PUMA has acquired Cobra Golf from Fortune Brands, Acushnet’s parent company which owns Titleist and Footjoy.

The German sportswear company has been expanding its presence in the golfing world, snagging the edgy 21-year-old Rickie Fowler to endorse its product (like bright orange pants!) last fall. Now with the purchase of Cobra — which is set to close in the second quarter — PUMA will offer equipment along with footwear, apparel and accessories.

“Through the acquisition of Cobra Golf, we reinforce PUMA’s commitment to our sports performance business by strengthening our growing and successful Golf category,” said Jochen Zeitz, Chairman and Chief Executive of PUMA. “Cobra Golf has a history of innovative performance products fused with an edge and is therefore a perfect fit for PUMA, reinforcing our overall mission of becoming the most desirable Sportlifestyle company.”

Watch out, Nike!

Welcome to Balls in the Air, where I size up my Fantasy Golf picks of the week, featuring guys to watch (or not) and interesting story lines. Disclaimer: Don’t yell at me if my picks suck.

I swear I’m going to get better at posting this on a weekly (and more timely) basis, but mostly it’s because I haven’t come up with lyrics for a “Balls in the Air” theme song. Submissions are welcome.

Group A

Anthony Kim: Aside from the third round 76 at the Phoenix Open, Mr. Shiny Belt Buckle had a great tournament. No word whether he was hitting it hard at the Bird’s Nest on Friday night. Oh, and this is good — he’s paired with Robert Allenby the first two rounds. Fight, fight, fight!

Group A Bencher

Ernie Els: The options were slim, so it was either the Big Easy or someone like Steve Marino. Ernie is off to a quick start with two top-10 finishes at the Farmers Insurance Open and Northern Trust Open. Even though his three-year campaign to challenge Tiger Woods as the world’s number one has expired, maybe it comes with a one-year extension plan.

Group B

Rory McIlroy: Gotta love this kid. More important, he wouldn’t have laid up from 231 yards on a par 5 when he was in contention. At least I hope not.

Camilo Villegas: The flashy Colombian has been playing very well. In two starts, he finished third at the Match Play Championship and T8 at last week’s Phoenix Open, including a 9-under 62 in the first round. After complaining last year about the oh-so-grueling year-long golf schedule, he talked about his overall improvement in attitude and appreciation for the opportunity to play. They grow up so quickly!

Group B Benchers

Y.E. Yang: The defending champ is always a safe pick. He also played well last week despite a mental error, where he dunked it in the water, on the 17th hole last Sunday. But last night on Twitter, he mentioned having back pain. Not a good sign and something went wrong today — he shot (gulp) 79.

J.B. Holmes: I have a soft spot for the slow-moving long hitter after speaking with him last week at the Phoenix Open. Really nice guy. He’s also started the year hot with a runner-up finish at the A&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and third at the Northern Trust Open.

Group C

Paul Casey: In two starts, he finished runner-up at the Match Play Championship after losing to Ian Poulter in the finals, and T10 at the SBS Championship. Another safe pick. (Honestly, I’m ashamed how boring I’m getting.)

Group C Bencher

Rickie Fowler: I’m still kinda appalled with his gutless play coming down the stretch. John Hawkins summed it up very well, “Hey dude, did it ever cross your mind that you could make an eagle? You’re Rickie Freakin’ Fowler, the New Kid in Town, the second coming of Lanny…You believe, Rickie, because that’s what champions do. Better safe than sorry? Sometimes, they mean the same thing.” Lucky for him he’ll have another chance sooner than later — can’t discredit him for being able to play. As he heads into the Florida swing, it’ll be interesting to see how he does when not on familiar territory.

Alright, leaderboard check! The soft-spoken Australian, Nathan Green, leads with an early 5-under. Some guys called Alexandre Rocha and Michael Connell are tied for second along with Oliver Wilson and Villegas. Watching the telecast, looks like tough conditions with the wind blowing hard.

Someone else to keep an eye on is rookie Alex Prugh. He’s placed in the top-ten three times and made five cuts in five starts. After a few off-weeks, he’s in the clubhouse with a 68 and T10.

