Pga Tour

SAN DIEGO -- Is there anything out there that can trip up Tiger Woods? Nothing in the past six months anyway, at least on the PGA Tour, once again zoned as Woods' personal playground, just as it has been since last July when he started a winning streak at the British Open that reached seven straight yesterday with his fifth victory overall, and third straight, at the Buick Invitational. Woods took the lead with six holes to go at Torrey Pines, wound up with a 6-under-par 66, nudged Charles Howell III by two shots, finished with a 15-under score of 273 and, as is his habit, dug deeper into the history books.

JAY HAAS The 53-year-old was competitive on the PGA Tour as recently as 2003, when he finished 15th on the money list. He won four times as a Champions Tour rookie in 2005, twice last year and four times this year. He leads the Charles Schwab points race for Player of the Year honors, which he won last year. FRED FUNK He will be one of the favorites, given his roots in College Park, his familiarity with the course (having played it while on the Middle Atlantic PGA circuit in the 1980s)

Donnie Hammond set his sights on the Champions Tour shortly after turning 45. A 20-year career on the PGA Tour was winding down, and Hammond had to figure out a way to keep his game sharp enough until his 50th birthday this past April Fool's Day. "I didn't have a tournament until May. Here I've been waiting to try to get 50 for the last five years, and I had to wait a month to play," Hammond said yesterday. Hammond, who grew up in Frederick, is still waiting to make an impact. He is hoping that will happen this week, when Hammond will play in the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship at Baltimore Country Club beginning Thursday in Timonium.

The recent announcement by Michelle Wie that she plans on attending Stanford beginning next fall will only be meaningful if the teen-age golf sensation also changes her focus and forgets about her fantasy of playing on the PGA Tour someday. Playing in the prescribed number of LPGA events on sponsor's exemptions - she is allowed six - as well as the U.S. Women's Open and Women's British Open should be more than an adequate test for a player who still apparently doesn't want to be a full-time golfer at age 17. Winning this year's LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock in Havre de Grace, where she finished second two years ago and tied for fifth last year, is far more important for Wie's career than trying to make the cut at some second-tier PGA Tour stop - even if it does cost her some money from Nike in bonuses.

1. David Duval: He is the hottest player in the world, the first to win four PGA Tour events before the Masters since Johnny Miller did it in 1974. Duval will be looking for his third win in as many starts -- and 12th in his past 35 -- after finishing one shot behind last year.2. Tiger Woods: Considering the changes made to the course, Woods might be the player to beat. Has one victory in six starts this year and four other top-five finishes. With the focus on Duval, it will be easier for Woods than coming in as defending champion last year.

POTOMAC -- Most golfers would have pleasant recollections of places where they've won tournaments. For Stuart Appleby, returning recently to the Tournament Players Club at Avenel evoked memories both happy and sad of his victory at last year's Kemper Open.When he looked out into the brightness of a cool spring morning and onto the newly reseeded fairway of the par-4 18th hole, he thought about his dramatic 3-iron approach shot into the gloaming -- not to mention the wind and rain -- that helped produce a par and preserve his one-shot lead.

PGA TourAir Canada ChampionshipSite: Surrey, British Columbia.Schedule: Today-Sunday.Course: Northview Golf & Country Club (6,817 yards, par 71).Purse: $2.5 million (winner's share: $450,000).TV: ESPN (Today-tomorrow, 3-6 p.m.; Saturday, 4: 30-6 p.m.) and ESPN2 (Sunday, 3-6 p.m.)Last year: Brandel Chamblee won when the event was called the Greater Vancouver Open, finishing with a 19-under 265 for a three-stroke victory over Payne Stewart.Last week: Tiger Woods won the World Golf Championships NEC Invitational in Akron, Ohio, by one stroke over Phil Mickelson.

PGA TourMemorial TournamentSite: Dublin, Ohio.Schedule: Today-Sunday.Course: Muirfield Village GC (7,163 yards, par 72).Purse: $2.55 million (winner receives $459,000).TV: USA (Today, 3-6 p.m.; tomorrow, 4-6 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday, 3-6 p.m.; Sunday, 2-6 p.m.).Last year: Fred Couples finished with a 17-under 271 total for a four-stroke victory over Andrew Magee.Last week: Rich Beem beat Bradley Hughes and Bill Glasson by one stroke to win the Kemper Open in Potomac, his first PGA Tour victory.

AKRON, Ohio -- There was little of the drama of the recent PGA Championship, when Tiger Woods frittered away all but a stroke of a five-shot lead to hold off Sergio Garcia. And there was none of the back-nine gamesmanship that occurred between Woods and Garcia at Medinah, since Woods and Phil Mickelson were four holes apart.Though the similarities were few -- none if you asked Woods -- in yesterday's final round of the $5 million NEC Invitational at Firestone Country Club, the result was the same.

