PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Jeff Maggert withdrew from the Players last night due to the death of his older brother Barry, who died in a plane crash in Colorado.

According to the Carbondale (Colo.) Valley Journal, Barry Maggert, 55, died Thursday, when the plane he was piloting crashed in the mountains west of Denver. The Gilpin County Sheriff's office said Maggert and a 23-year-old passenger were bound for Boulder and the graduation of Maggert's son, Lee, when the crash happened. The unidentified passenger survived and called 911. Barry Maggert's twin sons Lee and Bryant are both 23 years old.

Jeff Maggert, who shot 72 in the first round of the Players, withdrew after learning of the tragedy Thursday night. Commissioner Tim Finchem released a statement offering condolences to Maggert and his family.

"This is obviously a tragic accident, and our thoughts and prayers are with Jeff and his family," Finchem said. "The PGA TOUR is here with any support we can offer the Maggerts during this difficult time."

--John Antonini

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- New-look Stewart Cink shot a nifty, little 71 Thursday at the Players that included three birdies in his first four holes and a water ball on 17. With six top-10s in 10 events this year, Cink is third on the tour's money list and third in FedEx points, but it's something he did off the course that made heads turn during round one at TPC Sawgrass. Cink shaved his head.

"I've seen a lot of myself on TV this year and didn't like seeing the band of black going around the back of my head," Cink said. "I wanted to look 35, not 55. I don’t know if it's in or out, but it's in to me. There's no going back."

Cink said that, out of the blue, a company called Head Blade sent him a gadget. "It has a loop that fits around your finger and you just run your hand over your head," he said. "It gives you a smooth shave."

Cink said he wasn't embarrassed or disturbed that the company singled him out for the product. "Not at all," he said. "They sent it to my agent at the Masters, and I got it a week later."

After discussion with wife, Lisa, Cink used the razor for the first time a week ago. "It takes 10 minutes, including the lather," he laughed. As for his round, Cink said the "Cinkmeter reads adequate and not fulfilling of potential." His 71 leaves him tied for 23rd.

--John Antonini

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The marquee pairing among the morning groups at TPC Sawgrass is the threesome of Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson and Rory Sabbatini. All three wowed the gallery by making birdie on the par-5 16th, before Mickelson got the fans into a frenzy by hitting his approach on the island-green 17th hole to four feet. He made the putt for birdie to get to two under through eight holes but couldn't keep the momentum going on 18, making bogey on his ninth hole of the day to finish his first half of the course at one under. (Stenson, who bogeyed 17 after his tee shot into the water, finished the front nine at one over, while Sabbatini was at even par).

Mickelson, the defending champ, is looking to become the first player to repeat as Players champion, and he knew it wasn't going to be easy. "The greens are faster and firmer, and because of that, the greens being so small, they're tough to hit," Lefty said in a pre-tournament interview. "They're two feet faster on the Stimpmeter than they were last year and because of the firmness the ball runs out a lot more on your approach shots, and it's difficult chipping."

Only four defending Players champions have finished in the top-10 the following year: Jack Nicklaus (T-5) in 1977; Mark McCumber (T-6) in 1989; Tom Kite (T-5) in 1990; and Adam Scott (T-8) in 2005. McCumber came the closest to repeating. He was two shots off the lead entering the final round, but shot 74 Sunday to finish four back of winner  Kite.

Meanwhile, Masters champion Trevor Immelman withdrew before his round because of an illness. Immelman said he woke up early in the morning with an upset stomach and vomiting and returned to his Orlando home to recover.

--John Antonini

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- While stuck in traffic on my way to the TPC Sawgrass early Wednesday afternoon I caught a few minutes of the local ESPN Radio broadcast. One of the hosts asked the guest, a local golf broadcaster, who he thought the fans would miss more at The Players Championship this week: John Daly or Tiger Woods?

Neither of the tour's biggest names--biggest in one sense for Woods, another for Daly--is here this week, but both generally have large galleries and will be missed. Woods, of course, is rehabilitating his left knee after having surgery after the Masters and will not be playing at the TPC Sawgrass for the first time since he turned pro. Daly, on the other hand, is not at the Players because he's not playing well enough. And if the recent video of Daly playing without shirt and shoes is any indication, he's not really missing the PGA Tour.

Anyway, I took the question to 20 members of the gallery hanging around the grassy knoll next to the 17th hole as the caddies played their annual closest-to-the-pin competition Wednesday afternoon, and, although the sample is small, these fans miss Daly more. (Although, with full disclosure, the sample was skewed. Seven of the 13 who voted for Daly were holding cups of beer in various stages of capacity, including five, um, gentlemen, who shouted Daly loud enough to be heard in Jacksonville proper, some 20 miles away.)

So, yes, the Players gets underway tomorrow, without Daly and without Woods, but with just about every other member of the top 100 on the World Ranking. What they'll find at Sawgrass is a course that is fast and firm with greens running at 13 (13!) on the Stimpmeter. The temperatures Wednesday afternoon reached the upper 80s, and similar highs are expected the entire week.

"I don't anticipate the scores to be too good, to be honest," said Masters champ Trevor Immelman. "Right now the speed [of the greens] is perfect. It's the firmness that's going to be tough to handle if the breeze picks up."

Phil Mickelson won at 11 under a year ago. Don't be surprised if the winner is in single digits to par this week. Which is what the tour wanted when it moved the tournament from its traditional March slot to the second week in May last year. It didn't want to go on without Woods, but sometimes you have to make do with what you have.

--John Antonini

As expected, the PGA Tour named Fred Couples captain of the U.S. Presidents Cup team, but that was not the only news made by the tour Tuesday. Greg Norman will be Freddie's opposite number, assuming the captaincy of the International team for the tournament to be held at Harding Park in San Francisco in September, 2009. Couples and Norman replace Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, who have been the event's captains since 2003.

In other news, Rule 78 is no more. The PGA Tour Policy Board agreed to abandon immediately the controversial cut policy that reduced the weekend field to low 70 plus ties if more than 78 players made the cut. Under the new regulation, if more than 78 players make the cut at a regular PGA Tour event all will compete in the third round. There will be an additional cut after 54 holes to the low 70 players plus ties. Players missing this cut will receive prize money and FedEx Cup points in accordance with their finish.

The policy board agreed to revisit the rule after the Player Advisory Council suggested changes be made. The players were upset that they would not have a chance to improve their position in the standings despite making the cut. They cited players such as Brad Faxon and Jose Maria Olazabal as golfers who made the cut on the number, but played well enough on the weekend to win the tournament.

Zach Johnson, who was elected chairman of the PAC addressed the subject a week ago. "You're talking about the livelihood of the players, which is something the PAC is not taking lightly, the players are not taking lightly, and the board is not taking lightly," he said. "This issue not only encompasses cuts, money, etc., [but also] pace of play, retirement, a lot of issues."

Commissioner Tim Finchem said the tour would continue to monitor the idea of a smaller two-round cut to 65 players, plus ties.

The policy board also approved several other changes. The field at the season-ending Children's Miracle Network Classic, Nov. 6-9, has been reduced from 132 players to 128 and the field at the Memorial tournament has been increased from 105 players to 120. Also, the Fry's Electronics Open will move to The Institute, a San Jose, Calif., course in 2010. The Institute is owned by Fry's Electronics and the tournament will be renamed the Institute Championship. It will become an invitational event with a 120-player field.

Also, Bob Harig of our sister website, ESPN.com, reports that the order of the Florida Swing tournaments will switch in 2009. The Arnold Palmer Championship will get the prime final position on the four-event swing. The new order has the Honda Classic leading off, followed by the WGC-CA Championship at Doral, the PODS Championship and Palmer's event at Bay Hill.

--John Antonini

It looks as if the Big Easy is changing his mind about skipping the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. One source indicates Ernie Els will fly to Arizona to play the event at the Gallery at Dove Mountain in Tucson. After a pair of top-10 finishes in Dubai and India the past two week's Els wrote on his website that he would not rejoin the PGA Tour until the Honda Classic and he would stay in the U.S. until the Masters. But Els, who lost in the first round of the Match Play the last three times he has played it (2003, 2006 and 2007), has contacted tournament officials about attending. One report has it that wife Liezl convinced Els to play in Arizona and head to Florida from there.

Before he plays in Tucson, Els must find out if his new Callaway I-mix driver conforms to USGA standards. He kept the club out of play for the first two rounds of last week's Indian Masters on the European Tour, but used it on the weekend when the R&A told tour officials the driver was acceptable. However, after the tournament ended, the R&A determined it did not conform. "The [R&A] thought we were asking about adjustability, which was legal as of Jan. 1," David Garland, director of European Tour operations said in Golf World's Feb. 15 issue. "But the head--which has some cosmetic changes--had not been ruled on yet. This was not Ernie's fault, nor did the club have any performance benefits outside the rules. And since the competition had closed, there is no penalty on Ernie. But he can't use it again until it's on the conforming list."