I realize I sound like a broken record this week with some of my picks — you know, so-and-so is playing well, which was annoying because it seemed like I have nothing more interesting to say. But if you’ve discovered a formula that doesn’t involve looking at the players’ current season results and their past performance at that tournament or simply going with your gut, then please share. Maybe next week I’ll get a little crazy and point my finger at the screen with my eyes closed and see which name it lands on.

At least Villegas is making me look smart.

In what the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee called “the most shocking play I have seen in 2010,” Rickie Fowler decided to lay up on the par-5, 15th hole at TPC Scottsdale last Sunday. At that point, he was one stroke behind Hunter Mahan, the eventual champion. With 231 yards out, Fowler would have needed to hit about a 3 iron from the fairway and carry it 210 yards over the water. His two playing partners went for the green and they were further out than him. So, why on earth would the fearless 21-year-old Boy That Will Save the PGA Tour wearing neon orange pants take the safe approach?

I kind of told myself that I didn’t really want to go for it unless I had about a 5-iron in, which I would feel more comfortable hitting it to that pin with the pin being in the front. It’s not very wide. The miss right and the miss left, obviously there’s water, but missing the green right or left, the up-and-down wasn’t very easy. So I felt giving myself that wedge from the middle of the fairway was my best chance at making an easy birdie.

Now I hope he wasn’t thinking about actually hitting it in the water. And I really hope he wasn’t thinking about the difference between a second place paycheck and perhaps a third or fourth, as the Golf Channel commentators suggested. I’ll give him that it would have been a tough chip, but conditions were soft — he could have controlled it. Look at his approach on the 17th, where he had a tough pitch into the green and took a gutsy shot.

It’s hard to argue with Fowler’s explanation, but it seemed out of character for him to make the safe play. When Tim Clark laid up a few weeks ago at the Bob Hope, at least he stuck by his game plan. But Fowler? He’s the daredevil who used to perform all sorts of crazy tricks on a dirt bike.

Fowler is sticking to his guns about the decision. He’s even getting a little (gulp) defensive on Twitter (start from bottom):

If he had dunked it in the water, that would have been a straight-up choke. So I guess if he was even thinking that was an option, it’s a good thing he played it safe. His best club is a wedge and like he told the Golf Channel afterward, he wishes he could re-hit his approach shot, which spun a few feet off the green. No, it doesn’t make him a moron that he felt more comfortable hitting a little wedge from his best distance.

But would Tiger or Phil have laid up? They would have scoffed at the very thought.

I’m regretting my decision to take the redeye back to NYC. Too late, dummy! I only wish I could have seen more players and golf, less media room and especially hotel room. Some quick thoughts before I nap — now I know the Phoenix “Wasted” Open is notorious for being the tournament stop where all sorts of characters who could care less about this sport called golf other than an excuse to gather and drink (lots of) beers on a grassy pasture. Yeah, that’s pretty much it, but I gotta give the crowds credit, it’s pretty awesome. I was like a really, really sober person at a frat party, but that almost made it more interesting. I also have to credit how organized the tournament seemed despite the crowds, drunks, shenanigans, etc.

On Saturday, it was guesstimated a scarce 121,221, down from 160-something-thousand last year. But even if this number was made up from thin air (because, surely their counters are error-proof), that’s impressive for a tailgate golf event.

Here’s an interesting analytics aside: The search “Rickie Fowler girlfriend” returned the most hits to my blog yesterday. As a matter of fact, it’s the most-searched term of the month! I guess Rickie’s relationship status is very topical for at least 640 doting fans (wonder how this breaks down by a/s/l).

Anthony Kim who was T3 going into Saturday fired a 76. Hope he wasn’t out drinking until 4AM. Kidding! AK? No way.

