Scott Gutschewski sits atop the leader board after the first round of the PGA Tour Q-School, shooting a 5-under-par 67 at PGA West yesterday. He is one stroke ahead of Jeff Gallagher and Ryan Howison. Only the low 30 scores and ties in the six round event will receive 2007 PGA Tour cards … Aussie Scott Strange jumped out to an early lead at the New Zealand Golf Open today, shooting a 4-under 67. Strange, who had five birdies, is one stroke up on Greg Chalmers, Jarrod Moseley and Kim Felton … The Nedbank Golf Challenge begins today at the Gary Player ...

The final of the PGA Tour Q-School starts today, with 163 players competing over the next six days for a 2007 PGA Tour card. Only the low 30 scores and ties will get cards. Lee Janzen, a two-time U.S. Open champion, is among the competitors … Finishing 20th on the PGA Tour money list, Brett Quigley had his best ever year on the tour this season, giving him a birth in the 2007 Masters. Quigley’s father, Paul, an amateur in New England, will caddy for him … The first doping tests done at an international golf championship came back negative, officials ...

Lorena Ochoa, the 2006 Rolex Player of the Year, was honored as Mexico’s Female Athlete of the Year yesterday. Mexican President Vicente Fox gave Ochoa and baseball player Vinny Castilla their awards at a ceremony at the presidential residence … Franklin American Mortgage, the title sponsor of the LPGA Tour event in Tennessee, will not sponsor the tournament next year. For the last three years, the company has sponsored the event at Vanderbilt Legends Club, but it has struggled with attendance and several other factors … The field is nearly set for the 2006 Cadbury Schweppes Australian PGA Championship. World number four-ranked ...

Stephen Ames won his first Skins Game yesterday with a birdie putt on the third playoff hole. Worth $270,000, the shot meant the championship for Ames, who finished with a total of $590,000. Fred Couples, known as the “King of the Skins,” came in second with $385,000 … In his first victory in three years, Justin Rose won the Australian Masters in Melbourne yesterday. Rose shot a 12-under 276 for the entire event to defeat Australians Richard Green and Greg Chalmers by two strokes … Jeev Milkha Singh of India won the Casio World Open in Japan yesterday with a final round ...

For the 11th time in 12 efforts, Michelle Wie missed the cut at a men’s event today. Wie went 17-over-par in two rounds at the Casio World Open in Japan to finish in second to last place … Annika Sorenstam will not compete in the World Cup of Golf at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa, in January. Sorenstam, who won the event with Liselotte Neumann this year, said it interfered with her preparations for the 2007 season … Australian amateur Aaron Pike jumped out to an early lead at the Australian Masters yesterday, shooting an 8-under 64. ...

Tiger Woods won his seventh straight PGA Grand Slam of Golf title yesterday, shooting a final round 6-under 66 to defeat Jim Furyk by two strokes. U.S. Open Champion Geoff Ogilvy finished third, followed by Mike Weir … Michelle Wie is struggling at yet another men’s event. She shot a 9-over 81 in the first round of the Casio World Open in Japan today. Wie has only made the cut in one of her 11 starts in men’s events … Though he got off to a bit of a late start, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin successfully hit a golf ball from the ...

Jim Furyk shot a 5-under-par 67 yesterday to take the early lead at the 2006 PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Poipu Bay, Hawaii. He has a one-stroke lead over U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy. Tiger Woods shot a 70, and Mike Weir was at 71 … The LPGA and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation have awarded Cristie Kerr the 2006 LPGA Komen Award in recognition of her fight against breast cancer. Kerr’s foundation, Birdies for Breast Cancer, has raised more than $250,000 in pursuit of a cure for the disease since 2004 … Too much boring coverage of golf ...

Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Geoff Ogilvy and Mike Weir will battle it out this week at the 2006 PGA Grand Slam of Golf, which begins today at Poipu Bay, Hawaii. Woods has hinted that Furyk is the man to beat, but Tiger’s record speaks for itself. He has won the Grand Slam of Golf the last six years … Take a break from watching football this Thanksgiving and tune into the 2006 World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. The Golf Channel will broadcast the 60-minute special on Thursday, Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. on the east coast. Larry Nelson, Vijay ...

Julieta Granada of Paraguay took home the $1 million prize at the LPGA Tour ADT Championship yesterday. The 20-year-old tour rookie shot a final round 68 to win the event … Meanwhile, player of the year Lorena Ochoa finished second, solidifying her place atop the season-ending money list. Annika Sorenstam missed the cut at the event, only the sixth time she’s done so in 250 LPGA starts … Brian Whitcomb will succeed Roger Warren as president of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America. Whitcomb, who had been vice president of the association since 2004, was elected Saturday at the PGA’s annual meeting ...

