Golf writer John Huggan weighed in in Scotland on Sunday on the selection of Colin Montgomerie as the European Ryder Cup captain in 2010, explaining, as the headline said, why Monty's time is now. Among the reasons, Huggan explained, is that 2012 would not work inasmuch as the Ryder Cup then will be played at Medinah, outside Chicago, "a city where the locals have been known to metaphorically eat their young.

"Medinah had the potential to be another Boston '99, where and when Monty was shamefully and profanely abused by a boozed-up band of xenophobic morons," Huggan wrote. "In the wake of such nauseating scenes it has long been obvious that, if Monty was ever to be a Ryder Cup captain, he would have to be billeted in the home locker room." For Monty, he concluded, it was now or never.

-- John Strege

Brandi Chastain scored the winning goal for the U.S. in the 1999 Women's World Cup Soccer Final at the Rose Bowl in front of 90,000 screaming fans and has thrown out the first pitch at sold-out Yankee Stadium. None of that will prepare her playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for the first time.

The gritty Chastain welcomes the challenge.

"It won’t help me physically to hit the ball, but it's helpful just having the internal ability to slow down and take that breath," she said at a pre-tournament media day.

The 40-year-old Chastain, who plays to a handicap of 14, joins a short list of women who have been invited to participate in the event, including Nancy Lopez and Juli Inkster. Inkster played three times as an amateur and never made the pro-am cut. Her advice to Chastain?

"Get a lot of strokes," she said.

"She's a good, little player and very competitive," said Inkster, who has played with Chastain. "She can hit it. She's inconsistent, but she doesn't get shortchanged. She's going to do a lot better in a golf tournament than I would in a soccer tournament."

As a youngster, Chastain used to attend the Bing Crosby Pro-Am with her parents and grandfather, the late Cal Lillge of San Jose, who helped her with her game.

"I loved being with him," she said. "Golf was our bond."

Aside from playing well at Pebble Beach, Chastain feels a responsibility to "engage the crowd. I really want them to enjoy my group."

Inkster has no doubts they will. "She'll be a great asset to the tournament," Inkster said.

Errant shots aside, Chastain plans to treasure the experience. "People lining up along the ropes is the scariest thing," she said. "I have a good voice, so I can yell, 'Fore!' very loud."

-- Mark Soltau

The PGA Tour wasted no time suing Ginn Resorts, citing a breach of contract for withdrawing its sponsorship of the Champions Tour Ginn Championship. It's the tour's right, of course, but in doing so it seems to have forgotten that it was Ginn Resorts that bailed out the PGA Tour in 2007 by stepping in as a replacement for the Running Horse Championship.

The Running Horse Championship was to be part of the tour's Fall Series, but the Running Horse development in Fresno, Calif., went bankrupt before the course was finished and no title sponsor was ever found. In June of 2007, only four months before the tournament was scheduled to be played, Ginn Resorts stepped in with the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro.

It might not have been the tour's intention, but it seems that the speed with which it filed suit might serve as a shot across the bow of other financially-troubled sponsors who could have considered taking Ginn's lead.

-- John Strege

Bruno's Supermarkets has withdrawn as the presenting sponsor of the Champions Tour's Regions Charity Classic, the Birmingham (Ala.) Business Journal is reporting today.

Bruno's founded the event in 1992, when it was known as the Bruno's Memorial Tournament. In 2006, Regions Financial Corp. took over title sponsorship, when it became the Regions Charity Classic Presented by Bruno's Supermarkets.

There is no word yet on why Bruno's has pulled its support or how it might affect the tournament.

-- John Strege

Amateur Cecilia Cho, 14, was tied for third after the first round of the New Zealand Women's Open, three strokes behind leader Katherine Hull.

Amateur Alexis Thompson, 13, just received an invitation to play in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA's first major.

Korean-American Karen Kim, 9, of Linwood, Calif., is "being touted as the 'next Michelle Wie,'" according to the Korean website chosun.com.

Sigh.

-- John Strege

The Orlando Sentinel reported Friday that Tiger Woods attended the Orlando Magic-Cleveland Cavaliers game Thursday night. The paper observed that perhaps the best athletes from three sports were on hand, including NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson and the Cavaliers' own LeBron James.

The question that remains is when Tiger will be seen at a golf tournament. It was posed to his instructor Hank Haney at an equipment forum at the PGA Merchandise Show on Thursday, the Sentinel reported. Haney was predictably evasive: "You can't predict when he's going to be ready. I know he's not ready right now. I know he's more ready this week than last week."

