O:9:"MagpieRSS":23:{s:6:"parser";i:0;s:12:"current_item";a:0:{}s:5:"items";a:10:{i:0;a:8:{s:5:"title";s:58:"2011 Frys.com Open: Tiger Woods Wednesday Press Conference";s:4:"guid";s:72:"http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/0,28224,2096307,00.html?eref=golf";s:4:"link";s:72:"http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~3/RUXamZOaYHA/0,28224,2096307,00.html";s:11:"description";s:91:"<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/RUXamZOaYHA" height="1" width="1"/>";s:7:"pubdate";s:29:"Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT";s:10:"feedburner";a:1:{s:8:"origlink";s:72:"http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/0,28224,2096307,00.html?eref=golf";}s:7:"summary";s:91:"<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/RUXamZOaYHA" height="1" width="1"/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1317787200;}i:1;a:8:{s:5:"title";s:48:"Tiger Woods Practice Round at 2011 Frys.com Open";s:4:"guid";s:74:"http://www.golf.com/golf/gallery/article/0,28242,2096306,00.html?eref=golf";s:4:"link";s:72:"http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~3/qEeo1FC_xj0/0,28242,2096306,00.html";s:11:"description";s:91:"<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/qEeo1FC_xj0" height="1" width="1"/>";s:7:"pubdate";s:29:"Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT";s:10:"feedburner";a:1:{s:8:"origlink";s:74:"http://www.golf.com/golf/gallery/article/0,28242,2096306,00.html?eref=golf";}s:7:"summary";s:91:"<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/qEeo1FC_xj0" height="1" width="1"/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1317787200;}i:2;a:8:{s:5:"title";s:56:"PGA member Gus Andreone plays golf on his 100th birthday";s:4:"guid";s:72:"http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/0,28224,2096301,00.html?eref=golf";s:4:"link";s:72:"http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~3/h8sHsNc6s84/0,28224,2096301,00.html";s:11:"description";s:91:"<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/h8sHsNc6s84" height="1" width="1"/>";s:7:"pubdate";s:29:"Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT";s:10:"feedburner";a:1:{s:8:"origlink";s:72:"http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/0,28224,2096301,00.html?eref=golf";}s:7:"summary";s:91:"<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/h8sHsNc6s84" height="1" width="1"/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1317787200;}i:3;a:8:{s:5:"title";s:47:"Tiger Woods makes Frys.com Open must-watch golf";s:4:"guid";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096286,00.html?eref=golf";s:4:"link";s:72:"http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~3/-1sN5D0-7GM/0,28136,2096286,00.html";s:11:"description";s:6078:"In some ways golf has moved on without Tiger Woods. With no guarantee that the former ratings-maker will ever return to form, the PGA Tour finalized its next TV deal last month, a nine-year extension that will yield a modest increase in prize money. We've identified the sport's next Golden One, Rory McIlroy, whose eight-stroke romp at the U.S. Open in June was positively Tiger-like.But as Woods prepares to return to action at this week's Frys.com Open just south of San Jose, Calif., we can't resist succumbing, at least a little, to the latest developments in the Tiger saga, whatever they may be. How will he play? We haven't seen him in action since he missed the cut at the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club in August. Is he really washed up? He's still only 35 years old, and more than a year into his latest swing change under coach Sean Foley. Woods has plenty of detractors, but he also has believers -- and more than just Joe LaCava, who will make his debut as Tiger's caddie this week, and Rolex, which was announced Wednesday as Tiger's new watch sponsor. (Take that, Tag Heuer!)"When changing your swing there are steps," says a Tour insider who has followed Tiger's progress by watching him on the driving range. "First you can't do it at all. Then you can do it on the range but not on the course. Then you can do it on the course with your buddies but not in competition. Tiger's at that last stage, where he's got to take it to the course and trust it. I watch him hit balls and it's so crisp, it's beautiful to me. It's going to happen."Woods reportedly shot a course-record 62 at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla., last weekend, which could mean nothing; he also looked very good at the Ryder Cup last fall, and in nearly winning the Chevron Challenge in December. Or it could mean everything, which is why that snippet of news became golf's top talking point by Sunday night.This is supposed to be a tune-up tournament for Woods, who was cajoled into playing an extra tournament before next month's Presidents Cup by U.S. captain Fred Couples, LaCava's longtime