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  <channel>
    <title>Golf Digest Search Results</title>
    <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/search/rss</link>
    <description>Search Results&lt;img src="http://www.golfdigest.com/rss_views/searchfeed.gif"&gt;</description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <copyright>Copyright 2009 CondeNet Inc. All rights reserved.</copyright>
    <pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    <category />
    <dc:creator>Golf Digest</dc:creator>
    <dc:subject />
    <dc:date>2013-04-23T04:00:00Z</dc:date>
    <dc:language>en-us</dc:language>
    <dc:rights>Copyright 2009 CondeNet Inc. All rights reserved.</dc:rights>
    <item>
      <title>The 10 Best Golfers Without A Major</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2013-04/golfers-without-major-photos</link>
      <description>Now that Adam Scott has broken through, who is the best remaining golfer without a major championship? Our formula finds out.</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2013-04/golfers-without-major-photos</guid>
      <dc:creator>Alex Myers</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2013-04-23T04:00:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>McDowell and his handling of a no-kilt wind</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/by-john-strege-follow-johnstregefunctiondsidvar-1.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/john-strege"&gt;&lt;u&gt;John Strege&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
The conditions were more conducive to sailing or kiting than golf, unless a golfer hails from Northern Ireland and cut his teeth on the seaside links of Royal Portrush, learning to work its trademark winds.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
The RBC Heritage provided Graeme McDowell with a touch of home on Sunday -- winds gusting upwards of 40 miles per hour and consistently blowing in the 20s at Harbour Town Golf Links, hard by Calibogue Sound in Hilton Head, S.C.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-graeme-mcdowell-0421.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-graeme-mcdowell-0421.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/04/blog-graeme-mcdowell-0421-thumb-470x309-96302.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="309" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;i&gt;Photo by Getty Images&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;McDowell accordingly equaled the low round of the day, his one of just three 69s, sending him to a playoff with Webb Simpson that &lt;a href="http://golfdigest.stats.com/golf/story.asp?i=20130421224836070000101&amp;amp;ref=rec&amp;amp;tm=&amp;amp;src=GOLF&amp;amp;random=201304211834" rel="nofollow"&gt;&lt;u&gt;he won with a par on the first extra hole&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; for his first official victory in the States since he won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2010.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/swing-sequences/2010-09/photos-graeme-mcdowell#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: A frame-by-frame look at McDowell's swing&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Better than any wind gauge was how CBS' David Feherty chose to describe the wind. "One of the traditions here at the Heritage are the gentlemen who wear the kilts," he said. "It's not a great day to wear a kilt. The spectators might need therapy for months."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Provided they weren't blinded by the sight, they saw the kind of golf atypical for the PGA Tour, a winning score that doesn't reach double digits under par. It helped reinforce the benefit of Harbour Town's place on the PGA Tour schedule, a challenging but popular course that attracts a decent field and usually delivers an entertaining show that assists in alleviating the Masters hangover.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
It helps as well that RBC stepped in as the title sponsor last year to save a tournament on the brink of folding. RBC, which also is the title sponsor of the Canadian Open, has a strong international field of players on its endorsement team, assuring representative fields in its tournaments.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
McDowell is among them, as are Ernie Els, Brandt Snedeker, Luke Donald, Matt Kuchar, Hunter Mahan and Jim Furyk, all of whom played. On Tuesday during an RBC function, McDowell learned from Furyk the key to playing the Heritage: "Just hang around and hang around," he said. "You're never out of this tournament."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2013-04/gwar-tim-rosaforte-report-0401" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: McDowell enjoying life as a major champion&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
McDowell, who had played the Heritage only once before,  was especially effective at hanging around on Sunday, notwithstanding the havoc created by the wind. He played without a bogey until missing the green on the final hole and failing to save par, providing an opening for Simpson.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Two former U.S. Open champions in contention made for a good show that was ratcheted up a notch by the windy conditions. "It's a hard game," CBS' Gary McCord said. "This wind just kind of makes it really hard. But these guys are paid well. They get everything for free. They're having a ball playing golf. Let's watch 'em struggle."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Most of them did; McDowell was the only player among the top five to have fewer than three bogeys on his card (and hence, we submit, the pronunciation of the body of water by which the Heritage is played -- cal-a-bogey).
