Look out Tiger Woods; there’s a young New Zealander hot on your heels. Eighteen-year-old, Danny Lee won the US Amateur Championship this week, making him the youngest player to ever win the tournament. He breaks the record previously held by Woods by 6 months and 29 days.

His victory gives Lee an exemption for next year’s US and British Opens and a ten-year exemption for the US Amateur as long as he remains an amateur. Lee indicated that he had no immediate plans to turn pro. First, he needs to finish high school.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

Oliver Wilson finished 10th in the European Tour’s Johnnie Walker Classic this weekend clinching an automatic place on Europe’s Ryder Cup team. Joining him are captain Nick Faldo’s two picks–Ian Poulter and Paul Casey. Notably missing this year is Colin Montgomerie, a Ryder Cup veteran who’s having a challenging season.

Rounding out Team Europe are Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez,
Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, and Soren Hansen.

Team USA captain, Paul Azinger will make his two picks on Monday to finalize his team.

This weekend is Labor Day weekend, which means three days of golf viewing. The weekend’s events include the second week of the FedExCup playoffs. Below is the entire schedule:(all times are ET).

Saturday, August 30
9am – noon – European Tour – The Johnnie Walker Classic in Gleneagles, Scotland – Golf Channel
3pm – 6pm – PGA Tour – Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts – Golf Channel
630pm – 830pm – Champions Tour – Wal-Mart First Tee Open in Pebble Beach, California – Golf Channel

Sunday, August 31
9am – noon – European Tour – The Johnnie Walker Classic in Gleneagles, Scotland – Golf Channel
3pm – 6pm – PGA Tour – Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts – NBC
630pm – 930pm – Champions Tour – Wal-Mart First Tee Open in Pebble Beach, California – Golf Channel

Monday, September 1
2pm – 6pm – PGA Tour – Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts – NBC

The LPGA Tour is quiet this week.

^{(photo of Mike Weir © Newscom)}

The summer is winding down, the Olympics are over and NFL football season is ready to begin. But that’s not all that’s going on around the b5media Sports Channel . Check out what our bloggers are writing about this week, including top 10 lists and the latest sports news.

• Jodie at Gossip on Sports talks about how it was a good Olympics for some and not for others.
• Cherie at Dejuiced discusses the top 10 games to watch this college football season.
• Tony at Inside the Ballpark lists the greatest moments in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.
• Lyndsey at Girls Dig Sports talks about the top 10 greatest women athletes.
• At “Light the Torch”, I’m talking about the top U.S. paralympians at Light the Torch.
• James at Squib Kick lists the top 10 single season passing touchdown leaders.
• Stephen talks about the best teams in baseball at Knuckle Curve and the best basketball players in the Olympics at Hoops Fantasy.
• Kori lists the fantasy wide receiver rankings for the 2008 season at The Fantasy Kickoff.

Photo credit: istockphoto

Vijay Singh’s victory at The Barclay’s last weekend–his fourth at that event–boosted him to the top of the FedexCup list after the first of four playoff tournaments. Below is the complete list as of August 25, 2008:

1. Vijay Singh
2. Sergio Garcia
3. Kevin Sutherland
4. Phil Mickelson
5. Justin Leonard
6. Anthony Kim
7. Kenny Perry
8. Ben Curtis
9. Stewart Cink
10. Jim Furyk

Tiger Woods may not be playing as he recuperates from knee surgery, but that doesn’t mean he’s not on the course. Today, the world’s number one golfer announced the new master plan for Tiger Woods Dubai, an exclusive golf community development in that Middle East country.

Scheduled for completion in 2009, Tiger Woods Dubai will included the Woods-designed 13 million square foot Al Ruwaya golf course, a professionally-staffed golf community, a high-end spa, a boutique hotel with 90 suites and 14 bungalows, a Guy Savoy restaurant, an upscale retail arcade, and 197 residences, ranging from 50,000-square foot “palaces” to 30,000-square foot villas.

In his news conference, Woods also indicated that he wouldn’t rule out a return to compeition in the January Dubai Dessert Classic tournament. He had earlier stated that he would likely return to the tour in mid-2009.

^{(photo © PRNewswire)}

Three-time major champion, Padraig Harrington says that Dublin is just to far to go home between tournaments in the United States. So, he’s buying property in upstate South Carolina. According to “The State” newspaper, he and his wife and 5-year-old son have been house-hunting in some of the area’s new developments. Harrington won’t be the only prominent golfer to spend at least part of the year in South Carolina. South Africa’s Gary Player makes the Palmetto State his home during the golf season.

The video that’s getting all of the attention this week on the Web is a clip from the new EA Sports game, Tiger Woods 09. The player originally thought this was a glitch, but nope, Tiger really can walk on water…at least in the game.

This weekend’s golf events include the first FedExCup playoff event, The Barclays as well as the Boeing Classic on the Champions Tour. Below is the entire schedule:(all times are ET).

Saturday, August 23
930am – 6pm- PGA Tour – The Barclays in Paramus, New Jersey – CBS
9am – 12n – European Tour – KLM Open in Zandvoort, Netherlands – Golf Channel
4pm – 6pm – LPGA Tour – Safeway Classic by Pepsi in Portland, Oregon – Golf Channel
630pm – 9pm – Champions Tour – Boeing Classic in Snoqualmine, Washington – Golf Channel

Sunday, August 24
845am – 6pm- PGA Tour – The Barclays in Paramus, New Jersey – CBS
9am – 12n – European Tour – KLM Open in Zandvoort, Netherlands – Golf Channel
330pm – 530pm – LPGA Tour – Safeway Classic by Pepsi in Portland, Oregon – Golf Channel
630pm – 9pm – Champions Tour – Boeing Classic in Snoqualmine, Washington – Golf Channel

The Nationwide Tour is in Moscow, Pennsylvania for the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, but the event is not televised.

Michael Phelps, winner of eight Gold Medals at the Beijing Games and the hottest sports story of the month, has been compared repeatedly to Tiger Woods in the past few days. Certainly there are similarities:

• Both have risen to unprecedented acheivement in their sports
• Both are unusally tough mentally
• Both adher to a regimented, seemingly crazy, work-out routine.

Still, one major difference–at least to me–appears. Phelps has yet to pass the test of sustained greatness as Tiger Woods has. But that’s just my opinion. Seemingly, everyone on the Web has an opinion on this issue. Below are just a few:
World Golf News Says No Way
Forbes Magazine Asks “Who’s a Better Athlete than Phleps?”
Bleacher Report – “Witnessing Greatness: Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps”