PGA Tour notebook: Tiger Woods planning to play in Buick Open

From WorldGolf.com News Services

After skipping last year's Buick Open due to the birth of his daughter, Tiger Woods has committed to play in the 2008 PGA Tour event June 26-29 at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc, Mich.

Buick Golf Marketing Manager Larry Peck made the announcement Monday during a news conference to promote the tournament. Woods will be making his ninth appearance in the Buick Open, where he has recorded seven top-10 finishes and a pair of victories.

"Tiger's presence at Warwick Hills always creates a tremendous amount of excitement for us and the fans," Peck told reporters.

Woods has been out of action since finishing second in the Masters. Two days later, the world No. 1-ranked player underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and was expected to miss four to six weeks.

Woods hopes to return to action next week for the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio. He's also expected to compete in the U.S. Open, played June 12-15 at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif.

In addition to playing in the tournament, Woods is scheduled to host a June 24 clinic in Detroit's Comerica Park, home of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers.

"Tiger is very excited about this clinic, because it will be the first one he has held at a baseball stadium," Peck said.

Good week for Villegas

A final-round 66 in the AT&T Classic was good enough to produce a third-place finish for Camilo Villegas Sunday at TPC Sugarloaf, but after coming up one shot short of being in a playoff with eventual champion Ryuji Imada and runner-up Kenny Perry, Villegas said he was left agonizing about what might have been.

"It was a good week, but I still made a lot of mistakes," Villegas told reporters. "If you look at my stats, a lot of bogeys, a lot of birdies. I got a little more consistent, but obviously, a good week and happy to have finished where I finished and I'll keep going."

The third-place finish was the second top-10 effort by Villegas in a PGA Tour event this year. He has made the cut in 10 of 12 starts, has $1.86 million in earnings and ranks 52nd in the FedEx Cup standings.

Taking the next step

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is taking the next step toward once again making golf an Olympic sport this week, according to the Associated Press.

Flanked by USGA Executive Director David Fay and LPGA Tour Commissioner Carolyn Bivens, Finchem took off for London to join R&A Chief Executive Peter Dawson and European Tour Commissioner George O'Grady in meeting with the International Olympic Committee.

The meeting was classified as informal, but designed to show the IOC that the powers that be in the golf world are interested in becoming a part of the Olympic Games. A decision is expected to come this fall.

Worth noting

• Colonial Country Club, which plays host to this week's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, has been the site for the tournament since its inception in 1946. Only one pro golf event has been around longer and never changed locations. That event, of course, would be the Masters.

• Ryuji Imada's victory Sunday in the AT&T Classic made him the fifth Asian-born player to win a PGA Tour event. The list also includes Isao Aoki, T.C. Chen, Shigeki Maruyama and K.J. Choi.

• Imada's victory also allowed him to make some major headway in the FedEx Cup standings. He entered last week in 18th place on the points list, but after beating Kenny Perry in a one-hole playoff, he climbed to third place behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

May 21, 2008