FanHouse Ryo Ishikawa

Tiger Woods plays golf all over the world, all the time, and tends not to discriminate when trophies come his way in different languages. Unfortunately, none of those trophies Woods holds are covered in Mandarin, but that could change if Tiger keeps it up at the HSBC Champions.

After two rounds in Shanghai, Tiger can't stop shooting 67s, and with a birdie on his final hole on Friday, Woods is tied for the lead at 10-under with first-round leader and fellow countryman Nick Watney.

Watney, ranked 32nd in the world, followed up his course record 64 on Thursday with a 2-under 70 to tie Woods and will be paired with Tiger on Saturday with a list of impressive golfers chasing, including 2007 HSBC champion Phil Mickelson, who is 9-under, just one shot back.

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For the last big event of the 2009 season, the Presidents Cup gave us more drama than the score might appear. A captain's pick failing to win a point (Gasp!). An 18-year-old rookie stealing the show for the losing team (Wow!). And, as you probably expected, the number one golfer in the world doing exactly what he does, week in and week out. So who left Harding Park a winner, and who will look back at this event wishing it never happened?

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.

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He is Tiger Woods, and sometimes, it seems we forget this. He wins six events in 2009 and we complain about his performances at the majors. He is one of the better match play golfers to ever wrap his hands around a cord grip, yet we worry about his team record.

And then he goes and does stuff like he did Saturday morning at Harding Park in San Francisco, and we remember, this guy is so good at golf it's sickening. Playing alongside Steve Stricker for the third time this week at the Presidents Cup, Woods and Stricker found themselves in trouble. Serious trouble. Needing a 22-footer for birdie on 17 just to say in the match, Tiger eyed the putt with the International team of Mike Weir and Tim Clark in tight for birdie.

Woods' putt looked like it might be short the whole way, but one more revolution lead to the biggest Woods fist pump since the 2005 chip-in at Augusta National and a breath of air to Fred Couples' A team. Weir missed the short birdie, and the match went to 18 all square.

There, Tiger did something only Tiger can do.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The greatest shots in Presidents Cup history? No, not a chance. All the same, Justin Leonard played them perfectly.

Let's talk shot making.

He drained them.

"It was knowing I needed to come out and play well today," he said.

Leonard teamed with Phil Mickelson for Friday's Presidents Cup second round and played top shelf. He birdied the first hole to get the American twosome going in the best-ball competition. He kept pounding until finally rolling in a 12-footer at No. 16 to finish off the International team of Retief Goosen and Adam Scott 3 and 2.

It was a performance instrumental in allowing the United State to lead 6½-5½ going into Saturday's third round.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Ryo Ishikawa is the baby of this week's Presidents Cup, soft features, a shy presence and a floppy mop of unkempt hair.

Having only turned 18 in September, he smiles a lot in public, seemingly happy to remain chameleon quiet. At 5-foot-9 and 140 pounds, he does not demand physical attention. He says "Mr. Norman" when talking about Greg Norman, the International Team captain who handpicked Ishikawa for the competition that starts Thursday.

Back home in Japan, where Ishikawa has been treated like a rock star since winning a pro event at age 15, such deference and respectful demeanor has earned him the nickname "Bashful Prince." But here in America, after a few days at Harding Park Golf Club, the title almost seems a bit dated. Bashful or not, Ishikawa already has the power to rule.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The eighth Presidents Cup begins play Thursday afternoon at Harding Park Golf Club, but the action started Wednesday when team captains, American Fred Couples and International Greg Norman, matched twosomes for six first-round foursome matches.

The alternate-shot competition will begin at 12:10 p.m. PDT with the International pairing of Canadian Mike Weir and South African Tim Clark taking on Americans Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson.

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Greg Norman will play hurt at next week's Presidents Cup.

OK, as captain of the International Team that is taking on the Americans at San Francisco's Harding Park Golf Club, Norman will not hit a shot, but no question he is ailing.

Captain Shark has his right arm in a sling, the result of arthroscopic shoulder surgery performed Wednesday.

"A bit of a surprise," Norman said Friday. "I was trying to delay it until January of next year, but the doctor said I needed to get it done now."

Over the next two weeks, FanHouse will be delivering any and all awards for the 2009 PGA and LPGA Tour season. It will be a collection of anything that needs to be awarded, from Player of the Year, to Best Shot of '09 to Breakthrough Twitterer. It is, simply named, The Green Jacket awards.

Golf fashion isn't what it used to be. Tweed sweaters ... ties ... the Payne Stewart look? Yeah, they've all given way to tighter fitting, large belt-buckling looks that show off the fitness that has become as popular on the PGA Tour as Golf Pride grips. So who is the best dressed golfer in the game? Since I'm not necessarily what you'd call a fashion expert, I turned to my good friend, and golf fashion expert, Patricia Hannigan of The Golf Girl's Diary, to tell me who should be crowned "Best Dressed."