A full schedule of golf events is planned for this weekend. Below is the television coverage (all times are ET).

Saturday, May 31
9am – 12pm – European Tour – Celtic Manor Wales Open in Newport Wales – Golf Channel
1230pm – 230pm – PGA – Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio – Golf Channel
230pm – 5pm – Nationwide Tour – Bank of America Open in Glenville, IL – Golf Channel
4pm – 6pm – LPGA – Ginn Tribute in Charleston, SC – NBC
630pm – 9pm – Champions Tour – Principal Charity Classic in West Des Moines, IA – Golf Channel

Sunday, June 1
9am – 12pm – European Tour – Celtic Manor Wales Open in Newport Wales – Golf Channel
1230pm – 230pm – PGA – Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio – Golf Channel
2p – 430pm – Nationwide Tour – Bank of America Open in Glenville, IL – Golf Channel
4pm – 6pm – LPGA – Ginn Tribute in Charleston, SC – NBC
630pm – 9pm – Champions Tour – Principal Charity Classic in West Des Moines, IA – Golf Channel

^{(photo of Paul Lawrie at the Celtic Manor Wales Open © Newscom)}

Although Tiger Woods is out until the US Open, he’s been keeping busy. One of his recent appearances was in Las Vegas for a golf clinic to benefit his Tiger Woods Foundation. He was on crutches at the time, but fellow PGA pro (and winner of the 2007 Bob Hope Classic) helped him out with the demonstration. The interaction between the two golfers is fun to listen to and there is more than one nugget of golf wisdom thrown about.

Take a look by following this link to AT&T’s Blue Room.

The top eight players (sans Tiger Woods and Adam Scott) and the rest of the PGA entourage are in central Ohio this week for the Memorial Tournament. The tournament, played at Jack Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Country Club, is closely associated with Nicklaus. Nicklaus grew up in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington and graduated from Ohio State University. Nicklaus established the tournament in 1976 and designed it to benefit a number of central Ohio charities, primarily the Columbus Children’s Hospital.

Below are a few facts about the Memorial Tournament:

• The tournament was originally played over Memorial Day weekend (hence the name), but Ohio’s spring storms consistently interfered with play and it was moved back one week.

• K.J. Choi is the defending champion.
  
• The tournament record belongs to Tom Lehman, who finished at -20 in 1994.
  
• Tiger Woods has won the tournament three times; Nicklaus, Tom Watson, and Hale Irwin have won two times.
• Muirfield is a par 72, 7366-yard course.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

Tiger Woods will be sitting out the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Country Club in Dublin, Ohio this week. He is still recovering from his arthroscopic knee surgery on April 15. His next likely appearance will be in the US Open at Torrey Pines, which starts on June 9.

Said Muirfield tournament director, Dan Sullivan, “We were excited to have Tiger play this year, but understand he still has some recuperating to do.”

^{(photo © newscom)}

A full schedule of golf events are planned for this Memorial Day weekend. Below is the television coverage (all times are ET).

Saturday, May 24
930am – 1230pm – BMW PGA Championship in Surrey, England – Golf Channel
3pm – 6pm – PGA – Crowne Plaza Invitational – CBS
3pm – 6pm – Champions Tour – Senior PGA Championship, Rochester NY – NBC
630pm – 9pm – LPGA – Corning Classic in Corning, NY – Golf Channel
11pm – midnight – BMW PGA Championship in Surrey, England – Golf Channel

Sunday, May 25
930am – 1230pm – BMW PGA Championship in Surrey, England – Golf Channel
3pm – 6pm – PGA – Crowne Plaza Invitational – CBS
3pm – 6pm – Champions Tour – Senior PGA Championship, Rochester NY – NBC
630pm – 9pm – LPGA – Corning Classic in Corning, NY – Golf Channel
11pm – midnight – BMW PGA Championship in Surrey, England – Golf Channel

^{(photo of Erica Basberg at the Corning Classic © Newscom)}

Retired LPGA golfer, Carol Mann was awarded the “First Lady of Golf Award” at a ceremony in Rochester on Wednesday, a part of the Senior PGA Championship events. Mann, who joined the LPGA tour in 1961, won 38 times, including two major events. She set many records, including being the first women to socre seven consecutive birdies in a round (in 1975). Mann is also a past president of the LPGA (1974).

Mann retired from the tour in 1981, but still gives golf lessons at the Woodlands Country Club in Woodlands, Texas where she lives.

The “First Lady of Golf” award is given annually to a woman who has made a significant contribution to the promotion of the game of golf. Past winners have included Peggy Kirk Bell, Alice Dye, and Judy Rankin.

Vijay Singh, currently ranked #6 in the Fedex Cup standings, was forced to withdraw from the BMW PGA Championship in Surrey, England, before the tournament even started due to a muscle injury. Singh told the Associated Press that he was fine when he arrived in England, but somehow injured a muscle on his left side below the rib.

Singh has returned to his home in Florida and hopes to play the Memorial Tournament in central Ohio, which begins on Monday.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

Tiger Woods has announced that he will host a golf clinic in Detroit’s Comerica Park on June 24, two days prior to the Buick Open, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The clinic, scheduled for 3pm – 4pm, will be the first time Woods has hosts a clinic at a ballpark.

Golf enthusiasts may purchase one of two packages:

• The $50 package consists of a credential to the Tiger Wood clinic and a one-day ticket to the Buick Open.
• The $150 package features a clinic credential and a weeklong grounds badge to the Buick Open.

Tickets for both packages are available at the Comerica Park Box Office or by calling 866-66-Tiger.

This will be Woods’ eighth time at the Buick Open, which is played at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc. He won in 2002 and 2006. He sat out in 2007 due to the birth of his daughter.

^{(photo of Tiger Woods at the Buick Open in 2006 © Newscom)}

As part of the “Eagles for St. Jude” charity program, golf enthusiasts have a chance to bid on the chance to caddie for pro golfers Vijay Singh and Camilio Vilegas at a tour event. The auction, accessible via the St. Jude Hosptial Web site, runs from now until May 28 (2008). There are also six autographed PGA Pro Tour golf bags, signed by Singh, Vilegas and LPGA pro, Morgan Pressel as well as other golf items up for auction. All of the money raised will be donated to St. Jude Charity Hospital.

St. Jude’s, located in Memphis, is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. No family ever pays for treatments not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay.

^{(photo credit: Newscom)}

Next weekend, beginning on Memorial Day, the PGA Tour heads to my neck of the woods–to Muirfield Village Golf Course in Dublin, Ohio, just outside of Columbus. The Jack Nicklaus-designed course (one of his first) is ranked by “Golf Digest” magazine as the best course in Ohio and among the top 25 in the US. I grew up in Columbus and have fond memories of volunteering for the Memorial Tournament as a teenager. Here’s a fly-over of the course: