The 2008 golf season is starting to wind down, but there are still several interesting tournaments to look forward to this coming weekend. The schedule includes:

• PGA Tour – Ginn sur Mer Classic at the Tesaro Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida (pictured above)
• Champions Tour – Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Sonoma, California
• LPGA – Hana Bank-KOLON Championship 2008 in Incheon, Korea
• European Tour – Volvo Masters in Cadiz, Spain

The Nationwide Tour is quiet next weekend.

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Sergio Garcia won his first European tournament in more than three years with his victory in Spain’s Castello Masters this weekend. The win was especially poignant for Garcia as he had dedicated the final round to his ailing countryman, Seve Ballesteros, who is recovering from brain surgery.

Garcia, 28, shot a four-under 67 to best Sweden’s Peter Hedblum by one stroke. Garcia has 18 professional wins, but no majors. He has finished second once in the British Open and twice in the PGA Championship.

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Champions Tour pro and eight-time major champion, Tom Watson underwent hip replacement surgery on October 2 in order to improve his quality of life and to remain competitive on the golf course, a spokesman told the Associated Press yesterday. Watson won twice on the Champions Tour this year in only ten starts and is 12th on the tour’s money list. During his PGA career, Watson won the US Open once, the Masters twice, and the British open five times. He says that he expects to play in the Champions Tour skins game in January.

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It’s been a tough couple of weeks for former PGA pro, Seve Ballesteros. First, he collapsed and was hospitalized. Then, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Next, the tumor was found to be malignant and he underwent two surgeries to remove it. He is now recovering from a third surgery and is listed in stable, but serious condition.

Ballesteros, 51, won the British Open three times and the Masters twice. He also holds the record of most wins on the European Tour. Ballesteros retired from professional golf in 2007.

We wish him a speedy recovery.

Imagine having Tiger Woods accompany you around the links at Torrey Pines in San Diego. Now imagine that he’s carrying your clubs and holding the pin for you. That’s right. The lucky winner of Buick’s “Tee Off with Tiger” contest, 59-year-old John Abel, got to have Woods as his caddy this week.

According to news reports, Tiger walked without a limp and showed no sign of the reconstructive knee surgery he had earlier in the year. As for Mr. Abels, he said that Woods was a friendly, “down to earth” guy. After the round, Tiger treated Abels to a rerun of his US Open-winning putt on the 18th green…and made this one too. He also signed the caddy bid as a souvenir for Abels.

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In celebration of the Breeder’s Cup, we are having a little contest here in the Sports Channel. And what can you win?

A $200 gift certificate to Amazon to do whatever you please.

How do you win?

That’s easy.

All you have to do is leave a comment on any five of these blogs. You can choose which posts that you want to comment on, but one of them MUST be the horse racing blog – Thoroughbred Fever.

• All Poker Addicts
• BCS Frenzy
• College Fast Break
• Dejuiced
• Every Morning Quarterback
• Girls Dig Sports
• Green Posse
• Hockey Beat
• Hoops Fantasy
• Jab and Grapple
• Knuckle Curve
• Light the Torch
• NBA Obsessed
• Sneaks ‘N Gear
• Squib Kick
• The Fantasy Kickoff
• The Footie
• Thoroughbred Fever

Contest ends at 9:00am on Monday. On Monday morning, we will track all the entries and draw a random winner who will be emailed the $200 gift certificate.

Easy right?

Start Commenting!!

Photo credit: b5media

Golf season may be coming to an end for the year, but that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to talk about. All around the b5media Sports Channel, bloggers are talking about the exciting things happening in the world of sports. Here’s a sampling:

Over at “Knuckle Curve,” Stephen is talking about the Red Sox forcing a game seven in the ALCS

Kori, our editor, is sharing her picks for the most underrated football players of 2008 at “Fantasy Kick-off”

At “Hockey Beat,” Jeanne reports that former Red Wings player, Steve Yzerman will be taking over managing the Canadian Olympic hockey team, an improvement according to Jeanne.

At one of our newest blogs, “Real Muscle Online,” you’ll learn 10 tips for staying energized

At “Sneaks and Gear,” Jyle has found the most unlikely sneakers. They have high heels.

At “Fast Break,” Kevin shares his thoughts on why college basketball is better than college football.

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The highlight of this weekend’s golf events is the Justin Timberlake Shriner’s Hospital for Children charity tournament. Televised events include the following:(all times are EDT).

Saturday, October 18
10am – 1pm – European Tour – Portugal Masters in Vilamovra, Portugal – Golf Channel
230pm – 5pm – Champions Tour – Administaff Small Business Classic in The Woodlands, Texas – Golf Channel
5pm – 8pm – PGA Tour – Justin Timberlake Shriner’s Hosptial for Children Tournament in Las Vegas – Golf Channel
830pm – 11pm – LPGA – Kapalua LPGA Classic in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii – Golf Channel

Sunday, October 19
10am – 1pm – European Tour – Portugal Masters in Vilamovra, Portugal – Golf Channel
230pm – 5pm – Champions Tour – Administaff Small Business Classic in The Woodlands, Texas – Golf Channel
5pm – 8pm – PGA Tour – Justin Timberlake Shriner’s Hosptial for Children Tournament in Las Vegas – Golf Channel
830pm – 11pm – LPGA – Kapalua LPGA Classic in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii – Golf Channel

The Nationwide Tour is in Chatanooga, Tennesse for the Chatanooga Classic. The event is not televised.

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Padraig Harrington, pictured above after winning the PGA Championship this year, was named the PGA Player of the year for 2008. The 37-year-old Irishman won the British Open (for the second straight year) and the PGA Championship this past year. He is just the second European player to receive the honor. (Nick Faldo won the award in 1990.) The award, first presented to Ben Hogan in 1948, is based on a formula that weighs tournament wins, official money standing, and scoring average. Although there are four more PGA tournaments this year, Harrington’s 116 points are out of range of any other player.

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The AT&T National Golf Tournament, co-sponsored by the Tiger Woods Foundation, is looking to move the July 4th event to Philadelphia’s Aronimink Country Club. The club’s members will vote on October 15th whether to accept the proposal to host the tournament there in 2010 and 2011. The previous host course, Bethesda’s Congressional Country Club is undergoing renovations to ready it for the 2011 US Open. A July 4th tournament in Philadelphia sounds fitting, somehow.