From the January 30 edition of Golf World Monday:

These days, golf's participation malaise -- fueled by issues of time, access and difficulty -- rivals the economy as a discussion point whenever the game's civic leaders gather in one place, as they did last week at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. But the crisis -- if you want to call it that -- gained a prominent spokesman when Jack Nicklaus, speaking at a symposium to promote "Golf 2.0," the PGA of America's ambitious initiative to grow the game, revealed that among his 22 grandchildren, only one (nine-year-old G.T., the son of Jack's son Gary) plays golf "more than a little bit."

Photo by Getty Images

Consider that for a moment: In a family known for its enthusiasm for sports, with (presumably) no barriers of access or cost, led by a grandfather considered the greatest golfer who ever lived, and who raised three of four sons to become golf pros, exactly one of 22 grandchildren has gravitated to the game. The Golden Bear, as involved as any grandfather could be, says it's because golf is being "out-organized."

"Other sports are grabbing kids' attention and time," Nicklaus said. "Soccer, lacrosse, football, baseball, basketball ... [As a result] they don't have the time to play golf, and they are not being introduced to it. We have to fix that. We need to introduce golf to them in a way that is friendly and [that provides] early success so they stay with the game."

Golf has plenty of pressing matters, but youth participation might be the weightiest. If Jack Nicklaus can't get his grandkids to play golf, what hope do the rest of us have?

-- Geoff Russell
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What do you think about Jack's comments? Are you concerned about the declining number of children taking up the game? Sound off on our partner site, GolfWRX.com.

Kyle Stanley had his first real chance at a PGA Tour victory taken away from him by Steve Stricker's otherworldly up-and-down from a fairway bunker at last year's John Deere Classic. Amazingly, he came up empty in more painful fashion in his second opportunity for a maiden win.

Entering Sunday with a five-shot lead at the Farmers Insurance Open, the second-year man from Clemson birdied his first two holes at Torrey Pines' South Course and extended his margin by seven shots at one point. Meanwhile, Brandt Snedeker, starting his final round seven off the pace, was the only player making a charge. Even with a kick-in birdie on No. 18 for a 67, though, Snedeker signed his scorecard still trailing by three with Stanley only having the easy par-5 closing hole.

As you can see in the following highlights, however, no lead is ever safe:

Following his stunning triple bogey, Stanley bounced back to birdie 18 in the playoff. Unfortunately for him, so did Snedeker, who then parred the difficult par-3 16th to win on the second extra hole. While the Vanderbilt product picked up his third career win, Stanley, 24, was left without any to his credit, despite the fact victory looked certain enough for a premature winning check to be made out to him.

"The one and only Tiger Woods," the announcer said at the 18th green of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club on Sunday, as an imposter wearing a red shirt but otherwise bearing no resemblance to the one and only made his way onto the green.

The final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Champions provided a perfect platform from which to make a resounding statement, that the throne that Woods ceded when a fire hydrant came between him and has assault on history was only on loan.

Woods was beating an elite field that included Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer, numbers 1 through 4 in the World Ranking, and he shared the lead with Robert Rock, a former club pro, who was "struggling to crack the 100 mark [in the World Ranking]," he said.

Winning once was a formality in such circumstances, his the most imposing shadow in the history of golf. He routinely feasted on the best players, winning 14 major championships and 16 World Golf Championship events.

But Sundays no longer are scripted and Rock was better at improvisation on this one. He shot a two-under par 70 that included clutch birdies at 14 and 16 while Woods made eight straight pars to close with a 72 and tied for third.

Are you a fan of Golf World's weekly "Front 9" magazine feature? If so, we're offering you a chance to co-author it.

Inspired by The New Yorker's cartoon-caption writing contest, Golf World is featuring the "Front 9 Punchline Contest" in each issue. Here's how it works: Every Sunday around noon, Golf World's editors will post a Front 9 setup line to our magazine's Facebook page. We'll give you until 3 p.m. on Monday to enter your best punchline to that setup.

(An example from a recent Front 9: LPGA releases 2012 schedule; number of events increases from 23 to 27.

It's only January, but is it too soon to pay commissioner Mike Whan his bonus?)

Golf World editors will then select the winning entry, which will appear (along with the writer's name and hometown) in that week's issue of Golf World. In addition to having their entry published in the magazine, winners will receive an official Golf World logo hat.

Our last winner was John Fox of Wyoming, Ohio, whose winning entry appeared in the Jan. 30 issue of the magazine:

The set-up line: Donald Trump threatens to shut down Scottish golf project because of nearby wind farms.

The winning punchline: "Giving new meaning to the term, 'Earth, Wind and Fired.' " 

-- Geoff Russell, Golf World Editor-In-Chief

With an eye on the future and on promoting the game of golf, Golf Digest announced two exciting partnerships on Thursday.