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2012-11/photos-pga-tour-wives#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: Photos of McDowell's fiance and other PGA Tour couples&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
It was a testament to McDowell's ability to play in the wind, even the kind that strongly encourages leaving the kilts at home.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/johnstrege" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-lang="en"&gt;Follow @JohnStrege&lt;/a&gt;&lt;script&gt;!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");&lt;/script&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:34:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/by-john-strege-follow-johnstregefunctiondsidvar-1.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-04-21T23:34:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Grind: Why Adam Scott's Masters win will really grow the game</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/the-grind-why-scotts-masters-win-will-grow-the-game.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/alex-myers"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Alex Myers&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;
Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we're convinced Adam Scott might grow the game of golf more than anyone since Arnold Palmer. For non-golfy women around the country casually tuning into the end of the tournament -- or perhaps looking for "60 Minutes" -- watching the end of the Masters was a real eye-opener (Even &lt;a href="http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2013/4/16/uh-not-happening-the-bachelor-wants-adam.html"&gt;&lt;u&gt;ABC's 'The Bachelor' is wishfully targeting&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Scott). Guys, be aware going forward. When your significant other asks, "Is there any golf on TV this weekend?", that's really code for, "Is that dreamy Australian guy playing this weekend?" 
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-adam-scott-grind-0416.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-adam-scott-grind-0416.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/04/blog-adam-scott-grind-0416-thumb-470x306-96002.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="306" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;"I know I'm single, but please calm down, ladies."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;WE'RE BUYING&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Adam Scott&lt;/b&gt;. The Australian had plenty of guys drooling as well with that perfect swing. And after struggling on the greens all Sunday, Scott finally got that broomstick putter of his to knock a couple in when it mattered most. Good for him for bouncing back so quickly from his collapse at last year's British Open. Good for me, since his breakthrough won me &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/golf-masters/2013-04/masters-fantasy-golf-draft"&gt;&lt;u&gt;GolfDigest.com's first-ever Masters fantasy draft&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. And again, good for the game.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Angel Cabrera&lt;/b&gt;. Serious question: Other than the handful of times he's either contended or won a major championship, where does this guy go? What a performance, especially under the utmost pressure. The approach to kick-in range on 18 will long be remembered, but so should his putting and that chip shot on the first playoff hole that somehow didn't drop. Cabrera couldn't pull it out this time, but he served notice yet again that if he's in the mix, watch out.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/golf-masters/2013-04/photos-masters-defining-shots#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: The shots that defined the Masters&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-grind-gretzky-vonn.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-grind-gretzky-vonn.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/04/blog-grind-gretzky-vonn-thumb-300x225-95983.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" height="225" width="300" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;b&gt;Tianlang Guan&lt;/b&gt;. Not even a slow-play penalty could keep the 14-year-old from making the cut at the Masters. We probably shouldn't be too surprised with anything age-related in golf after a 59-year-old Tom Watson nearly won the British Open four years ago, but still, what a remarkable performance. Two stunning stats: Guan didn't make more than a bogey all week and he didn't three-putt on Augusta National's diabolical greens once. It shouldn't be too long before Tiger Woods asks the young man for a putting lesson.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;The Masters&lt;/b&gt;. It delivers every year, doesn't it? And now Lindsey Vonn and Paulina Gretzky (&lt;em&gt;unnecessarily shown above&lt;/em&gt;) can say they've been! Even when most of the final round is a bit of a snooze -- we'll give the rain a lot of the blame for that -- we wind up witnessing one of the most exciting finishes ever at a major championship. Whether its the routing of the course, the setting, or Jim Nantz's hushed tones, you can always count on an exciting finish -- and a dose of depression when it's over.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;WE'RE SELLING&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Brandt Snedeker&lt;/b&gt;. We thought he was over final-round pressure with his gutsy performance at the Tour Championship to win the FedEx Cup's $10 million bonus, but Sneds still looked a lot like the guy who melted down Sunday at Augusta five years ago the first time he had a chance to win his first major. 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Tiger Woods&lt;/b&gt;. Even Nick Faldo marveled at the bad breaks Woods got during the week, most notably the shot off the flagstick into the water on Friday and what he termed a "400-degree lipout" on Saturday. That being said, here's a simple request for the World No. 1 and a man who has played more rounds of golf in his life than the combined staff of Golf Digest: KNOW THE RULES! 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Phil Mickelson&lt;/b&gt;. From adding the "Phrankenwood" to his bag to worrying about the PGA Tour's schedule leading up to the season's first major, it seems like Mickelson over-analyzed his way to a disappointing Masters finish. What will Phil and Callaway cook up for the U.S. Open at Merion? A half-putter, half-doughnut maker? 
