FanHouse TimClark

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tiger Woods debuted this week as the first billion-dollar athlete. If that thought left you bemused, perplexed or angry, Woods showed Saturday why people throw money at him.

He's worth it.

Example No. 3,539 -- With the International team losing its grip on the Presidents Cup, he made a 24-foot putt to tie his match on the 17th hole. His next swing was a 229-yard laser that ended up 15 feet from the hole.

The International team of Mike Weir and Tim Clark literally surrendered.

In an effort to keep our golf visitors well informed on what is going on around the Internet, Range Balls is our 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.

-- In a lengthy piece about "The Haney Project," Charles Barkley admits that he "felt bad, to be honest with you, that I didn't improve more for (Hank Haney)." If anyone watched the television show, they know how much the two worked together, but from this video at the Regions Charity Classic, it sure shows the nasty truth -- swing coaches aren't miracle workers. [The Sports Network]

Every Monday during the PGA Tour season, Monday Pin Placement will run as a wrap-up of the weekend's action. Basically, we'll focus on what you missed while you were out grinding on the putting green.

Stricker Uses Experience to Edge Others -- There were three golfers in the playoff at the Colonial on Sunday, but only one had hoisted a trophy on the PGA Tour. Steve Stricker, by all accounts, had struggled on Sunday. The man that relies on his putting to get it done on the golf course hit multiple lips on his way to the 17th hole after he came off a frustrating bogey on the par-3 16th.

A second shot from just over 150 yards on 17 was yanked a hair, and Stricker found himself over the green with a tricky little pitch out of some thick rough. It didn't matter for the 42-year-old. Pitch. Roll. Pin. Birdie. Reminiscent of Nick Watney's shot on the ninth hole at the WGC earlier this year, Stricker's birdie gave him a chance at a playoff.

Inexperience by the others got him in.

It was the fifth playoff on the PGA Tour this season, but the only one that gave us such incredible shots over just two holes.

Steve Stricker claimed the Colonial title on Sunday after dodging a birdie bullet by Tim Clark, who is still searching for his first win, and Steve Marino, who seems to have the game to claim a title on the PGA Tour but is still rough around the edges.

Before Phil Mickelson broke through at the 2004 Masters, Lefty held the ultimate "kissing your sister" title. Phil was the "best player to never have won a major championship." Sure, Phil had made waves in majors, nearly taking the title at the 1999 U.S. Open and the 2001 PGA Championship, but he couldn't break through. Once the infamous birdie leap occurred at Augusta National in '04, Mickelson passed that title off to someone. The thing is, nobody has really grabbed it as feverishly as Phil did. He was the major-less face. Now, according to Forbes, it isn't Sergio Garcia.

The 2009 Masters are underway, and unlike last year, when Arnold Palmer hit the ceremonial first shot into a cloud of fog, it has been an incredible day, weather-wise, from the start.

Palmer's first shot this year found the middle of the fairway and the first group built on that momentum. In the second group of the day was Par-3 Tournament winner Tim Clark, who, in typical form, bogeyed his first two par-3s before getting it together and reeling off four birdies on his closing 12 holes before posting a 4-under 68, leading the tournament in the clubhouse.

Right behind Clark are Ross Fisher, Kevin Sutherland, and Prayad Marksaeng who all posted 3-under 69s and will enjoy the rest of the mid-70 degree day fine-tuning their game while other golfers try to put the finishing touches on some rather salty (read: "good") rounds.

Golf is a game of superstitions. People mark their balls the same way every time (tails up for me), prepare the same, and, if things are going well, even eat the same meal all week. If golf had a Taj Mahal of superstitions, it would be winning the Par-3 Tournament at the Masters, a nine-hole event played every year since 1960 on the Wednesday before tournament day.

No player has won the Par-3 Tournament and gone on to win the Masters. Nobody. Ever.

Every Monday during the PGA Tour season, Monday Pin Placement will run as a wrap-up of the weekend's action. Basically, we'll focus on what you may have missed while you were out grinding on the putting green.

Yang Holds on in Florida -- Before Sunday, Y.E. Yang was a name most golf fans probably had never heard of. A star on the Japan Tour, Yang is known by American golf fans as the guy who beat Tiger Woods in the 2006 HSBC Championship in China.

It might be time to remember him for more than that.

It might not have been Tiger Woods against Phil Mickelson. Heck, it isn't even Ernie Els playing Vijay Singh, but the two professional golfers playing the best right now will face up against each other Sunday exactly 125 miles away from their home course.

Australian Geoff Ogilvy, who won this tournament in 2006 and was runner-up in '07, will take on Englishman Paul Casey in a 36 hole final to see who can claim title of Best Golfer During Tiger Week.

Tiger Woods lost. Those are three words you almost never hear. And, after Wednesday's strong performance, many people -- including myself and Ryan Wilson -- thought Tiger had a pretty good chance to win the Accenture Match Play event. But Tim Clark shot 6-under through 16 holes, Tiger didn't strike his irons well and he lost.

It's not a crushing blow for Woods' return, obviously, but it does quickly remind us that he is indeed human. And it takes a little excitement out of the remaining matches in the tournament.