PALM COAST, Fla. -- Danny Wuerffel, the former NFL quarterback who won the 1996 Heisman Trophy while playing for the University of Florida, has found life after football. Wuerffel, who played in the pro-am Wednesday at the Ginn Sur Mer Classic at The Conservatory at Hammock Beach with Chris DiMarco, is executive director of Desire Street Ministries, a charity whose mission is to revitalize impoverished neighborhoods through spiritual and community development. The ministry was the benefiting charity of this week's PGA Tour pro-am.

DSM was founded in 1990 in the Desire neighborhood of the Upper Ninth Ward, the area of New Orleans hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. Wuerffel, who played for the New Orleans Saints as well as the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins, retired from football in 2004 to work fulltime at DSM. He became executive director in 2006.

The Upper Ninth Ward was submerged under eight feet of water when the levees were breached in the wake of Katrina and DSM coordinated more than 1,200 volunteers to clean up 150 damaged structures in the area. Wuerffel says the ministry approaches problems in a holistic way, addressing physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs.

DSM, which educates future community leaders at the  Desire Street Academy in Baton Rouge and has projects in other urban areas in the Southeast, partnered with Ninth Ward residents in 2006 to found a community development corporation which is now renovating neighborhood homes and plans to begin building new affordable housing as soon as funding can be secured.

More information about the ministry can be found at www.desirestreet.org.

--Ron Sirak

Erik Compton is getting a sponsor's invitation to the PGA Tour's Children's Miracle Network Classic next week at Disney World. ESPN.com's Bob Harig talks with Compton, whose battle to overcome two heart transplants has been a storyline this fall as he attempts to gain Tour playing privledges through three stages of Q-School.

-- Golf Digest Digital Staff

The USGA has announced its nominees for the 2009 Executive Committee, which will be voted on at its annual meeting in Newport Beach, Calif., next February. No surprise in the fact that Jim Vernon (right) is on the slate to serve his second one-year term as president. Jim Hyler and Cameron Raines also are set to return as vice presidents while James Bunch (secretary) and Irv Fish (treasurer) have been nominated for ExCom officer posts.

There are three new nominees to serve on 15-person governing body: Glen D. Nager, the current general counsel from Washington D.C.; Christopher A. Liedel, executive VP and CFO of the National Geographic Society; and Atlanta native Gene B. McClure, a long-time USGA volunteer who won the association's Joe Dey Award last February. They replace retiring ExCom members Missy Crisp (the current secretary), Fred Nelson (current treasurer) and Bill Lewis.

Additionally, Joseph W. Anthony of Minneapolis has been nominated to replace Nager as USGA general counsel.

-- Ryan Herrington

(Photo: John Mummert/USGA)

As reported by the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom, Padraig Harrington, winner of the '07 and '08 British Opens and '08 PGA Championship, has decided to extend his equipment contract with Wilson. Reportedly, Harrington turned down offers of as much as $4 million-plus per year from other manufacturers to stay with Wilson. Estimates place the value of his new three-year deal at more than $9 million.

-- Michael Erdman

    Erik Compton got a new heart last May but after two days of the first stage of the PGA Tour qualifying school across the Biscayne Bay from the hospital where he received his transplant, he felt more in need of a new brain. "On the course, I am my own worst enemy," said Compton after his opening rounds of 76-75 on Crandon Golf in Key Biscayne, Fla. I get too caught up in what this is instead of just going out and playing. That's why I've been the king of minor league events. It's a mindset. Even after the transplant and all the stuff I've been through, I still come out to the course as the same person--a nut bag."

    But a nut bag with a future. Just a few months ago, before Compton had his second heart transplant on May 20, his future was being measured in hours, certainly not days and definitely not years. Compton was using a golf cart to get around the 7,354-yard, par-72 Crandon course, once the host for a Champions Tour event won by the likes of Lee Trevino, Larry Nelson and, ironically, David Graham, who struggles now with degenerative heart issues himself. The 28-year-old Compton is the first player since Casey Martin to use a golf cart in a tour-sanctioned event.