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;ON TAP&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Wait, there's another tournament this week? But the Masters is over! Hmm, let's see. . . why yes, it's the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head. 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/golf-masters/2013-04/photos-birdies-bogeys-r4#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: Winners &amp;amp; Losers from the Masters&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Random tournament fact:&lt;/b&gt; Not sure if you've seen it before, but there is a lighthouse on the 18th hole at Harbour Town Golf Links. 
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;WEEKLY YAHOO! FANTASY LINEUP&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
First, we started the PGA Tour Sleepers Jinx and now? The Tiger Woods Win Jinx. As has been pointed out to us by several people on Twitter, it wasn't the flagstick on the 15th hole or the incorrect drop or the TV viewer who called in, but us who cost Tiger his fifth green jacket. Simply put, when we start him, he loses. When we stick him on the bench, he wins. Every time. We'll keep that in mind the next time he tees it up. . .
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Starters -- (A-List): Bill Haas&lt;/b&gt;. Tied with Keegan Bradley and Brandt Snedeker for the most top 10s on the PGA Tour this year, Haas is getting close to career win No. 5.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(B-List): Luke Donald&lt;/b&gt;. With another major disappointment in the books, it's time for Donald to refocus at a course where he finished T-2, T-3 and solo second from 2009-2011.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(B-List): Bo Van Pelt&lt;/b&gt;. Why does he always wait until Sunday to make his move at Augusta?
&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(C-List): Billy Horschel&lt;/b&gt;. After close calls in Houston and San Antonio, Horschel and his PGA Tour-best streak of 21 consecutive made cuts will be looking once again for his breakthrough tour win.
&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Bench -- &lt;/b&gt; Brandt Snedeker, Aaron Baddeley, Matt Kuchar, and Jason Day.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK&lt;/b&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
-- Thomas Vonn (Lindsey's ex-husband) is confirmed as the "TV viewer" who blew the whistle on Tiger: 100-to-1 odds
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
-- Brandel Chamblee is confirmed as the "TV viewer" who blew the whistle on Tiger: 2-to-1 odds
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/golf-masters/2013-04/photos-masters-defining-shots#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: The shots that defined the Masters&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
-- Jim Nantz will not scream "A Life Changer!" after the winning putt at Harbour Town: LOCK
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
-- You will not watch as much golf on TV as you did last week: LOCK
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;PHOTO OF THE WEEK&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-tiger-penalty-masters-grind.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-tiger-penalty-masters-grind.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/04/blog-tiger-penalty-masters-grind-thumb-470x329-95984.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="329" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
It's the story that just won't die. We thought we could move on from #Dropgate and then the &lt;a href="http://www.augusta.com/masters/story/blog/woods-receives-2-shot-penalty-stays-tournament"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Augusta Chronicle released these side-by-side photos&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; indicating that perhaps Woods didn't violate a rule after all when he took his now infamous drop on the 15th hole on Friday. What's next? The Golf Channel's first made-for-TV movie event?
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;PHOTO OF THE WEEK (NOT INVOLVING TIGER WOODS)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-augusta-proposal.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-augusta-proposal.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/04/blog-augusta-proposal-thumb-470x314-96005.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="314" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;
We don't know who these people are, but they seem pretty awesome. A guy proposes to his girl in front of the Augusta National clubhouse and she says yes? Very cool. We're just glad &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/golf-masters/2013-04/photos-augusta-rules#slide=1"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Augusta National doesn't have a rule&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; against that type of thing.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;THIS AND THAT&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
TV ratings for the final round of the &lt;a href="http://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2013/4/15/cbs-masters-final-round-102-up-26.html"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Masters were up 26%&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. It helps to have Tiger on the first page of the leader board, even if it's at the bottom. . . . Inbee Park moved to No. 1 in women's golf during her off week. World rankings! . . . A &lt;a href="http://golfdigest.stats.com/golf/story.asp?i=20130413233351360000101&amp;amp;ref=rec&amp;amp;tm=&amp;amp;src=GOLF&amp;amp;random=201304141446"&gt;&lt;u&gt;14-year-old made the cut at the Masters&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Sorry, but we can't say that enough.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
How many more years will Fred Couples "turn back the clock" at Augusta National? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Why doesn't Angel Cabrera take over those "Most interesting man in the world" beer ads?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Who wouldn't want to be Adam Scott's agent right about now?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;








&lt;p&gt;
&lt;em&gt;-- Alex Myers is an Associate Editor for GolfDigest.com. Feel free to &lt;a href="mailto:alex.myers@golfdigest.com"&gt;&lt;u&gt;email him&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and please &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/AlexMyers3"&gt;&lt;u&gt;follow him on Twitter&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; since he has self-esteem issues.&lt;/em&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:35:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/the-grind-why-scotts-masters-win-will-grow-the-game.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-04-16T15:35:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Why haven't Europeans been winning at the Masters?</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/why-havent-europeans-been-winning-at-the-masters.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf/john-huggan"&gt;&lt;u&gt;John Huggan&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- As a group, they've achieved almost everything else in this century. Five Ryder Cup wins over the Americans. Eight major championship victories. And countless tournament triumphs across the globe. But so far in this century, no European golfer has donned a green jacket.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
It's an oddity, as even a glance at the Official World Golf Ranking over the past 12 and-a-bit years shows only too clearly. Even more so when one considers that not so very long ago, the Old World came close to dominating the youngest of the four most important titles in the game. Between 1980 and 1999, six European stars (Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Jose Maria Olazabal) pulled on golf's most famous garment. But, since then: nothing.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="/golf-instruction/swing-sequences/2011-04/photos-tiger-woods#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: Our staff picks to win the Masters&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
So what's the deal? What's going on here? Why has this clearly gifted and talented generation of Euros failed so miserably on a course where their immediate predecessors flourished so memorably?