employer before the caddie did a brief stint with Dustin Johnson this year. Woods has never played the Frys.com at the 7,368-yard, par-71 CordeValle Golf Club, a 1999 Robert Trent Jones Jr. design that has enjoyed favorable reviews since making its Tour debut last year. That's when Rocco Mediate holed out from more than 100 yards each day to secure one of the least probable victories on Tour in years. Woods has said the Fall Series event will enable him to meet his goal of adding a new tournament to his schedule this year. That the tournament is so close to where he went to college -- Stanford is just an hour or so up the peninsula -- doesn't hurt, either.Indeed, nostalgia plays into every Woods start these days. Remember when he was really, really good -- you know, like, two years ago? The Tour has entered a new era, but it's proving to be very hard to let go of the old one, in part because it seems so unlikely that Woods is finished winning, and in part because the new era is not measuring up to the old one. For all of McIlroy's fireworks at Congressional, he injured himself on just the third hole of the PGA Championship, the biggest buzz-kill of the year, and has still won just three times in his career.Just as the mop-topped Irish sensation won by such a wide margin at the U.S. Open, Woods in his prime left no doubt that we were witnessing excellence by the way he decimated fields. Now, who knows? The party line on Tour has long been that the level of play has gotten so outstanding, the fields so deep, that it's become ridiculously hard to win. According to this line of argument, that's why players must summon something sensational to win, such as a series of one-putts down the stretch (Webb Simpson at the Deutsche Bank), a back-nine 32 (Charl Schwartzel at the Masters), or four crazy hole-outs (Mediate at the Frys.com last year).We have witnessed unforgettable golf, including an up-and-down from a lake at East Lake (Bill Haas, Tour Championship), and a stirring comeback (Keegan Bradley, PGA Championship) after a late triple bogey, but the fact is it's become much harder to recognize excellence, and that a different player seems to emerge every week is not helping the game. Although it's not really true, parity looks too much like mediocrity, which explains the hope that Woods isn't over the hill, and why, no matter what happens this week, we'll remain in limbo, just one or two good rounds from Tiger-mania, part II, for the foreseeable future.Short game: Woods will tee off at 3:10 p.m. ET in a threesome that also includes super-amateur Patrick Cantlay of UCLA. ... Bill Lunde, who eagled the Kodak Challenge hole in Las Vegas, is three up with three holes remaining to win the season-long Kodak competition and the $1 million prize. ... Two weeks after the Solheim Cup, the LPGA returns to action at the Hana Bank Championship in Incheon, South Korea. Yani Tseng and Solheim hero Suzann Pettersen will be among the favorites. ... Schwab Cup points leader Tom Lehman headlines at the Champions tour's Insperity Championship presented by UnitedHealthcare. ... John Peterson, the NCAA champion from LSU, will make his professional debut at this week's Children's Hospital Classic on the Nationwide tour, in Chattanooga, Tenn. ... Harris English, who won on the Nationwide as an amateur earlier this season, has already climbed to 79th on the money list after a runner-up finish to Danny Lee in a sudden-death playoff last week. English, who turned pro last month, hopes to qualify for the Nationwide Tour Championship, which takes only the top 60 on the money list. Three tournaments remain in 2011. ... Lee will play in this week's Korean Open in a field that also includes Rory McIlroy, who is coming off a second-place finish at the Dunhill last week. ... Luke Donald leads the list of contenders at the European tour's Madrid Masters.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/-1sN5D0-7GM" height="1" width="1"/>";s:7:"pubdate";s:29:"Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT";s:10:"feedburner";a:1:{s:8:"origlink";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096286,00.html?eref=golf";}s:7:"summary";s:6078:"In some ways golf has moved on without Tiger Woods. With no guarantee that the former ratings-maker will ever return to form, the PGA Tour finalized its next TV deal last month, a nine-year extension that will yield a modest increase in prize money. We've identified the sport's next Golden One, Rory McIlroy, whose eight-stroke romp at the U.S. Open in June was positively Tiger-like.But as Woods prepares to return to action at this week's Frys.com Open just south of San Jose, Calif., we can't resist succumbing, at least a little, to the latest developments in the Tiger saga, whatever they may be. How will he play? We haven't seen him in action since he missed the cut at the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club in August. Is he really washed up? He's still only 35 years old, and more than a year into his latest swing change under coach Sean Foley. Woods has plenty of detractors, but he also has believers -- and more than just Joe LaCava, who will make his debut as Tiger's caddie this week, and Rolex, which was announced Wednesday as Tiger's new watch sponsor. (Take that, Tag Heuer!)"When changing your swing there are steps," says a Tour insider who has followed Tiger's progress by watching him on the driving range. "First you can't do it at all. Then you can do it on the range but not on the course. Then you can do it on the course with your buddies but not in competition. Tiger's at that last stage, where he's got to take it to the course and trust it. I watch him hit balls and it's so crisp, it's beautiful to me. It's going to happen."Woods reportedly shot a course-record 62 at the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla., last weekend, which could mean nothing; he also looked very good at the Ryder Cup last fall, and in nearly winning the Chevron Challenge in December. Or it could mean everything, which is why that snippet of news became golf's top talking point by Sunday night.This is supposed to be a tune-up tournament for Woods, who was cajoled into playing an extra tournament before next month's Presidents Cup by U.S. captain Fred Couples, LaCava's longtime employer before the caddie did a brief stint with Dustin Johnson this year. Woods has never played the Frys.com at the 7,368-yard, par-71 CordeValle Golf Club, a 1999 Robert Trent Jones Jr. design that has enjoyed favorable reviews since making its Tour debut last year. That's when Rocco Mediate holed out from more than 100 yards each day to secure one of the least probable victories on Tour in years. Woods has said the Fall Series event will enable him to meet his goal of adding a new tournament to his schedule this year. That the tournament is so close to where he went to college -- Stanford is just an hour or so up the peninsula -- doesn't hurt, either.Indeed, nostalgia plays into every Woods start these days. Remember when he was really, really good -- you know, like, two years ago? The Tour has entered a new era, but it's proving to be very hard to let go of the old one, in part because it seems so unlikely that Woods is finished winning, and in part because the new era is not measuring up to the old one. For all of McIlroy's fireworks at Congressional, he injured himself on just the third hole of the PGA Championship, the biggest buzz-kill of the year, and has still won just three times in his career.Just as the mop-topped Irish sensation won by such a wide margin at the U.S. Open, Woods in his prime left no doubt that we were witnessing excellence by the way he decimated fields. Now, who knows? The party line on Tour has long been that the level of play has gotten so outstanding, the fields so deep, that it's become ridiculously hard to win. According to this line of argument, that's why players must summon something sensational to win, such as a series of one-putts down the stretch (Webb Simpson at the Deutsche Bank), a back-nine 32 (Charl Schwartzel at the Masters), or four crazy hole-outs (Mediate at the Frys.com last year).We have witnessed unforgettable golf, including an up-and-down from a lake at East Lake (Bill Haas, Tour Championship), and a stirring comeback (Keegan Bradley, PGA Championship) after a late triple bogey, but the fact is it's become much harder to recognize excellence, and that a different player seems to emerge every week is not helping the game. Although it's not really true, parity looks too much like mediocrity, which explains the hope that Woods isn't over the hill, and why, no matter what happens this week, we'll remain in limbo, just one or two good rounds from Tiger-mania, part II, for the foreseeable future.Short game: Woods will tee off at 3:10 p.m. ET in a threesome that also includes super-amateur Patrick Cantlay of UCLA. ... Bill Lunde, who eagled the Kodak Challenge hole in Las Vegas, is three up with three holes remaining to win the season-long Kodak competition and the $1 million prize. ... Two weeks after the Solheim Cup, the LPGA returns to action at the Hana Bank Championship in Incheon, South Korea. Yani Tseng and Solheim hero Suzann Pettersen will be among the favorites. ... Schwab Cup points leader Tom Lehman headlines at the Champions tour's Insperity Championship presented by UnitedHealthcare. ... John Peterson, the NCAA champion from LSU, will make his professional debut at this week's Children's Hospital Classic on the Nationwide tour, in Chattanooga, Tenn. ... Harris English, who won on the Nationwide as an amateur earlier this season, has already climbed to 79th on the money list after a runner-up finish to Danny Lee in a sudden-death playoff last week. English, who turned pro last month, hopes to qualify for the Nationwide Tour Championship, which takes only the top 60 on the money list. Three tournaments remain in 2011. ... Lee will play in this week's Korean Open in a field that also includes Rory McIlroy, who is coming off a second-place finish at the Dunhill last week. ... Luke Donald leads the list of contenders at the European tour's Madrid Masters.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/-1sN5D0-7GM" height="1" width="1"/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1317787200;}i:4;a:8:{s:5:"title";s:39:"Woods signs endorsement deal with Rolex";s:4:"guid";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096285,00.html?eref=golf";s:4:"link";s:72:"http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~3/fRDohRm7eVw/0,28136,2096285,00.html";s:11:"description";s:265:"SAN MARTIN, Calif.  (AP) -- Tiger Woods has his first major endorsement since his downfall two years ago, announcing a deal Wednesday with Rolex to be one of its ambassadors.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/fRDohRm7eVw" height="1" width="1"/>";s:7:"pubdate";s:29:"Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT";s:10:"feedburner";a:1:{s:8:"origlink";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096285,00.html?eref=golf";}s:7:"summary";s:265:"SAN MARTIN, Calif.  (AP) -- Tiger Woods has his first major endorsement since his downfall two years ago, announcing a deal Wednesday with Rolex to be one of its ambassadors.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/fRDohRm7eVw" height="1" width="1"/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1317787200;}i:5;a:8:{s:5:"title";s:35:"McIlroy aiming for Korea Open title";s:4:"guid";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096280,00.html?eref=golf";s:4:"link";s:72:"http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~3/3UiT7eeESAY/0,28136,2096280,00.html";s:11:"description";s:303:"SEOUL, South Korea  (AP) -- U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy will be aiming to better his third place finish in 2009 when he tees off in the Korea Kolon Open at Woo Jeong Country Hills Club in Cheonan on Thursday.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/3UiT7eeESAY" height="1" width="1"/>";s:7:"pubdate";s:29:"Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT";s:10:"feedburner";a:1:{s:8:"origlink";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096280,00.html?eref=golf";}s:7:"summary";s:303:"SEOUL, South Korea  (AP) -- U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy will be aiming to better his third place finish in 2009 when he tees off in the Korea Kolon Open at Woo Jeong Country Hills Club in Cheonan on Thursday.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/3UiT7eeESAY" height="1" width="1"/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1317787200;}i:6;a:8:{s:5:"title";s:45:"Mediate thinks Woods will get back to the top";s:4:"guid";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096277,00.html?eref=golf";s:4:"link";s:72:"http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~3/651aVSKM3xc/0,28136,2096277,00.html";s:11:"description";s:345:"SAN MARTIN, Calif.  (AP) -- Rocco Mediate caused a stir in golf circles when he said he was "disgusted" with what's going on with Tiger Woods' swing, saying his physical motion is strong criticism of Woods' most recent coaches, Sean Foley and Hank Haney.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/651aVSKM3xc" height="1" width="1"/>";s:7:"pubdate";s:29:"Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT";s:10:"feedburner";a:1:{s:8:"origlink";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096277,00.html?eref=golf";}s:7:"summary";s:345:"SAN MARTIN, Calif.  (AP) -- Rocco Mediate caused a stir in golf circles when he said he was "disgusted" with what's going on with Tiger Woods' swing, saying his physical motion is strong criticism of Woods' most recent coaches, Sean Foley and Hank Haney.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/651aVSKM3xc" height="1" width="1"/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1317787200;}i:7;a:8:{s:5:"title";s:22:"My Bag: Stuart Appleby";s:4:"guid";s:72:"http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/0,28224,2095242,00.html?eref=golf";s:4:"link";s:72:"http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~3/0oE_5jF1v_Q/0,28224,2095242,00.html";s:11:"description";s:91:"<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/0oE_5jF1v_Q" height="1" width="1"/>";s:7:"pubdate";s:29:"Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT";s:10:"feedburner";a:1:{s:8:"origlink";s:72:"http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/0,28224,2095242,00.html?eref=golf";}s:7:"summary";s:91:"<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/0oE_5jF1v_Q" height="1" width="1"/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1317787200;}i:8;a:8:{s:5:"title";s:67:"Hot? Na, Tiger