If the first two rounds of the HSBC Open in Singapore are any indication, this is going to be an exciting LPGA season (as if we didn’t already suspect that). Last year’s top-ranked player, Lorena Ochoa, debuted at this event and marched right to the top of the leader board. She finished Thursday’s round with a one stroke lead at six under and returned to shoot a seven under on Friday.

Trailing Ochoa by seven strokes are last week’s Fields Open champion, Paula Creamer; Sweden’s Annika Sorenstam (never one to be counted out); and South Korea’s In-Kyung Kim.

The tournament finished on Saturday.

Does any golfer not want the chance to play the course where golf originated–St. Andrews’ Old Course in Scotland? BMI, an air carrier that flies between Chicago and Las Vegas to England and Scotland, is making that dream a reality for one pair of lucky Americans.

The airline is running a contest from now until May 25, 2008. No purchase is necessary; you just have to visit their Web site and complete the entry form.

The prize includes two roundtrip economy tickets between Chicago or Las Vegas and Manchester England, with connecting flights between Manchester and Edinburgh; ground transporation between Edinburgh and St. Andrews; three nights’ accommodations at the De Vere’s Carden Park Resort and three nights’ at the Old Course Hotel in St. Andrews; and five rounds of 18-hole golf at the Royal Birkdale, Carden Park and the Old, New and Duke’s Courses at St. Andrews.

Entrants must be living in the Continental United States and be at least 18 years of age. Complete details are available on the BMI Web site.

Good Luck!

According to a recent New York Times article the number of Americans playing golf is decreasing. The article cites finding the time, the cost, deteriorating golf etiquette (cell phones?), and a changed perception of a game of golf as a business outing.

According to the National Golf Foundation, around 26 million Americans play golf. However, only about 4.6 million play regularly–more than 25 times a year. Only 25 percent of golfers are women.

I live in a part of the country (northern Ohio) where golf competes during the short season with camping, boating, and other types of outdoor activities. Still most of us true golf lovers manage to play at least nine holes before running off to other weekend commitments.

What do you think? Is golf dying a slow death? Is it becoming a game to watch, rather than play?

The players talked and the PGA listened. Tour officials announced Tuesday their decision to modify the PGA cut rule along the guidelines suggested by the 16-member players’ advisory council. The new rule will allow players on the line to play one more day before being eliminated.

The 2008 cut policy, which began in January, had left 19 players at the Buick Invitational and 18 at the Sony Open in the money, but unable to play the final two rounds.

The revised policy will be in effect this week at the Honda Classic. To attempt to clarify the revision, the tour will return to the traditional 36-hole cut for the top 70 and ties. If more than 78 players make the cut, there will be a second cut to the top 70 and ties after the third round.

I think this is more fair than the first rule. What do you think?

Professional golf instructor, Joe Beck of “Golf Tips with Joe Beck,” teaches viewers how to hit a long chip and get the ball close to the hole, how to select the right stance, and correct amount of loft to complete this shot. Take a look:

Stewart Cink may have made our list of the hottest guys on the PGA tour, but he was no match yesterday for Tiger yesterday in the final round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. It was a good day, even by Woods’ high standards. He told the Associated Press “I think (the final 18 holes) is the best stretch I’ve ever played.”

The talk around the blogosphere is that Tiger is unstoppable. Do you agree?

Paula Creamer won the LPGA’s Fields Open Saturday, pulling ahead of Jeong Jang on the back nine by birdeying four of the last five holes. Her -16 for the tournament earned her $195,000 and a stay for two at Tucson’s exclusive Canyon Ranch spa.

Jang finished second with -13 and Annika Sorenstam finished at -12 for fourth place, making her the leading money winner so far this short season. Michelle Wie, who began the season with this tournament, ran out of steam during the final round, ending the event at +6.

This is Creamer’s five LPGA win since joining the tour in 2005. She’s off to a great start. Does she have what it takes to challenge Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam for the top ladies moneywinner this year?

As most of the world’s golf fans are watching the men compete in the WGC Accenture Match Play (after Thursday, Tiger’s in; Phil’s out), the women of the LPGA are in Hawaii competing in the Fields Open. It’s the season debut for Michelle Wie, who looked fit to play, finishing five strokes behind the leader, Jeong Jang after the first round.

Jang (pictured above) has been on the tour since 2000 and has two career wins. Last year she lost to Natalie Gublis in a playoff at the Evian Masters Tournament.

The Tiger Woods Foundation announced the details of Tiger Jam XI, the annual charity fund-raiser/concert, hosted by championship golfer (pictured above with last year’s performer, Bon Jovi). This year’s event will be held at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas on April 19. The event will include a gourmet dinner, live and silent auctions, and a concert by rock legends, Van Halen.

Tickets to the event are available via Ticketmaster or from the Mandalay Bay Resort at 702 632-7580. Tickets start at $125.

As February is Black History Month, it’s fitting to talk about Charles Sifford, the first African-American to play on the PGA tour. Sifford was born in rural North Carolina in 1922. He started in golf as a caddie in the 1930s, making 60 cents/day. Of course, caddies get to play in their free time and by age 13, Sifford was frequently shooting par.

Charles Sifford won the National Negro Open five times in a row (1952-1956), while repeatedly being denied a PGA card. He was finally invited to the tour in 1960, when the PGA dropped it’s “Caucasian Only” rule, under pressure from the California attorney general.

Even though he was 39 when he joined the PGA, Sifford won two events–the 1967 Greater Hartford Open and the 1969 Los Angeles Open. He went on the become one of the original members of the Champions Tour in 1975.

Sifford made history again in 2004 when he became the first African-American inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida.

Two generations of African-American golfers are indebted to Mr. Sifford’s efforts. Tiger Woods was quoted at Mr. Sifford’s induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame as saying, “He has my respect and my gratitude for the sacrifices he made to open the doors to this great game to people of color.”