FanHouse ScottVerplank

Tiger Woods has played in The Players Championship 12 times, and has never broken 70 in any of his first rounds. On a calm Thursday that gave up some very red numbers, Woods continued his trend of taking a mild approach, carding a 1-under 71 on an up-and-down day.

Woods' round was highlighted with an approach shot on the par-5 16th hole that ended up three feet away for a kick-in eagle. Tiger followed that up with a solid 9-iron on the 17th hole's island green to just outside 10 feet, but a nasty horseshoe left Woods with just another par.

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The reason Johnny Miller is still in the booth for most golf broadcasts is because he can make a non-issue a huge issue in about three words. He's upset Tiger Woods, called Rocco Mediate a "pool boy" and now is questioning the U.S. Ryder Cup picks days before the matches get underway.

Miller said yesterday he thinks Paul Azinger should have bypassed rookie J.B. Holmes, who will be playing in his home state of Kentucky and might very well be the perfect match-play partner with his long drives and streaky putting, for a more veteran player like Scott Verplank. Yeah, Verplank, who has been a good player in his two events but has never been on a winning team. Actually, he's never even been close to a winning team.

"I certainly wouldn't have gone with J.B. Holmes, I tell you that," Miller said yesterday in Louisville, Ky., where the Ryder Cup gets underway Friday.

Miller said he would have chosen Verplank, Mediate, Brandt Snedeker and 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson over Holmes and Campbell, but agreed that his views are like arguing over favorite ice cream flavors.

You know, Miller was an amazing PGA Tour golfer in his heyday with a decent Cup record of 2-2-2, but this is just ridiculous. You want to trade out a rookie that will draw huge American support for Mediate (never played in a Ryder Cup), Snedeker (ditto) or Johnson (1-1-1 in '06)?

We've come to the end, so enjoy your last (extended) installment of the FanHouse Media Guide.

• D.J. Trahan -- CUT -- At 27, he's one of the better golfers on tour nobody's heard of, winning the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic earlier in the season. His dad recorded 13 career aces, which makes me hate Poppa Trahan 13 times more than I hate a normal person.

• Jonathan Turcott -- DNP -- A terrible start to the year, Turcott didn't cash a check in his first five Nationwide tournaments. A little better of late, Turcott has made six of his last eight cuts.

• Kevin Tway (a) -- DNP -- Son of 1986 PGA Championship winner Bob Tway, Kevin can hold his own, winning the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2005. A freshman at Oklahoma State, Kevin will have dad on the bag to help out around Torrey Pines.

• Scott Verplank -- t-7 -- A trivia question to stump your buddies, Verplank is the only American golfer to record a hole-in-one in Ryder Cup competition. Also, in a fit of lunacy, said the Bryon Nelson Championship is a "fifth major" after he won in 2007. In unrelated news, the Augusta National golf committee still won't allow me a spot in the Masters because they don't consider the "Lakeside Fourth of July Scramble" a professional golf victory.

• Camilo Villegas -- t-26 -- The Sand Trap has a pretty good outline on why people love Villegas, I just haven't landed on board yet. He has never won a PGA Tour event but continues to finish high enough at the end of the year to retain his card. Oh, and he's really strong looking.

• Nick Watney -- CUT -- A win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last season was his first on tour, but he's having more trouble in '08. He's only missed two cuts, but he isn't finishing his rounds, breaking 71 just once all year in the final round.
  

• Bubba Watson -- t-5 -- Maybe my favorite golfer on tour, Bubba hit a drive in 2006 398 yards. Watson's wife Angie played in the WNBA and is an inch taller than him. He's struggled some this season, carding only one top-10 in 16 starts.

• Boo Weekley -- t-26 -- His two wins on tour came at the same event, the Verizon Heritage. Was asked once what season it was, and answered "deer." I haven't found online evidence that Boo is a member of Mensa, though I have a hunch.

• Mike Weir -- t-3 -- Weir has made seven of nine cuts at the U.S. Open and five top-10s, a stat that is pretty definitive of the caliber of player he is. A tie for second at the Memorial two weeks ago has Weir in top form heading to a tournament some feel he could win despite his length.

• Lee Westwood -- t-5 -- Westwood hasn't had a top-10 finish in a major since 2004, but he did make the cut in all four last year and in the Masters earlier this season. According to Wikipedia, he supports a soccer team named the "Nottingham Forest" which even my weird brain can't believe is true.

• Brett Wetterich -- CUT -- The 2006 Byron Nelson champion hasn't had a great year, with his best finish a tie for 36. His dad started teaching him golf at age 2, the same time my parents were finally figuring out what to call me.

• Dean Wilson -- t-30 -- Wilson is one of those guys that without checking, you know was born in Hawaii. A winner of the now deceased International in 2006, Wilson has made six cuts heading into the U.S. Open.

• Jeff Wilson (a) -- 59 -- Wilson, 44, won the Southern California Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship with rounds of 67-66-73 and finished third in the Santa Barbara City Championship before heading to U.S. Open qualifying.

• Oliver Wilson -- CUT -- I've never heard of this guy, but he's got an awesome homepage and he drinks Sugar Free Red Bull. Nobody believes me that Red Bull is good for you, but Wilson drinks it and is third on the European Tour Order of Merit so it must do some good.

• Casey Wittenberg -- t-36 -- Pretty interesting, Wittenberg shot a four day total of 296 at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, the second best score ever by an amateur. Playing well on the Nationwide Tour, he's currently 13th on the money list.

• Tiger Woods -- WON -- Honestly, what else can you say? The U.S. Open starts tomorrow people and we get to see Tiger play for the first time in ages.

Hendrick Motorsports 2008 Starting Lineup
Point Guard: Jeff Gordon
Shooting Guard: Jimmie Johnson
Small Forward: Casey Mears
Power Forward: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Center: Rick Hendrick

I suppose it might be difficult for the NASCAR-challenged to understand the magnitude of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s announcement that he will sign with Hendrick Motorsports, currently the most dominant team in NASCAR.

In an attempt to help those unfamiliar with the sport, many have attempted to put things in perspective with sports analogies:

Eddie Gossage, Texas Motor Speedway President - "With Dale Earnhardt Jr. joining Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson at Hendrick Motorsports it is like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird playing together in their prime."

Jenna Fryer, AP Auto-Racing Writer - Now they've got Dale Earnhardt Jr., and the four-car stable has turned into NASCAR's version of the New York Yankees.

But would you believe there are still those out in the world who don't understand the value of NASCAR's most popular driver?

John Swansburg, Associate Editor, Slate: "The instant analysis on ESPN2 yesterday was that Junior's move was somehow like Clemens going to the Yankees, the first time around. But such comparisons are by necessity tortured ones, because there is really no analogue for Dale Jr. Has any other professional sport ever been so dependent on an athlete who wasn't close to being the best in the game? ... To offer my own tortured analogy, he's as famous as Tiger Woods and as good as Scott Verplank."

Of course, Swansburg's analogy is flawed. Why? Because I've never even heard of Verplank. Maybe that's supposed to be the point, and to be fair, I don't really follow golf. But I think the writer would be hard pressed to find a single golf fan who has never heard of Earnhardt Jr.

I'll go one further and say that I even resent this analogy, because this fan still believes that Junior is the fifth-most talented driver in the garage. But now that he'll be back on a powerhouse team, even I expect him to prove he has the driving skills, as he has in the past. I have no doubt he is up to the challenge.

I also have no doubt that HMS will be the team to beat in 2008.