(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

DUBLIN, Ohio -- The last time Muirfield Village GC played as firm and fast as it did Thursday in the opening round of the Memorial Tournament, Jim Furyk remembers playing exceptionally but finishing second.

That was in 2009. The winner was Tiger Woods.

"It was scary fast that year," Furyk said. "These aren't quite there, but they're quick. A good score is out there, but you have to play some good golf to get it."

Woods did just that. The only four-time winner of the Memorial bounced back from a sloppy double-bogey to post a 2-under-par 70 on a sunny and cool morning in central Ohio. It was his lowest opening round of the year since he shot 69 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, which he won.

(Getty Images photo)

DUBLIN, Ohio - Rory McIlroy hasn't lost his sense of humor, even if he has momentarily lost his golf game.

After the shocking development of consecutive missed cuts, the reigning U.S. Open champion has slipped behind Luke Donald to No. 2 in the world. As a result of his recent poor play, he not only is entered in this week's Memorial Tournament, but also has added next week's FedEx St. Jude Classic before embarking for San Francisco and defense of his Open title at Olympic Club.

McIlroy, 23, of Northern Ireland, is among seven of the top 10 players in the world competing in the 37th Memorial that begins Thursday at Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield Village GC. The field also includes Donald, four-time winner Tiger Woods and 2011 winner Steve Stricker.

"I just feel like I need some rounds. These two-day weeks aren't really that good for me, so I just want to get some competitive rounds in," McIlroy, drawing laughs, said Wednesday when asked about his detour to Memphis next week. "I'm working on a few things, and I feel trying to put them into competition will be the best way for me to prepare going into the U.S. Open."

Asked when he will arrive at Olympic Club, McIlroy replied, with a sheepish grin, "I'm planning on getting there on Sunday night. Do you know what I mean?"

McIlroy, who finished fifth at last year's Memorial, picked an untimely stretch for poor play, missing the cut in consecutive big events -- at The Players in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and the BMW Championship at Wentworth in England.

Earlier this year, McIlroy's game looked as good as ever as he opened his U.S. schedule with three straight top-3 finishes, including a victory in the Honda Classic. But his game hasn't been the same since then, including a disappointing Masters where he ended up T-40.

"Everyone goes through this, where they just don't feel that comfortable with their game," he conceded, noting that he also is trying to find some equilibrium between his professional and personal life. Both keep him busy and traveling; McIlroy is dating one of the world's top women tennis players, Caroline Wozniacki.

To regain some measure of comfort and familiarity with his vaunted swing, one of golf's most impeccable, McIlroy has been getting reacquainted with the practice tee. He and swing coach Michael Bannon stormed the range at Wentworth, mining the dirt there for six hours, and Bannon has accompanied McIlroy to Muirfield Village.

"We've done some good work, identified a few things in my swing that we just need to look at," McIlroy said. "You know, when you've went on a run where you've hardly finished outside the top five and then all of a sudden two missed cuts, it's more of a shock than anything else, just a little bit surprising, and it's something I haven't really had to deal with in a while, and I just have to knuckle down and figure it out and get back to the way I was at the start of the year."

Donald, who has risen to No. 1 in the world for a fourth time, said he can understand how a player as talented as McIlroy can hit a rut. It happens. It's golf.

"I think Rory talked about it, that he maybe took his eye off the ball," said Donald, who regained the No. 1 slot by defending his title at Wentworth. "I remember when I was 23 and had an attractive girlfriend, I would take my eye off the ball sometimes, as well. You can't blame the kid. But he's obviously realized that, and it looks like he's trying to focus on practicing a little bit harder and getting back to what he does.

"It's a tough game, this game. ... It's a fickle game, and it's tough. You've just got to work through it."

-- Dave Shedloski

Depending on your entertainment taste, you likely think that The Golf Boys are either a great thing for golf, or a great annoyance.

Either fortunately or unfortunately, golf's one and only boy band isn't going away anytime soon.

Undeniable, however, is these guys' passion for charity. At the much-anticipated Bubba's Bash held last night in Ohio ahead of the Memorial, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan and Ben Crane performed their infamous song that's likely familiar to the fan of the PGA Tour.

Now, we have a live edition to either haunt our dreams or embrace.

Check it out:

DUBLIN, Ohio - It's been a long road for Nick Price to the captaincy of the International Presidents Cup team.

Price on Tuesday was formally introduced as the captain for the 2013 Presidents Cup at Muirfield Village GC. The native of Zimbabwe will serve opposite Fred Couples, who will be the U.S. skipper for a third straight time after successful turns in 2009 and '11.

Price and Couples will be going head-to-head at Muirfield Village in 2013.

