PGA Tour Confidential: Women's British Open, Greenbrier Classic

Every week of the 2011 PGA Tour season, the editorial staff of the SI Golf Group will conduct an e-mail roundtable. Check in on Mondays for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors and join the conversation in the comments section below.

TIGER RETURNS
Gorant: Okay, Tiger returns this week at Bridgestone. What can we expect?

Morfit: A lot of rust.

Lipsey: He won't miss the cut.

Wei: He'll beat last year's four-day total of 18-over.

Evans: This is a no-cut event, and he gets to play on a golf course that he has ruled in the past. I think he shoots 280 and finishes four or five strokes off the winning score.

Morfit: I think that prediction is completely bonkers. I hope you are right.

Evans: It's a prediction.

Godich: Flashes of brilliance, maybe even a nine-hole run at the end of a round that will have many pronouncing that Tiger is back! In the end, more missed short putts that he never used to miss and a T28.

Herre: I thought you'd never ask! I have a feeling Woods is going to come out strong, but the question is, can he put together four good rounds? I see him going low at least once, which will get everyone talking, but will the consistency be there for him to contend? Probably not.

Hack: I just don't know what's what with Tiger anymore, as if anyone ever did. Has he hit one bucket of balls or 1,000? Is it the knee, the Achilles or both? Does he even burn to be the world-beater he once was? The man could win by five, lose by 25, or finish somewhere in between, and I'll just stand back and say, well, of course he did.
Godich: I'll be most interested to see what he's doing on the practice range.

Lipsey: I hope they pair Tiger with Adam Scott.

Wei: Throw in Jim Furyk, too.

Gorant: Do we believe that Tiger is really 100 percent, or were there other things that led to his seemingly sudden decision to return this week?

Godich: No way he's 100 percent. But I think he wanted a tune-up before the PGA to get the rust off. That said, he's got to play 72 holes, no matter how badly he might be hurting. Can you imagine the reaction if he WDs again?

Evans: Tiger will never be 100 percent. I doubt if he sees that as a goal. I think what he wants is to learn how to simply put four good rounds together.

Godich: Who would've thunk someone would be suggesting something like that about Tiger in, say, the summer of 2009?

Read more: http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2086098,00.html#ixzz1TrSMRRnR

Partner : Exercise HQ

Stallings wins Greenbrier Classic in playoff

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — Scott Stallings made a birdie on the final hole to qualify for a three-way playoff, then sprinted in excitement toward the 18th tee and showed he could repeat the feat on the first extra hole.

The PGA Tour rookie sank a 7-footer for birdie on the 168-yard hole to win the Greenbrier Classic on Sunday, beating Bob Estes and Bill Haas.

After watching Estes and Haas miss longer birdie attempts on the first extra hole, Stallings curled in his putt for his first tour victory. He flipped his putter, then hugged and high-fived his caddie.

"To be a champion in such a great event is a huge blessing," Stallings said.

The 26-year-old Stallings is the 10th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this year and the sixth rookie to do it.
"I've wanted to do this since I was a little kid," Stallings said. "I was that little boy running around chasing autographs and yelling at guys because they wouldn't stop and sign my golf balls."

Stallings overcame a tough start and made six birdies on the back nine to gain the playoff, where he earned a winner's check worth $1.08 million and a spot in the Bridgestone Invitational.

Stallings said he was more excited about moving from 88th to 26th on the FedEx Cup points list.

A native of Worchester, Mass., and die-hard Red Sox fan, he'll likely realize one of his biggest goals to play in the Deutsch Bank Championship, the second stop in the FedEx Cup playoffs outside of Boston. The top 100 in the points standings after the Barclays, the first playoff stop, will qualify.

It marked the second straight week that a tournament was won in sudden death. Sean O'Hair beat Kris Blanks on the first playoff hole a week ago at the Canadian Open.

In just its second year, the Greenbrier Classic produced another dramatic finish. Stuart Appleby shot 59 in last year's final round, including a birdie on the last hole to beat Jeff Overton by a stroke.

Estes and Haas each earned $528,000. Haas earned his fourth top-10 finish of the season and improved to 12th in the FedEx standings.

The 45-year-old Estes missed out on his first tour win since 2002 and fifth overall. Estes sat out the first three months of the year with a wrist injury and was playing in just his seventh tournament.

Estes, playing with a respiratory illness, shot 6-under 64 and was the clubhouse leader at 10 under, then found out Haas birdied the par-5 17th six groups later to join him after a 67.

Stallings, who shot 69, waited a half hour on the 17th tee and bogeyed the par-5 after his drive went out of bounds. He needed a birdie at No. 18 to make the playoff. He sank a 5-footer to do it.

After signing his scorecard, Stallings made his impromptu sprint and said later he wasn't too winded for the playoff.

Read more: http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,2086089,00.html#ixzz1TlsgS0zU