FanHouse Henrik Stenson

TIMONIUM, Md. (AP) -- Kenny Perry's mother has died after a long battle with blood cancer, and the 49-year-old American said he would play in the Presidents Cup next week in San Francisco at his family's request.

Even as Perry turned in one of his best years with three victories and a playoff loss at the Masters, he has been coping with an emotional home life as his mother was put in hospice in July. Perry recently had his son, Justin, caddie for him to keep close as a family.

Mildred Perry died peacefully Thursday morning in Franklin, Ky., of multiple myeloma, Perry's agent said. She was 79.

SAINT-NOM-LA-BRETECHE, France (AP) -- Britain and Ireland led 3-2 over Europe after Thursday's opening fourballs of the Vivendi Trophy, a matchplay event on the European Tour.

Captained by three-time Ryder Cup winner Paul McGinley, Britain and Ireland had leads of 2-0 and 3-1 but Continental Europe hit back each time at the Saint-Nom-la-Breteche Golf Club on the outskirts of Paris.

The Vivendi Trophy, formerly known as the Seve Trophy after Seve Ballesteros, was created in 2000. Europe won the inaugural event before Britain and Ireland won it four consecutive times.

It seems almost like clockwork, that at some point during your week you'll find out that Colin Montgomerie is not happy about something. Maybe it's Sandy Lyle, saying he cheated. It could be a trigger-happy photographer that didn't know of Mrs. Doubtfire's wrath. Or it simply could be a painter that refuses to brush Monty on a canvas because of his man boobs.

What is certain is he does tend to toss shoes around a lot, and his recent Nike discharge flew directly at England's own Ian Poulter, who after missing out on the Tour Championship, decided that he wouldn't be accepting an invitation to the Vivendi Trophy match in Paris (previously called the Seve Cup), and that rubbed the 2010 Ryder Cup captain the wrong way.

Quick, before Sunday's round started, which player chasing Tiger Woods did you think had the best chance? Most would go with Padraig Harrington, who made a quintuple bogey on the par-3 8th hole, dropping himself from contention. It wouldn't be crazy to love Henrik Stenson, who beat Tiger at the Players Championship earlier this year. Maybe even got a little frisky and gone with Ernie Els or Vijay Singh, as long as Vijay promised to putt with his eyes closed.

The person we all forgot about was the man paired with Tiger on Sunday, and he is just the man that is Bob May-ing Tiger through nine holes at Hazeltine National.

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It wasn't his A game, or B game for that matter, but Tiger Woods marched around Hazeltine National on Saturday with a four-shot cushion, knowing that he didn't need his absolute best to maintain the lead in the PGA Championship.

On Thursday and Friday, Tiger dominated the field, and the course, hitting fairways and tossing darts at flags to rounds of 67 and 70. Saturday was more of a struggle, but a chip-in birdie on the driveable par-4 14th and a multitude of pars was good enough for a two-shot lead heading into the final round.

Bethpage Black is 7,426 yards of pure nastiness, and the 2009 U.S. Open will play to a gruesome par of just 70. It is one of the toughest tests in golf, and it will be home to the best golfers in the world this weekend. Coming on the heels of your Sleepers and Regular Joes for this week at Bethpage, here are the Favorites.

The US Open starts Thursday, and because our guessing power is too great to keep bottled up (Note: Nobody here picked Angel Cabrera at Augusta), we give you the FanHouse "Experts" on who will walk away a champion at Bethpage Black.

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.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- It took two shots for Tiger Woods to throw his club. Two. The final pairing, the red shirt, the killer instinct. You know, the usual. Except it was going to be a mind thing for Woods to win the Players Championship Sunday because his swing is all wrong.

Turned out, though, his mind was crumbling from the start. And when the real tiger stood up Sunday, he was a Swede named Henrik Stenson. A cool, calm, killer. By far, he was the toughest guy out there.

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