Photo by Getty Images

The affable Price, a three-time major champion, confirmed a story first reported in the Nov. 28, 2011 edition of Golf World Monday that he was offered the captaincy in 2007 for the '09 Presidents Cup at Harding Park in San Francisco. Price, however, turned it down so that longtime friend Greg Norman could serve first.

Norman, of course, remained captain for the 2011 matches in Melbourne, Australia.

"It was a two-fold, and maybe a three-fold, decision on my part," Price, 55, explained Tuesday afternoon at Muirfield Village. "First of all, that was back in '07 when they came to me, and that was my first year on the Champions Tour, and I wanted to play a little and concentrate on my game a bit.

Is golf a sport? Who among us has not had that debate with those who don't play and often present points that are difficult to refute, notably successful tour players known as the Walrus, Lumpy, Porky and Fat Jack.

A website called ProCon.org, which describes itself as "a nonpartisan research organization devoted to critical thinking on controversial issues," is asking that question.

For all the headway Tiger Woods has made in making golfers strive to be more athletic, there is John Daly. Photos by Getty Images

It would be a stretch to call this a controversial issue, but whether golf is a sport is an age-old debate that ProCon.org, temporarily veering from more weighty subject matter (fossil fuels vs. alternative energy) tackles in its typical comprehensive fashion.

In this case, it presents 12 arguments on each side of the issue. Among the 12 is both sides arguing about the dictionary definition of a sport vs. a game. Pro: "Merriam-Webster defines sport as 'physical activity engaged in for pleasure: a particular activity (as an athletic game).'" Con: "Golf better matches the defintion of a game than a sport. Merriam-Webster defines a game as an 'activity engaged in for diversion or amusement.'"

To counter the argument that "the golf swing uses at least 17 muscle groups in the coordinated movement of the hands, wrists, arms, abdomen, and legs according to a study in the British Medical Journal," the Con side cites John Daly. Well, not specifically, but it does say that "if it can be done while drinking and smoking, then it is not a sport." The website does feature a photograph of an overweight Daly hitting a shot with a cigarette in his mouth.

There is more, including the Con side arguing that it isn't a sport if it can be played by a golfer with a broken leg (Tiger Woods in he 2008 U.S. Open), while the Pro side notes the number of injuries incurred by golfers, citing a European Journal of Sports Science study that claims approximately 88 percent of professional golfers suffer injuries each year.

ProCon.org, itself, does not arrive at conclusions, so one is left to decide for himself. However, it did cite this:

"Popular Science asked the question, Is Tiger Woods proof that golf is a sport, or is John Daly confirmation to the contrary?' and determined that the answer 'probably depends on whether you've got a set of clubs in the garage.'"

-- John Strege

San Diego native and resident Phil Mickelson is interested in purchasing a piece of the San Diego Padres, the San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting.

"I've had the opportunity to invest in other sports franchises, and I've turned it down in the past," Mickelson told the newspaper Monday morning. "This was a unique opportunity with families that had done this before and know how to do it right and want to get involved in the community."

Mickelson, who ranked second in the most recent Golf Digest 50 of the game's top earners with $42 million in income in 2011, declined an opportunity to buy into the Padres in 2009.

"I was approached by the new ownership group several times," Mickelson told the Union-Tribune then. "I took a look at it and thought it could be a great deal for someone. But at this point I'm just not interested in being a part of any sports franchise."

Mickelson has joined a group headed by four grandsons of former Dodgers' owner Walter O'Malley that is interested in purchasing the team from majority owner John Moores, the newspaper is reporting. They include Kevin and Brian O'Malley, whose father was Dodgers co-owner Peter O'Malley, and their cousins Peter and Tom Seidler, whose mother is O'Malley's sister Terry Seidler. Peter O'Malley is orchestrating the effort, though reportedly is not interested in playing an active role should the group succeed in its bid.

"When we met with Phil we were inspired by his commitment to San Diego and his passion for the Padres," Kevin O'Malley said through a family spokesman. "He is a world-class person, athlete and businessman with a strong history of charitable leadership and he will be an ideal partner for many years in San Diego."

-- John Strege

(Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

It was a scene from the pages of history, which at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial tends to suggest that Hogan was its author. But this one was written by another legend from the same era and oddly re-enacted at the conclusion of an altogether strange afternoon on Sunday.

For the record, Zach Johnson won, which was less of a surprise than the fact that Jason Dufner lost. More on that momentarily.

Fifty-five years ago, at the '57 British Open, Bobby Locke won by three only for officials to learn later that Locke had forgotten to return his ball marker to its original position after moving it a putter-head to clear it from Bruce Crampton's putting line. He then putted out from the wrong place.