and Northern Ireland. Not? Rory, Watney and the LPGA";s:4:"guid";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096221,00.html?eref=golf";s:4:"link";s:72:"http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~3/7IcxGju6AFc/0,28136,2096221,00.html";s:11:"description";s:2632:"HOT1. Kevin Na. A survivor of a 16 on a par 4 and a near-whiff, he's now a PGA Tour winner. I can't decide if he's the most fragile or the toughest guy in golf.2. Tiger Woods. Does anybody really care what a Tour pro shoots when he's off-duty? In Tiger's case, yes. The course record at Medalist is intriguing and only serves to ratchet up the hype for his return this week at the Frys.com Open, which will be a veritable Tiger-palooza. And that's just for showing up. Imagine if he wins!3. Northern Ireland. At this point I'm guessing you could just pull some random guy off the street in Portrush and give him a logoed polo and he would be able to go out and win an important golf tournament.4. Kenny Perry. The big-hearted country boy has looked adrift on the senior tour, but he got an emotional first win by playing to honor his sister Kay, who died on the eve of the final round. When it was over, all of Franklin, Ky., cried along with KP.5. Justin Timberlake. He could be squiring starlets or making multi-platinum records, but instead he puts a big effort into a little PGA Tour event, and the worthy cause it supports. Pretty cool.NOT1. PGA Tour schedulers. It'd be even cooler if the Tour would give JT a decent date in the "regular season" to ensure his involvement and the long-term health of the tourney. I say add Vegas to the desert swing in February and move Pebble to better weather in the summer, but that's just me.2. Rory McIlroy. Golf's boy king is still trying to build on his U.S. Open breakthrough. On Sunday at the Dunhill he tore up the Old Course for 11 holes to take the lead but then looked strangely tentative coming home, settling for another disappointing near-miss. It's clear Rory can blow away fields when he's on-song. The harder part is learning to win Sunday dogfights. I guess we'll have to be a little more patient.3. Nick Watney. He was in prime position to become the only three-time winner on Tour and interject himself into the player of the year debate, but he had to settle for just another lucrative week. See, Nick, the better you play the more we expect of you. Just ask Rory.4. The LPGA. The tour has its best buzz in years from Lexi Thompson's historic victory and an electric Solheim Cup, so of course the Asian swing begins this week, and we won't get Lexi or another domestic event until lateNovember. Oy.5. Kenny Harms. Kevin Na's poor caddie is compelled to plum-bob on every green for his boss. Even for a six-figure payday I'm not sure I could endure this soul-sucking ritual. Tweet<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/7IcxGju6AFc" height="1" width="1"/>";s:7:"pubdate";s:29:"Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT";s:10:"feedburner";a:1:{s:8:"origlink";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096221,00.html?eref=golf";}s:7:"summary";s:2632:"HOT1. Kevin Na. A survivor of a 16 on a par 4 and a near-whiff, he's now a PGA Tour winner. I can't decide if he's the most fragile or the toughest guy in golf.2. Tiger Woods. Does anybody really care what a Tour pro shoots when he's off-duty? In Tiger's case, yes. The course record at Medalist is intriguing and only serves to ratchet up the hype for his return this week at the Frys.com Open, which will be a veritable Tiger-palooza. And that's just for showing up. Imagine if he wins!3. Northern Ireland. At this point I'm guessing you could just pull some random guy off the street in Portrush and give him a logoed polo and he would be able to go out and win an important golf tournament.4. Kenny Perry. The big-hearted country boy has looked adrift on the senior tour, but he got an emotional first win by playing to honor his sister Kay, who died on the eve of the final round. When it was over, all of Franklin, Ky., cried along with KP.5. Justin Timberlake. He could be squiring starlets or making multi-platinum records, but instead he puts a big effort into a little PGA Tour event, and the worthy cause it supports. Pretty cool.NOT1. PGA Tour schedulers. It'd be even cooler if the Tour would give JT a decent date in the "regular season" to ensure his involvement and the long-term health of the tourney. I say add Vegas to the desert swing in February and move Pebble to better weather in the summer, but that's just me.2. Rory McIlroy. Golf's boy king is still trying to build on his U.S. Open breakthrough. On Sunday at the Dunhill he tore up the Old Course for 11 holes to take the lead but then looked strangely tentative coming home, settling for another disappointing near-miss. It's clear Rory can blow away fields when he's on-song. The