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]

Following the upheaval that resulted from Tiger’s poorly-timed photo op, Commissioner Tim Finchem wrote a letter to the players to explain, which was passed on to the AP’s Doug Ferguson:

As we understand it, Tiger’s therapy called for a week’s break at this time during which he has spent a few days with his children and then will make his statement before returning,” Finchem said in a letter Thursday. “Accordingly, there was very little flexibility in the date for the announcement.”

So does this mean Tiger’s not going to announce he’s playing at the Phoenix Open? Interestingly enough, on Wednesday when the Commish responded with lots of “I don’t knows” from the press, he made a Freudian slip:

I don’t know. I don’t know what his plans are in terms of what he’s going to say. I don’t know what he’s going to do after he finishes his rehab, you know, I think all of that is TBD. You all will make up your own minds about that and write about it and so will fans and people that have been impacted by it.

Catch the “after he finishes his rehab?” Mmhm. So it appears that Tiger’s statement is him “getting honest,” which as author Benoit Denizet-Lewis — who spent time at the same sex rehab clinic where Tiger reportedly checked into (and out of) — detailed as a must-do.

The latest detail certainly clarifies the timing of Tiger’s gathering, I guess. But Geoff Shackelford reminds us that Sean Martin reported “the announcement has been in the works for some time” and the TPC Sawgrass room was “reserved late last week.” He also noted this comical bit in the letter:

The PGA Tour made available its sprawling, Mediterranean-styled clubhouse for the announcement, and is helping set up adjacent ballrooms at the nearby Sawgrass Marriott for media, where they can watch Woods on closed-circuit TV.

Finchem said in the letter that Woods’ management asked for the facilities, and “we agreed as we would for any member of the PGA Tour.”

So, say, John Daly, called, he would receive the same kid-glove treatment?

Clearly, there was no way Tiger could have pushed back his therapy to Monday out of respect for the Tour, sponsors and his fellow players. You know how insensitive those therapists are. So all of this was a total coincidence. Just like the glamour shots of Tiger jogging and practicing golf.

Oh, and no word yet on when Tiger completes rehab.

[Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images]

Tiger Woods hasn’t even taken the podium to read his soliloquy, but he’s already stolen the stage. Everybody is talking about Tiger rather than the actual golf that’s being played. That was the point, though.

As you know, the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship started yesterday and Team Tiger’s announcement came shortly after the coverage began. Most important, Accenture was the first company to break up with Tiger. So, naturally, he’s mad. And what better way to screw the sponsor than to overshadow the global golf gathering it hosts? At the same he’s taking attention away from the guys — who haven’t wronged him — actually playing golf.

Ernie Els sure thinks so:

“It’s selfish. You can write that. I feel sorry for the sponsor. Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday. This takes a lot away from the golf tournament.”

Big high-five to the 20-year-old Rory McIlroy for his candor:

“He’s got to come out at some point. I suppose he might want to get something back against the sponsor that dropped him.”

But apparently Accenture is taking the high road. Jason Sobel chatted with Fred Hawrysh, an Accenture spokesperson:

“We got a call from Tiger’s agent [Mark Steinberg] prior to the announcement yesterday, so we had a heads up that they were going to make the announcement and they told us they were timing it for Friday — for whatever reason, it was important to go out this week. But they were timing it at 11 a.m. ET and we don’t tee off here until noon local time. They told us they deliberately timed this so it would not overlap with anything that was happening here.”

And I’m the Queen of England.

Unless Tiger is playing at next week’s Waste Management Open, then it could have waited until Monday. And it’s doubtful his first tournament would be at an event where the beer flows freely and fans behave crudely. Plus, 2001 was the last time he played in Phoenix.

But hey, as one golf writer pointed out, at least he didn’t choose to make his announcement the day after the Haiti quake.

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.

February 14th marked the Chinese New Year, and ironically enough, the Year of the Tiger (and Valentine’s Day, obviously).