We’ve got a great leaderboard filled with young names for the final round. Let’s see, Brandt Snedeker leads by one stroke over Scott Piercy. Rickie Fowler is T3, two shots back. If he wins, he would become the youngest player to win on Tour since Tiger in ‘96. (Hype, hype, hype!) His outfit sure was…err…blue. But to his credit, he was forced to wear it (he had a “script” this week /shiver). Camilo Villegas sits at T5. In related news, Mark Calcavecchia, who is T6, weighs more than his playing partners, 2.0 and Spidey, combined.

Just checked — it’s raining and high of 64 degrees in Scottsdale. Perhaps I did the right thing by leaving after all.

Alright, discuss the tournament, the over/under on Calc’s weight, the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever seen on the course, or something like that.

Nice Effing Pants brings you the wackiest, ugliest and coolest pants (or skorts) in golf — from the pros to the mediocre weekend golfer. Please send submissions to steph.wei@gmail.com.

Wunderkinds Rickie Fowler and Ryo Ishikawa made bold fashion statements at Pebble Beach last week. Now I’m not sure how I feel about the monochromatic color schemes with hints of white, and I wonder what Marty Hackel would say about these costumes.

The San Francisco Chronicle asked Chris “Remember me, I was Robin” O’Donnell, who was teamed up with Fowler, his opinion on the attire of his youthful playing partners (Ishikawa and some actor called Lucas Black completed the foursome). O’Donnell quipped, “You mean the Skittles outfits?”

O’Donnell went on to poke some more fun, telling Fowler, “If I’d known, I would have worn a banana outfit or something.”

Attribute it to their age, I guess. But at least they’re bringing some much needed vibrancy to the buttoned-up-khaki-wearing PGA Tour.

[Photos by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images]

I caught up with PGA Tour rookie Alex Prugh on Thursday night. We know each other from playing in many of the same tournaments growing up because we’re both from Washington State. I asked our mutual friend, Andres Gonzales, who is a pro on the mini tours, to put us in touch. (Thanks, Dres!) I hadn’t spoken to Alex in, oh, like, a decade, but he was easy to chat with and I appreciated his candid, entertaining answers (he hasn’t been 2.0’d yet).

Alex has played very well, right out of the gate. He competed on the Nationwide Tour in 2008 and 2009. After finishing 16th on the money list last year, he earned his 2010 PGA Tour card. In four starts this year, he’s placed top-10 in three consecutive tournaments. This week at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he is 8-under through two rounds, good enough for T8. He’s definitely one to watch for the weekend.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

SW: What do you attribute your success to right out the gate?

AP: It’s been weird. At the Bob Hope, I was striking the ball really well, just hitting tons of greens and, you know, giving myself tons of birdie opps. It’s funny, looking back, I’ve been hitting the ball shi..[sic]. Sorry not [sic]…worse and worse throughout the weeks, but my short game has gotten better and better. I’ve been making up-and-downs and putting pretty well, fortunately. When it comes down to it, I’ve been making most the putts that I’ve needed to.

SW: Are you generally a better ballstriker or short game player?

AP: Ha, generally ballstriker. At least throughout my career, it seems I hit fourteen or fifteen greens in all my good rounds. I definitely know looking back at my college career, I’ve had tons of two-putt birdies, just on par-5s and drivable par-4s. I mean, even today, I shot four-under and had one two-putt birdie. And a couple of my other birdies were literally kick-ins, so I mean, you can attribute those to ballstriking.

SW: You played Spyglass yesterday. Had you ever played there before?

AP: I played there yesterday. So, if you count that or Tiger Woods PGA Tour on Xbox. The only problem with Tiger Woods is you hit your drives 320 yards with pinpoint accuracy in the game. Honestly, the ball goes about 270 yards out here it seems like.

SW: You obviously played well at the Bob Hope, and now you’re playing at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the other tournament where celebs run rampant. How do you feel about these events?

AP: It’s been fun. Just in the fact that it’s more relaxed. I tried to be relaxed on the golf course and generally I guess I do play better, it definitely takes the edge off. It’s kind of hard to get down and mad at yourself when you’re trying to show these amateurs a good time and entertain them, so I think that helps mentally a little bit. It makes me a little more…sane.

SW: Have you played with anyone really interesting?

