Tim Finchem

We had a great development in sports over the weekend. Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia did for golf what Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan once did for figure skating. Images can change so fast. The PGA Tour is no longer merely a parade of boring thirtysomethings with vanilla personalities in logo shirts, smiling a lot while hitting little white balls over perfectly manicured landscapes. Now, we have Tiger in the red corner and Sergio in the blue. Bob Arum has to be goose-bumpy.

We had a great development in sports over the weekend. Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia did for golf what Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan once did for figure skating. Images can change so fast. The PGA Tour is no longer merely a parade of boring thirtysomethings with vanilla personalities in logo shirts, smiling a lot while hitting little white balls over perfectly manicured landscapes. Now, we have Tiger in the red corner and Sergio in the blue. Bob Arum has to be goose-bumpy.

Most of the first- and second-round pairings for the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines follow a formula. It's not as if tournament directors just pull names out of a hat. Except for three names. Maybe those were in a very small hat. Tiger Woods, Rocco Mediate and Anthony Kim will play together Thursday and Friday at Torrey Pines. "Funny how that pairing happened, huh? What a shocker," said Mediate, who at the 2008 U.S. Open here famously battled the limping Woods through regulation and then an extra 18 holes on the fifth day plus a sudden-death hole before Woods won. That also was Woods' last major victory.

Most of the first- and second-round pairings for the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines follow a formula. It's not as if tournament directors just pull names out of a hat. Except for three names. Maybe those were in a very small hat. Tiger Woods, Rocco Mediate and Anthony Kim will play together Thursday and Friday at Torrey Pines. "Funny how that pairing happened, huh? What a shocker," said Mediate, who at the 2008 U.S. Open here famously battled the limping Woods through regulation and then an extra 18 holes on the fifth day plus a sudden-death hole before Woods won. That also was Woods' last major victory.

Tim Finchem, deputy commissioner of the PGA Tour, said a final offer would be made today to the Professional Assn. of Golf Officials to avert a strike.

The PGA and its commissioner, Tim Finchem, should be ashamed for trying to squelch Casey Martin's golf dream because a withered calf requires him to use a cart for transportation during a round. Golf is a shot maker's game and Casey, by winning last week's Nike Lakeland Classic, demonstrated his ability to play on tour. If the endurance required in walking 18 holes were an integral part of a golfer's examination, as the PGA insists, players would be required to carry their own clubs rather than have the assistance of a caddie.

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said he has been told by Federal Trade Commission attorneys they soon will file a complaint against the tour. Finchem said the PGA Tour will go to court, if necessary, to protect its rules on conflicting events and television releases. Finchem said the FTC's bureau of competition has recommended to the full commission to take action against the tour. "The FTC has been looking at our rules for 4 1/2 years," Finchem said.

Tim Finchem was selected Monday to succeed Deane Beman as the commissioner of the PGA Tour. Finchem, 47, is deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the tour. He will assume duties as the tour's third commissioner on June 1. The late Joe Dey was the first commissioner, from 1969 to 1974. Finchem was elected unanimously during a meeting of the tour's Tournament Policy Board, board chairman Richard J. Ferris said.

After PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem reversed his field Wednesday and called for a united effort from golf's ruling organizations to test for drugs, the chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency said he was pleased Finchem chose to stop sitting on the sideline. "I think this is a big forward step for Tim Finchem and the PGA Tour," said Dick Pound, chief of WADA. "Whether he's trying to recapture the lead or not, he lost an opportunity to lead before and he's been left out.

Tiger Woods stood his ground Thursday in his criticism of the PGA Tour, saying his complaint is about getting control of his own marketing rights, not about more TV money. He also refused to rule out leaving the PGA Tour if the issues aren't settled. "A lot of guys feel this way on tour," he said on the practice green at the American Express Championship. "We're just wanting to get our rights back, and not having these implied endorsements.

When Tiger Woods speaks Friday morning, he will say that he is returning to therapy and not immediately to the professional golf tour, according to a story by the Associated Press. The wire service obtained a letter from PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem to the tour policy board saying that Woods chose this particular moment to speak publicly for the first time about his admitted marital infidelity because, Finchem wrote, "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.

Heard any good jokes lately? "It has been reported that a woman is now trying to sell a sex tape she made with Tiger Woods. The sex tape will be available soon at adult bookstores in the Tiger Woods section." -- Conan O'Brien "There is a new book out about the life of Warren Beatty. . . . It says Warren has slept with 12,000 women. . . . Barring injuries, Tiger may have a shot at that record." -- David Letterman It's been an unusual off-season for golf.

After PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem reversed his field Wednesday and called for a united effort from golf's ruling organizations to test for drugs, the chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency said he was pleased Finchem chose to stop sitting on the sideline. "I think this is a big forward step for Tim Finchem and the PGA Tour," said Dick Pound, chief of WADA. "Whether he's trying to recapture the lead or not, he lost an opportunity to lead before and he's been left out.

Tiger Woods stood his ground Thursday in his criticism of the PGA Tour, saying his complaint is about getting control of his own marketing rights, not about more TV money. He also refused to rule out leaving the PGA Tour if the issues aren't settled. "A lot of guys feel this way on tour," he said on the practice green at the American Express Championship. "We're just wanting to get our rights back, and not having these implied endorsements.

The PGA and its commissioner, Tim Finchem, should be ashamed for trying to squelch Casey Martin's golf dream because a withered calf requires him to use a cart for transportation during a round. Golf is a shot maker's game and Casey, by winning last week's Nike Lakeland Classic, demonstrated his ability to play on tour. If the endurance required in walking 18 holes were an integral part of a golfer's examination, as the PGA insists, players would be required to carry their own clubs rather than have the assistance of a caddie.

For the 24.3 million Americans who struggle just to steady their backswings, golf is a fiendishly difficult game--"a good walk spoiled," Mark Twain called it--wrapped in a mantle of immaculate fairways and gracious traditions. And for most amateurs, the epitome of the royal and ancient game is the touring professional. Today's pros ply their skills in a world of elegance, trailed by galleries who observe in reverential silence.

Heard any good jokes lately? "It has been reported that a woman is now trying to sell a sex tape she made with Tiger Woods. The sex tape will be available soon at adult bookstores in the Tiger Woods section." -- Conan O'Brien "There is a new book out about the life of Warren Beatty. . . . It says Warren has slept with 12,000 women. . . . Barring injuries, Tiger may have a shot at that record." -- David Letterman It's been an unusual off-season for golf.

For the 24.3 million Americans who struggle just to steady their backswings, golf is a fiendishly difficult game--"a good walk spoiled," Mark Twain called it--wrapped in a mantle of immaculate fairways and gracious traditions. And for most amateurs, the epitome of the royal and ancient game is the touring professional. Today's pros ply their skills in a world of elegance, trailed by galleries who observe in reverential silence.

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said he has been told by Federal Trade Commission attorneys they soon will file a complaint against the tour. Finchem said the PGA Tour will go to court, if necessary, to protect its rules on conflicting events and television releases. Finchem said the FTC's bureau of competition has recommended to the full commission to take action against the tour. "The FTC has been looking at our rules for 4 1/2 years," Finchem said.

Tim Finchem was selected Monday to succeed Deane Beman as the commissioner of the PGA Tour. Finchem, 47, is deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the tour. He will assume duties as the tour's third commissioner on June 1. The late Joe Dey was the first commissioner, from 1969 to 1974. Finchem was elected unanimously during a meeting of the tour's Tournament Policy Board, board chairman Richard J. Ferris said.