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.

First of all, I’d like to take a second to give myself a big-freaking-high-five for posting this before the tournament started. (I know, finally.)

/HI-5!

Okay, I feel so much better about myself after that. Hoo-ray. Because you all care, I’m sure. Moving on to the picks!

Group A

Phil Mickelson: The defending champ needs to step up after a crappy showing on the West Coast swing. You gotta figure he’s found a new putting stroke by now (though not sure what was wrong with the one from the end of last season). It’s time to get hot, Phil — apparently Tiger is coming back soon, so the time is winding down to move closer to that number-one spot.

Group A Bencher

Steve Stricker: Safe pick…for every week. He’s a fantastic alternate to fill in for a potential no-show Phil. Hell, it would probably be smarter to have Phil on the bench. Stricks surpassed him as the number two in the world rankings after he won the Northern Trust Open. He’s placed in the top-10 in three for three starts.

Group B

Camilo Villegas: Uh, heard he’s playing pretty well on the course in between his job as the ambassador of Colombia. Apparently he has a lot of fans out in Miami (se habla Espanol). I’m told when he came second to Tiger in 2006, he overshadowed him (yes, seriously!). But he’s had more rest and not sleeping in his own bed this week, so might be a gamble.

Jim Furyk: My friend Kevin reminded me that Furyk has an excellent record at Doral (T2 in ‘08 and 3 in ‘09). He also advised me to take Furyk over Rory McIlroy, so if Furyk shoots, like, 76 every day, then I’m taking a hit out on him.

Group B Benchers

Rory McIlroy: The 20-year-old from Northern Ireland will be the first to share cover time with Tiger on Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘11. He picked up some tips from Jack Nicklaus at lunch last week because he’s eager to learn. And he’s been playing Doral since he was, like, nine.

Geoff Ogilvy: He hasn’t done anything spectacular since he won the season-opening SBS Championship. (Maybe the new baby is keeping him up?) But he sure loves World Golf Championship events with three wins tucked away.

Group C

Paul Casey: Three top-10s in three starts. When asked what he’d say to Tiger on the first tee, he replied, “Nike 1, blue dot. I don’t know, what do you say?” Exactly.

Group C Bencher

Ian Poulter: He won the WGC Match Play Championship. Enough said.

Well, that’s all. Great field this week. For the record, I wanted to pick Alvaros Quiros to shake things up — the dude is fun to watch and hits the ball so far he almost makes J.B. Holmes look like Tim Clark. But I guess I’m laying up while wearing orange pants.

First things first: Apologies for the small font in the images of the brackets below, but I run a resource-starved operation. That said, I welcome donations.

As you may have heard, the Accenture Match Play starts today and neither the world’s number one, Tiger Woods, nor number three, Phil Mickelson, is in the field. Naturally, Tiger is hunkered down in some hiding hole, otherwise known as the gated community of Isleworth, and Phil, the quintessential family man, is taking a family vacation. This event stirred up huge hype last year, as Tiger staged his comeback after an eight-month break to recover from knee surgery.

It’s a little different this year, but hey, we got Steve Stricker, Lee Westwood, Jim Furyk and Martin Kaymer to take the top four seeds. Personally, I’m pumped because I love matchplay. I wish more PGA Tour events were played in this format, like the silly the FedEx Cup — or at least the final event. It’s exciting to watch two players battle it out in a one-on-one duel. Well, unless you get, like, Chad Campbell and Ben Crane in the finals. Snore. So, let’s hope that anomaly doesn’t happen this week.

Without further ado, presenting my random bracket picks, where I basically went down the list and went, eeny-meeny-miny-moe. But as you can see, I didn’t go too crazy. I guess I was feeling boring.

JONES BRACKET

I love this bracket. Too many great players. As I learned with my Fantasy Golf picks for the Northern Trust Open, Steve Stricker is always a safe bet. And I’d just really like to see him cry again. I’m sure David Feherty could rouse more tears from Stricks than Roger Maltbie could. But I’d love to see the young dudes, Anthony Kim and Ryo Ishikawa, go far. With the way both have played this season, I’m not sure. Then again, like the annoying cliche goes, anything can happen.

PLAYER BRACKET

Geoff Ogilvy is defending and he’s already repeated once this year with his win at the season-opener, the SBS Championship. He also has a mind-blowing 89.4% winning percentage. But he might be a little distracted and sleep-deprived, since his wife just gave birth to their third child last week. Putting aside my personal bias, I’d keep an eye out on Ryan Moore. He doesn’t hold one of the most decorated amateur careers for no reason. His last summer before turning pro, he won the US Amatuer, the Western Amateur and US Amateur Public Links — all in matchplay. He’s done crazy things, like win the last four holes, carding birdies on three, to win the US Amateur two-up. Expect him to feel comfortable in this atmosphere.