harder part is learning to win Sunday dogfights. I guess we'll have to be a little more patient.3. Nick Watney. He was in prime position to become the only three-time winner on Tour and interject himself into the player of the year debate, but he had to settle for just another lucrative week. See, Nick, the better you play the more we expect of you. Just ask Rory.4. The LPGA. The tour has its best buzz in years from Lexi Thompson's historic victory and an electric Solheim Cup, so of course the Asian swing begins this week, and we won't get Lexi or another domestic event until lateNovember. Oy.5. Kenny Harms. Kevin Na's poor caddie is compelled to plum-bob on every green for his boss. Even for a six-figure payday I'm not sure I could endure this soul-sucking ritual. Tweet<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/7IcxGju6AFc" height="1" width="1"/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1317700800;}i:9;a:8:{s:5:"title";s:58:"All signs point to Woods playing well at the Frys.com Open";s:4:"guid";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096205,00.html?eref=golf";s:4:"link";s:72:"http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~3/24m72Mb6x44/0,28136,2096205,00.html";s:11:"description";s:3481:"Tiger Woods returns to the PGA Tour this week and for once it's not a moment too soon.In the last couple years, Tiger has been repeatedly sidelined by scandal, injuries, marital problems -- we all know the list -- andeach time he returned it felt like he was rushing to get back from something. The 2010 Masters. The 2011 Players Championship. The 2011 PGA Championship. When he returns at the Frys.com Open at Cordevalle in Northern California, he'll be coming back on his own timetable. Thedust has finally settled, and I expect Tiger to play well.Everything points toward a good week for Tiger. He's now had plenty of time to work with new swing coach, Sean Foley. If it's going to work with Foley, then we should start to see it this week. I know it was only a practice round, but that 62 at Medalist he shot last week is a good sign. The caddie change is also good for him. Things hadobviously gotten stale with Steve Williams, and Joe LaCava, anexperience caddie whom Tiger knows and respects, is the perfect replacement.The venue is a great place for him as well. No disrespect to the Frys.com Open, but Tiger won't have to deal with the pressure of amajor this week. Nor will he dominate the media coverage. This isn'tnorthern Wisconsin; the Bay Area has a lot of other things going on.Tiger should swinging more comfortably than he has in a long time.I'll be watching three things extra-closely this week that should show if Tiger's on the right path.1. His driver: I want to see him going at the ball hard and not losingballs to the right.2. His health: He should be as healthy as he's ever going to be. Heturns 36 this December (can you believe that?) and it never gets anyeasier coming back from injury. Basically, he's learning to deal withthings that basically hurt all the time.3. His short game: If he's going to come back, it's crucial he lookcomfortable on and around the greens. We always talk about PhilMickelson's brilliance in the short game -- and Mickelson isspectacular--but when Tiger is on his game no one comes close to hischipping and pitching.I'm not predicting a win. There's going to be some rust--how couldthere not be--but I expect him to play well, as well as we've seenin a long time. (The Masters is a special case because he'll always beable to compete on that course.) He's going to hit some loose shots--that's inevitable with a hard swing. The important thing is that hemisses correctly. At the height of his game, Tiger could make birdiesand pars with his short game from places no one thought possible. Hisproblem this year is that he's been missing in the wrong places,places where he couldn't recover from.It's strange see Tiger at a Fall Series event. In a lot of ways, it'slike 1996 all over again. His critics in the media and the publicaren't giving him a free pass anymore. Tiger knows a lot of people arewriting him off and I think he feels he has a lot to prove. I've beenskeptical based on what I saw earlier in the year. But this is theperfect scenario: new swing, new caddie, easy tournament. He's goingout there to get his game back. Those of us who've watched him sincehis junior golf days want to see signs that he's going in the rightdirection and some flashes of the old Tiger Woods. I don't want to seehim hitting houses, making poor chips, and missing four-footers. Ifthat happens again, it's time to start really worrying.Tweet<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/24m72Mb6x44" height="1" width="1"/>";s:7:"pubdate";s:29:"Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:00:00 EDT";s:10:"feedburner";a:1:{s:8:"origlink";s:77:"http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2096205,00.html?eref=golf";}s:7:"summary";s:3481:"Tiger