Tiger Woods failed in his attempt to win the Dunlop Phoenix for the third successive time, earning his second consecutive second-place finish in his journey abroad as he fell to European Order of Merit winner Padraig Harrington in a playoff in Japan. Woods held a three-shot lead with six holes to play before Harrington barged back … Lorena Ochoa battled back from a miserable first round and will be one of eight finalists to compete today in the ADT Championship. Il Mi Chung, Paula Creamer, Julieta Granada, Karrie Webb, Natalie Gulbis, Ai Miyazaro and Mi Hyun Kim will be the other ...

Tiger Woods struggled to a 72 but maintained his hold on the lead at the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan. Woods will go into the final round tied with European Order of Merit winner Padraig Harrington. Annika Sorenstam missed a cut for only the sixth time in 250 LPGA starts, as she shot a 72 to miss the final 16 at the ADT Championship. Lorena Ochoa, Juli Inkster and Morgan Pressel were the players to sneak into weekend play after a six-way tie needed a playoff to resolve who will play Saturday at Trump International. The top eight will move on to ...

Tiger Woods continued his invasion abroad, as he shot an opening-round 65 to take the lead at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan. Woods heads to the third round with a one-shot advantage over Padraig Harrington. With a 63, Justin Rose shot the day’s best round and was four shots back of Woods … Greg Norman was the big story at the Australian Open, as he sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole to make the cut after shooting a second-round 73. Nathan Green held on to the lead, carding a 71 to maintain a two-shot advantage over Richard ...

Darren Clarke, the Northern Ireland golfer who lost his wife Heather to cancer this summer, has withdrawn from next month’s Australian PGA Championship to spend more time with his children … “He’s just emotionally exhausted and he needs to spend time at home with his children,” tournament spokesman John Dunlop said Friday. “The PGA of Australia sympathizes with his position and we certainly wish him success in the future.” Tiger Woods, eat your heart out! On Wednesday, Nov. 22, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin is expected to hit the mother of all drives from the 220-mile-high international space station. If Tyurin makes solid ...

Rocker Alice Cooper is writing a memoir about how taking up golf helped him overcome alcoholism. Random House imprint Crown Publishing Group will release Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: My 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict in May … “I traded one addiction for another. But golf is the crack of sports. Once I took it seriously I loved it. It absolutely saved my life,” Cooper recently told Golf Digest. Annika Sorenstam will try to defend her title at the LPGA Tour ADT Championship this week. The event starts today at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, and carries ...

The LPGA Tour has become the first major pro golf tour to announce it will begin drug testing its players. The LPGA will begin the drug-testing program in 2008. The tour announced it is still developing its drug-testing program, but will have it set within nine months. The European Tour has said it is working on creating a drug-testing policy, while the PGA Tour, despite endorsements from Tiger Woods and other players, has yet to commit to a plan. “While we have no evidence to date that any of our players are using performance-enhancing drugs, we need to have a very clear ...

Michelle Wie will again try to make the cut in a PGA Tour event at the 2007 Sony Open. Organizers of the event gave Wie, who has yet to win on the LPGA Tour and has missed the cut in six PGA tournaments, an exemption yesterday. It will be her fourth consecutive Sony Open … The PGA Tour came out on top at the Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge yesterday, with U.S. Ryder Cup teammates Scott Verplank, Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson winning the $500,000 prize for the PGA. They finished with a 14-under-par 202 at Reflection Bay Golf Club in Las Vegas. ...

Following an eight-month renovation, the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, reopened yesterday. Truett Ewton, one of the first golfers to play the stadium course when the club opened more than two decades ago, hit the ceremonial first shot. The clubs hosts The Players Championship … The PGA Tour will welcome five new Australian golfers to its ranks next season, putting the total number of Aussies on the tour at 19. Andrew Buckle, Gavin Coles, Jarrod Lyle, Michael Sim and Paul Sheehan all earned tour cards for finishing in the top 20 of the U.S. Nationwide ...

Yang Yong-eun of South Korea won the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai yesterday with a final round 3-under-par 69. He finished the event with a 14-under 274, two strokes better than Tiger Woods … Retief Goosen, who went into the final round with the lead, ended up finishing tied for third … Lorena Ochoa won the Tournament of Champions in Alabama yesterday, clinching the LPGA Tour’s player of the year award. Ochoa, 24, shot a final round 7-under 65 at Magnolia Grove’s Crossings Course to win her sixth tournament of the season.

Retief Goosen has the lead going into the final round of the HSBC Championship Tournament in China, as Tiger Woods was unable to hold his momentum, shooting a third-round 73 after bogeying the final two holes Saturday. Woods, who shot a 64 on Friday, fell five shots off the lead heading into the final round. South Korean Yang Yong-eun shot a 67, the best score of the cold and windy day, to sit one shot back of Goosen, while early leader Joyti Randhawa of India is in third place … Juli Inkster and Moira Dunn share the lead heading into Saturday’s ...