HOGAN BRACKET

It’d be great to see The Irish Kid Who Will Save The PGA Tour, you know, win or something, but apparently he’s been having some back problems. Perhaps worrisome, but he’s only 20. Last year he made a splash by making it to the quarterfinals, where he was ousted by eventual champ Ogilvy. If Allenby and McIlroy meet like I predicted, let’s hope Allenby doesn’t blame it on something silly, like how he should have gone out partying with him until 4AM. I’d like to see the 25-year-old Martin Kaymer, who won his fifth European Tour event in Abu Dhabi recently, matched up with McIlroy in the quarterfinals. Because, well, the entertainment value. Duh.

SNEAD BRACKET

Other than the Molinaris, who are the first brothers to play the event in the same year, and the preposterously long-hitting Alvaros Quiros, this bracket is pretty vanilla. But you got your usual suspects. Now I can’t remember why I chose Furyk. The word “safe” comes to mind, which doesn’t make that much sense now because in recent years he’s faltered when he reached the Sweet 16.

So in the Final Four, I have Stricker, McIlroy, Moore and Furyk. As always, my sincere regrets if they’re hit with the awful Wei jinx. Who are your favorites for the week? You know what to do — drop them below. Please.

On Friday RadarOnline reported Tiger Woods has left rehab. Apparently his wife, Elin Nordegren, picked him up at Gentle Grove in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and they left together to spend some quality time alone as they attempt to repair their marriage. Multiple unnamed sources also told Radar that Tiger is determined to return to the PGA Tour.

So when will that be?

Australia’s Herald Sun published a dubious, unsubstantiated report on Thursday, claiming Tiger is set to stage his “shock return [in two weeks] at the Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona.” The only source cited is “strengthening whispers.” Instead the writer framed a tenuous argument for the timing of Tiger’s return:

It is also a favourite event for Woods, who has won it in 2003, 2004 and 2008.

With Tiger’s eye doubtless still on his quest for majors’ history, it’s safe to assume he will not turn up cold at Augusta and give up a chance to close on Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18.

Accenture was among the first sponsors to ditch Woods when all hell broke loose in November, but other elements of his impending return line up.

As a matchplay event, it’s more for the purists than perhaps a “regular” tour event would be, diminishing his chances of being harassed.

Similarly, if he was to play badly in round one, he could “disappear” again rather than sit in the glare of the media spotlight until the mid-tournament cut.

Uh, yeah. I call BS. I’m forced to believe the paper published the story to sell papers, which makes them the latest to capitalize on Tiger’s sex scandal. First off, Accenture just dropped Tiger, so unless he’s trying to make good with the company, why would he bring publicity (and money) to the event? Plus, it wouldn’t leave much time to work on recovering from his so-called addiction and mending things with his family. Coming back in two weeks would discredit the sincerity of his vow to being a “better person.”

Good thing is that most media outlets were just as skeptical of the report.  A source close to Tiger told FoxSports.com, “As far as I know (Woods’ return) will not be at the Match Play.”

Meanwhile, a PGA Tour spokesperson called it “speculation.”

Tiger’s caddie, Steve Williams, informed the NZ Herald News, “All that I will say is the story circulating out of a Melbourne newspaper has no fabric to it at all,” but refused to comment on when his boss would return to the links.

Nobody knows. Tiger might not even know. But the conventional wisdom has marked The Masters.

First, let’s go to Jim Furyk:

I’d bet we’d see him at Augusta. Tiger hasn’t come out and made any real public statements, so it’s hard to figure out. Everyone is guessing it will be Augusta. Whether he comes out earlier, or there, I have no idea.

Next up, Geoff Ogilvy:

The least amount of circus he could face would be if he went to Augusta first, as that would be the most controlled environment he could be in. But then if he truly wants to win at Augusta he’s going to want to play before then.

Here’s Mike Weir:

I suspect he’ll be back - just my guess - I think he’ll be back for the Masters. I’m hoping he’s back for the majors. They’re at such great venues this year, courses he’s obviously done very well on.

Most recently, Sir Nick Faldo chimed in:

There’s still two months until the Masters and I would have thought that would be a good place to sneak in early. He could have a week’s preparation away from everybody, and obviously Augusta is the most secure event and he’d have a relatively free run.