Shortly after Tiger’s sex scandal broke, Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer said it wished to respect Tiger’s privacy while he takes time away from the game, but would continue its relationship with him. To account for “the sensitivity of some consumers in relation to recent events,” the company tore down advertisements featuring Tiger in all its Australia and US stores.

Meanwhile, TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Christophe Babin told the Sydney Morning Herald that the company has actually expanded the use of Tiger’s image in China:

In China conversely you have Tag Heuer with Tiger Woods everywhere because [with] the Chinese it rather increases their esteem. In China, by tradition, your success is measured by your number of mistresses.

So if he can put up with another year of untimely camera clicks, perhaps Tiger should consider making his comeback at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. We can bet the Chinese will greet Tiger with open arms and 15 slanty-eyed concubines — preferably dumpling waitresses and Buddhist-tantra yogis.

Apparently Tom Watson’s remarkable showing at the British Open last year — not to mention his lifetime of achievements — wasn’t good enough for the USGA to grant him a special exemption to play in the US Open at Pebble Beach just yet.

Doug Ferguson reports the USGA concluded its annual meeting ten days ago without handing out any special invitations:

“The decision was that our committee is going to look at it in April,” said Mike Davis, senior director of rules and competition. “They feel like if there’s any special exemption, they want to look at it closer to the time of the Open.”

Nick Price in 2005 was the last player to receive a special exemption to the U.S. Open. Watson would appear to be a logical choice.

Obviously, the 60-year-old Watson has shown he can still compete. We all remember his almost history-making performance at Turnberry, where only an eight-foot putt stood between him and becoming the oldest player to win a major. But placing second was pretty impressive. You know, especially when he can practically order from the senior citizen’s menu at Denny’s.

More recently, at last month’s Dubai Desert Classic, which is the fourth-strongest field in the professional ranks, he finished tied for eighth.

Don’t forget his amazing duel with Jack Nicklaus at the 1982 US Open at Pebble, where Watson chipped in on the 17th to take the lead and ultimately win. Now that would be a thrill to see him perform such mind-blowing heroics 28 years later — or at least to have a shot.

What’s the deal with the red tape, anyway? Adam Schupak offers this interesting bit:

Decisions regarding special exemptions generally are made around the time of the Masters, according to USGA spokesperson Rand Jerris. Some insiders tell me it’s a done deal and the USGA just waited for the end of Jim Vernon’s reign as president to avoid any implication of favoritism, because Vernon and Watson are old fraternity brothers.

Naturally, that’s the conclusion people would draw. I guess Watson will just have to wait until May for the official word.

[Photo by Richard Mackson/Getty Images]

You might remember Jean Reynolds from last year’s US Women’s Open. If you watched at all or were at Saucon Valley (like I was), then you definitely remember her. During the third round I watched her play about five holes. The fans at Saucon Valley fell in love with the sprightly petite lady from Newnan, Georgia, who spent the past two years playing on the Futures Tour. Jean made headlines after the first two rounds of the US Open when she was two shots off the lead. She ultimately placed T17.

Competing on the Futures Tour, she won two tournaments in 2009 and finished second on the money list to secure her LPGA Tour card.

Last month I received a nice email with some kind words from Paulie Maggiore, who introduced himself as Jean’s caddie. Naturally, I replied to thank him and asked if he could put me in touch with her for an interview. He graciously did. Read on for my chat with Jean.

Also, be sure to follow Paulie on Twitter (@TheTourCaddieOG) — he’ll be tweeting about his and Jean’s adventures this season and she’ll be using his account, too (she’s self-admittedly not tech-savvy).

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

SW: Talk about your experience at the 2009 US Women’s Open. How did it influence the rest of your year?

JR: Going into the Open, I had a lot of confidence. I started off well on the Futures Tour and had two wins tucked away. So going into that week, I knew I was playing well and I was just looking forward to make the cut — like I did the first year. I had the experience, so I knew kind of what to expect. I played a few practice rounds and my coach flew up — I work with Charlie King out of Reynolds Plantation — on Tuesday of that week. He settled my nerves a bit. I got off to a good start on Thursday [in the first round] and it just led to a good week. I was, of course, disappointed with Sunday, but I’d be lying if nerves weren’t a factor on the final day. Other than that, the experience was incredible and it just gave me a confidence boost for the rest of the year. I also met some awesome people. Everyone was just so nice, supportive, complimentary, and it added to making that week unforgettable.