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-donald-0409.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-donald-0409.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/04/blog-donald-0409-thumb-470x290-95222.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="290" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;i&gt;Photo by Getty Images.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;"The crop of really good European players that has emerged over the last decade or so have all -- apart from Luke Donald -- been marginal putters," contends leading coach and CBS commentator Peter Kostis. "Except during the Ryder Cup. Ian Poulter has certainly displayed some great skill on the greens in that environment, but I'm not sure he has the ball striking to win the Masters. Then again, he is now better in that area than he has ever been. So you never know.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"Back in the days when Faldo, Ballesteros, Olazabal and Langer were winning the Masters, what they all had in common was great putting. The last line of defense at Augusta National is the fiercely sloping greens. So if you can't putt, you can't score well there.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"I think Rory McIlroy would have won a couple of years ago if he had been a better putter. The putts he missed early on in the final round seemed to rattle him. Had he made those, I think he would have calmed down and the back-nine debacle that did ensue would not have happened."
&lt;/p&gt;
 
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/golf-masters/2011-04/photos-masters-heartbreaks#intro" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: The biggest Masters heartbreaks through the years&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Still, Kostis is not one who feels that the dearth of European victories since Olazabal's second in 1999 is going to last much longer.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"Rory is a better putter than he was two years ago," he says. "So is Lee Westwood. Which will improve their chances of victory. I think Rory has the best opportunity though. He went to see (former USPGA champion and renowned putting coach) Dave Stockton right after the disappointment of 2011 and made himself a better putter. He knew that had let him down."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
While the Kostis theory makes sense, Donald wasn't reading too much into the last 14 years of futility.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"Does it surprise me?" asks the former world No. 1. "Nothing surprises me in golf anymore. But the fields are a lot deeper and anyone can win on a given week. But there's a bunch of great European players right now. So we certainly have as good a chance as anyone else."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2011-10/luke-donald-short-game-advice#intro" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: Luke Donald's Do's &amp;amp; Don'ts of the Short Game&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Englishman Paul Casey, absent this year from Augusta for the first time since 2006, is another who sees hope for the immediate future.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"What may make a difference is that so many of our guys are playing more golf in the U.S.," he says. "That will better prepare them for the majors and Augusta in particular. But the bottom line is that I have no idea why a European hasn't won at Augusta in so long. Sometimes weird stuff just happens. Look at this year on the PGA Tour; an American won every event until last week in San Antonio. That's impossible to explain. It's like ten reds in succession coming up on the roulette wheel.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"It's strange, but it does happen."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/johnhuggan" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-lang="en"&gt;Follow @johnhuggan&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;script&gt;!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");&lt;/script&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:25:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/04/why-havent-europeans-been-winning-at-the-masters.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-04-09T18:25:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Tiger's Road Back To No. 1</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2013-03/tiger-woods-back-to-number-one-photos</link>
      <description>A look back at Tiger Woods' fall from No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking and his climb back to the game's top spot.</description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2013-03/tiger-woods-back-to-number-one-photos</guid>
      <dc:creator>Alex Myers</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2013-03-25T04:00:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Want an equipment contract? Mizuno offering just that</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/blogs/hotlist365/2013/03/want-an-equipment-contract-miz.html</link>
      <description>By GolfDigest.com Staff You'll probably never play like a tour player, but now there's at least a chance you can look and feel like one. Mizuno Golf has launched a new ad campaign, dubbed...</description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 14 Mar 2013 15:33:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/blogs/hotlist365/2013/03/want-an-equipment-contract-miz.html</guid>