Els entry in Tucson means that unless someone else withdraws, Anthony Kim will be bumped from the final spot in the field and J.B. Holmes will have the task of playing Tiger Woods in the first round.

--John Antonini

The first four weeks of the PGA Tour season have seen its winners post some pretty low numbers (Tiger Woods' 19-under mark at Torrey Pines just continued the trend) and this week's FBR Open at TPC Scottsdale could produce the lowest winning score yet. Last year, Aaron Baddeley took the title by shooting 21 under par, marking the fourth time in seven years that the eventual champ reached 20 under for the week. The scoring average at the Tom Weiskopf/Jay Morrish course was 69.85, its lowest-ever total, and marked just the second time in 20 years that it has been in the 60s. The hardest hole a year ago, the 469-yard, par-4 11th, ranked as the 211th toughest on tour. Ony three other holes were among the top 500.

But no matter how easy the course plays, all eyes will be on the 16th hole. The 162-yard, par-3 with the most boisterous gallery on tour yielded 72 birdies in 2007, but no aces. Ryuji Imada came closest, leaving his tee shot nine inches from the cup. Everybody remembers Woods' hole-in-one in 1997, but the last player to make a 1 there was Mike Sposa, who plunked one in the cup in the second round of the 2002 event.

Baddeley won a year ago because he made putts--especially the long ones. Badds was 8 for 23 on putts from more than 20 feet, including four of six from 20-25 feet. His average distance of putts made in a round was 120 feet, 11 inches. The flatstick helped him shoot 64-64 on the weekend to beat John Rollins by one and Jeff Quinney by 2.

--John Antonini

John Daly hasn't gotten much love lately. The Angry Golfer has given him the business for railing against the PGA Tour's new cut policy. And last week he withdrew from the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic with a rib injury he says he originally incurred at last year's Honda Classic when he tried to stop his swing because a spectator took his photo. Daly confirmed he is considering a lawsuit against the event's insurance carrier--even though he is asking Honda tournament director Ken Kennerly for an exemption in 2008. We began to feel sorry for big lug, so we searched the web for some Daly dedication and we found it in this blog by Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski. Somebody still loves ya, Big John.

This week's Wyndham Championship should be played in Dayton, Ohio, because it reminds me of the play-in game in the NCAA Tournament. You know the one where someone like Florida A&M or Prairie View gets the right to be destroyed by North Carolina in the first round when the tournament really begins a few days later. But the PGA Tour is playing this week at Forest Oaks in Greensboro, N.C., and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in up upper echelon of the tour's points list in the field the week before the 144-man playoff field is finalized. There are a few -- Jonathan Byrd, Carl Pettersson and new Presidents Cup team member Lucas Glover -- but the tour's biggest names are resting up for the, ahem, all-important four-week championship.

Here then, is a look at some of those who are playing this week, the guys ranked 140th to 150th in the FedEx Cup standings, and their chances of staying in or moving into the playoffs, where it's unlikely any of them will advance past the first round. (Here's a bit of unsolicited advice to Camp Ponte Vedra. How about naming the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup team after this event, instead of the PGA Championship? It might entice a few more top-tier players to the tournament.)

140 -  Michael Putnam: Many of us at Golf World thought he'd be a rising star in 2007, but it hasn't materialized. Putnam doesn't have a top-10 finish, but he has made 16 cuts in 20 starts. His spot in the playoff is probably secure, but he's likely not going to make it past the first round. (Current points: 1,736)

141 -  Bob Tway: Tway (above right) has been treading water recently with no top-25 finishes since the Nelson. One reason: nearly 20 percent of his tee balls go into the right rough. The tour average is 13.4 percent. (Current points: 1,695)

142 -  Lee Janzen: Another former major champ who runs the risk of not qualifying for the playoffs. He hasn't made a cut since the U.S. Open and stands a good chance of being bumped. (Current points: 1,694)

143 -  Glen Day: Four players down, four players without a top-10 finish this year. There should be a rule that if you cannot finish that high, you cannot qualify for Barclays. Day, at least had a T-15 a few weeks ago in Canada. (Current points: 1,672)

144 -  Marco Dawson: The ultimate Bazooka Joe. He ranks 151st in earnings, right on the cusp of not earning any playing priveliges for 2008. You wonder what's more important to guys like Dawson: Qualifying for the playoffs or earning enough money to keep a tour card next year? (Current points: 1,669)