SW: Your caddie, Paulie, told me to ask you about the games you guys played on the course at the Women’s Open. Talk about that.

JR: I had a lot of family and friends up there, and to keep me distracted we played a rendition of “Where’s Waldo?,” where we looked for a family member or friend. It takes your mind away from leaderboards, three-foot putts and just what was really at stake. So, Paulie was a tremendous help out there, especially as far as keeping me relaxed.

SW: Yeah, I followed you for a while on Saturday [during the third round], and you looked like you were having a good time.

JR: Yeah, we were just both laughing and cutting up. I mean, that’s the most important thing, for me, anyway — when I’m in that kind of stressful situation at a golf tournament, I just try to relax the best I can without forgetting what I’m there to do.

SW: Who introduced you to golf?

JR: My grandfather, father, and two brothers are huge golf nuts and I tagged along with them when I was 6 or 7. I got more into it when I was about 10 and started playing in some Atlanta Junior events, the Southeastern Junior Tour, and a few American Junior Golf Association ones. But I just had a really good state and amateur record. I played in four of the USGA Girls’ Junior Championships.

SW: You were on the University of Georgia Women’s Golf Team for one year. Why did you quit?

JR: I redshirted my freshman year. I was just enjoying college and I joined a sorority. I was doing normal college kid things and my head just wasn’t 100% in golf at that time, so I walked away from it. I think it was a really good decision because I don’t think I would be playing now if I stuck with it…I’ve had people ask me, “Do you feel like you missed out playing college golf?” I had that one year of experience. I didn’t travel with the team, but I really don’t think I missed out at all. I don’t regret the decision I made.

SW: Yeah, I hear that. It’s understandable. I mean, at Yale it was time-consuming enough and that’s just the Ivy League. I know it’s way more intense at a school like UGA.

JR: Yeah, you’re going from 6-8 five days a week — I’ve never played that much in my life. I mean, I practice, but I was just getting sick of it. I knew something had to change.

SW: What inspired you to turn pro after college?

JR: It was one of those things where my friends and I were like, “What are we going to do?” I’d played in a few Georgia State Amateur events prior to turning pro and finished pretty well. So I went to Futures Q-school and placed fifth. Then I played full-time in 2008 and had a mediocre year. I finished about 45th [on the money list] and that doesn’t get you anywhere. My attitude was heinous after that and I missed the cut at the final stage of LPGA Q-school. So I took the off-season to figure out what I wanted to do and sat down with my coach to reevaluate the year and what I really wanted. I started fresh in March ‘09 and here am I, about to start up in March on the LPGA. It’s been kind of a whirlwind.

SW: Paulie also said to ask you about mashed potatoes in your sorority house.

JR: Oh yeah…we had a huge mashed potato fight in the kitchen. There might have been brownies involved. But after that, they shut the kitchen down, where you couldn’t get in after ten at night.

SW: You’re a big Georgia football fan. How was that a part of your college experience?

JR: We would go to a lot of away football games. We always went to Georgia-Florida. Also, Georgia-Auburn was fun. Just weekends like that, we’d get together with friends from other schools. The [golf] coach wasn’t really big on me being in a sorority. At that point, friends were more important to me than my golf game. But it worked out best for me. A lot of people thought I’d quit for good, but I always knew I’d go back to it.

SW: Do you have any superstitions or rituals?

JR: I have a buckeye that I keep in my bag — a good friend of my parents gave me that he got from his father. He gave it to me about a year ago. I’m thinking that might be my good luck charm. I’m not sure, but I haven’t taken it out to see if the luck is going to change. So I’m just going to keep it in there and pretend it’s good luck.

SW: What’s the craziest fan encounter you’ve had?

