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.

Better check that eBay return policy — PING finally gave in to the unnerving pressures of the PGA Tour and waived its rights to a lawsuit that prevented the Tour from banning the 20-year-old wedges with square grooves, which didn’t conform to the new regulations set by the USGA.

As you may recall, the loophole caused some ruckus the other month when Phil Mickelson went on his anti-groove policy crusade. But since then, Phil, along with Fred Couples and Hunter Mahan, put the old wedges back in the garage because, well, Scott McCarron called Phil a cheater.

Tour boss Tim Finchem thanks PING for its appeasement:

John Solheim and PING had a terrific opportunity to do something very positive and significant for the game of golf and we very much appreciate his willingness to take this action.

And this from PING CEO John Solheim:

We all believe it is in the best interests of golf. It levels the playing field on the PGA TOUR and resolves a very unfortunate situation that we predicted would happen when the USGA first proposed the new groove rule more than two years ago. It keeps in place all of our other rights established in the 1993 PGA TOUR settlement and the 1990 USGA settlement, including ensuring amateurs will continue to be able to play their pre-April 1990 EYE2s at all amateur events played under the USGA Rules of Golf.

Beginning on March 29, the old PING Eye 2 clubs will be banned on the PGA, Nationwide and Champions tour. So good news for the average Joe — you can still play with the Eye 2’s in your club championship!

But what’s in it for PING? The AP’s Doug Ferguson explains via Twitter: “A USGA forum this fall that Solheim hopes will give companies a stronger voice when equipment rules are changed.”

Phew, glad that’s been settled. Now I can finally get some sleep.

In three starts on the 50-plus tour (otherwise known as the Champions Tour), Fred Couples has two straight wins. Firing a final round six-under 65, he breezed his way to victory by four strokes at the Toshiba Classic.

Freddie’s scoring average on the Champions Tour is 65.67 and he hasn’t carded anything over a 68 all season. In the event he didn’t win, he placed second. Also in the two tournaments he’s played on the PGA Tour, he finished T14 at the Waste Management Open and T37 at the Northern Trust Open. Impressive for, you know, an old guy.

And look out — there are a few others on the senior tour who can still compete with the young guys, like Tom Lehman and Tom Watson who finished T3 and T5, respectively. The 60-year-old Watson shot 62 on Sunday and we all remember what he did at Turnberry last year (let’s hope he gets that US Open exemption, too!). Lehman has placed T14 and T16 in two starts on the PGA Tour — Phil Mickelson also has two top-20 finishes.

When was the last time it was so much fun to watch a bunch of old dudes hobble around the course? Probably not since the days when Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Chi Chi Rodriguez dominated in the early 90s.

What’s more interesting is that Couples, Lehman and Watson could potentially win on the big boys tour this year, too. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the last player to win after his Champions Tour debut was Fred Funk in the 2007 Mayakoba Golf Classic.

I put my money on Couples to be the next.

[Photo by Craig Dolch via PGATour.com]

Standing on the tee at the infamous 16th hole, you really feel like you’re at a stadium, and it is nothing like I’d ever experienced.

All things considered, Wednesday was a pretty productive day at the course. I walked four holes with Ryan Moore, who was playing with comedian George Lopez, actor Andy Garcia, former baseball superstar Mark Grace and some powerful business dude (according to Google, CEO of Viacom Outdoor) Wally Kelly.

The plan from the start was to find Ryan and I saw on the pairing sheet who he was paired with, but it took a while to register. I had begun walking out, but then I kept going back and forth between finding the few friends he has on Tour. An hour later, suddenly it dawned on me. You moron! Did you not see who Ryan was playing with? /punching-self-in-face

I caught him on the 15th hole — just in time for the 16th. Phew. Right away, Lopez caught my attention as he was serenading fans and signing autographs. I’m told on the first tee that he gave a few speeches, including one that mocked Tiger’s apology. He never used any names, but he made it pretty clear. Boy, wish I would have caught that. Seriously, I don’t know how Lopez is so obliging to fans. He stands on every hole and signs autographs, jokes with the fans — he’s an entertainer, but hell, I’d be exhausted after two holes. After he hit the green on the 16th, he instructed his caddy, Mike, to break out the Mexican wrestling masks (see pic above — he’s obsessed with Mexican WWE and had those made). Lopez did his par-save dance, then he tackled Mike on the green.

Lots of funny tidbits in just four holes, but I can’t share them all — because, well, I don’t have time. Here now, Lopez is pitching a golf ball to Mark who belted it to short of left-center green.

Gracie sure has a ton of fans in Arizona for obvious reasons (he was the first baseman when the Diamondbacks won the World Series in ‘01 and is now a broadcaster for the team). On the 18th, a lady fan was following him down the side of the fairway, yelling, “Mark, Mark!” Finally in a bout of desperation, she screeched, “Don’t make me stalk you, Mark! Because I will.” Long story short: She got his autograph.