145 -  Eric Axley: The lefty has played 28 tournaments this year, a tour high, and all it has gotten him is a bunch of frequent flyer miles. If he doesn't move up one more place in the standings this week, he'll finally be forced to take some time off. By the way, he was T-3 at Greensboro a year ago. He's 102 points behind Dawson, and if Marco misses the cut (I can't believe I'm writing this) Axley needs to finish solo 41st to pass him. (Current points: 1,567)

146 -  Steve Lowery: The first player on this list who has finished in the top-10 this year. He did it way back at the Sony Open in Hawaii and he was T-10 on the number. (Current points: 1,536)

147 -  Cameron Beckman: He's actually had a few good finishes at Greensboro (a T-16 and T-21 in 2004 and 2005) and a similar performance this week would give him about 300 points, enough to bump him into the top 144. (Current points: 1,514)

148 -  Chris Couch: It has come to this: Couch is playing the best golf of his season, four straight cuts made and a T-13 at Milwaukee. He was T-12 at Greensboro in 2006. But if Couch plays well enough to jump into the playoffs would anybody notice? (Current points: 1,494)

149 -  Mark Hensby: Probaby the best player in this group, Hensby suffered back and neck injuries in a car crash in 2006 and hasn't really been on track since. A T-12 at Colonial was his best finish of the year. (Current points: 1,466)

150 -  Mathias Gronberg: Here's a question for this week's winner. What's more important: Getting into the playoffs or qualifying for the Masters? How many do you think will say the former and really mean it? (Current points: 1,463)

--John Antonini

(Photo: Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

TULSA, Okla. -- I noticed three things in the past 24 hours that I don't understand:

1) How women can wear high heels at a golf tournament

2) How anyone can smoke in the heat, basically creating a fire three inches from your face in 100-degree temperatures

3) How anyone would think it's a good idea to have 5-year-old kids play football in full pads when it's scorching hot

I noticed the first two at the same time at Southern Hills this afternoon when a woman with three-inch heels struggled up the hill toward the hospitality areas from the 18th green while trying to light a cigarette. I noticed the latter Thursday afternoon on a field not far from the entrance to Oral Roberts University and its 60-foot tall sculpture of giant praying hands.

John Daly (in photo) says he spent the first few days of the week at the Cherokee Nation casino, but he must have been mistaken. He must have spent his time praying under those giant hands. How else do you explain his first two rounds? After shooting 67 on Thursday, he missed every fairway in his first nine holes Friday but made a birdie to go with his three bogeys and is still in the mix at one under par halfway through his round.

Daly is a big story here, but so is Scott Verplank, the Oklahoma State star who has all the locals riled up. After shooting 66 on Friday morning, Scotty V. took the lead to the cries of "Go Cowboys" or "Go Pokes." Hey, I’m from Connecticut and I don't know what a poke is but if Verplank is one, he's certainly one of the best. He said he's not commuting from his home in Edmond, Okla. — "I was going to, but one of the blades [on my helicopter] broke," he laughed -- but it looks like he knows where he's going. Perhaps all the way to the top. And he won't even need those giant praying hands.

-- John Antonini

TULSA, Okla. -- I know, I know. John Daly shot a 67 to take the morning lead at the PGA Championship here at Southern Hills in Tulsa. But it won't last. It can't last. He played a morning round when the temperatures had yet to reach triple digits and there was a breeze that kept the heat index from getting too high. Wait until Friday when he plays in the afternoon.

I hope I'm wrong because a Daly in contention would do wonders for the tournament, but he has just as good a chance of missing the cut as he does finishing in the top 10. A win? Boy that would be like the Milwaukee Brewers winning the World Series. (I don't see that happening either, but they'll make the playoffs. The National League Central is not exactly a major field.)

Anyway, the weather in Tulsa is having an effect on the participants. Brian Bateman is from Louisiana and said even he isn't comfortable playing in this kind of heat. "Not in long pants anyway," said the Buick Open champ. "In this kind of weather I'm usually in a cart and shorts." When Arron Oberholser went to meet the media after his first-round 68, caddie Dave Woosley suggested that "if the questions are outside, keep the answers short. Take care of your body."

Naturally, the frozen lemonade concessions are doing brisk business, but when one spectator said "It’s freezing," I had to do a double-take to make sure I heard what I heard. She was talking about her ice cream, not the weather and certainly not about Daly, although having him on the top few lines of the leaderboard certainly is cool.

-- John Antonini

TULSA, Okla. -- The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Tulsa on Tuesday for this week's PGA Championship was the heat. It was also the second thing. And the third.

