As the featured speaker at last November's American Junior Golf Association awards banquet, Annika Sorenstam made a notable impression on many of the game's top junior golfers. It turns out the reverse also occurred as Sorenstam has decided to lend her name to a newly created AJGA tournament beginning next year.

The ANNIKA Invitational will feature a field of 60 girls selected from the Polo Golf Junior Rankings and including a handful of international invitees. The inaugural three-day event, hosted by the Annika Foundation, will be held Jan. 17-19, 2009 at Ginn Reunion Resort's Independence (Watson) Course outside of Orlando. A junior-am fundraising tournament similar to an LPGA Pro-Am will be held Jan. 16.

"I couldn't be more thrilled to be hosting this AJGA event," said Sorenstam, who is set to retire from the LPGA Tour later this year. "My intention has always been to help give back to the game of golf that has given me so much. By providing these juniors a chance to learn about competition, health and nutrition and the camaraderie in golf, we are truly seeing the mission of the Annika Foundation come to life." 

"It is truly an honor for the AJGA to partner with Annika Sorenstam on this special girls' tournament," said AJGA executive director Stephen Hamblin. "It is a rare opportunity for young players to learn from a Hall of Famer who is committed to sharing her passion for the game with golf's next generation. It is sure to be a lifetime experience that these girls will never forget."

Proceeds from the event will be used to endow an Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant in Sorenstam's name. The AJGA created the ACE Grant program in 2003 to help young golfers be able to compete in junior competitions regardless of their financial resources. Since the program's inception, the AJGA has awarded 255 ACE Grants to 170 juniors totaling nearly $937,000.

--Ryan Herrington

ATLANTA -- Dateless for the Ryder Cup, the European wives and significant others were teasing Sergio Garcia last week about his love life, saying the notorious bachelor should settle down. The Spaniard played along by asking if they'd like it if "Morgan came back" -- Morgan, of course, being Morgan-Leigh Norman, daughter of Greg.

The two were an item at the 2006 Ryder Cup, but maintaining a long-distance relationship while both were pursuing careers ended that. Now 26 and graduated from culinary school, Morgan was back in Sergio's gallery at East Lake GC, and by his side during dinner at night in Atlanta, as Garcia took the third-round lead in the Tour Championship.

Becoming a fixture at tour events won't happen at this point in time. Morgan is associate brand manager for Greg Norman Estates and a food and beverage consultant for the Shark's project in Dubai, Jumeriah Estates. Garcia returns to Spain for a busy month of October. He is hosting a new European Tour event at his club in his hometown of Castillon, and also a tournament for handicapped golfers in Europe. "We've always remained friends," Morgan said, when asked the best way to describe their relationship. "But it's not like I'm going to be out here every week. I've got a job and Sergio won't be back in this country until March."

--Tim Rosaforte

ATLANTA -- The housing market crash has only slightly crimped the plans of Anthony Kim, who has an architect and a lot picked out to build "a house they'd want to put on 'Cribs,' " the popular MTV reality show. "But it will take a win," Kim said at East Lake GC.

Money can be a great motivator, but Kim spent some Saturday in the third round of the Tour Championship, shooting 37 on the back nine to drop three strokes behind playing partner Sergio Garcia, who he took out last Sunday in a Ryder Cup singles match, 5 and 4. In a performance that sounded like the old Anthony Kim, he mistook his tee time (11:25 a.m. instead of 11:50), didn't warm up properly, hit a hospitality tent on the fly and hit a spectator on the ninth hole with a tee ball. "I wasn't rushed," he said. "My swing was terrible whether I sat out there for an hour or eight hours."

A comeback win today would mean more than $4 million to the 23-year-old Ryder Cup star, $1.26 for first place plus another $3 million for a projected second-place finish in the Fed Ex Cup. That would cover what he needs to complete the 11,000-square-foot home in a Dallas suburb that will be big enough for a home theatre and an indoor basketball court. There's also a football field-sized lot in the backyard, which AK wants to use to play with his dogs.