My guess? Definitely not the Accenture Match Play event. If he returns this year, Arnold Palmer’s tournament at Bay Hill seems to be the logical choice. Like Ogilvy said, Tiger will probably want a warm-up before The Masters. But the longer he stays away from the game, the less likely we’ll see him back on the fairways in 2010. Which makes us miss him all the more.

While we don’t look forward to the media circus at his first tournament, he can silence much of the negative chatter with a strong performance and a good attitude. Perhaps that’s wishful thinking. But I’d just like him to come out of hiding and play some golf — of course only when he’s properly recovered from being an asshole his sex addiction.

[Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images]

It’s nearly impossible for Tour players to avoid dreaded questions about You-Know-Who these days. Like most everyone, Jim Furyk can only speculate on when Tiger will return to competition. But if the well-spoken, pensive Furyk had to be a betting man, he would put his money on The Masters:

I’d bet we’d see him at Augusta. Tiger hasn’t come out and made any real public statements, so it’s hard to figure out. Everyone is guessing it will be Augusta. Whether he comes out earlier, or there, I have no idea.

Which reiterates what most others have surmised, including the eloquent Geoff Ogilvy, who last week offered some intelligent advice for Tiger. Obviously both are just speculating, but coming from them, at least they’re educated opinions.

Rather astonishingly, Furyk candidly remarked that when Tiger does return, he should expect to be met with “mixed feelings” from fellow players:

There will be people who probably won’t be as friendly and people who are. Tiger probably understands that and realizes that the people who he considers his friends will pat him on the back and encourage him. It’s been a real life-changing experience. I’m sure you’ve seen it with friends and I’ve seen it with friends. Some people take sides. He probably expects some people to be pretty cold about it and some will support him and give him encouragement.

Mean Girls on the PGA Tour! Well, as we heard earlier today, Tiger can count on his pal Phil Mickelson to welcome him back with open arms — which surely Tiger must find totally reassuring.

[Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images]

Speaking to reporters at the Abu Dhabi Championship, Geoff Ogilvy, who is well respected and considered one of the most eloquent players on the PGA Tour, offered some thoughtful advice for Tiger Woods:

Tiger should actually come out in public before, and not at a golf tournament.

One, out of respect for all the other golfers, and two, to diffuse the circus part of it before he actually gets to a golf tournament. I don’t believe a lot of tournaments want all the tabloid media floating around.

It would be nice if he came out away from a golf tournament. When he does come back to golf it would still be a bit crazy but that tabloid edge might be gone.

So, when will he return?

The least amount of circus he could face would be if he went to Augusta first, as that would be the most controlled environment he could be in. But then if he truly wants to win at Augusta he’s going to want to play before then. Whenever he returns, it’s going to be a big day.

And yes, it’s redemption time for the formerly repressed golf media:

The first press conference he does is going to be a crazy one. A lot of people who have been afraid to ask questions for 10 or 12 years won’t be quite as hesitant to ask questions as they used to be and Tiger is going to have to answer questions.

Ogvily hopes he’s not one of the hapless individuals that gets paired with Tiger:

At a golf tournament it’s going to be crazy whatever happens and there’s going to be a lot of stuff going on inside the ropes when he comes back. It would probably not be ideal to have to play with him.

Like the nonstop camera clicking and ginormous galleries weren’t distracting enough before the unfortunate scandal broke. Sucks for the poor souls who score that inauspicious draw.

There you have it — when Ogilvy speaks, he speaks the truth. Hopefully his message is conveyed to Tiger, who should make his next call to Ogilvy.

[Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images]

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.

After a few-month hiatus, this feature is back. In the spirit of winners, let’s start with Geoff Ogilvy, who defended his title last week and won the PGA Tour’s season opener, the SBS Championship. Despite a brilliant final round 63 by Rory Sabbatini, Ogilvy finished with a six-under 67 to edge out Sabbatini by one stroke.

Now, as reported last week, PUMA, Ogilvy’s former apparel sponsor, didn’t renew his contract. According to the Khaki Crusader and Chapeau Noir Golf, he sported Travis Mathew shirts on his way to the victory. KC added, “Geoff will wear T.M. clothing, sans logos, until the deal is announced officially.”

But what about his trousers? Chapeau Noir speculates they’re probably also T.M., but couldn’t confirm. I’m not an expert, but it seems Ogilvy can pull off just about any average slacks — though, the ones above look a tad…bunched?

Don’t forget to send submissions/recommendations (photos of yourself in your finest trousers/skorts/shorts) for future Nice Effing Pants posts. Like now! Please.

[Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Image]

This week’s defending champion, Geoff Ogilvy, is sporting new sponsors at the PGA Tour’s season-opener. After his contract wasn’t renewed by Cobra at the end last year (which a Titleist rep abruptly informed him at the British Open last summer), he struck a deal with Titleist, Cobra’s sister company — both are divisions of Acushnet. He’s now playing with Titleist clubs, carrying a Titleist bag and wearing a Titleist hat.

Ogilvy told Golf.com’s David Dusek:

Titleist just made me a set of irons to the exact specification of the Cobras I had been playing [Pro MB]. And, because of the close relationship between Cobra and Titleist, they can get similar, if not the same, people to build my clubs. They came out exactly right.

His apparel and footwear sponsor, PUMA, also dropped him after his contract expired. According to Golf.com, Curtis Begg, the director of marketing for PUMA Golf North America, said they decided to focus its brand around Rickie Fowler. Apparently the well-spoken 32-year-old Ogilvy wasn’t “edgy” enough.

Ogilvy signed a multiyear deal with FootJoy, also part of the Acushnet family, which requires him to wear its shoes and glove. As for his clothes, it looks like he’s not wearing a specific brand for now. The cut of the shirt resembles J. Lindeberg, though — which might be a good fit if he chooses to sign with a company. Or perhaps he’ll take the Ryan Moore path.

After the first round of the SBS Championship, Ogilvy is T11 at four-under.

[Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images]

The PGA Tour kicks off the 2010 season today in Maui with the SBS Championship. While we’re all excited for play on the golf course to return, the absence of Tiger, who usually isn’t even in the field, is causing all sorts of ruckus.

First, let’s hear from some of the players via Doug Ferguson’s article:

“I think it’s an interesting time,” [Geoff] Ogilvy said. “Obviously, No. 1 in the world might be up for realistic grabs this year, depending on how it all takes shape.”

“He wins six times, he plays 15,” [Pat] Perez said. “There’s what, 38 events? So there’s always a lot up for grabs. I hope the people can see there is more to the Tour than just Tiger. We know how great he is. We know the whole thing. No one is questioning that. Maybe people will have a chance to say, ‘We are not watching Tiger all the time.’ We have to watch somebody else now while Tiger cleans up this mess…”

In Tuesday’s press conference Commissioner Tim Finchem made his standard “Look on the Bright Side!” opening remarks and then reluctantly answered Tiger-dominated questions. I especially enjoyed the dialogue between Finchem and one brave soul who grilled him:

Q. Have you talked to Tiger or attempted to talk to him? 
COMMISSIONER FINCHEM:  Have I talked to who?  

Q. Tiger? 
COMMISSIONER FINCHEM:  I answered this question before.  The answer
is, I have not. 

Q. When? 
FINCHEM:  The day I did my press conference. 

Q. It’s a few weeks later?

FINCHEM:  No, I have not talked to Tiger.  No, I have not talked to him.  I don’t know when I would talk to him. 

Q. It’s been three weeks, I just thought I would ask.  
FINCHEM:  When I address that, I thought I addressed it in this context that he asks for privacy.  We pledged our commitment to give him privacy so that would include me trying to talk to him.

Q. I understand that.  I thought with a personal relationship, if you tried to reach him at all?

FINCHEM:  No

Cranky Commissioner. Anyone know the identity of the question-asker? That was brilliantly done. /Hi-5!

Moving along! From Larry Dorman’s article:

Y. E. Yang, the South Korean golfer who beat Woods head to head at last year’s P.G.A. Championship, said he had not given it much thought. But he said through an interpreter that many of his friends in golf have “half-heartedly and jokingly” posed questions about it, like: “Are you going to miss Tiger for a while, right? Or, aren’t you glad Tiger is not there. Since Tiger is not there, you don’t have anyone to beat. It’s always been more fun and silly comments.”

“I’m on record saying I hope he comes back tomorrow, as soon as possible,” [Lucas] Glover said. “Because we need him and sports needs him. You could say, man, this is a great opportunity. But at the same time, say somebody goes out and wins four tournaments, and they happen to be four that Tiger usually plays. Do they still get the credit because he wasn’t there? There are several ways to look at it.”

And then, Lawrence Donegan pointed out the need to reevaluate the Tour’s business plan despite optimistic assessments by several suits who remain in denial:

“There were two other times in the last three years where he [Woods] took a prolonged leave of absence and on both occasions we came through it very well,” says Ty Votaw, a PGA Tour spokesman.

“It isn’t ideal that he isn’t around, but maybe it behoves everyone in the sport to explore other stories and look to other players. People say Tiger Woods is the greatest ever but I have never been in that boat. There have been great players in the past and there will be great players in the future,” says Brandel Chamblee, a commentator on the Golf Channel.