    "I played on the Nationwide with him," Martin said of Compton. "Every time we saw each other, he'd say, 'Hey, how's your leg?' Good. I'd say, 'Hey how's your heart?' Good. See you. Every time, that's what we did." Thanks to Martin, Compton's road to accessing a golf cart was not nearly as bumpy as Martin's had been. "Once that happened," Martin said of his legal battle with the PGA Tour, which reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2001, "I think now they have a process in place that they can review things like this. He definitely qualified. What were they going to gain by fighting it? They were just going to lose again. Better to do what they did and make it a slam dunk."

    Playing with a homemade yardage book in his pocket, the long-hitting Compton only managed two birdies over two days on a course with five par 5s. "I'm just not hitting it good," he says, refusing to make his surgery his excuse. "I'm duck hooking everything. It'll come back. It's just two bad rounds of golf. The worst I could have shot today is what I shot and the worst I could have shot yesterday is what I shot. I'm just not getting anything out of the golf rounds."

    Compton played in a one-day mini-tour event two weeks ago and shot 67; last week he shot 65 in a practice round at Crandon. "Everything was going straight then," he says with a shrug. "I've [been playing] very conservative. Hit a lot of irons and ended up making mistakes. I have to execute from the fairway. I only hit four greens today."
    Even though he shot three-over-par 75, it was a good day in one respect: It was the first day in 18 years, he'd been off his steroid medication. "I got some blood work back," he said. "They cut it off last night. That's a milestone for me. My muscles will [eventually] be stronger. Actually, it [steroids] destroys your muscle tissue."

    Under the best of circumstances, getting through three stages of qualifying school is a long shot. "The chances that somebody from this qualifier will get his card from the PGA Tour is, what, 3 percent?" Compton asks.

    His slow start makes the climb only steeper. Chip Sullivan and Cesar Costilla were leading the South Florida qualifier at four-under-par 140. Twenty-three players plus ties will advance to the second stage. Compton's seven-over-par total put him at T-55 but, with bad weather predicted for the next several days, the scoring is certain to get tougher.

"I could shoot three under or four under and still make it, I think," he said. "It's doable. It's not like it's not there. I still think I can qualify. If I get it going, you can shoot 64 out here. You can do it. I just have to get rid of that left shot."

--Jim Moriarty

Miami's Erik Compton, riding in a golf cart while recovering from his second heart transplant, shot a 4-over 76 in the first round of the opening stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School at Crandon Golf Course in Key Biscayne, Fla.

ESPN's Bob Harig followed Compton during the round.

-- Golf Digest Digital Staff

Tom Watson reports that he is pain-free after hip-replacement surgery Oct. 2, and on schedule to return to the Champions Tour early next year. He says he's watching more baseball than golf on television--and learning more about the game than he ever knew.

"I'm getting around without any assistance--a bit stiff, but this too will pass," he says. "I'm a little weak to hit a golf ball yet."

Watson, a boyhood center fielder, is particularly intrigued following the baseball playoffs by announcers' advanced insights into matchups between pitchers and hitters and their relative strengths and weaknesses. He frequently attends Kansas City Royals games when at home on his farm in outlying Stillwell, Kan.

--Nick Seitz

It had been rumored for a few weeks now, but it became official today: TaylorMade-Adidas Golf has agreed to purchase apparel manufacturer Ashworth in a transaction valued at $72.8 million.

Ashworth shares are being purchased for $1.90 in cash and the sale will mean TMAG will assume $46.3 million of the Ashworth's debt. The acquisition sets up TMAG as a new golf mega-brand with merchandise that can satisfy on- and off-course golf shops around the globe. Adding Ashworth also gains TMAG entree to resorts and private clubs that eschew active wear for lifestyle sportswear, trumping rival Nike Golf.

"We are excited to bring Ashworth alongside our industry-leading TaylorMade and Adidas Golf brands. TaylorMade-adidas Golf’s mission is to be the best performance golf company in the world and adding Ashworth is another important step in achieving that goal," Mark King, president and CEO of
TaylorMade-Adidas Golf, said in a written statement.