Now, I’ll say, the most annoying question to ask players is about what their opinion on other players, especially if they don’t know them very well. It’s one thing if they’re BFF, but it’s totally different when they aren’t and you want them to say something, you know, interesting and quotable. J.B. seems like one of the nicest guys out there. I could tell he did his best to say something thoughtful and give me what I needed. I will never make fun of him taking eight minutes to hit a shot. Okay, I can’t promise that, but he’s a good dude. As for Charley, he doesn’t sound like what you’d imagine — which, to me, was a surfer dude (I don’t know, something about the long, wavy blond hair).

Meanwhile, the five other dudes I stopped in the practice area weren’t as helpful. They tried, I guess.

During my stalking session, I saw Anthony Kim hitting range balls and chipping with one arm as he talked on the phone for the past half hour. New practice drill! It sounded like he was arguing with someone, like a girlfriend, but I might be making that up in my head.

Now for the favorite part of my day. I hate to report I have to refrain from calling Phil Mickelson any names for at least the next two days. During his press conference, I asked him about Moore. I prefaced it with something like, “Sorry, I know this is really annoying, but…” I really do have to credit how good he is with the media. I knew he’d give me some sort of usable answer, even if he was BS-ing. Thanks, Phil! (See, Shane, now I’ve written something nice about him.)

Oh, I also have a new nickname. Mr. Geoff Shackelford came up with this one. It feels like, he’s, oh I don’t know, maybe hazing me? (Surprise!) Apparently, my question was a “rally killer” — something he warned me to steer clear from before the presser. Whoops!

Sorry, guys, rookie mistake.

David Carr of the NY Times pens a brilliant, must-read piece, exploring the history of Tiger Woods’ love-hate relationship with the media. Here, he scolds Tiger for the shame-on-you-media portion of Friday’s gut-wrenching apology:

Mr. Woods did take time during his talk to lecture the media on decorum — Gee, thanks for the lesson in manners, Tiger — but he has something of a point. Mr. Woods has never used his family as accessories on his brand as say, Phil Mickelson has, and he has asked paparazzi to stay away from his children.

He has made deals with the tabloid press before. In 2007, American Media Inc. agreed to kill a piece in the National Enquirer about infidelities in exchange for a cover shot and interview in Men’s Fitness.

So, if anything, his antipathy has only grown as he found himself daily in the gun sights of the tabloid and blogging media. “I think he was a little naïve about what bad press really was,” [Golf Digest’s Jaime] Diaz said.

He’s not naïve anymore. Those of us who have had some experience with human frailties all know why Tiger Woods did what he did last Friday, which was to get in a room with people he had hurt or embarrassed to say he was “deeply sorry” for what he had done. That part made sense, the beginning of a process of amends.

I just don’t know what the rest of us were doing there.

Me neither, Mr. Carr. My guess? It’s outlined somewhere in the Tiger Woods Sex Rehab Manual — “Step 9: To become a better human being, Tiger must face even more public humiliation and stage a bitterly awkward media event in the most uncomfortable environment possible for the whole world to watch (over and over again).”

I still find the whole thing surreal.

[Photo via NY Daily News]

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.

The deadline to commit for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships passed at 5PM EST on Friday and the field has been announced. Color me five shades of not-shocked-at-all — but Tiger Woods did not enter.

Last week a Melbourne paper reported there were “strengthening whispers” about Tiger staging his comeback at the Match Play event in Tucson. Which, of course, no one really bought.

Accenture, the consulting company that centered its marketing campaign around Tiger, was the first to drop its corporate ties with him. So why would Tiger return there? I mean, I’ve heard the guy holds a grudge.

Tiger’s gruff caddie, Stevie Williams, shot down the rumors, saying, “The stories stating Tiger will return at the matchplay have no truth to them.”

With Tiger still on his indefinite break, Steve Stricker assumes the number-one seed. Phil Mickelson also isn’t playing because he’s taking a family vacation. Now this gives the opportunity to Chris Wood and Ross McGowan, the number 65 and 66 ranked players in the world.

Meanwhile, in Tiger gossip news, People is reporting that Tiger bought Elin a dive boat, “Solitude,” as a “peace offering,” according to unnamed sources:

“Tiger and Elin have continued diving when they are out for relaxation,” says a source. “And they talked about having a boat that would be mainly for this purpose.”

Two years in the works and built at a cost of $2 to $3 million, the boat is much smaller than his 150-foot yacht Privacy and is currently docked at the Pirate’s Cove Resort & Marina less than 10 minutes from his new Jupiter Island estate-in-progress.

If true, I guess Tiger went for the boat rather than a shiny rock from Zales for his “Kobe Special.”

The National Enquirer, which broke the story about Tiger’s affair with mistress number one, Rachel Uchitel, is claiming Tiger threw a temper tantrum while he was at sex rehab:

A hostile Tiger Woods exploded with pent-up rage during sex addiction therapy after weeks of treating the entire program as a big joke, a close source told The Enquirer. He denied he has a problem, says the source, ridiculed fellow patients and refused to cooperate with therapists.