Locke could have been disqualified, but the Royal and Ancient ultimately decreed that "with his three-shot lead and no advantage having been gained, the equity and spirit of the game dictated that he should not be disqualified."

Related: Golf's costliest rules blunders.

The equity and spirit of the game were not applicable at Colonial Country Club on Sunday, when Johnson carried a three-stroke lead into the final hole and similarly moved his ball marker a putter-head away to clear a line for Dufner, then forgot to replace it.

(Getty Images photo)

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. - For three nights running, Roger Chapman has eaten dinner with a book and his thoughts at the Grande Mere Inn in nearby Stevensville.

He was planning a fourth visit Saturday night. And why not?

Chapman's third round of the 73rd Senior PGA Championship was his best yet at the GC of Harbor Shores, a brilliant, seven-under 64 that put him at 14-under and five strokes ahead of John Cook after 54 holes.

The Englishman's 54-hole total of 199 matched the championship record held by Sam Snead, and his ball-striking today would have been something the Slammer would have admired. Chapman, utilizing what he described as the best iron play of his life, peppered the flagsticks throughout the day and holed a pair of 25-foot birdie putts to boot.

"It was pretty special," Chapman said. "Coming here I had no real expectations, but I knew I was playing OK and everything the first three rounds has gone really well for me."

He has hit 48 of 54 greens through 54 holes, the type of golf that makes one wonder why he only won once during his long European Tour career.

That victory, in the 2000 Brazil Rio de Janeiro 500 Years Open over Padraig Harrington in a playoff, came on his 472nd start. He never won again, and at 53 is still looking for his first win on the European senior circuit after playing a truncated schedule on the Champions Tour last year.

At Harbor Shores, Chapman has looked like he is on cruise control. "He's swinging the club beautifully, and his distance control has been spot on," said Cook, who was grouped with Chapman Saturday. "And he's used those ridges [on the greens] perfectly. It really was a great round to watch. If he keeps swinging the way he is right now, it's going to be tough. Somebody's going to have to shoot something very low."

Harbor Shores has a lot of trouble, but so far Chapman has avoided most of it with rounds of 68, 67 and today's course-record tying 64. His challenge will be to stay clear of it again tomorrow, even with the comfortable cushion starting the day. After Cook at nine under, Steve Pate and Hale Irwin are tied for third place, seven shots behind the leader, with Joel Edwards another stroke back in fifth place.

"There's a lot of trouble out there," Cook said. "If you don't quite have it, it can make you look silly."

Through 54 holes, Chapman has simply looked superb.

-- Bill Fields

(Photo by Getty Images)

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- When Hale Irwin got to the Senior PGA Championship this week and heard so much carping from his peers about the severe greens at Harbor Shores, it reminded him of a championship long ago.

"Well, it reminds me a lot of Winged Foot in '74," Irwin said. "There were a lot of disgruntled players in '74, and 70 percent of them were out of the tournament before the tournament even started."

The dogged Irwin, of course, survived Winged Foot's rigors in 1974 to win the first of his three U.S. Opens. Through two rounds of the Senior PGA, Irwin is in the thick of contention at age 66. He matched his age Friday in a remarkable ball-striking display that moved him to five-under 137, in third place, two shots behind Roger Chapman and John Cook.

"He played behind me and I knew he got off to a good start and it looked like he was making birdies on every hole," Cook said. "And I go, 'Oh my God, look at this, we're battling around there just trying to make pars and here's this 66-year-old just whipping our butts.'"

Irwin three-putted the par-5 ninth hole (his 18th) for his lone bogey of the day. He missed six birdie putts inside 15 feet on a day that could have truly been something to talk about. "I really didn't putt very well," Irwin said, "I just played very, very well."

Irwin's shotmaking was personified by a beautiful, cut 5-iron on his 11th hole, a 176-yard par 3, where his ball chased back to within five feet of a rear hole location. He has only had one top-10 finish this season on the Champions Tour (in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf with partner Ian Baker-Finch) but is inspired by the tougher challenges at the senior majors.

"These are exacting golf courses and they require exacting shots," Irwin said. "And that's the way it should be and why I think there are some of us that look so forward to these kind of events. And if I can do well in them, exel in them and have a chance the last day, then - I hate the term - that's what it's all about. That's why we continue doing what we do and continue trying to push that bar beyond where some people might stop. I just don't believe in that. It's just not in me to do that."

At Valhalla GC last year, Irwin made a spirited run at his fifth Senior PGA Championship, sharing the 54-hole lead before closing with a 73 to finish two shots out of the Tom Watson-David Eger playoff won by Watson. Now, with two rounds to play at Harbor Shores, Irwin is right back in the mix.

"He's such an inspiration," said Cook. "Hale just keeps getting it done."

-- Bill Fields