Woods returns to the PGA Tour this week and for once it's not a moment too soon.In the last couple years, Tiger has been repeatedly sidelined by scandal, injuries, marital problems -- we all know the list -- andeach time he returned it felt like he was rushing to get back from something. The 2010 Masters. The 2011 Players Championship. The 2011 PGA Championship. When he returns at the Frys.com Open at Cordevalle in Northern California, he'll be coming back on his own timetable. Thedust has finally settled, and I expect Tiger to play well.Everything points toward a good week for Tiger. He's now had plenty of time to work with new swing coach, Sean Foley. If it's going to work with Foley, then we should start to see it this week. I know it was only a practice round, but that 62 at Medalist he shot last week is a good sign. The caddie change is also good for him. Things hadobviously gotten stale with Steve Williams, and Joe LaCava, anexperience caddie whom Tiger knows and respects, is the perfect replacement.The venue is a great place for him as well. No disrespect to the Frys.com Open, but Tiger won't have to deal with the pressure of amajor this week. Nor will he dominate the media coverage. This isn'tnorthern Wisconsin; the Bay Area has a lot of other things going on.Tiger should swinging more comfortably than he has in a long time.I'll be watching three things extra-closely this week that should show if Tiger's on the right path.1. His driver: I want to see him going at the ball hard and not losingballs to the right.2. His health: He should be as healthy as he's ever going to be. Heturns 36 this December (can you believe that?) and it never gets anyeasier coming back from injury. Basically, he's learning to deal withthings that basically hurt all the time.3. His short game: If he's going to come back, it's crucial he lookcomfortable on and around the greens. We always talk about PhilMickelson's brilliance in the short game -- and Mickelson isspectacular--but when Tiger is on his game no one comes close to hischipping and pitching.I'm not predicting a win. There's going to be some rust--how couldthere not be--but I expect him to play well, as well as we've seenin a long time. (The Masters is a special case because he'll always beable to compete on that course.) He's going to hit some loose shots--that's inevitable with a hard swing. The important thing is that hemisses correctly. At the height of his game, Tiger could make birdiesand pars with his short game from places no one thought possible. Hisproblem this year is that he's been missing in the wrong places,places where he couldn't recover from.It's strange see Tiger at a Fall Series event. In a lot of ways, it'slike 1996 all over again. His critics in the media and the publicaren't giving him a free pass anymore. Tiger knows a lot of people arewriting him off and I think he feels he has a lot to prove. I've beenskeptical based on what I saw earlier in the year. But this is theperfect scenario: new swing, new caddie, easy tournament. He's goingout there to get his game back. Those of us who've watched him sincehis junior golf days want to see signs that he's going in the rightdirection and some flashes of the old Tiger Woods. I don't want to seehim hitting houses, making poor chips, and missing four-footers. Ifthat happens again, it's time to start really worrying.Tweet<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rss/si_golf/~4/24m72Mb6x44" height="1" width="1"/>";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1317700800;}}s:7:"channel";a:8:{s:5:"title";s:13:"SI.com - Golf";s:4:"link";s:26:"http://golf.com/?eref=golf";s:11:"description";s:247:"SI.com is the league leader in original in-depth coverage of professional, local, college and international sports. And we're updated continuously, delivering the level of rich in-depth coverage Sports Illustrated fans demand, at the speed of CNN.";s:8:"language";s:5:"en-us";s:9:"copyright";s:36:"© 2011 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.";s:7:"pubdate";s:29:"Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:49:41 EDT";s:3:"ttl";s:2:"10";s:7:"tagline";s:247:"SI.com is the league leader in original in-depth coverage of professional, local, college and international sports. And we're updated continuously, delivering the level of rich in-depth coverage Sports Illustrated fans demand, at the speed of CNN.";}s:9:"textinput";a:0:{}s:5:"image";a:6:{s:5:"title";s:13:"SI.com - Golf";s:4:"link";s:26:"http://golf.com/?eref=golf";s:3:"url";s:62:"http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/1.0/misc/logo.rss.gif";s:5:"width";s:2:"96";s:6:"height";s:2:"36";s:11:"description";s:247:"SI.com is the league leader in original in-depth coverage of professional, local, college and international sports. 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