Members at Winged Foot Golf Club decided overwhelmingly in a vote before Christmas that the U.S. Open won't be returning to their New York club anytime soon. Winged Foot had been considered among the favorites to host the 2015 Open.

The rejection was a setback for the club's board and its president, Len Horan, as well as for the USGA. "Obviously, this is disappointing," said Pete Bevacqua, the USGA's chief business officer. "I think anyone would agree the 2006 U.S. Open was a tremendous success."

The '06 Open was the first hosted by Winged Foot in 22 years, and its success was credited largely to the leadership of Horan. But many Winged Foot members felt the inconvenience of staging a major championship wasn't worth the reported $2 million netted by the club after expenses. Many among that group of members are also balking at the club's proposal for a 20-percent increase in annual dues.

"It's really just a timing issue more than anything else," said Horan, whose presidency ends Jan. 13. Horan said Sunday that the proposed dues hike resulted from the board's decision to reduce guest play and corporate outings beginning in 2008. "It had absolutely nothing to do with the Open."

The members' overriding reason for rejecting the 2015 Open was money, according to sources. It came down to one key difference between the club's deal with the USGA for the '06 Open and the proposal between the two sides for the 2015 Open. Terms for the 2015 Open called for the USGA to pay more up front as a rental fee but for the USGA to take 10 percent more from corporate sales than it did in 2006. According to a source familiar with the negotiations, Winged Foot's profit for hosting the 2015 championship would have been about the same as it was for the '06 Open. That was unacceptable to members, who felt the club should profit more from an Open in 2015 than it did in 2006.

The disruption factor also played a role. In 2006 many Winged Foot members were unhappy not only that they lost the use of the club's West course for the championship, but also the East course, which became the site for corporate hospitality, catering and other elements of infrastructure. Although the USGA picked up the tab for all damages that resulted--reportedly in excess $500,000--the East course remained closed until October, nearly four months after Geoff Ogilvy's dramatic victory and Phil Mickelson's stunning collapse.

The big question now is, does this take Winged Foot out of the U.S. Open picture for good? Probably not.

Bevacqua and Mike Butz, the USGA's deputy executive director, attended a mid-December membership meeting at Winged Foot, where the club's objections were initially raised. "The message we heard over and over at the meeting and since the meeting is that even if Winged Foot decided not to issue an invitation for 2015, an invitation to the USGA [would be welcomed] in the future. The relationship between the USGA and Winged Foot is very, very strong."

Horan agreed. "It was not contentious," he said of the meeting, adding that Bevacqua and Butz received applause at the end of their presentation. "We have a diverse membership at this club. Some of our members who love the East course are just saying, 'Can't we wait a few more years?' Even among the most dissident [members], it was not an issue of not having an Open at Winged Foot. It was an issue of deferring [the invitation].''

Bevacqua also pointed out that Winged Foot in 2015 was not a done deal, and that there are other clubs who can't wait to get in the rota. "The Open is in a pretty good spot," he said.

--Tim Rosaforte

FUTURE U.S. OPEN SITES
2008--Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course), La Jolla, Calif.
2009--Bethpage State Park (Black Course), Farmingdale, N.Y.
2010--Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, Calif.
2011--Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Md.
2012--The Olympic Club, San Francisco
2013--Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pa.
2014--Pinehurst Golf Club (No. 2), Pinehurst, N.C.

Ron Sirak reports today that David Leadbetter, the one person in the Michelle Wie camp whose relationship to reality is more than casual, says she is done playing against the men--for now--and that she's going to focus on getting her game and, more important, her confidence back. These are very similar to the words Leadbetter uttered last May, only to be overruled by Wie's parents. This time, Leadbetter insists, the entire Wie camp is listening.

Leadbetter says that Wie, a freshman at Stanford, will interrupt college to get back into competition. "That's the plan, to miss the spring quarter and focus on golf full time," Leadbetter told GolfDigest.com.

Wie skipping the spring quarter makes sense since the winter quarter at Stanford ends March 16, 11 days before the Safeway International near Phoenix, an LPGA venue where Wie has played before.

Leadbetter says Wie will make her return in one or both of the two Hawaiian events that kick off the LPGA Tour season in February. It means Wie won't be at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January, the PGA Tour event where she missed the cut by one stroke in 2004 and has missed by seven, four and 14 in her three attempts since.

"She's looking forward to getting back in the mix," says Leadbetter, who says she's 90 percent back. "She's talking about joining the LPGA. She's got a bit of sparkle in her eye again. Last year she was suffering.

"She came back from playing today and said, 'I really played good.'  She hasn't said that in a long time."

--Ron Sirak

Tiger Woods has asked for two autographs in his life. First was Muhammad Ali, and now Sandy Koufax. AP golf writer Doug Ferguson writes about it in his weekly notes column.

Whoops. Bear Trace at Ross Creek Landing, a Jack Nicklaus-designed public course in middle Tennessee that the state bought for $5 million two year ago, is losing money and is up for auction. The state is also losing money on two of its sister courses, which is attributable to their out-of-the way location. But they are in the home districts of powerful state legislators. Read more here.

It's Wednesday evening and Padraig Harrington is the only player left in the inner sanctum at Sherwood Country Club. Tournament host Tiger Woods and his 14 other 'playing guests' at the Target World Challenge had long drawn down the shutters on Pro-Am day and departed into the dry chill of a winter night in Thousand Oaks, California. Yet the British Open champion still has work to do and people to see. In this unbylined profile of Padraig Harrington in The Independent, Harrington talks of being over-scheduled for interviews with insufficient time to practice.

