Amid a two-year global winless streak, Sergio Garcia enters his 10th year on the world stage facing more questions than answers about his erratic putting. The Spaniard, who turned 28 in January, began the season in Qatar using a left-hand-low grip with a conventional putter. Last week at the Dubai Desert Classic he went back to the belly putter and used a claw grip Sunday. That's two putters and four grips (conventional, left-hand low, split and belly claw) in two tournaments. And we're only one month into the season.

Bob Rotella, the sport psychologist who has spent time counseling Ernie Els, believes the Big Easy will get over Dubai the way he has a decade's worth of disappointments at Woods’ hand. ''The great ones can't wait to get back on the horse'' Rotella said.''Basically, Ernie missed a few putts early on the back nine, and Tiger made a couple coming in. That’s what the game comes down to.''As if he'd been talking to Rotella, a resolute Els rationalized it on his website the same way, saying he was headed to Delhi to work on his stroke before this week’s Indian Masters.

--Tim Rosaforte

Hawaiian teenager Tadd Fujikawa missed the cut today at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland, but his final shot of the tournament is one he'll remember forever. Fujikawa, 16, finished with a double-eagle 2, hitting a 3-wood that traveled 285 yards and into the hole at the 632-yard, par-5 ninth.

"A happy memory, for sure," he told reporters afterward. "I was pretty sure it would be on the green at least. But I didn't know it would go in the hole. I couldn't see it, but I heard it from the crowd. I could definitely tell it went in. It was pretty nice to finish like that."

It was the only hole where Fujikawa was under par all day. He shot a four-over 75 to finish at 10 over for two rounds and miss the cut by eight strokes.

He described his two rounds in Switzerland as "a really good experience."

"You learn that you need to stay patient out there and you have to trust your shots," Fujikawa said. "For sure you need a lot of experience. This is my third event as a pro and I need more experience to play well, I think."

England's Oliver Wilson is 11 under par (65-66--131) and leads Bradley Dredge of Wales by one shot after 36 holes. Michael Campbell, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Niclas Fasth were among the notables who missed the cut.

--Craig Bestrom

Paul Casey continues to demonstrate that he really isn't such a bad guy. In an interview before starting defense of his title at this weekend's Johnnie Walker Classic, Casey announced he has started a foundation to introduce children ages 6-15 to a variety of sports, including golf, tennis and cricket, at the club in Surrey, England, where he learned the game growing up. "Sport is on the decline in schools," Casey explained at the press conference. "I'm not going to save the world or anything, but I think it's time I did my bit."

--Mary Rung

(Photo: Andrew Reddington/Getty Images)

Colin Montgomerie has a new woman in his life, and reports are the pair will be married as early as January. Monty's new love is Gaynor Knowles.

As Shan Ross and Mike Aitken report in The Scotsman today, Knowles, 40, is the widow of Scots furniture tycoon George Knowles whose family built up the Tillicoultry-based Sterling Furniture Group.

She inherited a £20 million fortune on his death in 2003. Her late husband was an avid collector of classic cars and he left 70, including a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and an Aston Martin.

She lives in a £1.5 million mansion at Drum of Garvock near the village of Dunning, a few miles south of Perth, with her four children - son George, 18, and daughters Lindsey, 15, Christie, 12 and seven-year-old Aimee.

She has admitted having little knowledge of golf but has supported Montgomerie at major tournaments. Her calming influence has been said to have helped Montgomerie regain his golfing form.

(Photo: Andrew Reddington/Getty Images)

The K Club outside Dublin has been very kind to Colin Montgomerie during his recent trips there. Sunday, he beat Niclas Fasth by one shot to capture the Smurfit Kappa European Open for his first win since December 2005, passing Nick Faldo for third place on the European Tour's all-time victories list. Back in September, it was on the club's 18th green of the Palmer Course that Monty cleaned up two points for the 2006 European Ryder Cup team. Despite his stellar play on the big stage, Montgomerie's stroke-play record had up until Sunday been looking grim.

Rain certainly played a part in deciding the outcome. An 82-minute delay postponed Fasth from playing his final hole, which he eventually parred. In its tournament report, the Irish Independent writer wrote that: "It's fitting that what [Montgomerie] described as the longest 'dry spell' of his career should end at one of the wettest-ever tournaments. A week by the Liffey was so wet that caddies might have been well advised to carry a snorkel and flippers in the bag."

A switch back to a belly putter certainly helped Montgomerie. He only used it 26 times during his final round 65, well below his 29.6 average this year.

Luck was on Monty's side too. "He more than flirted with water on the two closing par threes," wrote Paul Gallagher in The Irish Times, "but came away with pars. On the 17th  his effort came up short but somehow his ball defied gravity to stay dry. Credit to Monty, for he took advantage by pitching to two feet and holing for par. The makeshift 18th was almost a carbon copy as he leaked his tee shot right and the ball rested behind the red hazard line. Still, he was able to get his lob wedge to the ball -- without grounding it as he was technically in a hazard - and pitched up to five feet before courageously holing-out."

-- Jeff Patterson