      <dc:creator>Alex Myers</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2013-03-14T15:33:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>The Grind: Tiger's fist pumps, Rory's "comeback," and Tampa predictions</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/the-grind-tigers-fist-pumps-rorys-comeback-and-tampa-predict.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/alex-myers"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Alex Myers&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-tiger-fist-pump-0312.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-tiger-fist-pump-0312.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/03/blog-tiger-fist-pump-0312-thumb-470x281-92782.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="281" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where like Tiger Woods, we always enjoy a good fist pump. When we think of an idea to stick in the column? That gets one of TW's subtle overhand ones. Write what we believe to be an amusing sentence? That draws one of his trademark big uppercuts. And when we actually finish the column? Well, that's when we do the emphatic, leaning back, double fist a la Torrey Pines in 2008 (look at that perfect form above). We just need to remember to do some light stretching first next time. . . &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Anyway, after a big week, golf's biggest star is on break again, but we aren't. Here's what has us talking:
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;WE'RE BUYING&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Tiger Woods&lt;/b&gt;. And just like that, Woods is the undisputed best player in the world again. He's the first player to multiple wins in 2013 and he's now a 4-to-1 favorite to win the Masters (Rory McIlroy is second at 9-to-1). Woods may have 76 PGA Tour titles now, but this was historic since it was the first time he won on my birthday. Thanks, Tiger! I thought you had forgotten about me again. . .
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Scott Brown&lt;/b&gt;. Tiger Woods wasn't the only golfer winning a PGA Tour event last week. The journeyman (can you be a journeyman if you're still under 30?), who was splitting his time between the PGA and Web.com Tours took advantage of a weaker field in Puerto Rico to get his first big victory and lock up his tour card for the next two years. He took home by far the smallest winner's check ($630,000) on the PGA Tour. Somehow, I doubt he's complaining.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf/humor/first-world-golf-problems-photos#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: Golf's #FirstWorldProblems&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Steve Stricker&lt;/b&gt;. The Strick Show dealt out another putting lesson to his buddy, Tiger, and then wound up finishing runner-up to him. What a guy! We also admire his ability to play so well despite playing so infrequently. He's being efficient with his money, too. Stricker may not be teeing it up as often, but by having his wife on the bag, he's bringing home a bigger percentage of his paychecks. Shrewd!
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;WE'RE SELLING&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Bandwagoners&lt;/b&gt;. Yeah, yeah, I've said Tiger is "back!" more than anyone, but at least I'm consistent. It's people who change their minds about the guy every five minutes who drive me nuts. And now that same fickle treatment happens with Rory McIlroy, who is everyone's darling again after a public apology and a Sunday 65 for a "back'door" top 10. Guys, it's a long season and golfers have LONG careers. Let's be a little more patient.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Luke Donald&lt;/b&gt;. A fairly quiet start to 2013 got even rougher at Doral, where LD didn't break 70 once on a very tame Doral and managed to double bogey the 18th hole ALL four days. Karma can be pretty nasty, huh Luke? We'll explain later. . .
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;TaylorMade's "-IER" campaign&lt;/b&gt;. It was bad enough seeing guys wearing "17" on their hats last year to indicate the average distance TaylorMade claimed people gained by switching to their RocketBallz line. This year's slogan, "RocketBallz-IER" and the accompanying "#IER" hats being worn are even worse. I mean, why would the company do such a thing? Do they want people to be talking about it after the tournament or something? Ohhhh, we get it. Touche, TaylorMade. Touche. 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;ON TAP&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
The PGA Tour heads across Florida for the Tampa Bay Championship at Innisbrook's Copperhead Course. Wait, there are still tournaments that are just named after where they are played? Were the clocks turned ahead an hour this past weekend or turned back about 50 years?
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2012-09/photos-tiger-rory-comparison#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: A side-by-side look at Rory's and Tiger's careers&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Random tournament fact:&lt;/b&gt; Luke Donald won here last year and shortly thereafter, I reached out to the then World No. 1 for help on how to play Copperhead because I was going on a golf trip there later that summer. He didn't respond. Is it a coincidence that he hasn't won a tournament since? I think not.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;WEEKLY YAHOO! FANTASY LINEUP&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Twice we have had Tiger Woods as our A-list bench player and twice he has gone on to win that tournament. Lesson learned. In future tournaments that he plays, we will keep doing that to sabotage our fantasy team, but make side bets on him to win.  