AP: Probably the most interesting — I didn’t play a practice round at Monterey Peninsula because I didn’t play that many rounds in a row. So I walked around the course and on the last nine holes, I ran into a Steve Wheatcroft who was playing with Jeffrey Donovan. I don’t know if you know him or not…

SW: Is that the Burn Notice guy?

AP: Yeah, the Burn Notice guy. So we walked around nine holes with him, which was fun. He’s a real nice guy. I think he pretty much quote for quote recited every line from Anchorman. I asked him about his show and found out it was all filmed in Miami.

SW: What’s the transition been like from the Nationwide to the PGA?

AP: For me, it’s been really easy. The Nationwide definitely prepares you very well for the PGA. The only difference to me is that you have more media, spectators, grandstand and that sort, but when it comes down to it, you still have to put the ball in the hole somehow and some way. Fortunately, most the guys out here are very nice and welcoming and as long as you play well, life is all good.

SW: In your PGA Tour media profile, you listed Andres [Gonzales] as your hero. Explain.

AP: Honestly, last year we were at the final stage of Q-school and staying together that week. We were both sitting there, filling out this media form. And we looked at each other and said, “Who the heck are we going to put for our hero?” I just said, “I’m going to put you, Andres. You are my hero. I mean, look at you with your mustache and those handlebars. How great is that?”

SW: Have you seen Ryan Moore, the other guy from Washington [State] who has made it to the bigs, at all?

AP: I’ve ran into him a couple of times. It was funny last week at Riviera. Before the tournament started I saw him and he was like, “Oh, hey Alex. I just want to remind you, you are on the PGA Tour, you know.” He meant I was playing really good golf and he was kind of more shocked [how well I was playing]. He was like, “You are playing on the biggest level here.”

SW: What’s your favorite part about playing on the PGA Tour?

AP: Playing at this level of competition. You look down the range and there’s Phil Mickelson or Vijay [Singh] hitting balls. It’s pretty nice knowing I grew up watching those guys for the last 10 to 15 years and now I’m playing with them.

SW: So I saw what you said about Rickie in your presser.

[Ed note: This was the question and answer: Q: You’ve flown under the radar a bit as far as the big rookie coming into the year, this week we have Ishikawa; do you like kind of being a little under the radar unnoticed?
AP: I’m not going to lie, I’m not a flashy guy. I’ve played with Ricky before. Just to show how flashy he is, he has six pairs of shoes and color-coordinates them with his outfit, which to each his own. Ricky has gotten a lot of publicity and attention. That’s fine with me. I would rather let my golf talk for me. In the long run, that’s what I’m out here for. I’m out here to compete, and hopefully make a bunch of birdies, and show the crowds a good time. But a lot of them do tend toward Ricky.]

AP: I think that was taken out of context a bit, but it does blow my mind how many pairs of shoes he has. They asked me something like, “Do you mind not being in the spotlight like Rickie Fowler and Ryo Ishikawa?” I said I didn’t mind and I’m not a flashy guy. Then I gave the example of Rickie traveling with six pairs of shoes. Then they somehow spun that to sound like I was almost making fun of him, but that wasn’t the case.

[Ed. note: I believe he was referring to this article at PGATour.com]

SW: Are you friends with Rickie?

AP: Oh yeah, we played together at Riviera last week and had a great time. I asked him because for every outfit he has, it seems like he has a matching pair of shoes for it. So I was just playing around with him and asked, “How many pairs of shoes do you have?” He was like, I have this, this, this, and so on, but only travels with six pairs.

SW: So, how do you feel about the spotlight? Do you mind it?

AP: No, I don’t mind it. I think if I keep playing as well as I do, eventually I’ll get that spotlight. You know, obviously coming out, there are certain names people know and they’re going to sell more tickets. But hopefully the tides are turning a little bit, and I’ll get some of that action.

SW: Why do you think people should watch you and follow you? Why are you interesting?