JR: It was funny because at the US Open, a lot of my friends were there and we all have nicknames for each other. So there were fans were yelling, “Where’s Butters?” and “Where’s Jules?” Because [reporters] had written about them in some of the articles. I got a laugh out of that. But no crazy autograph stories. Someone asked me, “What’s the weirdest thing someone has asked you for an autgoraph?” I don’t have any weird stories like that. I had a fan ask me for my hat. I would have given it to him, but I had really bad hat hair, so I decided I better hold on to that one.

SW: What’s your drink, alcohol-wise?

JR: Beer.

Do you have a favorite kind?

JR: No, just beer.

SW: What’s your favorite place to travel? And why?

JR: Probably Chicago. It’s just such a cool city — so much to do. The golf courses there are incredible. I mean, I don’t like to stay in big cities for very long, but I definitely like to check out the activities and what’s going on.

SW: Do you have a celebrity crush?

JR: Oh, Ryan Gosling. Or, who did I just see? I’m a reality TV show watcher — you know the kind that just rots your brain. I love Keeping Up With the Kardashians. They just crack me up.

SW: What do you look forward to the most on the LPGA and what do you think will be the greatest challenge?

JR: Well, the greatest challenge will be the competition — it’s just gotten so good out there. But I’m just looking forward to playing awesome golf courses, meeting different people, traveling again, and just getting back to competing.

Unless you’re related to Dustin Johnson, you were probably hoping he would skull his bunker shot into the Pacific swell. (Kidding!) No disrespect to DJ who played a fantastic tournament to capture his second consecutive title at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but I would have loved to see David Duval win. The CBS commentators would have, too. During Duval’s post-round interview — when he was still one stroke back — Peter Kostis got all sappy and said, “Thanks for your play.”

Which just shows how far Duval has fallen. (Let’s pin a pretty ribbon on you for participating!) He went from winning the British Open and being the world’s number one golfer to plunging into the dismal land of near obscurity for nearly a decade. But he’s not a quitter, as he repeatedly reminded us at the US Open last year after he started his final round with a triple-bogey, but went on to make three consecutive birdies coming down the stretch. I was quick to dismiss him because, well, I can be cynical sometimes and I hadn’t heard his name uttered in, like, five years.

When his name appeared on the leaderboard on Thursday, I wasn’t a believer. Not that I didn’t want to, but after finishing tied for second at Bethpage last year, he failed to make a cut for the remainder of the season. He was forced to return to Q-school and finished T90. I was tossing around some commentary to Golf Magazine’s Mike Walker as he was live-blogging the first round. Here’s what I said:

You really think Duval can keep it up for the rest of the week? I’d love to see it. But again, last week he went 68-75-76. And at the Bob Hope: 74-65-73-69. Not exactly a bastion of consistency. Who knows, maybe this will be his breakout tournament. It would certainly be nice to see him complete his comeback.

I’m glad he proved me wrong. While several in contention floundered down the stretch, you know, like carding 9s on that pesky par-5 14th, Double-D didn’t blow it. So now the question is, with this runner-up finish, can he keep the momentum going? It seems like once he’s in contention, he manages to grind it out. The problem is these days he rarely gets there. But perhaps this time he won’t disappear into MC land and he’ll complete the fairytale story with a win, hell, maybe it’ll even be at the US Open at Pebble. The golfing world and fans would love to see it. But I have one tiny request for Duval: Please don’t break out the mock turtleneck.

[Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Image]

With Tom Watson and Fred Couples battling it out on the final day, the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship provided some fantastic drama. While the 50-year-old Couples was aiming to win his Champions Tour debut, Watson was trying to capture his first title at the ripe age of 60.

This time age outlasted youth in a duel which Watson dubbed, “young kid versus old fart.” It came down to the last hole, where Watson, who is still one of the best ballstrikers in the game, hit a beautiful pitching wedge to four feet. After Couples missed his 15-foot birdie attempt, Watson calmly tapped in his for the win. (Good thing it wasn’t a 6-8 footer — he’s known to struggle with those.)