-- John Strege

Angel Vera Rodriguez, an aerial acrobat, died Tuesday night Jan. 27 after performing at a dinner before the FBR Open. Angel Vera, as he was known by, was attempting to land from a height of about 15 or 20 feet when he fell on his head, according to witnesses.

More than 700 people were attending the function at the Birds Nest beside the TPC of Scottsdale. He was 31 and based in San Diego. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Angel's friends and family," said John Felix, chairman for the FBR Open. "From all indications, this was a horrible accident." When Vera hit the ground, some attendees apparently thought it was part of his routine. But then it became obvious that he had been seriously injured. Doctors at the dinner treated him, then paramedics arrived. Vera was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Tuesday's function was canceled after word of the tragedy, but the Birds Nest--a popular party central-- was active again for the rest of the tournament with a photo of Vera, flowers and candles, placed next to the stage area.

--Bob Verdi

The news that Ginn Resorts has canceled its sponsorship of the LPGA Ginn Open and the Champions Tour Ginn Championship is probably a harbinger of a host of sponsorship problems in professional golf.

A quick check of the financial health of Friedman Billings Ramsey Group Inc., for instance, reveals that its stock, which was trading as high as $3.68 a share last year, closed on Thursday at just under 19 cents a share. It lost $169 million in the third quarter of 2008. FBR is the title sponsor of the FBR Open this week in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The Arizona Republic reported that FBR, a real estate investment trust (REIT), is committed to honoring its agreement to sponsor the event through 2012, notwithstanding its financial issues.

But for FBR and other tour sponsors, it promises to be a turbulent ride.

-- John Strege

Rory McIlroy, 19, opened the Dubai Desert Classic with an eight-under par 64 that placed him in the lead and drew accolades from Mark O'Meara, who was asked the obligatory questions about comparisons with Tiger Woods at a similar age.

O'Meara, who shot 77 playing alongside McIlroy on Thursday, told the Scotsman, "Ball-striking wise at 19, he's probably better than what Tiger was at 19. His technique I think is better. Certainly Tiger has developed his game and swing over the years and made modifications to be able to hit the ball pin-high, but Rory is already doing that and he's 19, so he's already a step ahead."

The Scotsman headline stated that "McIlroy is better than a young Tiger Woods."

Comparisons are entertaining, but seldom revealing. Woods did not make a cut in a PGA Tour event until he was 19, when he tied for 41st in the Masters, and he did not contend in a tour event until he was a few months shy of his 21st birthday.

-- John Strege

ORLANDO -- Wednesday's selection of Colin Montgomerie as European Ryder Cup captain for the 2010 matches at Celtic Manor in Wales might have surprised a few observers on the home front who thought the Scotsman might make a bid to play in his ninth matches. Some eyebrows were raised in the U.S. as well, including those of Jim Remy, president of the PGA of America.

Remy, in attendance at Orange County National, where the annual PGA Merchandise Show kicked off Wednesday with Demo Day, may have tipped Europe's hand as he assessed the news that Mongomerie, who stands to be Europe's youngest captain at age 47, was to take his turn before Jose Maria Olazabal.

"I found it to be quite interesting. I thought it would be 2012 (at Medinah Country Club) before we saw Colin Montgomerie," said Remy, who recently succeeded Brian Whitcomb as PGA president. "You know I really thought it would be the other way around, first Olazabal and then Montgomerie. But, hey, he has been a great Ryder Cup player and I think he'll do a great job for them, and his presence will make the matches at Celtic Manor that much mor e interesting. We look forward to it."

Montgomerie, who will be 47 when the matches commence, is Europe's second most successful Ryder Cup player behind Nick Faldo. In eight appearances, Montgomerie has been on five winning teams and scored 23 1/2 points for Europe with 20 wins, nine loses and seven halves.

Montgomerie was not a member of last year's European squad, which fell to an underdog American team 16 1/2 to 11 1/2. He did not qualify on points and was not given a wild card berth by Faldo.

Asked if the European captaincy was awarded to Monty in deference to his notoriety in America, Remy concurred, but he made no excuses.

"That very well could be, but, hey, this is America. We love our stars and we root hard for them over the opposition," said Remy, whose bright blue shirt was adorned with the Ryder Cup logo from Valhalla. "Colin is a great champion and has been a wonderful player for a long time, and he'll do a great job. In a lot of ways he's much like our captain, Corey Pavin. They're both very tough competitors. They are bulldogs, and they bring a lot of intensity."

"With everything coming out of Valhalla, you know that the matches at Celtic Manor are going to be a great event with a lot of excitement. People have connected with the Ryder Cup and what happened at Valhalla, and that should carry to next year."

--Dave Shedloski