AP: I wouldn’t say I’m interesting. I mean, I’m just a kid from Washington [State] that likes to play golf. I’m pretty laid back. I don’t let a whole lot of things bother me. I’ve had a ton of people hype up the PGA Tour, like, “Oh My God, you’re on the PGA Tour!” You know, I’m just playing golf. I’m trying to have fun out there. I take things seriously, but I don’t necessarily ever get down on myself — I just feel lucky that I’m playing golf as a living and try to appease to the crowds.

SW: Who’s been your favorite to play with?

AP: Honestly I had a really good time playing with Rickie last week. Also playing with Bubba Watson and Bill Haas in the final round at the Bob Hope was fun. They’re two younger guys and obviously they were in my shoes not too long ago. It was relaxed, but also had that atmosphere of being in the final group. We were cracking jokes all day.

SW: Have you been told who to avoid? Do people talk about that?

AP: Not really. Most the talk of the town has been about Tiger. There were some pretty funny moments in San Diego. They had planes flying over with those banners. The first day, there was one that said, “We miss you, Tiger,” from Deja Vu Showgirls. The next day, it was, “We miss you, too, Tiger,” from the Hustler Club or something like that. I got a pretty good laugh out of that. Every day it seemed like they had a jab at him. I feel awful for the guy, but at the same time, he dug his own grave, unfortunately.

SW: When do you think Tiger will be back?

AP: I’m guessing he’s playing The Masters.

SW: What do you think of the grooves controversy?

AP: I play Ping myself. When it comes down to it, I look at it, if someone wants to use the old Ping Eye 2 wedges, then go for it. But if you really think that’s going to help you, that’s your own choice. Thing is, any of those clubs you’re buying, they’re on eBay right now and you can’t get new ones. More than likely they’re going to be used ones, anyway, so they’re going to be worn down a little bit. I mean, I guess I also just really like the wedges I have, which are the new conforming ones. We’ve been playing in so much wet weather lately, I’ve almost been getting too much spin. There were a couple of times in San Diego where I actually laid up in the rough to control the spin.

SW: So is there any advantage to using them?

There might be a little one when we get some deeper rough and firmer greens. But for me, I know I’m not going to find any.

SW: You play with a Ping Craz-E Belly Putter. When did you switch to the broomstick and why?

AP: Yeah, sometimes I feel like a little old man doing that. I switched the summer before my senior year, so that would be summer of ‘06. I had a really bad putting round at the last round of the Sahalee Players Championship and I was like, I’ll just mess around with one, and I never switched back

SW: What’s your favorite event been so far?

AP: I really liked playing Riviera last week. It’s one of those courses I’ve played on Tiger Woods Xbox. That course is just pure. The way they treat you there is great. The only reason I got in was because I placed in the top-10 the week before.

SW: Have you purchased anything big with the half million you’ve earned yet? If not, what will be your first buy?

AP: I have a house in Vegas now, but I’ll probably get one in Spokane [where I grew up], too.

[Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images]

Last Friday when I found out I wouldn’t have internet access for a few days, I sent out a Twitter blast asking for people to contribute posts. Reader David Kelly was kind enough to pass along his thoughts on John Daly.

To recap, after Daly missed the cut last Friday, he told the Golf Channel, “I’m done. I’m done.” Done with what? “Golf. I can’t compete. I can’t play like I used to. I can’t keep taking spots from guys out here playing this bad. It’s not worth it,” Daly clarified. This left many to wonder whether it was just John Daly being John Daly or if he was actually serious. As it turned out, it was what most assumed — the former.

Later that evening, Daly explained himself via his Twitter feed, saying, “I’m not retired & never said that I was retiring” and “The interview yesterday caught me after a tough 2 days & much frustration.” He also revealed he was having money problems and didn’t “like to continue to embarrass myself.”

Without further ado, read on for David’s take.

The long strange trip that is John Daly’s career showed us once again at Torrey Pines that he is human.

His skeptics were quick to jump to conclusions that he had “retired” or that it was all will say a publicity stunt for his new show on Golf Channel. They said he should listen to his own words and leave the tour for good. After all, these are the same people who don’t think JD belongs on the tour in the first place. These are the same folks that think he brings down the game.