But in standard Freddie style, he didn’t seem bothered by the runner-up finish. Instead, as he walked off the green, he asked, “Who won the football game?”

With other big names like Hale Irwin, Mark O’Meara and Jay Haas, along with Corey Pavin, who, like Freddie, turned 50 last year, 2010 might be a compelling year for the 50+ crowd. Watson’s performance at Turnberry last summer proved glory is attainable at any age. Now, add Freddie, who has always been a fan favorite, to the mix — things can only get more interesting.

I’m just really looking forward to the US Senior Open at Sahalee, where Freddie is returning to his hometown area and serving as the honorary chair of the tournament.

I chatted with PGA Tour player Ryan Moore earlier this week. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity (yes, I know it’s still long, but I think it’s all interesting).

You signed an equipment deal with Scratch Golf at the end of last year. How did it come about?

They sent me some clubs in the beginning of the year, but I didn’t have an opportunity early on to put them in play. Every time I went home, I thought, oh those look so great, but I didn’t have enough time off to figure out distances and stuff like that. Once the end of the year came around, they sent me another set of clubs because I’d taken a look to see what I’d liked — those ended up being the clubs I played in the Fall Series and in China and I just loved them. I started playing great with them in Las Vegas [at the JT Shriners Open] and Phoenix [at the Frys.com Open]. Then I took them to China for the HSBC Champions, had a great tournament, where I was hitting my irons better or as good as I’d hit them all year.

So it was really a easy decision, but initially, I didn’t want to make a commitment. We weren’t talking any business at first because I wanted to know I liked them. Then we we able to land on something more interesting, which to me, was equity ownership in the company rather than getting money upfront to represent them, like in a traditional sponsorship deal. So, I have part ownership interest in the company. It’s a five-year deal, where I use their clubs and wear the logo on my hat and bag.

When we started talking with them, I think we told them we were interested in doing something more creative, which they were excited about because they’re a smaller company and can’t just be handing out hundreds of thousands of dollars in endorsements. So for them to work something out with a Tour player, they were really excited and I think I fit the mold of someone they were looking for to represent them. To be honest, they weren’t actively looking to get a player on Tour, it just kind of fell into both of our laps somehow.

What makes signing a nontraditional contract most appealing to you?

I was happy to do it because I really like the company, I like the guys, I like how they did things, and the quality of equipment that they make is far superior to anything I’d hit in a really long time — and in the end it could be far more than what I would have received in a traditional deal. So, that’s what made it interesting for me. It’s a long-term view of things instead of what can I get now; it’s sort of looking down the road and seeing that this company has potential to grow a lot, being a corner of the marketplace that’s been untapped.

What’s in your bag now?

Adams driver, Adams 3 wood, Adams 5 wood, and Scratch Golf irons, hybrid, wedges and a putter they made for me, too, which is awesome.

How do you feel about the change to the new grooves?

I’m really happy with the change. I like it better. For me, I switched clubs and I actually spin these more because they’re forged so they’re way softer and hitting the ground better because I got them really custom made to fit me. So I’m spinning them more than anything I’ve played in the last five years and it’s hardly been an adjustment. I actually prefer it because I think it’s a little more consistent when you’re hitting out of the rough. Now you know it’s not going to spin and you can just play for it. You know, because with the old grooves, sometimes it’d spin like crazy and other times it wouldn’t.

So is this better for the game and the Tour?

Yeah, I think so. It makes it more of a position game and you have to play a lot smarter now. You can’t miss on the wrong side or else you can’t recover because of the groove. So that’s really the difference.

Do you think it’s going to hurt some players?

I think you’ll see that there are certain players that it will hurt and they’ll eventually stand out. It’s more of a style of play — it’s the bomb-and-gauge guys who just try to hit a bunch of drivers as close as they could get to the green. They won’t be able to get away with just ripping it up there as far as they can. With the old grooves, they know they could spin it out of the rough with a lob wedge. Well, that’s not going to work anymore because if you get tucked into a tight pin, there’s going to be no way to stop the ball. So I think it’s going to change the style in which people play a little bit more than anything — you’ll see guys hitting a lot more 3 woods and irons from the tee just to make sure they’re in the fairway. But the premium ballstrikers — who have had the advantage taken away from them because of the grooves — are going to start winning a lot more tournaments.