The only catch? Kim's financial advisor is trying to talk him into downsizing, especially since he already owns a home in La Quinta, Calif. "It may not be the house they'd put on 'Cribs,' " Kim said. "But I'm still growing. I just want to keep playing good golf and figure it all out later."

--Tim Rosaforte

ATLANTA -- Camilo Villegas has no plans to challenge Lance Armstrong, but the
Colombian who won the BMW Championship has caught the rush of cycling.
Featured in Men's Fitness as one of the most finely conditioned athletes on
the PGA Tour, one can imagine golf's Spiderman all decked out in bike shorts
and jersey, hair flying out of his helmet.

"It's a new thing," Villegas explained at East Lake GC, where he goes into
the final round of the Tour Championship in a tie for fourth place. "I went
home five months ago and one of my buddies calls me up. He got a cycle and
said, 'Let's go up the mountain,' this mountain I used to drive up to get to
the golf course. I didn't know if I was going to make it, but when I got to
the top, I said, 'I love this thing.' "

Villegas returned to his new home in Jupiter, Fl., and bought an exotic road
bicycle. Three days later he called the bicycle shop, saying, "Listen, I
need a group to motivate me and get better." Next thing Villegas knew, he
was geared up and part of a cycling club that meets four days a week and
goes on rides up through Jupiter Island and along the coast of Florida for
rides of 35-60 miles, sometimes at upwards of 32 MPH.

"It's not easy," he said. "The first time I went out I was able to keep up
and man, that motivated me so much. I started working to get better, then, I
bought another bike. I sent the first one to Colombia so in Florida I ride
against the wind and in Colombia, I get to go up the mountain. It's so
peaceful. It's pretty sweet."

--Tim Rosaforte
(Photo: Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

ATLANTA -- At the Ryder Cup, when he was asked what he had learned about Anthony Kim, Phil Mickelson replied, "He's one funny dude."

That sense of humor was on display Thursday at East Lake CC, along with Kim's very impressive game, when he took a four-shot opening-round lead with a six-under par 64.

Asked about his ability to go low on a hard golf course when no one else seemed able to hang onto a score, Kim said, "I didn't really know what score was out there. And, obviously, it took me a couple days to get over that celebration that we had on Sunday night, so I wasn't expecting too much."

What's so hard about a 23-year-old recovering from a night of celebrating?

"Well, I did a lot of reading that night, so my eyes were tired," Kim deadpanned.

And what did he read?

"I don't know," he said. "I forgot."

And what did Captain Paul Azinger say to him at the celebration?

"Well, there was so much reading going on, I don't know."

-- Jim Moriarty

ATLANTA -- It was just a year ago that Dudley Hart was looking at a few months of being snowbound in Buffalo, NY, and then facing the prospect of having to scramble to keep his playing privileges after taking most of the year off to tend to his triplets while his wife, Suzanne, underwent life-threatening lung surgery. Now, Hart is on his way to, perhaps, being the PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year and has already secured a spot in the next April's Masters, thanks in part to the second-place finish at the BMW Championship that put him in the Tour Championship.

"Golf was just starting to come back into my mind," Hart said of last September. "My priorities were elsewhere, obviously."

While the Masters was a nice perk for his efforts thus far in the "playoffs," under the old system Hart probably would have qualified for the Tour Championship from the money list anyway. "It was something I thought about after I signed my card," Hart said of his second place in the BMW. And, looking forward to an exercise in herding cats, he said, "The first thing that excited me was having my kids caddie for me in the Par Three tournament. I've always dreamed about that. They weren't even born the last time I played."

Though the point system, at least partially, played into his hands this time around, Hart isn't completely sold on it. "That's my only issue with the playoffs is what it means for next year," he said. "In other sports, it doesn't really affect how your schedule is going to go the next year. [Here] it can greatly affect your schedule for next season. That's the only issue I think I have with it being so volatile, is that some guys that had pretty damn good years and maybe didn't play so well in the playoff section [are] not able to go to those events. At least, not yet."

