He may have finished well behind the leaders at the Tour Championship in Atlanta this weekend, but Vijay Singh took home a big paycheck anyway as the winner of the 2008 FedEx Cup. Singh, who won the first two of the four playoff tournaments had such a huge lead going into this weekend’s tournament that his winning was all but guaranteed. Only his being disqualified or dropping out of the tournament would have prevented him from winning the $10 million bonus. Singh, 45, has three PGA tour wins this season and 34 total in his career (the 14th highest of all time).

This is the second year for the FedEx Cup. Tiger Woods won the title in 2007.

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Twenty-seven year-old Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano out putted veteran, Lee Westwood in a third playoff hole on Sunday to win the British Masters tournament. This is the fourth European tour win for the Spainard, who celebrated his victory by taking a dip in the lake that front the final green at The Belfry in England’s West Midlands region.

Michael Campbell, the 2005 US Open champion finished third.

Castano turned pro in 2004 after winning the 2003 Spanish Amateur Championship in 2003.

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October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). Started by First Lady Betty Ford, a breast cancer survivor herself, and her daughter Susan in 1985, NBCAM has made great strides both by increasing early detection of this disease and erasing the stigma that was once attached to it.

This golf accessory set by Nicole Miller is one of dozens of pink ribbon golf items available, where a portion of each sale goes to help cure breast cancer. We’ll be featuring more of them throughout October. Pink Ribbon items make great holiday gifts.

To learn more about NBCAM and to download a variety of free material, visit the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Web site.

^{(photo courtesy of Shop.com)}

Golf events this weekend include the British Masters and the PGA Tour Championship. Televised events include the following:(all times are EDT).

Saturday, September 27
Noon – 330pm – PGA – Tour Championship in Atlanta – NBC
130pm – 330pm – Champions Tour – SAS Championship in Cary, North Carolina – Golf Channel
4pm – 6pm – European Tour – British Masters in West Midlands, England – Golf Channel
630pm – 9pm – LPGA – Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Alabama – Golf Channel

Sunday, September 28
130pm – 6pm – PGA – Tour Championship in Atlanta – NBC
130pm – 330pm – Champions Tour – SAS Championship in Cary, North Carolina – Golf Channel
330pm – 6pm – European Tour – British Masters in West Midlands, England – Golf Channel
630pm – 9pm – LPGA – Navistar LPGA Classic in Prattville, Alabama – Golf Channel

The Nationwide Tour is quiet this weekend.

^{(photo of Lee Westwood at the British Masters © Newscom)}

Enter this sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip for four to North Carolina’s historic Pinehurst Golf Resort. There are also 170 instant prizes that include golf shoes, golf hats, umbrellas, and more. To win the instant prizes, you need to play a three-hole challange game that’s kind of tricky, but fun. If you hit the green, you get a chance at one of the instant prizes.

The sweepstakes is open to residents of the 48 contiguous US states who are 18 and older. You can enter daily from now through October 19 by visiting this Web page. Good Luck!

It was never really in question after day one. The Americans led the Ryder Cup competition wire to wire, something they haven’t been able to do in more than a decade…and here they were without the number one player in the world, Tiger Woods. After the individual match play yesterday, Team USA prevailed 16 1/2 to 11 1/2.

It wasn’t that the European team played badly. They didn’t. The Americans just played better and with more heart, especially the younger and older members of the team. Particularly noteworthy was Kenny Perry’s performance. Born and raised just miles away from Valhalla Golf Club where the competition was held, Perry played the tournament of his career and his brilliant short game was rewarded with cheers and autograph requests from his hometown crowd. You’d have thought yesterday that he WAS Tiger Woods (and maybe just for yesterday, he was.)

Also impressive was Chad Campbell, at 34 years old one of the youngest member of the team and a coach’s pick. Campbell went head-to-head with Padraig Harrington yesterday in the one-on-one matches and never flinched, despite the fact that Harrington has one two majors this year and Campbell has yet to win one–ever.

Much has been made today, especially by the British press, about the role of the captains–Paul Azinger for the Americans and Nick Faldo for the European team. Was Faldo responsible for the European loss. Not really. No more than Azinger was responsible for the American win. In the end, it just came down to who wanted to win the most and last weekend, it was the Americans.

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The third and final day of the Ryder Cup competition begins today around noon at Louisville’s Vahalla Golf Club. The US team is ahead by two points, but anything can happen with the one-on-one matches. Today’s pairings and tee-off times are as follows:

• 1203pm – Anthony Kim (US) vs. Sergio Garcia (Europe)
• 1214pm – Hunter Mahan (US) vs. Paul Casey (Europe)
• 1225pm – Justin Leonard (US) vs. Robert Karlsson (Europe)
• 1236pm – Phil Mickelson (US) vs. Justin Rose (Europe)
• 1247pm – Kenny Perry (US) vs. Henrik Stenson (Europe)
• 1258pm – Boo Weekley (pictured above celebrating yesterday) (US) vs. Oliver Wilson (Europe)
• 109pm – J.B. Holmes (pictured at right above) (US) vs. Soren Hansen (Europe)
• 120pm – Jim Furyk (US) vs. Miquel Angel Jimenez
• 131pm – Stewart Cink (US) vs. Graeme McDowell (Europe)
• 142pm – Ben Curtis (US) vs. Ian Poulter (Europe)
• 153pm – Chad Campbell (US) vs. Padraig Harrington (Europe)

The action will be televised on NBC beginning at noon.

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The Americans lost a point during day two at the Ryder Cup, but they still lead the Europeans by two points going into the single match play on day three. The second day action was exciting, with plenty of long puts and plenty of emotion on both sides. Below are the day two highlights:

All eyes are on Louisville and the Ryder Cup this weekend. The only other golf event is the Nationwide Tour’s Oregon Classic and it’s not being televised. The Ryder Cup action may be seen as follows:(all times are EDT).

Saturday, September 20
9am – 6pm on NBC

Sunday, September 21
Midnight – 1am – ESPN2
Noon – 6pm – NBC
6pm – 7pm – ESPN News (closing ceremonies)

For the first time in 13 years, the Team USA leads Team Europe after the first day of Ryder Cup play at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, thanks in part to the strong short game of veteran Phil Mickelson and Ryder Cup rookie, Anthony Kim. Below are the day one highlights: