Once again, the eyes of the world will focus primarily on Tiger.  Fair enough, but there was plenty of drama elsewhere too, as Graeme McDowell and Jeev Milkha Singh waged an epic battle in Korea, and Denis Watson triumphed in three-man sudden death in California.  And Lorena Ochoa?  Well, perhaps we needn't go there...

PGA Tour:  Arnold Palmer Invitational – Orlando, FL

For the good of the PGA Tour, if Tiger Woods is going to win every week, then it’s high time he inject a little drama into the mix – and Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, he did just that.  In an event in which he trailed by seven strokes at the halfway mark, Woods found himself on the 72nd tee tied with Bart Bryant at nine under par, then proceeded to birdie Bay Hill’s famously difficult 18th to finish at 10-under-par 270, the coup de grace being delivered with a nasty, left-to-right breaking 25’ putt.  Interestingly, it was the first time Woods has had to birdie the final hole to win since defeating Phil Mickelson on this very same green in 2001 – itself a remarkable testimonial to his level of dominance as this six-year window included a total of 44 wins worldwide.  The victory was Woods’ 64th on the PGA Tour, drawing him even with Ben Hogan for third all-time.  Thinking more in the present, it was also his fifth straight win in Tour events and sixth consecutive worldwide – and those numbers do not include an unofficial seven-shot victory at his own Target World Challenge event last December.  Most troubling to Woods’ pursuers (if his ability to hole that particular putt wasn’t disheartening enough) is the fact that for much of the tournament, this actually seemed the week when the streaks might finally be derailed.  His 70-68 opening was indeed seven in arrears of 36-hole leader Vijay Singh, and a Sunday three putt from six feet (!) at the 10th might well have been an omen suggesting that the time had indeed come.  It hadn’t.  Maybe next week…

                     FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          PGA TOUR STATS

                                       INTERVIEWS:     WOODS     BRYANT

European & Asian PGA Tours:  Ballantine’s Championship – Jeju Island, Korea

A hot prospect when, at age 25, he finished 6th in the 2004 E Tour Order of Merit, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell claimed his first victory in four seasons at the inaugural Ballantine’s Championship, defeating India’s Jeev Milkha Singh by stiffing a glorious 7 iron on the third hole of sudden death.  The playoff capped an impressive week of golf wherein McDowell and Singh ran away from the field, their 24-under-par 266 totals leaving Ireland’s Paul McGinley (271) and Japan’s Shingo Katayama (273) far, far behind.  McDowell’s week included 23 birdies and three eagles over the 7,345-yard Pinx Golf Club layout, though he still found himself three strokes behind early in Sunday’s final round after co-54-hole leader Singh birdied three of the first four holes.  An eagle at the 543-yard 10th brought McDowell back into it, however, and though he could only birdie one of the final six, Singh’s crucial bogey at the 214-yard 17th opened the door for the playoff.  For McDowell, the victory jumps him up to 3rd in the Order of Merit and 59th in the Official World Ranking (from 94th) and, perhaps more importantly, ends a frustrating victory drought dating to the 2004 Italian Open.  Singh’s runner-up lifts him to 2nd in the Asian Order of Merit (behind two-time winner Mark Brown) and 79th in the World Ranking.

                     FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          E TOUR STATS

                                       INTERVIEWS:     McDOWELL     SINGH

LPGA Tour:  MasterCard Classic – Huixquilucan, Mexico

One of these days, Tiger Woods will play himself out of a tournament in the early going, but so long as Mickelson, Els and one or two more are present, there will still be much to hold our interest.  Such, however, was not the case at the LPGA’s MasterCard Classic in Mexico, where homestanding Lorena Ochoa blew herself to pieces with an opening 76, and Sorenstam, Webb, Creamer, et. al. were not around to carry the ball thereafter.  In the end, it was Sweden’s Louise Friberg who claimed her maiden LPGA victory, doing so, actually, in quite spectacular fashion.  Beginning Sunday’s final round tied for 22nd, some 10 shots behind leader Ji-Young Oh, Friberg closed with an impressive seven-under-par 65 to post a 210 total, just enough for a one-shot victory over Yani Tseng of Taiwan and two over Jane Park and first-round leader Jill McGill.  Oh, who bogeyed the first hole en route to an outgoing 38, collapsed completely on the back nine, her closing 79 dropping her into a tie for 8th.  For Friberg, a former All-Pac 10 player at the University of Washington and 2007 Q School qualifier, the victory came in only her fourth LPGA start.  Oh yes, Lorena Ochoa...  76-70-68 for 214 and a tie for 8th.  No bueno.

                        FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          LPGA STATS

                                     INTERVIEWS:     FRIBERG     OCHOA

Champions Tour:  AT&T Valencia Classic – Valencia, CA

Winning was a long row to hoe for Zimbabwe’s Denis Watson at the AT&T Valencia Classic, requiring a seven-under-par 65 on Sunday (the low round of the week), then three holes of three-way sudden death to finally get matters settled.  The 65, naturally, was impressive, the front nine buoyed by eagles on the par-5 first and the ninth, the back by four birdies, most prominently at the uphill par-5 18th to get into the playoff.  His overtime opponents were Loren Roberts and Brad Bryant (who closed with 70 and 72 respectively), the latter being eliminated on the second extra hole when he couldn’t match a pair of birdies posted by his opponents.  Having missed a five-footer to win on the first playoff hole, Watson then took no chances at the third (the 470-yard downhill 10th) where he stiffed a 9 iron approach, and that was it.  The victory, Watson’s first of 2008, is his third overall on the Champions circuit, and lifts him from 32nd to 8th in season earnings.

                     FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          CHAMPIONS STATS

Elsewhere...

Six-time Order of Merit leader Yuri Fudoh  won her 43rd career JLPGA title by defeating Yun-jye Wei on the third hole of sudden death at the Accordia Ladies in Miyazaki.  Fudoh closed with a seven-under-par 65 to draw level with Wei at 205, then won the playoff when Wei three-putted for bogey from 15 feet...............Lian-Wei Zhang, Chinese golf’s first international winner, defended his title at the China Tour’s season-opening Guangzhou Championship, defeating a pair of Taiwanese players, Chan Yihshin and Hsu Mongan by four at the Dragon Lake Golf Club...............Sunny Oh claimed the Futures Tour’s season-opening Bright House Networks Open in Lakeland, FL by defeating Chella Choi and Kim Welch on the first hole of sudden death.  The playoff was made necessary when all three players birdied the par-5 54th hole to tie at 211.