Phil Mickelson and Michelle Wie withdrew from their respective events today due to injuries. Mickelson evidently injured his wrist while practicing at Oakmont last week, and then further aggravated the injury in today’s first round of the Memorial. It’s too bad because I think he was primed to win this week, in spite of Tiger being in the field.

And Michelle Wie withdrew from the Ginn Tribute, citing further aggravation with her wrist injury as well. Not coincidentally, Wie was 14 over par through 16 holes at the time she withdrew. Even more interesting (and I didn’t know this) is that the LPGA bans nontour players for the year if they shoot 88 or higher during a tournament. And she was two strokes away from this magic number.

I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but Wie needs to just take the rest of the year off and make some serious decisions about her future. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt she might still be playing hurt, but so do a lot of players. More importantly, she needs to decide if she’s a LPGA tour player, or some side show that travels the country, and makes a little spending money on the side.

Both Tiger and Phil are playing Jack’s tournament, The Memorial this week in Ohio, and it’s a good place to see how ready or not, Phil and Tiger are as they head into the final weeks before the U.S. Open. There’s no doubt that Tiger really likes this tournament, simply because of the ties to Nicklaus, and he wants everything that has anything to do with Nicklaus.

However, does that mean he’s ready to tackle Jack’s course this year? Not unless Woods found some magic on the range in the last couple of weeks. I’ve said before that Woods at 90% is better than most of the field at 100%, but of course that doesn’t include the likes of Mickelson, Singh, Furyk, et al. And Mickelson is riding pretty high right now because his game seems to be firing on more cylinders than Tiger’s.

But this tournament seems to bring out the best of the underdogs and journeyman golfers. Remember when Roger Maltbie (NBC announcer now) won way back in 1976? He was as surprised as Nicklaus that he won, and was never a real contender during his years on the PGA Tour. And Jack has brought back the furrowed bunkers again this year; much to the dismay of the tour players. And I think it’s great. Give ‘em something else to whine about when they can’t get up and down from a hazard.

I was reading an article about the European Tour and its goal to become more “global” in order to compete against the PGA Tour, and I got to thinking. What if the European Tour was so bold as to schedule a European tournament (or World Golf tournament) in the United States, during a week that the PGA is at a second-tier event? Of course, it would never happen, but just imagine.

Take those tournaments that have been left off the PGA’s new FedEx Cup schedule and bring them back as European events! How about the International running the same week as the B.C Open? There’s no question that the International was the first PGA tournament to really embrace international players, and they did it before it became the in-vogue thing to do. Granted, the tournament probably wouldn’t draw the top-5 U.S. players, but it would draw the best of the rest, which includes Singh, Els, Goosen, Scott, et al.

Wow, just imagine…

“My goal next year is to probably get to No. 1.” – Rory Sabbatini, after winning the Colonial on Sunday. Okay, Sabbatini played very well on Sunday and took the tournament from Jim Furyk in the playoff, so kudos to Rory closing the deal. But becoming the number one player in the world by 2008? Please. I’ve said before I like his frankess (most of the time) because he’s not afraid to say what he feels, but sometimes you have to know when to shut up.

He’s got game, there’s no doubt, but he’s not in the same league as Singh, Mickelson, Els, Goosen, and those that I consider the top-tier players. It’s possible he could end up in the top-10 in the world by year’s end, but will that make him a legitimate contender for number one? Not really, but it will be interesting to watch over the summer to see how he performs in the three remaining majors.

And what’s up with Furyk? He just doesn’t look the same player from two years ago. He’s not nearly as consistent with the iron shots and his putting has become suspect. Maybe that home-made swing is starting to show some fatigue?

Eduardo Romero had the Senior PGA Championship is his grasp, but in the end, couldn’t close the deal and Denis Watson was the ultimate beneficiary. Romero, Nick Price, and Denis Watson, all hit less than stellar shots coming in, but Romero couldn’t make the clutch putts when he needed them.

Nick Price needs to get his game face back on if he’s going to compete on the Champions Tour. Price was always known for his precision iron shots on the PGA tour during his heyday, but watching him iron shots today was painful.