“When Arnold Palmer stopped playing the PGA Tour didn’t grind to a halt. Tiger is a great player and he will be back at some point, but maybe this is a chance for other players to shine,” says David Yates, president of Gaylord Sports Management, which represents 20 PGA Tour players, including Phil Mickelson.

True. True. And true again. But in this instance three truths don’t necessarily add up to a complete picture. Woods will be missed, and to a far greater extent than those within the game are prepared to admit, albeit for perfectly understandable reasons. It is bad for business, especially in this economy, to make too much of the absence of your biggest star and the lack of what marketing gurus would call “cross-over appeal” when it comes to the vast majority of golfers. The difficulty comes in quantifying exactly what Woods’s disappearing act will cost the sport.

Yep, sums it up nicely. So, you see, Tiger, get the obligatory public apology over with and come back. And where are you? Apparently a few might be nearing a scoop (no, he’s not in a sex addiction rehab, etc.)…maybe TBD soon? (Trying to track flights for tail numbers registered to Tiger, Inc. becomes, you know, excruciatingly silly after a while — what does “GTW” Corp. stand for, anyway?)

As a golf geek, I’m perfectly happy watching guys like Pat Perez (for, like, two more months), but I’m probably in the minority. I guess let’s just enjoy the good play and nice Maui views this week and hopefully some of you are in warmer climates than NYC and Seattle.

One of the most discussed names at the Presidents Cup was also the most confusing to pronounce: Ryo Ishikawa.

If there were an MVP for the losing International team, it would be Ryo — a Greg Norman captain’s pick, the one that actually turned out brilliantly. Ryo’s inexperience was questioned — he just turned 18 last month (what were you doing at that age?) and hadn’t played in the team format before.

But the kid performed like a veteran, finishing the week with a 3-2 record. Teamed with Geoff Ogilvy in Thursday’s foursome match, they lost 6&4 to Stricker/Woods, but Ryo still held his own against that unbeatable duo. Norman creatively mixed metaphors to describe the young man’s poise:

[H]e’s a young kid that we have all sat back and read about for months and months and months about how good he is, and playing well in Japan and winning in Japan is great, but stepping up to the plate on the big stage and getting thrown to the wolves against Tiger Woods on Thursday, and then to bounce back the way he’s bounced back; there’s not too many.

Then, pitted against the oldest guy in the field, 49-year-old Kenny Perry, in Sunday’s singles match, Ryo won 2-up. Because he’s old and Ryo’s young, Perry also complimented the maturity of Ryo-san.

I’m retired. I don’t talk anymore. He sent me right into retirement, that kid…[H]e’s very calm, very mature for an 18-year-old…He played awesome. I threw a lot at him. I knew on the first hole I was in trouble, I hit it in two and he laid up and hit it 25 feet from the hole and he poured it in there like it was nothing. The match was on. We had a good fight. We had a good battle.

Like samurais!

Hopefully Ryo’s Asian-ness will keep him grounded and we will see him win major championships for many years to come. I’m hopping on the Ryo Bandwagon.

[Photo by Harry How/Getty Images]

And as far as the question concerning the rematch, never again. (Laughter) I would like to stay as the guy who won over Tiger at the PGA Championship, and that’s about it. No redos. (Laughter) —Y.E. Yang, post-win presser, August 16, ‘09

Unfortunately for Yang, Freddie and the former Mr. Evert had a better idea. And a well known golf blogger and I had the same one — on Thursday we decided it would be the best thing in the world if Yang and Tiger played each other in Sunday’s single matches.

I hope we get to see Yang hit another 3-hybrid like this. (Go for broke!) And when he takes down Tiger, he should totally hoist his bag over his head again — even if a chance for an International team victory is futile.

Thank you, captains.

******

The Americans currently lead the Internationals 12.5 to 9.5. Here’s the complete lineup:

International vs. US (matches begin at approximately noon EST in ten-minute intervals)

Camilo Villegas vs. Hunter Mahan — Grade: C-

Adam Scott vs. Stewart Cink — C+

Mike Weir vs. Justin Leonard — B

Robert Allenby vs. Anthony Kim — B

Geoff Ogilvy vs. Steve Stricker — A-

Ernie Els vs. Sean O’Hair — B+

Ryo Ishikawa vs. Kenny Perry — A+

Tim Clark vs. Zach Johnson — D

Y.E. Yang vs. Tiger Woods (!!!) — A+

Vijay Singh vs. Lucas Glover — F-

Retief Goosen vs. Phil Mickelson — B

Angel Cabrera vs. Jim Furyk — C+

[Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images]