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Starters -- (A-List): Sergio Garcia&lt;/b&gt;. Sergio is coming off a T-3 at Doral and has shot over par at Copperhead just once in his past 11 rounds there. He's also one of those "-IER" guys, making his last name Garcia-IER in the new campaign. C'mon, that's four vowels in a row! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(B-List): Matt Kuchar&lt;/b&gt;. Kuch had a disappointing week in Miami, but have you heard of the "Matt Kuchar Rule"? It states that he never has two bad weeks in a row.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(B-List): Webb Simpson&lt;/b&gt;. The Wake Forest product had a tough runner-up here two years ago when he bogeyed the final hole, but his last three years at Copperhead have produced 10 rounds in the 60s and three top-15 finishes.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(C-List): Adam Scott&lt;/b&gt;. The Aussie dressed like he didn't think he was going to be on TV on Sunday (yellow pants with a grey shirt?), but his closing 64 brought him a lot of air time. Scott hasn't played here much, but his sparse schedule has made him focus better when he tees it up.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Bench -- &lt;/b&gt; Jason Dufner, Aaron Baddeley, John Senden, and Jason Day.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;(PAULINA GRETZKY) PICTURE OF THE WEEK&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-paulina-gretzky-0312.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-paulina-gretzky-0312.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/03/blog-paulina-gretzky-0312-thumb-300x359-92784.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" height="359" width="300" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I know, I know, there were &lt;a href="http://www.cbssports.com/golf/blog/eye-on-golf/21853991/dustin-johnson-smokes-cigarette-on-beach-with-paulina-gretzky"&gt;&lt;u&gt;pics of her and Dustin Johnson on the beach&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, including ones of her putting her dog in her shirt, but I I like this better. No frills. Just Paulina. With a sultry look. Hey, cut me some slack, it's still close to my birthday. So, to recap, Tiger gave me a win, Miami gave me this Paulina pic and my boss gave me work to do. What did you get me? 
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
-- NBC's announcing crew will say "The Snake Pit," Copperhead's closing three-hole stretch, as much as it said "The Bear Trap" at the Honda Classic: 100-to-1 odds
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
-- Unlike Donald Trump, Innisbrook's owner will &lt;em&gt;not&lt;/em&gt; arrive to the course by helicopter every day: Even odds 
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
-- Golf's TV ratings will be lower this week: LOCK
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;CELEBRITY/ATHLETE WE'D LIKE TO PLAY GOLF WITH&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;Scott Weiland&lt;/b&gt;. Remember him? He was the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots before his, um, problems, led him to be fired recently. That hasn't stopped him from touring with another band and this weekend I saw him in action. He still has a great-sounding voice. Well, when he's not spending a good portion of the show challenging someone in the crowd to a fight. . . Scott, let's tee it up together. I think it will help relax you, plus, we can spend the whole round discussing how legendary 90's rock is.
&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Our two favorite things about Phil are his love of going for the bold (sometimes stupid) shots and his borderline overanalysis of the game. This &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/video-phil-mickelson-breaks-down-his-crazy-cartpath-shot.html"&gt;&lt;u&gt;brilliant clip following Thursday's first round at Doral&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; combined both. It is the ultimate "Phil being Phil" moment. If you haven't seen it yet, you are in for a treat:
&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p&gt;
&lt;object height="360" width="470"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xAuvkGWILZM?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xAuvkGWILZM?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="360" width="470"&gt;&lt;/object&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;THIS AND THAT&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-lucky-charms.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-lucky-charms.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/03/blog-lucky-charms-thumb-300x333-92786.jpg" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" height="333" width="300" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;A Dallas judge &lt;a href="http://golfdigest.stats.com/golf/story.asp?i=20130305181205992315208&amp;amp;ref=rec&amp;amp;tm=&amp;amp;src=GOLF&amp;amp;random=201303060810"&gt;&lt;u&gt;stopped the auction of a Masters jacket&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Poor Greg Norman. The guy can't even buy a green jacket. . . . Speaking of Greg Norman, the Shark is going &lt;a href="http://golfdigest.stats.com/golf/story.asp?i=20130308072021275427408&amp;amp;ref=hea&amp;amp;tm=&amp;amp;src=&amp;amp;random=201303111653"&gt;&lt;u&gt;to advise China's golf team&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; leading up to the 2016 Olympics. There's got to be another Greg Norman joke in there somewhere. . . . I recently rediscovered eating cereal with milk (don't ask), specifically, Lucky Charms (&lt;i&gt;above&lt;/i&gt;). Congrats, General Mills. I don't know what you put in those things, but they are "magically delicious" -- as in I can't stop eating them once I start.
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Why can't Justin Timberlake host Saturday Night Live &lt;em&gt;every&lt;/em&gt; week? 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Did anyone actually pull a hammy jumping back on the Tiger bandwagon?
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
How many non-golf-related fist pumps does Tiger make in a typical day?
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;em&gt;-- Alex Myers is a contributing editor for GolfDigest.com. Feel free to &lt;a href="mailto:alex.myers@golfdigest.com"&gt;&lt;u&gt;email him&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and please &lt;a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/AlexMyers3"&gt;&lt;u&gt;follow him on Twitter&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; since he has self-esteem issues.&lt;/em&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:27:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/the-grind-tigers-fist-pumps-rorys-comeback-and-tampa-predict.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-03-12T14:27:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Rory, Tiger have very different days at Doral</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/rory-tiger-have-very-different-days-at-doral.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/dave-shedloski"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Dave Shedloski&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;


&lt;p&gt;
MIAMI -- He brought with him a new attitude and a new extended waggle in his pre-shot routine, but Rory McIlroy couldn't shake the same old problems.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Tiger Woods just looked like his old self.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-rory-tiger-0307.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-rory-tiger-0307.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/03/blog-rory-tiger-0307-thumb-470x278-92562.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="278" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;i&gt;Photo by Getty Images&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Six days after walking off the course in frustration at the Honda Classic, McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world, was back in the spotlight at the WGC-Cadillac Championship playing alongside Woods and Luke Donald, who trail immediately behind him at No. 2 and 3 in the world, respectively.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
McIlroy didn't fare well outright or by comparison Thursday, spraying the ball off the tee but eking out two late birdies to salvage a 1-over-par 73 on a relatively calm afternoon at the TPC Blue Course at Trump Doral.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/a-contrite-mcilroy-admits-i-should-have-stayed-out-there.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: McIlroy says he's sorry for quitting&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Woods, meanwhile, &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/woods-feeling-confident-after-putting-session-with-stricker.html"&gt;&lt;u&gt;buoyed by his putting lesson from Steve Stricker&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; Wednesday afternoon, converted nine birdies in a 6-under 66 that gave him a share of the first-round lead with four others.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Donald recovered from two drives in the water to grind out a 2-under 70.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"Whatever [Stricker] says I'm going to do," Woods said with a smile after a round in which he needed just 23 putts. "He's one of the best putters that's ever lived.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"I think I'm going to have a contract with him," he added playfully. "He's only going to play, what, five tournaments this year? So I'll bring him out in his off weeks."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
A winner in his first PGA Tour start of the season at the Farmer's Insurance Open, Woods was off his game last week at the Honda Classic, finishing T-37. But he appeared comfortable on the Blue Monster and perhaps left a shot or two on the course. His nine birdies was one shy of his personal record for 18 holes and just two fewer than he converted over 72 holes at PGA National.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"I played well. It was certainly a day that could have been a little bit lower," said Woods, tied atop the leaderboard with Bubba Watson, Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia and Fredrik Jacobson.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/swing-sequences/2012-12/photos-tiger-woods-rory-mcilroy#intro" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: A side-to-side look at Rory's and Tiger's swings&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
McIlroy, the reigning PGA Tour player of the Year after winning four times in 2012, probably couldn't get any lower after his struggles at PGA National that prompted a mid-round meltdown and withdrawal for which &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/a-contrite-mcilroy-admits-i-should-have-stayed-out-there.html"&gt;&lt;u&gt;he has since apologized&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. In that light, his untidy 73 was a step in the right direction, especially towards the end when he hung in and birdied two of his last three holes.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"It was a bit of a struggle, to be honest," said McIlroy, 23, of Northern Ireland. "Hit some good shots, hit some not so good shots. But, yeah, as I've been saying all week, this is a work in progress, and I'm working at it and I'm staying patient."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
It takes patience when you hit only three fairways and 11 greens. "It was nice to sneak in a couple birdies on the last three holes and make it look somewhat respectable, even though everyone seems to be going pretty low out there today," he said after five birdies against six bogeys.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"I don't think he's quite drawing the ball like he used to, that he wants," said Woods, who would not divulge what advice, if any, he has shared with the struggling Ulsterman. "Maybe just a little bit defensive out there. And that happens, and we have all gone through stretches like this. It happens, and it happened to him last year in the middle of the year and he ended up all right at the end of the year. 
