hooray!), I stepped off a plane about two hours east in Palm Springs for my second-favorite tournament of the year (fave is the British Open), PGA Tour Q-School finals at PGA West. Which might seem strange to some, but I love the atmosphere, the concept of 150-plus guys — most of whom had to endure the first- and second- stages — whittled down from an original pool of thousands, with some fighting for a shot at livin’ the dream (for the first, fourth or tenth time) , others trying to get their jobs back and just one playing out of boredom. (continue reading…)

Four 6-hour pro-am rounds for Tiger to kick off the year?

Since it was reported that Tiger Woods plans to ditch Torrey Pines, where he usually kicks off his season, and instead play-for-pay at the Abu Dhabi Championship next January, Woods will add a different event on the West Coast swing to start his year in the U.S. According to the AP, there’s been indication he’ll play the Pebble Beach Pro-Am for the first time since 2002. (continue reading…)

Allenby (d-)bags an award, after all...

Presidents Cup teammates Robert Allenby and Geoff Ogilvy nearly came to blows, exchanging heated words at the after-party for the Australian PGA on Sunday, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Several accounts from witnesses claimed Allenby approached Ogilvy and offered to settle the dispute physically and at least one glass broke before Allenby walked away. (continue reading…)

Dream team USA with their better halves!

The United States captured the World Cup for the first time since 2000 when Tiger Woods and David Duval represented the country. Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland ended the 11-year dry spell on Sunday, shooting a five-under 67 at Mission Hills to overcome a two-stroke deficit at the start of the day and finish two shots better than Team Germany and Team England.

Kuchar and Woodland, both making their debut at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, also became the first set of rookies to win since Mark O’Meara and Tiger Woods in 1999. (continue reading…)

Ready for a Rory Roast...

U.S. Open champ Rory McIlroy’s former girlfriend Holly Sweeney is taking a very public jab at McIlroy and his current lady friend, world No. 1 tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. Sweeney hosted a ‘Golf Pros, Tennis Hoes’ themed dinner party for her appearance on reality show Celebrity Come Dine With Me, according to the Irish Daily Mail. (continue reading…)