Tiger Woods surged back into contention at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai today with an 8-under 64 to match the course record. Woods had a lackluster opening round yesterday, shooting an even-par 72, but is now within two shots of leader Jyoti Randhawa … Randhawa surprised the field yesterday by taking the early lead with a 65. Today, he shot a 69 to bring him to a 10-under total 134. Retief Goosen of South Africa is in second place and European star Padraig Harrington is at 7-under.

Paula Creamer is atop the pack at the LPGA Tournament of Champions after one round of play, shooting an 8-under-par 64 yesterday. She has a two-stroke lead over Lorena Ochoa at Magnolia Grove’s Crossings Course … Tennis star Roger Federer attended the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai yesterday to watch Tiger Woods, who he met in New York in September. Woods sat with Federer’s girlfriend and management when the world’s No. 1 tennis player won the 2006 U.S. Open … Police in Rapid City, South Dakota, arrested a woman yesterday for a DUI after stopping her while driving a golf cart. The ...

Tiger Woods supports the changes to the selection process for the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team, saying they could help the U.S. break its losing streak. Under the new system, captain Paul Azinger will get four captain’s picks instead of two, among other changes … “In my ideal world, if you want your best team you have 12 picks. But that’s not fair,” Woods said. “The more picks you can get, the better it is.” Meanwhile, Woods shot an opening round even-par 72 at the HSBC Champions tournament near Shanghai today. Jyoti Randhawa of India leads the pack with a 7-under 65 ...

Tiger Woods said at a news conference yesterday his decision to miss the PGA Tour Championship has left him rested and ready to compete in Shanghai’s Champions Tournament this week. Woods had received criticism for skipping the event, including from PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem … “You can’t play ‘em all, and the ones which you don’t play, people are going to wish you were there to play,” Woods said yesterday. “That’s just the way it’s going to be.” Three-time Canadian Amateur champ Richard Scott has decided to turn professional, signing with Landmark Sports Group. The 23-year-old will begin competing as a ...

Former PGA Championship winner Paul Azinger was introduced as the new captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team yesterday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, the site of the 2008 matches. The U.S. has lost the last eight of 11 Ryder Cup Matches. In an effort to field a more competitive squad, Azinger has made some changes to the selection process, including convincing the PGA of America to give him four captain’s picks instead of two … “I’m going to get the blame if it doesn’t work,” he said. “I would like some of the credit if it does.” Tiger Woods ...

Adam Scott shot a 4-under-par 66 yesterday to win the Tour Championship, making this his most successful PGA Tour season. The 26-year-old Australian defeated Jim Furyk by three shots … Karrie Webb broke Annika Sorenstam’s winning streak at the Mizuno Classic yesterday, shooting a final round 6-under 66 to win the event. Sorenstam was going for her sixth consecutive Mizuno Classic but ended up finishing five strokes short of the lead in third place.

At the PGA Tour Championship, Retief Goosen and Joe Durant share the lead at 2-under 68 after one round. Only 27 players are competing in the event, with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Stephen Ames all pulling out … Kenny G is the best golfer among musicians, according to Golf Digest’s ranking of the “Top 100 in Music.” He ranks ahead of country stars Vince Gill, Marty Roe and Steve Azar … Rachel Hetherington shot a 7-under-par 65 yesterday to take the lead at the LPGA Mizuno Classic. Four players are tied for second.

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said at a news conference yesterday he was disappointed that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are not playing in this week’s Tour Championship. Woods announced his decision last week, while Mickelson usually plays a limited schedule after the PGA Championship in August … “I’m against it,” Finchem said. “I’m disappointed, candidly. There’s no other way to characterize it.” Meanwhile, Ernie Els is excited to have the opportunity to compete in the event this year. Els got himself a place in the Tour Championship, open only to the top-30 money winners on the tour, only last week by ...

Not a stranger to big challenges, Paul Azinger has been tabbed as the captain for the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team, according the Associated Press. “Well, it’s like everything to gain, nothing to lose now,” Azinger said last week when asked if he wanted the job. “Yes, I would like to do it.” Azinger will take over a U.S. side that has lost three consecutive battles against their European counterparts and five out of the last six. The 2008 Ryder Cup will be played at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. The European team will be captained by Nick Faldo.

Annika Sorenstam has been hired to redesign her first American golf course, the Patriots Point Links Golf Course in Charleston, South Carolina. The announcement is the most recent in a string of collaborations between Sorenstam and real estate developer Bobby Ginn, who also owns the Reunion Resort & Club, the site of Sorenstam’s new golf academy … Police in Orange County, California, arrested a man yesterday after seizing more than $1 million worth of counterfeit golf equipment he was allegedly selling on EBay, the Los Angeles Times reported. “I’ve heard of counterfeit handbags and purses,” said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for ...