Oklahoma is celebrating its centennial in 2007 and in honor of the milestone, Southern Hills is offering one degree of temperature for every year of Oklahoma's statehood. No extra charge.

So just how hot is it? It's hotter than Charlize Theron. It's hotter than Cheryl Tiegs when she wore that see-through outfit in the 1978 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Heck, it's even hotter than the New York Yankees.

The thermometer in my rental car read 98 degrees at 3 p.m. and I heard the heat index was 106. I'm not sure if there is much of a difference between 98 and 106 but tomorrow's numbers are going to be hotter. Try 102 and 110. It is reported that Tulsa is in the middle of a ring of fire, which USA Today defines as "a belt of storms whose heart is a sinkhole of heat." It' not supposed to get cool (re: less than triple digits) until the PGA leaves town, so there's nothing to do put persevere. And go heavy on the sunscreen. Alas, that SPF 15 I brought from Connecticut is not going to cut it.

One thing is certain: Don't bet on the heavyweights this week. Tim Herron, Colin Montgomerie (in photo), John Daly. Forget about them. A roly-poly body shape and sweltering sun don't mix. Phil Mickelson is another one with lots of subcutaneous fat, but he's actually looking forward to playing in the heat. "It loosens your muscles," Mickelson said. "You're able to swing a lot more rhythmic and the ball flies a lot straighter when it's hot because you don't have the resistance. The wind doesn't affect it as much, and the game plays a lot easier. There's a lot more benefits than there are detractions."

Whatever you say Phil. Just remember to drink plenty of fluids.

-- John Antonini

Much to Buddy Marucci's chagrin, BYU All-American Daniel Summerhays has decided to turn pro.

After winning the Nationwide Tour's Children's Hospital Invitational at Ohio State's Scarlet course last week, Summerhays said he was undecided whether he would remain an amateur in order to play on Marucci's U.S. Walker Cup team or turn pro before the biennial event. The victory gave him a 60-day window where he could turn pro and join the Nationwide Tour.

But he didn't wait long to make a decision.

"I would have loved to play in the Walker Cup," Summerhays said. "But when things went so well in Columbus, I had to sit back and take a look at what was best for my career. I don't know what playing in the Walker Cup could have done for my career that winning on the Nationwide Tour didn't do last week. My value to sponsors is probably higher right now than it would have been if I waited almost two months to play in the Walker Cup."

Summerhays, who plans the final seven credits he needs to get his degree from Brigham Young via online studies, will make his professional debut at the Cox Classic in Omaha next week. 

-- John Antonini

Davis Love III's secret came out at the AT&T National: He has been wearing glasses for the last several months on tour. Love was having headaches and thought it was because of his neck injury, but he found out he needed glasses after seeing an eye doctor after Colonial.

His right eye vision is poor, his left eye not so much but it also needed correction. People didn't notice because he has worn sunglasses while playing and he just switched to prescription shades. At Congressional, Love wore his regular glasses on an overcast day.

-- John Antonini

To read more of John Antonini's tour insight, check out The Fringe each week in Golf World magazine.

Joe Buck issued a throwaway line during the bottom of the ninth inning of last night's Major League Baseball All-Star Game that made me take notice. He said the mother of Milwaukee Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy was a golfer. I hadn't heard that before so I did a bit of research. It turns out Hardy's mom, Susie, was an excellent amateur golfer in the late 1970s, competing in several tournaments with the likes of Beth Daniel and Nancy Lopez. A recent USA Today article about J.J. quoted the ballplayer's father, Mark, as saying "I would have been Mr. Susan Hardy. She was the No. 2 or 3 amateur in the group with Lopez and Daniel." The story goes on to say Susie's career was derailed by carpal tunnel syndrome.

A quick search of Golf World's archives show Susie Shinn did indeed have an excellent amateur career, playing collegiate golf at Arizona and winning the Iowa Women's Amateur as an 18-year-old in 1974 and again in 1976. Shinn married Mark Hardy that December and had her best amateur season in 1977. She was T-20 in that year's AIAW championship (that's the event that predated the NCAA Division I Women's Championship) and lost in the third round of both the U.S. Women's Amateur and the Women's Western Amateur.

Susie and Mark, a tennis pro, didn't have the professional careers they may have envisioned, but J.J. certainly has excelled on the pro stage. He's tied for fifth in the National League in home runs and is a big reason the Brewers are leading the NL Central by 4-1/2 games at the break.

-- John Antonini