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"When you play golf and you play golf for a very long time, you're going to have spells like this. You can't play well every week, even though you try. You're going to have ups and downs and just got to battle through it."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Reminded that during his long run as the No. 1 player in the world he seemed to avoid such fallow periods, Woods smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2012-09/photos-tiger-rory-comparison#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: A comparison of Tiger's and Rory's careers&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"He's working through some stuff in his swing, obviously," said Donald, who is the midst of incorporating with his own incremental swing refinements. "You can see his pre-shot routine is a little different. He's got that little waggle trying to get the club going more on the outside, and he's thinking about it a little bit. That's the toughest time in golf when you can't concentrate on just hitting good shots. You're focusing on you swing. It's tough a tough one to deal with, to leave the range behind you. It's a game of confidence, and once he gets a little bit of that back he'll be fine."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/daveshedloski" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-lang="en"&gt;Follow @DaveShedloski&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 07 Mar 2013 23:43:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/rory-tiger-have-very-different-days-at-doral.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-03-07T23:43:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Woods feeling confident after putting session with Stricker</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/woods-feeling-confident-after-putting-session-with-stricker.html</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;
&lt;b&gt;By &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf/dave-shedloski"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Dave Shedloski&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
MIAMI -- Tiger Woods worked intensively on his putting with good friend Steve Stricker for more than an hour Wednesday on the practice green at Trump Doral Resort on the eve of the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"He just got me back to where I was in San Diego," said Woods, who won his PGA Tour season opener at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in January, marking his 75th tour victory. "It was a little bit of everything, really."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/blog-tiger-stricker-0306.jpg"&gt;&lt;img alt="blog-tiger-stricker-0306.jpg" src="http://blog.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/assets_c/2013/03/blog-tiger-stricker-0306-thumb-470x288-92462.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="text-align: center; display: block; margin: 0 auto 20px;" height="288" width="470" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stricker, one of the best putters in the game, and Woods have been friends for several years and have played a number of team matches together since the 2009 Presidents Cup. It was not the first time that Woods has sought advice from Stricker on putting mechanics.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/2012-09/photos-tiger-woods-buddies#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: A look at Tiger's "bromances" through the years&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"I help him and he helps me. It's what we do," said Stricker, who mainly changed the shaft angle on Woods' putter, moving it forward to align with his ball position at address. "The ball was forward and his hands were back, and he was missing it both ways and having trouble with distance control."
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
Woods ranks 43rd on the tour in strokes gained putting, and last week at the Honda Classic left numerous birdie chances on the table. The refresher from Stricker had him encouraged.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
"Yeah, I feel a lot better about it than I did an hour ago," Woods said.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
The No. 2 player in the world, Woods joins No. 1 Rory McIlroy and No. 3 Luke Donald at 11:53 a.m. EDT Thursday for the &lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/the-grind-rorys-story-kissing-up-to-the-donald-and-doral-pre.html"&gt;&lt;u&gt;first round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; on the No. 10 tee.
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/a-contrite-mcilroy-admits-i-should-have-stayed-out-there.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica, verdana"&gt;Related: McIlroy apologizes for Honda withdrawal&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/p&gt; 

&lt;p&gt;
Woods has won 16 WGC titles in his career. He won three times consecutively at Doral's Blue Course from 2005-07.
&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;
&lt;a href="https://twitter.com/daveshedloski" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" data-lang="en"&gt;Follow @DaveShedloski&lt;/a&gt;
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&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 06 Mar 2013 21:57:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tours-news/blogs/local-knowledge/2013/03/woods-feeling-confident-after-putting-session-with-stricker.html</guid>
      <dc:date>2013-03-06T21:57:00Z</dc:date>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>PGA Tour wives publish golf book for charity</title>
      <link>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/blogs/newstuff/2013/02/tour-wives-publish-golf-book-f.html</link>
      <description>By John Strege Twenty-five years ago, wives of PGA Tour players elected to form an association "to render support and provide assistance to needy children and their families through the means of charitable events," their...</description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:47:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/blogs/newstuff/2013/02/tour-wives-publish-golf-book-f.html</guid>
      <dc:creator>John Strege</dc:creator>
      <dc:date>2013-02-01T21:47:00Z</dc:date>
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