Rory McIlroy doesn't appear to be lacking confidence, not in a week in which he told the media he "certainly believes" he's the best golfer in the world. 

But just in case the defending U.S. Open champion was in need of an ego boost, the San Francisco Giants announced yesterday that it'll give away Rory McIlroy bobbleheads at its Irish Heritage Night on June 12.

From a marketing perspective, the promotion seems like a "home run." Two days after the promotion, the 2012 U.S. Open will be contested at nearby Olympic Club in San Francisco. We gather that's a good way to boost interest for the casual golf fan in the Bay Area.

So what if the bobblehead looks little like the curly-haired 2011 U.S. Open winner? McIlroy doesn't seem to mind.

"The Bobblehead might be a little better looking than me, which is nice," McIlroy quipped when asked about the promotion after his round at the BMW PGA Championship.

We wonder if his star tennis girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki agrees.

Related: McIlroy named Golf World's No. 1 Newsmaker of 2011

Does McIlroy, from Belfast, Northern Ireland where he certainly grew up keeping an eye on soccer and rugby over the MLB, even care for baseball?

He seems to be warm enough to the idea, probably more so for the sake of the U.S. Open. He says he'll have some friends from the San Francisco area there to watch him, too.

McIlroy seemed to be practicing for his date on the mound during the first round of the BMW PGA as he tossed a club in disgust on the 12th hole Thursday.

"Obviously throwing the first pitch at a baseball game [is] something I've never done before," he said. "Just need to start practicing. I don't really want to make a fool of myself."

--Stephen Hennessey

Jack Nicklaus once said Tiger Woods would wind up with more Masters titles than he (six) and Arnold Palmer (four) combined. Who'd have thought it would be Lee Westwood who would get to 11 first?

That's right. With his successful title defense of the Indonesian Masters over the weekend, Westy picked up his 11th Masters title worldwide. Hip, hip, hooray! From the Quinn Direct British Masters and the Portugal Masters, to the Volvo Masters Andalucia and the Canon European Masters, I think it's safe to say that Westwood is the Master when it comes to winning Masters. And who could ever forget his three-peat at the Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters?! I'm pretty sure Paramount is in production right now for a movie depicting that historic feat.

Ohhh, wait.

Westwood poses in his latest (camouflage?) jacket. (Photo: Getty Images)

You mean Jack was specifically referring to the Masters that's played every year in Augusta and not some lesser imitator? My bad. In that case, to steal a line from the "Seinfeld" character J. Peterman (played by golf enthusiast John O'Hurley) "Congratulations on a job... done."

Look, Westwood is obviously a world-class player, but when you dig a little deeper into his 38 career wins as a pro (his first happened to come at the 1996 Volvo Scandinavian Masters), his resume leaves a lot to be desired, especially as someone who recently spent 22 weeks as the top-ranked player in the world. Even his two PGA Tour titles (yes, that's TWO, as in, one more than the totals of luminaries like Chris Couch and Eric Axley) aren't particularly impressive. He captured the Freeport-McDermott Classic (Now the Zurich Classic of New Orleans) in 1998 and the St. Jude Classic in 2010 thanks to Robert Garrigus' 72nd-hole meltdown. Sure, he's spent most of his career playing in Europe, but he also has yet to capture that tour's flagship event, the BMW PGA. If only it were called the BMW Masters instead...

Just a fun one this morning as we prepare for the second round of the Cadillac Championship to begin. Our friends across the pond at GolfingWorld.tv have an ongoing long drive competition where the contestants use wiffle balls instead of real golf balls and the longest-hitter sits atop with a whopping 33-meter launch, though there's been some discrepancy between the yard-hitters and the meter-hitters. In this week's installment, they bring in European Tour Pros Brett Rumford and Matt Zions--definite meter-hitters--to give them a shot at unseating the leader.

-- Derek Evers
Follow @DerekEvers

"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.

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."

After 53 tournaments in 26 countries and what the European Tour likes to call 29 "destinations," it has come down to this: the world's two top-ranked golfers, one strong probability and a correspondingly slim chance.

For Rory McIlroy, nothing less than a victory in the grandly titled Dubai World Championship will do, if he is to have any hope of winning the season-long "Race to Dubai" -- what was once the Order of Merit. And even if the U.S. Open champion does follow up his latest victory in Hong Kong with another win against 57 of the 60 highest earners on the European Tour this year (expectant father Justin Rose and the injured Fredrik Jacobson are missing), a tie for ninth spot this week alongside one other player will be enough for (34 today) Luke Donald to hold off the young Irishman on the money list. Should that very scenario come to pass, Donald will, unbelievably, finish first by the measly sum of €5.

Still, for all that he is the unlikeliest of eventual champions, McIlroy was making hopeful noises before the off. "I've had some success around this course," insisted the man who has finished third and fifth in the two previous editions of this season-ending climax. "This time though, I've got to win and hope that Luke doesn't do what he has been doing all year and finish in the top-ten. So it's going to be a tough ask. But I'll give it my best to finish the year on a high."

Even world number three Lee Westwood -- winner of the inaugural event here two years ago, when he also clinched the money title -- was making positive noises regarding a possible showdown between the game's best players, statistically speaking at least.

Athletes using Twitter to connect with their fan base is not always a good idea, as Rory McIlroy demonstrated on Thursday.

Photo by Getty Images

McIlroy double-bogeyed the 18th hole at the Irish Open, then was criticized on Twitter by Jay Townsend, a Golf Channel analyst and former European Tour player.

"Some of the worst course management I have ever seen beyond under 10's boys golf competition," Townsend posted after McIlory hit his approach shot into the water at 18.

McIlroy did not take the criticism in stride.

"@JayATownsend shut up.... You're a commentator and a failed golfer, your opinion means nothing!" he wrote.

Update: McIlroy told reporters in Ireland that his response to Townsend was in defense of his caddie J.P. Fitzgerald.

"He's been having a go at J.P. every now and again. This was the first time I've responded. It was the straw that broke the camel's back," McIlroy said. "Now I've blocked him on Twitter so I won't be reading anything more."

-- John Strege