FanHouse Davis Love III

SAN FRANCISCO -- Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods had just improved their Presidents Cup record together this week to 4-0 and were about to do the obligatory network interview Saturday evening when a leather-lunged voice from bleachers behind 16 green stopped everything.

"Wisconsin and Stanford in the Rose Bowl!!"

Sticker laughed out loud. Even Woods, who can ignore a marching band, turned to look into the stands, shook his head in disbelief and responded with a smile. Some things just are not going to happen, but this week at Harding Park Golf Club the loud guy was on the right track. Stricker, a big cheese in Wisconsin, and Woods, the Stanford dropout, are the granddaddy of all golf pairings.

---

---

SAN FRANCISCO -- Anything with the name Presidents Cup sounds like it is ripe for a Golf Czar appointment.

Are you qualified to rule over this week's PGA Tour team matches between the United States and an International squad of non-Europeans that tees off Thursday at Harding Park Golf Club?

Take this test and decide for yourself.

Like the Michael Jordan jumper against the Utah Jazz in 1998, there is a lasting memory in the golf world from the late 90's that would be tough to push out of any fan's memory.

The 18th hole ... U.S. Open ... 15-footer for par and the victory ... putt is stroked ... it's heading to the hole ... one arm outstretched, one foot off the ground ... and ... one final championship for one of the nicest guys to ever play the game.

Payne Stewart's legacy at Pinehurst No. 2, the site of his second U.S. Open that came four months before he died in a plane crash, is one that will always be around. This week, at the North and South Amateur, Payne's son Aaron Stewart will be continuing the legacy on those turtle-backed greens, hoping to follow in his father's infamous footsteps.

As Tiger Woods' second shot on the 18th hole came to rest inches from the hole, wrapping up his second win of the season with back-to-back birdies to close, my phone started to vibrate.

"That any good?" came from a family member. "He is amazing," rung through from a buddy in Denver. "Just wow," from a friend in Scottsdale. That, folks, is why Tiger Woods is Tiger Woods.

Four shots back before he teed off on Sunday, Woods put together his most polished round since his return to the game, shooting a 7-under 65, his best final round score since the BMW Championship in 2007.

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) -- PGA Tour rookie Matt Bettencourt and Mark Wilson have survived a roller-coaster afternoon at the Memorial to share the 54-hole lead, with Tiger Woods and a pack of major champions behind them.

Bettencourt made eight birdies to offset his mistakes in a round of 4-under 68. Wilson bogeyed his first three holes, but recovered for a 69 to join the rookie at 9-under 207.

It doesn't take a lot in golf to fall from your perch as the best player on tour. David Duval, who is playing in this week's Memorial, knows the feeling. And now, Geoff Ogilvy has been experiencing a bit of it the past two months.

Ogilvy won the Mercedes Championship in January and took down the Accenture Match Play in early March, making him the hottest golfer in the world, along with a game that never seemed to waver. But his last few tournaments have been uneventful. A sixth-place finish at the Shell Houston Open is the only thing worth talking about, and even that isn't exactly up to Ogilvy's standards. Saturday, at Jack Nicklaus' tournament, Ogilvy went off tied for 57th, but after nine birdies on Muirfield Village, he has played himself back into contention.

Face it, Twitter was made for guys like John Daly. Minimal type, short messages and the ability to reach out to thousands of people ... it is his little paradise.

Now, it can be your adventure as well. If you're on Twitter, and become Daly's 100,000th follower (he's currently around 5,000), you win a bunch of free stuff.

Daly is going to give the lucky person an Adams golf Speedline driver, a John Daly lion headcover and Loudmouth shirt and slacks, which hopefully make you either hit the ball as far as Big John or look nearly as goofy.

Each Wednesday during the golf season, FanHouse will list the top five names in golf and why they're important. Did Barack play 18 with Tiger? Did a certain player do something controversial off the course? Or was just playing golf enough to get the pot stirring? Join us for a new weekly ranking feature we call Making the Cut.

5. Tony Romo -- He might have failed to qualify for the Byron Nelson Championship, but Romo reminded us yet again that he is the best golfing quarterback in the world. Also, he reminded us that even the top tier athletes can utterly choke it on the golf course. Two-over par with three holes to play, Romo could have thrown in a couple of birdies and hoped even par would get into the next stage of qualifying. A triple-bogey followed by closing bogeys was visual evidence that our affection towards golf can change from love to hate quicker than a hook will snap.

There is only one match play tournament a year on the PGA Tour, but it sure seems of late that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are playing a little "whatever you can do, I can do better" game against each other. At Quail Hollow this week, you might as well forget all the other names. Mickelson's round of 67 after Tiger posted a 65 this morning was a tournament director's dream, and allowed the rest of the field to look up at the leaderboard and say, "Oh, them again."

Playing with defending champion Anthony Kim and Davis Love III, Mickelson birdied his first hole, followed that up with another on the 5th and then chipped in for eagle on the par-5 7th. At times, it seemed Mickelson's short game got too much credit, similar to veteran journalists ogling Brett Favre's arm when there were younger, faster quarterbacks in the league. That isn't the case this season with Phil. He was quoted as saying his short game is as good as it has ever been due to a short game clinic he put on in the offseason, and it is showing.

---

---

In an effort to keep our golf visitors well informed on what is going on around the Internet, Range Balls will be our new weekly link dump. Every Tuesday during golf season, we will toss out some of the most interesting things we came across. If you have a tip, e-mail us at fanhousegolf@gmail.com. Enjoy the links.

--Davis Love III went into this season set on making the Masters after missing out last year for the first time since 1990. The 44-year-old tour vet will have to win this week at the Shell Houston Open if he wants to make that beloved trip to Augusta. [Waggle Room]

--Jay Busbee makes a great point about Tiger Woods and 18th hole dramatics -- normally, he's winning by so many shots he doesn't need to bury that birdie putt for the victory. Here are a collection of important putts Tiger made to win tournaments with video. [Devil Ball Golf]

--It almost seems like Twitter and golf were made for each other. According to my math skills, you can enter 35 four-letter words in each Tweet. [Golf Girl Diary]

--Some people just aren't as happy about Tiger Woods' robotic ability to make clutch putts. [Rumors and Rants]

--A 44-page Masters Tournament Guide by a blogger? It can't be! [Armchair Golfer]