These are also the same people who should be thanking John Daly that they have a job where they can complain and snipe in the first place.

John Daly carried this sport out of what was a long journey down into oblivion. If Crooked Stick had never happened - from Nick Price going down to being able to reach down to the 9th alternate – no one would care what Tiger Woods was doing afterhours. It would have a following comparable to tennis – nice and consistent but that is about it.

The tour in 1991 was floundering. The GGO was one of the highest winner’s purses on tour. Corey Pavin won the money title and didn’t break the the $1 million mark in 25 events. The total tour purses were right around $47 million, slightly up from the $46 million in 1990. Compare that with the ‘92 and ‘93 purses ($49 million and $53 million), and you can see where the tour started to take its first steps into the mainstream.

The tour needs more personalities like John Daly, especially in a non-Tiger sighting era. And we have some non-conventional golf personalities emerging - Boo Weekley, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Ryan Moore. They don’t come off as guys who grew up with junior memberships to the local country club. (In full disclosure, I plead guilty).  But they don’t also seem to bring the star power, good or bad, that JD does.

Whether he wins or not on the PGA Tour is not important. Hopefully, he will find a place where he is happy with his game and keeps teeing it up again. It should be noted that the last time we wrote him off, he won at Torrey Pines. Before that, he won at St. Andrews.  As he has shown by keeping his commitment to play at Pebble, there is no quit in John Daly.

I have been an unapologetic Daly fan since that day in 1991. I feel like I have seen a friend go exercise his demons in public and come out on the other side. Golf needs John Daly. He has been better for golf than the golf establishment has been to him.

While I don’t agree with David that Daly shaped the modern Tour and paved the way for Tiger’s fame (or notoriety these days), I do believe Daly is good for the game. But without golf, where would Daly be? Golf made Daly a celebrity and provided him with a great living. He arguably threw away some of his talent with the poor decisions he made. Now everyone encounters troubles and deserves second chances — hell, even third, fourth or sixth chances sometimes. But it seems Daly still has some demons to deal with and needs to stop blaming outside forces for his setbacks. That said, I hope he can overcome them and would like nothing more than to see him succeed — especially win again.

Your thoughts? Agree or disagree with David? Please chime in. Thanks again to David for contributing!

“For one thing they look really great,” says Rickie Fowler, the PGA Tour’s latest heartthrob.

Now that’s a reason to buy the Cell Fusions. PUMA says they should help with your golf swing, too. I guess that’s not working for Rickie recently, who has had a slow start to his rookie season after he “lost his swing” on the flight over the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii a few weeks ago.

The video is interactive, so click around to learn more about the cutting edge Smart Quill cleats — they’re replaceable, too!

[Video via PUMA Golf]

After announcing on Monday the lockdown of a title sponsor for next week’s tournament, which will now be called the Farmers Insurance Open, the PGA Tour started Tuesday with more good news — the addition of a Fall Series event, the RSM McGladery Open hosted by Davis Love III.

In Tuesday’s teleconference, Commissioner Tim Finchem kicked off the call with cheery, upbeat adjectives about the announcement, like “delighted,” “excited” and “quality.” Because we know how fired up everyone gets about golf in October (notwithstanding the Ryder Cup).

But given the dreary economy these days, it appears the Tour is recovering rather nicely:

We are done. We have a full schedule. The upshot of that schedule is that the total playing opportunities for our players are consistent with the last couple years. Our prize money this year will be up slightly over 2009, and based on these announcements and also the final performance we’re seeing in our first-quarter events, we see our charity numbers now rebounding back into that $116 [million], $118 [million] area for 2010.

To my understanding, the moderator politely requested reporters to ask McGladery-related questions only. Translation: Do not cross-examine Finchem about Tiger and/or his whereabouts.

One clever individual found a legitimate loophole:

Q. Tim, there have been a lot of kind of doom-and-gloom articles, media coverage, about with Tiger away, TV ratings are going to take a big hit, and that that’s — I was just wondering if you might be able to explain why that’s kind of a short-sighted view.