What do you think about the loophole with the PING Eye2 V-groove wedges?

Yeah, I heard about that back at the US Open — you can play with the old Eye2’s, if you want. They were grandfathered in because of a lawsuit. I remember it was actually the CEO of PING, John Solheim, who told me about it because I was playing with an old Eye2 sand wedge for a while. He said, “You know, you won’t have to change that one when they change the grooves next year.” I thought, “Huh! That’s good to know.” But I don’t know…I think…it’s a bit ridiculous if people are really going to do that. I mean, that’s fine — it’s a loophole and if they want to do that, then I have no problem with it.

Talk about your great start this season at the SBS Championship.

I’d never played the event before, so it was just a great way to start off the year. Having [my girlfriend] Serena there was great, too, and my whole family came. And I really didn’t take much time off this year. I stayed in Phoenix all winter to practice. I was just so excited about how I was playing at the end of the year that I wanted to keep it going. For me, I felt like I hadn’t even broken stride. So, it wasn’t like a first-tournament-of-year jitters. But yeah, I played great — I finished with the highest percentage of greens in regulation in my career. So that was pretty huge for my first week with these new set of irons and the new grooves. I hit over 90% of greens for the week. I was ranked first in greens and second in fairway accuracy for the week. So that just means I have to make a few more putts. Obviously I didn’t make enough of those.

I noticed you cut your hair and shaved at the SBS Championship. What was that about?

I just decided to clean myself up — at least for one tournament. It might not last that long, but we’ll see. I can’t take it too much.

I understand you started working with a swing coach for the first time. What factored into your decision?

I started working with Troy Denton, my best friend, during the week before Turning Stone last fall. He’s caddied for me in the past, but I’d never had him work on my golf swing before. I decided I needed someone to help me with my swing. It was just a logical choice. I really trust his opinion and I played with him just about every day my last three years in college. I thought what better person to help get me back to where I’ve been and someone who’s seen it when it was at its best. It’s simple stuff — we didn’t go changing my swing; rather making it more efficient.

Jack Nicklaus turned 70 this week. Do you have any poignant memories of him?

I got to play in a practice round at The Masters in 2005. Not many people, especially my age, can say they’ve played with Jack Nicklaus, let alone at Augusta. It was just incredible. He was really friendly. It was one of my most enjoyable golfing moments. He just impresses me. After being a professional for five years, I realize how impressive he is — just him as a person and the the way he’s carried himself his whole life and the way he’s handled his career. To do everything he did as far as golf is concerned, he still seems to be a great family man and down-to-earth guy. Playing with him just confirmed those things.

You watch a lot of movies. Is it like a hobby for you?

On the road I just get tired of being in hotel rooms, to be honest, and I pretty much avoid them as much as I can. I think that’s where it came from. During tournaments — especially when you’re in hot weather — there’s nothing better after a round of golf than to go and sit in a dark, cold, air-conditioned room, have a little candy and go off into another world for a couple hours. Golf is so mentally straining that it’s so great to sit and unwind that way and let your mind go a bit. And if I don’t do something like that, then my mind is racing about what I need to work on and troubling over my game. That’s the one thing I can do that completely takes my mind away from golf for a while. I think that’s what keeps me sane a little bit.

So you need to go to movie-watching rehab.

Yeah, exactly.

What’s the best movie you’ve seen lately?

I think Sherlock. I really enjoyed it. It was clever, well written, kind of a fun pace, and I like Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, who were both great in it.

You know, I noticed Rachel McAdams looks kind of like your girlfriend.

You’re right, she does, especially in that movie.

Maybe that’s why you liked the movie so much.

Maybe that’s why I like Serena so much. Oh wait, shoot, this is getting recorded.