-- Jim Moriarty

It's official. Paul Azinger, the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup captain, will throw out the first pitch when the Tampa Bay Rays hold their first home playoff game. The date and time are to be determined, because the American League season ends Sunday, and the Rays--who have clinched their first playoff berth in franchise history--still could be either a wild-card or the East Division champion. The latter is more likely, in which case the Rays would start their first series at home in the middle of next week.

"It's something I wanted to do," said Azinger, who lives in nearby Bradenton. "As soon as I got home after Louisville, I kind of made that known. Then I called them. And I guess, at the same time, they were trying to call me. Anyway, I'm pumped."

--Bob Verdi

ATLANTA -- Most of the members of the victorious American Ryder Cup team have begun staggering into East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the Tour Championship, with the accent on the stagger. The U.S. team, along with several members of the European side, stayed up until the approach of dawn Monday morning celebrating the week that was in Kentucky.

"We had a good time that night," Chad Campbell said, allowing as how he packed it in around 3 a.m. or so. "We were just having a really good time. We had a few drinks out of the Cup. It doesn't hold that much."

The Americans even serenaded the Euros with their own rendition of the "Ole, Ole" chant. "Yeah, we were doing all sorts of stuff," said Campbell. "Who knows what we were doing?"

Anthony Kim, the 23-year-old Ryder Cup rookie who dispatched Sergio Garcia in the crucial opening singles match, still hasn't stopped grinning. "I just had the best week of golf in my entire life," said Kim, "the best experience of my life. It's something I'll cherish for a very long time."

He cherished it so much on Sunday, he didn't even know when it was over. Having dispatched Garcia, 5 and 4, Kim went charging off to the next tee. His caddie, Eric Larson, yelled after him, "AK! AK!", and then gave him the cinematic sign for 'cut.' Kim turned around and broke into one of his most engaging grins. What did Sergio say to him?

"He did say, 'Do you want to keep playing more?' I still thought we had some more holes to go," Kim said. "That was because Sergio is a good player and I didn't want to not focus on every golf shot. I didn't even know what hole we were on."

Virtually all of the Ryder Cuppers have been effusive in their praise of Captain Paul Azinger, in particular, the way he deflected the pressure of the matches. "Paul Azinger said something very important that stuck with me through the whole day," Kim said. "He said, 'You have nothing to lose. Just go out there and play your game. You have a lot of game, just go out there and let the world see it.' " Did they ever.

--Jim Moriarty

LOUISVILLE--A lot of people at the Ryder Cup are talking about Boo Weekley, and one of the stories they want to hear is about a young Boo going head-to-head with an orangutan. Here's the story from his "My Shot" with Golf Digest's Guy Yocom from December 2007:

One Friday night when I was 16, a bunch of us went to the county fair. A truck pulled in there, sort of away from the midway, and we watched a guy get out and put together a big cage he had in the bed of the truck. After he got the cage together, he put up a little table. Then he went to the cab of the truck and brings out an orangutan. He starts yelling: "Five to win fifty! Who can beat the orangutan? Pay $5 to try and get $50 if you can whip him!"

We'd never seen anything like that before. We decided that one of us had to try, and I drew the short straw. Five of us put up a buck each, and I gave the guy with the truck $5. Before helping me into the boxing gloves and headgear, he made me sign a waiver. Looking back, that was a bad sign.

I got in the ring. The orangutan didn't look like much. He came up about to my chest, though his arms were as long as he was tall. When the match started, he didn't lift his arms. He kept them down at his side and used them to pivot and follow me as I circled him like Muhammad Ali. I just didn't see how I could miss. My strategy was to fake with my right hand, and when the orangutan tried to block the punch, I'd throw my left.

My buddies were going wild. "Get him, Boo! Kick his butt!" They really wanted that $50. I moved in close and faked with my right, and that's the last thing I remember. I woke up bleeding in the back of a friend's pickup. The orangutan had knocked me cold with one punch, which I didn't even see coming. My friends thought it was hilarious. They said I had a glass jaw and called me "Glassy" the rest of the night.