--Mary Rung

Rory Sabbatini reaffirmed his role as the anti-Tiger by withdrawing from the Target World Challenge before yesterday's final round, suffering not only from shin splints, but a 28-stroke deficit after 54 holes. Tiger Woods tied the tournament record of 22 under to win in a seven-stroke cakewalk at Sherwood C.C., but the hot topic afterward was Sabbatini.

For serving as Woods' most vocal pest over the last six or seven months, Sabbs has taken a beating in the media. This latest episode proves no different, although an independent thinker can only wonder: Has kissing Tiger's derriere helped anyone actually beat the game's best player?

Speaking of the game's best players, Annika Sorenstam's victory Sunday in Dubai prevented her first winless season since 1993. Ron Sirak caught up with the LPGA's former No. 1 after her victory at the Dubai Ladies Masters.

A decision on the proposal from the NCAA Division I men's golf committee to crown the individual college national champion after 54 holes starting next June is likely to come down within the next few weeks. For the latest on this and the other NCAA Championship changes being reviewed, check out Ryan Herrington's blog, Campus Insider.

Greg Norman and Chris Evert are engaged, less than a year after divorces from their longtime spouses. The couple told reporters their news Friday in South Africa, where Norman is playing in the South African Open.

Evert and Norman got engaged Sunday while traveling to South Africa. Evert, 52, who won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, wore a large diamond on her ring finger at a news conference Friday to announce a new tennis center at Pearl Valley Golf Estates, which is hosting the South African Open. Asked about wedding plans, she said, "Well, it is an engagement ring. . . . We don't know when and where we'll be married though."

Norman, 52, declined to add anything extra, leading Evert to joke, "Why don't you say something to them? Gee, you're a big chicken!"

Evert and former husband Andy Mill, a World Cup and Olympic skier from Colorado, divorced last December after 18 years of marriage. Evert was previously married to British tennis player John Lloyd.

In September, Norman reached a multimillion-dollar divorce settlement with his wife of 26 years, Laura Andrassy. The 52-year-old Australian won the British Open in 1986 and 1993.

(Photo: Simon Fergusson/Getty Images)

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.--Fred Couples would like to compete at Augusta National next year and will likely open 2008 at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. If his cranky back holds up.

"I get sick and tired of talking about my back, but I'm going to play," Couples said Thursday at Sherwood Country Club, where he opened the Target World Challenge with a 2-over-par 74.

Tiger Woods and three others shot 3-under 69 and trail leader Jim Furyk by one shot in the 16-player field at Woods' annual tournament. Click here for a first-round report and scores.

Couples has little pain swinging a club; it's the bending over that kills him. Especially reading putts.

"When I play, nothing hurts," says Couples. "It's all the other stuff. I hurt myself getting out of a chair, putting on my pants, anything like that. But swinging . . . I usually get through it."

In 2007, Couples played in two tournaments. He missed the cut at the FBR Open and tied for 30th at the Masters.

Did he miss golf?

"Less than I thought," he says. "It wasn't that big a deal."

Couples has played on five U.S. Ryder Cup teams and four Presidents Cup teams. He would love to be selected a captain.

"I haven't abandoned thoughts of that," says Couples. "I would be interested in taking a team and winning a Presidents Cup or a Ryder Cup. I think it would be an honor and fun.

"The main goal in all of it is like being a coach, like taking the brunt of the action. I can promise you there are 12 guys who don't want to do 75 percent of the stuff there. So if you're a great captain, you should tell everyone you're not going to do 75 percent of the stuff. That's the way it goes."

"If I was captain two years from now and (Paul) Azinger lost (in '08), I wouldn't say I'm going to win, but I can promise you they're going to have a good time. I would bring in Robin Williams and Michael Jordan as my assistants. That's exactly what would happen. I would have Michael Jordan tell stories every night and I would have Robin Williams tell jokes for 30 minutes. That's what I would want. I don't want rah-rah speeches. My God! If you need a rah-rah speech to play in the Ryder Cup, then you've got some serious issues."

--Mark Soltau

Great news out of Georgia today with the official announcement that the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf will be a two-man team event in 2008 contested for official money and counting as an official victory.

Expect between 35 and 42 duos playing in the better-ball Legends division April 25-27 at Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa, said Champions Tour president Rick George. "To make it a team format with official money and official win [status] is significant," George said this afternoon. "We've talked about making the change since 2003, and the last 16 months it was discussed a lot among our players. I think there will be more enthusiasm for the event now."

The Legends, of course, was the event that spawned the senior tour with exciting competitions in 1978 and 1979 at Onion Creek CC in Austin, Texas. It remained an unofficial team event through 1992, was an unofficial individual competition in 1993, and went back to being an unofficial better-ball event from 1994 through 2001 prior to becoming an individual event with official status in 2002.

In the end, the sponsor's desire to return to the tournament to its roots coupled with players' interest in a break from routine solo stroke play overruled concerns from some golfers that a team competition could tilt the money list unfairly.

The last couple of years, Tom Watson chose to play with old friend Andy North in the unofficial Rahael division that ended on Saturday. In 2007 Johnny Miller made a rare tournament appearance paired with Mike Reid.

"To me, it's a win-win situation," said Hall of Famer Larry Nelson, who expects to team with Jim Thorpe. "The sponsor has been wanting this and the players were ready for something different, too. This event is what made our tour, period."

--Bill Fields