The merger of the Carlsbad, Calif.-based companies should be completed by the end of 2008.

-- Annmarie Dodd

SAN FRANCISCO -- The way Fred Couples looks at it, Michael Jordan has won six NBA Championships and knows team chemistry no matter what the sport, including golf. "I think he may be able to instill quite a bit to our team," Couples said Wednesday at Harding Park GC, where a year from this week he and M.J., along with Jay Haas, will be leading the 2009 U.S. Presidents Cup team.

"He's been to every Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup that I've played in," Couples said. "He's extremely passionate about the game of golf."

While Jordan was text-messaging Tiger Woods during the Ryder Cup, he was also texting Couples direct from Valhalla with a scouting report. He may even join Couples out on tour for a few events next year to help him evaluate players. Not that Tiger wasn't texting Couples on his own, saying how much he wants to play for him, but having Jordan around would be one other reason to get Woods fired up for the event.

While Jordan is in, Couples' people are still trying to reach Robin Williams' people about the comedian being part of the team room. Not that Boo Weekley's orangutan story will be old by then, but Couples thinks Williams is the funniest man in the world, and would keep things light.

"It's not mentioned loosely. It's not mentioned to be smart-alecky," Couples said about the idea of having Williams be a part of the U.S. effort. "It's something that if he did show up -- and I have no idea if he would -- I would think it would be the funniest time ever, because once you get up in the morning, [you are laughing at him] all day long."

While Couples has Jordan and possibly Williams as part of the entourage, it still sounds as though Greg Norman's International team will be heavily favored in the celebration department.

"We can out-drink their team, I can tell you that," the Shark said. "I'll put Ernie Els up against anybody."

-- Tim Rosaforte

SAN FRANCISCO -- U.S. captain Fred Couples can't wait for the 2009 Presidents Cup at Harding Park Golf Course, and is especially excited about having the world's No. 1 player, Tiger Woods on his side.

"He'll be ready," Couples said Wednesday. "He'll lead our team."

Woods is recovering from major knee surgery and is not expected to swing a club until next year. Assuming his rehabilitation goes smoothly, that should give him plenty of time to rebound for the Presidents Cup, Oct. 8-11. On his last visit to Harding Park, he won the 2005 American Express Championship, beating John Daly in a playoff.

Couples and Woods have communicated a lot lately.

"I texted Tiger before he hurt himself, after he hurt himself, all the time, and I texted him during the Ryder Cup just to see what he thought, probably six, seven times," said Couples. "I don't want to harass him.  But if there was a shot I would text and say, 'Did you see that?' And he would text back, 'Of course I saw that.  I'm watching it.' ''

For some, being paired with Woods in a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup is an eye-opening experience.

"I played on the same team with him and had him as my partner," Couples said. "I will say that as a partner, it's harder. Greg Norman was No. 1 in the world forever. He would be for me easier to play with, because we were a little bit closer because we played together more often.

"Tiger is a lot younger.  Not that Tiger is hard to play with.  It's just you have to play with him a lot. So a lot of these guys, the Hunter Mahan or Boo Weekley or Ben Curtis, they have never been in the last group with Tiger. It's okay to play with a guy like that Thursday and Friday. But when you're trying to beat him, it's a whole different thing.

"And so again, when he's on your team, he's a leader.  He has fun with the next guy in line or the 12th guy in line or the captain or the wives.  When you go play here next year, for instance, at Harding Park, obviously the foursome I have playing with Tiger, there will be more groups following his group than the other three groups the Americans have out there, that's a given.  He's not looking for that attention.  As a matter of fact, he's looking to hang with the boys."

Some have suggested the U.S. would not have won the recent Ryder Cup if Woods had played. Couples doesn't buy it.

"I think we would have," he said. "But the fact of the matter is, he's a team player and he's fun to be around and he's the best player in the world and I can't wait to have him on our team."

--Mark Soltau