I won’t say Watson backed into the win, but he did allow the other two to make all the mistakes, and then walked away with the title. It was also refreshing to see the seniors play a difficult course for a change, instead of these 6000-yard softies they’ve been playing in the majors.

The 2007 Senior PGA Championship is being played this year at Kiawah Island resort, location of the famed “War on the Shore” Ryder Cup matches of 1991. During those Ryder Cup matches, the course was the main attraction because it’s an extremely difficult course under the best of conditions. And it still plays difficult, but the seniors are getting to play it with tees up a little further than they were in ‘91.

After the third round, Eduardo Romero is leading Nick Price and Denis Watson two shots, but his lead should have been 4, except he bogyed 17 and 18 coming in, and let Price and Watson back in the tournament. And is it me, or has Ben Crenshaw not aged particularly well? He looks 70 already and I know he’s nowhere near that age. On the other end of the spectrum is Joe Ozaki and he doesn’t look a day over 40.

Watch out for Brad Bryant tomorrow because he’s on a hot streak right now and when he’s on, he’s unbeatable. I’d like to see Price win his first Champions Tour even, but he has to figure out how to win all over again.

Tomorrow I hope to hit a bucket of golf balls, for the first time since I was diagnosed with colon cancer, back in March. I’ve really missed playing golf this spring, but the side effects from the chemo and radiation have made life difficult at times. For those not aware, one of the side effects of chemo is that your hands and/or feet become burned (as if they are sunburned on the palms), and needless to say, this has been painful.

However, this week, my hands are starting to peel, which means the chemo side effects are winding down (yeah!). Unfortunately, they’re still very tender and a little sore, but I’m going to wear winter golf gloves on both hands to minimize the discomfort. I’m not the least bit concerned about how I’m going to hit the ball (yeah right!), but more can I swing the club and make contact. If I get through a bucket of balls, I might play nine holes on Sunday or Monday.

Paula Creamer is learning early what Natalie Gulbis has yet to learn: you can’t spread yourself too thin with commitments, and still expect to contend each week on the LPGA. By her own standards, she didn’t have a good sophmore season in 2006 because she didn’t win. By anyone else’s standard she had a very good year: no cuts in 27 starts and 14 top-10 finishes. However, like all top-tier players, she’s out there to win, and this year she’s scaled back the number of tournaments she’s going to play (not unlike Woods and Mickelson).

And unfortunately, this doesn’t bode well for tournament directors around the country who’d like to have Creamer in their tournament, but one thing Creamer does understand is marketing and fan support, and I don’t see totally cherry-picking events for the rest of her career. What the LPGA has going for it in Creamer is a top-tier golfer that wins tournaments, and can sell magazines and calendars.

In case you missed it, USA Today had full page spread (no pun intended) on Natalie Gulbis today that featured obligatory photos from interesting angles, and a minute-by-minute diary of her day. I’ve said all along that Gulbis has tons of potential, but for now, it’s all she has. This USA Today spread literally confirms the point that she’s spending too much time marketing her looks and not enough time on the range.

Maybe she’s accepted the fact she’s this generation’s Laura Baugh. Sells tons of newspapers, calendars, and magazines, but doesn’t quite have the goods to win on the LPGA. Even more sad is that this article should have been about Lorena Ochoa, and her rise to the number spot in the world. But the mainstream media as well as joe six-pack, likes the babes blonde and blue-eyed, and Ochoa doesn’t fit that requirement in the least.

I thought maybe the layoff and wrist injury might force Michelle Wie to reconsider her attempt at playing the PGA Tour, but alas, she’s coming back for another try. Yup, she’s confirmed that she’ll be the sideshow at the John Deere Classic for the third consecutive year. So even when she was at her best and 100% healthy, she couldn’t compete, but now she’s coming off an injury that, even if healed, might hamper her ability to make clean contact with the golf ball.

I know it sounds harsh, but Michelle, please go back to the LPGA and earn your stripes first by beating the best women players in the world. Regularly. And win a major or two. Then, you can think about coming out on the PGA Tour and hangin’ with the big boys. However, the reality is that it’s all about marketing and money. Wie draws the crowds and the TV audiences and you can’t argue with that if you’re a tournament director. But let’s just call her participation an exhibition and leave it at that.