The first, with GolfLogix, which specializes in GPS and club-tracking technology, will help spread the magazine's instruction content. The nearly 1.5 million GolfLogix members using the company's smartphone app will receive customized instruction from Golf Digest.

"This is the new frontier for helping people learn to play golf -- the next step in transforming Golf Digest the magazine into Golf Digest Live," said Golf Digest Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde. "Much like a good caddie or swing coach, this app gives golfers personalized feedback based on their tendencies, needs and interests -- on the course, on the range and at their leisure. It combines our leadership in golf instruction and service with GolfLogix's unmatched GPS technology and robust membership."

Beginning in the spring of 2012, GolfLogix will include Golf Digest content from the best players and teachers in the game. The No. 1 App in Golf continuously captures stats during the round, prompting personalized feedback and instant tips to be sent from Golf Digest's instruction vault. The software will also prescribe drills and videos for use on the range, plus an interactive curriculum to be enjoyed at home.

Golf Digest also announced a partnership with GolfNow, the leading electronic tee time reservation platform. Readers will be able to book tee times from GolfDigest.com on more than 3,500 courses participating in the GolfNow network. GolfNow will incorporate Golf Digest's comprehensive biennial rankings of America's 100 Greatest Courses, America's 100 Greatest Public Courses and Best In State courses into its listings on GolfNow.com and its iPhone application. In addition, Golf Digest will also provide other editorial content, including pictures and reviews, to GolfNow users.

Golf's surprising lead funny man is at it again. Ben Crane has released his latest parody video, this time chronicling his time growing up as a gymnast.

Titled "The Lost Love," Crane returns to the gym to see how well his "raw talent" has held up over the years. As you can see in the following footage, he's no Mary Lou Retton:

Unlike in his previous videos -- the "Golf Boys" music video excluded -- Crane enlists an Ian Poulter lookalike as his childhood gymnastics coach. In what sounds like an attempt at a Romanian accent, the tough trainer delivers the clip's best line:

"He could flip like angel... and now, he move like slow boar."

Moments later, another gem:

"He wasted his life."

The 2011 golf season will be hard to beat for two sets of golfers who experienced golf nirvana at Crooked River Ranch Golf Course near Bend, Ore. The course itself will have a hard time topping what took place in 2011 as well.

On two occasions, July 28 and Oct. 28, two golfers each aced a hole while playing in the same group. While the feat of two golfers acing in the same group has been done dozens of times in our record keeping, having it happen twice in a year at the same course is indeed a rarity and it could be a first. It's a feat not easily checked in all our record books. Trumping this feat, of course, would be having more than two golfers making a hole-in-one on the same day on the same course, and probably the most famous of that is when four players aced the sixth hole at Oak Hill in the second round of the 1989 U.S. Open.

But let's not spoil the fun for our Crooked River achievers. On July 28, Jan Markham used an 8-iron to ace the 11th hole, 106 yards from the red tees, her fourth hole-in-one. Her friend and playing partner, Ellie Rice, was happy for her pal but since it was the third time she'd witnessed an ace in a year's time without ever getting one of her own, she wasn't totally overjoyed. And she wasn't likely to see one then, either, since we list odds of 17 million to 1 for two average players acing the same hole in the same group. After another group member, Anita Britton, played her tee shot to the back of the green, however, Rice struck her pitching wedge, watched the ball land short, right of the hole, and then roll in for an ace on top of Markham's ball.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- The questions were pretty much the same as usual and so, predictably, were the responses from the world's No. 25-ranked player. So it is that, in no particular order, we can unoriginally and non-exclusively reveal the unsurprising news that Tiger Woods' playing schedule is indeed influenced by his receipt of appearance fees; that the 14-time major champion is in no mood to comment further on Hank Haney's soon-to-be released book; that he prefers baseball to cricket; that he played jolly well in Australia at the back end of last year; that Luke Donald is the top-ranked golfer on the planet; and that playing under pressure these days is just the same as it ever was.

Woods' choice of tournaments -- both at home and abroad -- has forever been the subject of some moaning and groaning from a variety of folks, of course. "Not enough regular events at home," say some. "Too much 'showing up' money," complain others. And "too many weeks off," is the beef attributed to those simply anxious to see Woods in action more often.

That last bit may change, however, especially if Woods wants to maintain his income level. Strong rumor has it that the cost of bringing him here to the capital of the United Arab Emirates was a mere $1.5m. In other words, half of what he was commanding pre-scandal.

Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

"It used to be that you had to have Tiger if you wanted to create a really big event," says one European Tour insider. "But now, while it is still great to have him here, with the field they have assembled (six of the top ten and 16 of the top 50 are here) he isn't absolutely necessary."