After I came to, we watched this orangutan knock out guy after guy. Not one guy could lay a glove on him. He had reflexes like a cat, and later I learned that an orangutan can tear a guy's arm off.

I've always half-denied this story--even though I was a kid and it happened almost 20 years ago, I can see the animal-rights people protesting. I don't think orangutan fighting goes on anymore, which is a good thing. It probably wasn't fair for the orangutan, and it sure as heck wasn't good for me. The only winner was the guy driving the truck.

LOUISVILLE--Reactions from the final day of the Ryder Cup:

Paul Azinger, steering away from an answer after being asked if he would consider captaining the U.S. team again [Phil Mickelson and Justin Leonard interrupt by saying, "Zinger in 2010," and Jim Furyk adds, "Is that a promise, by the way?" before Azinger responds]: "We're going to have a good time tonight, fellas, we're going to have a good time."

Azinger, on his strategy for order of play in the 12 singles matches: "I wanted my four aggressive personalities and players [Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan, Leonard and Mickelson] to go out first, which they did. I wanted Kentucky [natives Kenny Perry and J.B. Holmes] and Jim Furyk to go out, and Boo [Weekley] in the middle [after Perry], which they did. [Furyk interjects: "I was trying to be as Southern as I could this week," before Azinger continues.] And I wanted my steady, supportive-kind-of-personality guys [Stewart Cink, Steve Stricker, Ben Curtis and Chad Campbell] to anchor this team. So I just went four, four and four in my mind, and that's how I did it."

Weekley, a 4-and-2 winner over Oliver Wilson, on Azinger: "He gave us every opportunity to have fun, and if we couldn't take advantage of it, it was our own damned fault."

Nick Faldo, European captain, after being asked in a press conference, "In the wake of this defeat, you'll receive more criticism tomorrow, no doubt, from the British press. I wonder, do you care, and if not, why not?": "That's a bit harsh."

Lee Westwood, defending Faldo after Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia ask to jump in to do the same: "We hold the golf clubs and we hit the shots, not the captain. If you want to talk about me being rested [Saturday morning] and Sergio being rested, that's the session we won, so Nick was right to do that. So you tell me whether Nick was right or wrong." Adds Garcia: "Yeah, that's true."

Westwood, asked whether fans went over the line (and told by Garcia to tell "the ghost story"): "Should I tell you where it started at 12:30 last night when I got a phone call to my room to wish me good luck? Should we start there? [Justin Rose interjects: "What, about 4:30 in your mom and dad's room?" before Westwood continues.] Yeah, because they got the wrong hotel and rang the wrong Westwood room. I found that quite amusing. It upset my dad's preparation for walking around the course today. . . . Then there was the ghost that jumped out at me between [holes] 5 and 6 and went 'Boooooo' right like that to my face, and he was the one that got ejected, but he was the one that made me laugh. All of the abuse that I got was fairly nasty, and that was pretty shameful. That was only a minority, and the crowds were great. . . . I must be taking on the Monty role."

Faldo, on whether he would take the captain's job again: "I doubt it. I believe it was a one-stop shot, as they would say."

Paul Casey, on the play of the six U.S. rookies, who had a record of 9-4-8: "I think Phil put it nicely earlier in the week when he said they have no scars."

Padraig Harrington, after a 2-and-1 loss to Campbell and a year that has included victories in the British Open and PGA Championship: "I can't wait for the end of the season, personally, in terms of I'm definitely tired."

Perry, 48, a 3-and-2 winner over Henrik Stenson: "To come out and make seven or eight birdies today and have the putting touch of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus was just phenomenal. . . . You know, Henrik is a great guy, and he's a good friend. I just told him, I said, 'We're going to have a good day. Let's battle hard.' He looked at me on the sixth hole and he said, 'You're going to make it tough on me today, aren't you?' I said, 'Well, this is my last hurrah.' This was kind of the swan song of my career. What a way to go out."

--Mike O'Malley