The numbers are telling.Of the first 20 tournament winners on the Senior PGA Tour this season, none has been older than 55. The two most dominant players have been rookies Bruce Fleisher and Allen Doyle. Only one player in the Top 20, Al Geiberger, is over 60.Which makes it seem likely that whoever wins this week's State Farm Senior Classic will fit a profile: a player who has been out on the 50-and-over tour for five years or less and might not be a household name.The second-year, $1.3 million tournament begins today at the Hobbit's Glen Golf Club with a 78-player field lacking in name recognition, but not in competitiveness.

When he joined the Champions Tour in 2007, almost everyone thought Nick Price was going to dominate. A three-time major winner and two-time Player of the Year on the PGA Tour, he was still one of the best ball-strikers alive. He looked like a lock to win a bunch of tournaments. Price, though, never saw it that way. His son, Gregory, and his two daughters, Robyn and Kimberly, were entering their teenage years, and he wanted to be a part of their daily lives. He didn't want to travel 30-plus weeks out of the year and hit golf balls for hours until his hands hurt.

LPGA to require players to speak English by 2009 golf The LPGA Tour will require players to speak English starting in 2009, with players who have been members for two years facing suspension if they can't pass an oral evaluation of English skills. The rule is effective immediately for new players. "Why now? Athletes now have more responsibilities, and we want to help their professional development," deputy commissioner Libba Galloway said. "There are more fans, more media and more sponsors.

BETHESDA -- Steve Tucker and his brother Bruce bought tickets for this year's AT&T National in January just to see Tiger Woods play in the tournament he brought to Congressional Country Club for the first time last summer. Even in watching an injured Woods grimace his way to last month's U.S. Open championship, the Tuckers never thought the world's best golfer would miss his own tournament and their first professional golf event. "Actually, at that point, I was even more excited the way he came back to tie and win in a playoff," Steve Tucker recalled yesterday after making the drive from Wilmington, Del. That excitement quickly dissipated when Woods announced he was undergoing season-ending knee surgery.

JAY HAAS The 53-year-old was competitive on the PGA Tour as recently as 2003, when he finished 15th on the money list. He won four times as a Champions Tour rookie in 2005, twice last year and four times this year. He leads the Charles Schwab points race for Player of the Year honors, which he won last year. FRED FUNK He will be one of the favorites, given his roots in College Park, his familiarity with the course (having played it while on the Middle Atlantic PGA circuit in the 1980s)

Donnie Hammond set his sights on the Champions Tour shortly after turning 45. A 20-year career on the PGA Tour was winding down, and Hammond had to figure out a way to keep his game sharp enough until his 50th birthday this past April Fool's Day. "I didn't have a tournament until May. Here I've been waiting to try to get 50 for the last five years, and I had to wait a month to play," Hammond said yesterday. Hammond, who grew up in Frederick, is still waiting to make an impact. He is hoping that will happen this week, when Hammond will play in the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship at Baltimore Country Club beginning Thursday in Timonium.

7 PGA Tour titles Woods has won this season. 257 Woods' score at the Tour Championship, his career low for 72 holes.$10M Annuity that Woods earned for winning the inaugural FedEx Cup.

OAKMONT, Pa. -- When it was all over, Tiger Woods stood next to the new U.S. Open champion and tried to smile. You didn't have to read his mind because everyone shared the same thought, whether you watched from the stands or from your couch. Tiger just lost the U.S. Open to this guy? It's true, Angel Cabrera - Argentina's John Daly - took the trophy home, beating the world's No. 1 golfer by a single stroke at Oakmont Country Club. And for the second straight year, the most interesting thing about the U.S. Open was not who won, but who lost.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- As soon as there was enough light to play Tuesday morning, Tiger Woods began his practice round at Sawgrass, where you don't have to look too far to see there's a great deal at stake out there in the fairway grass. Besides the PGA Tour-record $9 million prize money of The Players Championship, the stakes continue to grow this week for Woods, and everyone else chasing him. This is certainly no tournament to be taken lightly, not with 48 of the top 50 ranked players showing up in the 145-player field.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Phil Mickelson left Augusta National last April as a legitimate rival, and threat, to Tiger Woods. Mickelson had just won his second Masters in three years, his second straight major championship and his second straight PGA Tour event, having won the previous week by 13 strokes. It seemed realistic to think that Mickelson might eventually pass Woods in the world rankings had he won last year's U.S. Open at Winged Foot, something Mickelson appeared on the verge of doing until he double-bogeyed the final hole to lose by one stroke.

The PGA Tour might be returning to the Washington area a lot sooner than expected, possibly this summer. PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said yesterday that the nation's capital would be on a short list of potential tournament sites to replace The International on the 2007 schedule. The International was scheduled to be played at Castle Pines Golf Club outside Denver from July 5-8, but Jack Vickers, the tournament's chairman and the club's president, announced this week that the event is closing after 20 years because it is losing too much money.