And the long-winded response:

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: Well, I’ve answered this question before, but I think that there’s a misperception about our business model for one thing. People think because Tiger spikes ratings, which he does, and spikes interest, which he certainly does, that if he’s not playing, it just doesn’t work. And I’ve actually been answering the same question not since November but really for the last 13 years, because we’ve averaged about 47 tournaments a year on the PGA TOUR. In those years Tiger has averaged playing about 17. That leaves 30 events. And those events have grown in the last 13 years exponentially. They’ve actually grown at a higher percentage basis than the events that Tiger basically plays in.

[…Blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada…]

TV ratings dropped 50% from ‘08 in ‘07 in the tournaments Tiger missed while recovering from knee surgery.

But week in and week out, the PGA TOUR provides value, and as C.E. [Andrews, McGladery’s CEO,] indicated earlier, in this case we’ve got a great venue, a great group of players involved already, a great golf course, a great time of year to play. If you’re smart, you can put together a tournament that really generates value for all the stakeholders. And that’s been our experience.

Uhh…again, golf in October. And I love Davis Love, and Zach Johnson seems like a good guy, but compared to watching Tiger or Phil? Yeah, b-o-r-i-n-g.

We just had Tiger out for eight months in ‘08, and we had our all-time record charity year at $125 million. Everybody just needs to keep it in balance. We want our No. 1 player back. I think he’s going to be huge when he comes back. But he’s doing the right thing right now in dealing with his issues as he said he wanted to.

So, does that mean you know how he’s dealing with them? Wait, what happened to those TV ratings again? And also that was before the economy really went kapooey.

But hey, I get it — it’s the Commissioner’s job to play down the likely financial effects. With such conviction, too! The Tour might encounter more trouble in the long term if he really believes the status quo will indefinitely suffice, though. Especially since marquee players competing overseas for appearance fees in lieu of Tour events appears to be a growing trend. Anthony Kim opens his 2010 season at the Abu Dhabi Championship this week instead of the Bob Hope Classic.

Perhaps Finchem is banking on Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler to reach their potential right away. Or AK will hate the Middle East and defer a million bucks going forward. Or Tiger and Phil will start playing 25 tournaments a year. Or Tiger will return by the spring. All possible scenarios. Still, there’s enough doubt to cast more concern than Finchem wants — or is willing — to openly disclose.

I was reminded how much I love The Masters when the field was announced on Friday. Three months still stand between now and April, but I can’t wait. After all, it’s the first major of the year (“a tradition like no other!”) and some consider it the “official” start of the golf season. I tend to get pretty sappy about the tournament, so that’s something else to look forward to.

Currently, 91 players have earned spots to compete for the Green Jacket, including 16 newcomers and six amateurs. 49 of them originally hail from countries outside of the United States. Invitations will also be given to players who win a full-field PGA Tour event and finish in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings the week before the Masters.

Notable tournament newbies include:

Simon Dyson (England), Nathan Green (Australia), Yuta Ikeda (Japan), Francesco Molinari and Nationwide Tour player of the year Michael Sim…

U.S. Amateur champ Byeong-Hun An of Korea, U.S. Amateur runner-up Ben Martin, U.S. Amateur Public Links champ Brad Benjamin, British Amateur champ Matteo Manassero, Open Championship low amateur Chris Wood and Han Chang-won of Korea, who won the inaugural Asian Amateur Championship…

Seventeen-year-old Han’s invitation was unprecedented and an encouraging acknowledgment of the growing Asian factor in professional golf. (Watch out!)

With Han, An, Wood, Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa in the field, it looks like there will be a fair amount of youthful talent displayed at Augusta this year. Now Rickie Fowler just needs to find a way to qualify — which means playing his way to the winner’s circle, like soon.

And obviously, Tiger received an invitation, but whether he’ll play is still TBD — but I’d be shocked if he didn’t and most expect him to return, especially since the controlled, stuffy atmosphere will curb the inevitable heckling from fans.

For the list of invitees to date, go to Geoff Shackelford.

[Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images]