Take it for what it’s worth. But I think twice before dismissing the Enquirer these days. Perhaps anger management therapy would have been a more appropriate than sex rehab — you know, if he actually was treated at Pine Grove.

So when will he reemerge? The Tavistock Cup? Bay Hill? The Masters? Maybe he’s actually taking Rick Reilly’s advice and not playing at all this year. Now that would be unfortunate.

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]

Well, depending on how you interpret their non-statement statements.

Officials from the USGA and Ping met in Dallas earlier this week to thrash out a solution to the whole grooves controversy. You know, the one where players can use old Ping Eye2 wedges that don’t conform with the new grooves regulations, but are legal because of a lawsuit that dates back to when I was, like, still wearing diapers.

USGA President Jim Hyler issued this release on Wednesday:

We met with representatives from Ping yesterday. Our conversation with Ping regarding the status of the Ping Eye 2 irons on the major professional American tours was productive, and we are hopeful that a solution can be found that respects and reflects the best interests of golfers and the game.

Golf.com’s David Dusek posted this e-mail statement from Ping:

“We had a productive meeting with the USGA yesterday regarding the PING EYE2 groove debate on the PGA Tour,” said PING Chairman & CEO John Solheim. “I’m encouraged by their willingness to openly discuss some of the challenges the golf industry faces relating to equipment issues. We left the meeting with an understanding we would continue to seek a solution that benefits golfers and acknowledges the importance innovation plays in the game.”

So basically, whatever ideas thrown around were rejected. My guess is that Ping was unwilling to overturn the old lawsuits without some sort of big payout — one the USGA can’t afford.

Over at the PGATour.com, the staff writers interjected this passive-aggressive (but true) line:

Ping plays the biggest role in any solution because of its lawsuits against the USGA and PGA TOUR over square grooves.

Meanwhile, at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the guy who ignited the “Groovesgate” (what is the deal with attaching “gate” to every scandal in golf?) fiasco when he opted to play with a Ping Eye2 wedge a few weeks ago, Phil Mickelson, apparently hasn’t just made his “point,” he’s done talking about the matter. For now at least:

Q. What do you think about the USGA and Solheim. I guess they’re having talks about the whole…
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I don’t know. I just got off the course, so I haven’t heard what’s transpired.

I guess he was too tired to rant after signing all those autographs, or Callaway finally told him to shut up.

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. I just started playing a few weeks ago, because, well, I really enjoyed Fantasy Football last year. Disclaimer: Don’t yell at me if my picks suck.

I know the tournament has already started and I believe the deadline was sometime on Wednesday. Going forward, I’ll have my picks posted earlier. FYI, I picked last week’s winner, Steve Stricker. /big high-freaking-five! And I just jinxed myself. My apologies to Luke Donald.

Group A

Luke Donald: The options were slim, but I went with Donald. He was runner-up at last week’s Northern Trust Open. He tied the course record at Spyglass with a 62 at this tournament in 2007.

Group A Bench Dude

Phil Mickelson: I was hesitant to pick FIGJAM, but like I said, it was slim pickings. Plus, I’m playing to win, so I’m doing my best to put my personal feelings aside. Phil has had two relatively disappointing weeks, but you never know when he’ll get hot. Hopefully he found his putting stroke, or got a new one since Sunday.

Group B

Jim Furyk: Safe pick. Plus, I played a few holes with him at Pebble on a simulator back in November at a Johnnie Walker junket. He knew the course very well and made two birdies in the three holes we played. Oh, Furyk also has a strong record at Pebble.

Dustin Johnson: The defending champ is always a good bet. He’s off to a decent start this season, too. He was the 36-hole leader at the Northern Trust Open and finished T3.

Group B Bench Dudes

Alex Prugh: This rookie has stayed under the radar and hype, but has actually been playing the best. He has three consecutive top-10 finishes. He’s also a fellow Washington State native. Hoping he plays well and is up for an interview after his round…stay tuned. (If you have any question suggestions, drop them below.)

Retief Goosen: In two starts on the PGA Tour, he’s placed fourth and T6. At the Qatar Masters he earned another top-10 finish. GOOSE!

Group C

Mike Weir: Last year he was runner-up at this event. He was cut last week, but finished sixth at the Bob Hope Classic, the other tournament where celebs run rampant.

Group C Bench Dude

Brandt Snedeker: Two top-10 finishes in 2010, including runner-up at the Farmers Insurance Open.

OK, I’ll do a better job next week. Time to watch the always enlightening coverage on the Golf Channel. I also might be dropping in comments to Mike Walker who is live-blogging the tournament over at Golf.com’s Press Tent.

/checking leaderboard

K.J. Choi is leading at 6-under through 11 holes. David “Mock Turtleneck” Duval is off to a good start at 5-under through 12 — now let’s see if he can keep it up for four rounds, or hell, even two. And what is this? John Daly is three-under through seven!

So who are your favorites for the week? Drop them below.

*Update: Because several people asked if “Balls in the Air” was my remix to “Pants on the Ground,” here’s this:

So, clearly this weekend I’ll be thinking up lyrics for a “Balls in the Air” song.