This Week at WorldGolf.com: Feb. 1, 2005

Phil Mickelson appears to be as motivated as a couch potato on Valium, quietly fading from contention on another Sunday as a guy like Tim Herron makes the only real challenging move. Vijay Singh gets drawn into a silly feud with his ex-caddy, coming across every bit as nasty as said caddy claims he is by declaring his once-faithful bag lugger "drinks a lot." Classy.

Still think the PGA Tour isn't in dire need of a Tiger Woods/Jack Nicklaus-chasing rebirth?

This is what happens when Tiger takes a week off after giving golf a much-needed Woods victory jolt: Justin Leonard wins a tournament with all the sizzle of the weekly scramble at your local muni. Look, Leonard is a fine player and an interesting story in his own right, but him holding off Tim Clark and Joe Ogilvie just does not cut it for a game that's in a teetering TV state.

Chris Rock isn't talking about Justin Leonard at the Oscars. Tiger is still the only pro with any real crossover mainstream appeal. It doesn't matter how balanced everyone loves to claim the tour is now, it only matters what Tiger does. True golf aficionados might be aghast at such a notion, but it is the key to the entire PGA Tour season.

Phil Mickelson is a fun guy from an interesting family background, but with one green jacket in the closet he's sounding more like a guy on a book tour (read about his account of his Masters win soon!) than a competitor on a golf tour. With would-be stars like this, no wonder why staff blogger Brandon Tucker's account of playing golf with Super Bowl quarterback Tom Brady is more exciting than anything that happened at the Bob Hope Classic.

As always, your comments are welcome on any topic, including toothless, Tigerless tournaments. Have a great week.

Why women leave golf,
and why they should return

It turns out that although women make up the fastest-growing group taking up golf, they also make up the largest group that's leaving it. What's going on here? What happened to all these golfers? Curious, correspondent Jennifer Mario spent some time asking around. And here's what she heard.
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Saddle Creek Resort: Gold Country
haven leaps into national prominence

Saddle Creek has become a sanctuary for retirees and second-home owners, who can easily make the trip for a weekend from the Bay Area or the Central Coast to enjoy the golf; explore the interesting gold rush towns; sample award-winning vineyards; or roam through art galleries, antique shops, and museums.
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On Super Bowl week, Vegas
golf on a whim no long shot

Super Bowl weekend is when a town that is hardly known for being uptight really lets it hair down. Las Vegas ran a national ad campaign last January, tweaking the then-Super Bowl host city Houston, with the line, "If only it was this exciting at the game in Houston" over images of The Strip.
Full story | Visit TravelGolf Vegas