Robust Advance Sales For BMW At Crooked Stick Confirm There's Very Little To Do In Indianapolis

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From an unbylined AP story suggest the four-day September tournament could approach galleries of 150,000. Or, what Scottsdale actually gets for the week.

Organizers already have announced the tourney will return to Chicago in 2013 and 2015, with Denver hosting it in 2014. But Indy's response could push the city into the BMW rotation or perhaps prompt tour officials to give Indianapolis a chance to fill a hole on a future schedule.

"At the present time, we don't have any openings," PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said Tuesday. "But certainly, Indy's record makes it a market that we would always be interested in at looking at if there was an open spot. A significant number of our events are signed through post-2014."

Phoenix typically has the largest announced crowds for non-majors, but Midwestern cities such as St. Louis and Minneapolis traditionally have drawn well when they make it onto the schedule. Crooked Stick has, too.

Video: "That's above and beyond the call of duty for a tour caddie."

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Kip Henley earning his pay from boss Brian Gay during round one of the RBC Heritage...

Reason #16,239 To Do Something About The Ball: Phil And Colonial Edition

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Bill Nichols reports that Phil Mickelson has permanently changed up his Texas schedule, dropping Colonial for the Byron Nelson.

It's a golf architecture-driven decision.

Designer Keith Foster was brought in to renovate and move fairway bunkers that had grown obsolete. He changed the pitch of some landing areas to keep pros from hitting downslopes that were never supposed to be reached from the tee.

``With the redesign, I’m afraid I won’t be playing it anymore,’’ Mickelson said. ``It doesn’t give me a power advantage. I know all the shotmakers will be there every year. But I don’t see any of the long hitters playing there anymore. There’s no decision making now; it’s all irons, irons, irons.’’

The rationale is certainly understandable if you are trying to get ready for a U.S. Open, or as he states, you value your power advantage. Though he may be hitting his fair share of irons off the tees at Olympic Club!

Tiger: "I enjoyed the progression we made this week."

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Doug Ferguson's AP lede:

His ball safely over the water, Tiger Woods walked toward the 18th green Sunday as he had done over the last 30 months on the PGA Tour, with one big difference.

There was no mistaking that smile.

"Pure joy," he said.

Steve Elling played off of Woods and bagman Joe LaCava's 18th fairway chatter.

They exchanged a high-five of such ferocity that it could have registered on a spring training radar gun. Woods barked something that the TV microphones didn't quite pick up. Just as well.

"He said, 'F-yeah,'" laughed LaCava.

Music to many ears.

Just like that, Woods was back atop the firmament, rough edges and all, and taking aim on Augusta National and the assortment of players who have been piling up wins while he was reconstituting and reclaiming his personal and private lives.

Steve DiMeglio put the win in perspective and quotes Tiger referring to "we":

After winning his record seventh Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday at wind-whipped, baked-out Bay Hill, Woods said he'd go back to work this week before heading to Augusta National for the Masters in April.

"I still need some work, and it's going to be good to get a week off and work on a few things," Woods said after earning his 72nd PGA Tour win, third on the all-time list. "I enjoyed the progression we made this week. Each day there was a little bit of fine-tuning here and there, and we were able to make those adjustments, which was good, and especially with the conditions getting more difficult on the weekend. I was able to hit some really good shots the last two days, and that's a very good sign going into Augusta. I understand how to play Augusta National, and it's just a matter of executing the game plan."

Bob Harig for ESPN.com, writing about the energized scene:

All the while, he had to hear the support from the gallery, which was jam-packed and primed to witness Woods' return to winning ways.

"Welcome back, Tiger!"

"Trophy time!"

"It's a new day!"

"Bring it home!"

By the time fans were allowed to funnel in behind Woods and McDowell as they played the 18th, it would have taken a monumental blunder to blow it, although Woods kept his head down and his emotions in check until he knocked the final approach over the water and onto the green.

Jason Sobel says normalcy has returned:

The guy who won this week did so with a flair for closing that no other recent champion has displayed. In the first 13 tournaments of this PGA Tour season, no winner triumphed by more than three strokes over the nearest competitor; on Sunday, Woods prevailed by five.

It’s the type of performance that Woods used to proffer on a semi-regular basis. It earned him the reputation as an intimidator and dominator, but in reality, he’s always been more keenly defined as a closer – the rare player who knows exactly what it takes to accomplish the end goal of winning a tournament, then goes out and executes that plan.

John Strege reminds us that this win should make Hank Haney's book tour this week that much more interesting.

Woods' five-stroke victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational won't change the conversation entirely -- Haney will be ubiquitous in the coming days as his publisher puts the publicity machine in overdrive. But it will set the golf world abuzz, returning the bulk of the focus to Woods' golf, rather than peripheral issues that include his now very public private life. Winning, of course, was always going to be the easiest path to redemption.

The timing of Woods' victory was propitious in another regard, one of indubitably greater importance. Two weeks before the Masters, it was imperative that he take into Augusta something other than imperceptible progress that he habitually labeled "a process." Say it often enough and it begins to sound like an excuse.

Selected highlights from the SI/golf.com Confidential:

Van Sickle: If Tiger isn't playing, McDowell runs away with this thing. Instead, he's the B-Flight champ. Sound familiar? Tiger was a touchdown ahead of everyone else.

Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: The win is deeply impressive because he earned it on the practice tee, and it's hard to devote yourself to the practice tee when you're 36 and your kids need rides and the lawn needs mowing. He earned it. It wasn't smoke-and-mirrors. It was not like old times. It was totally different.

Shipnuck: I loved Tiger's demeanor. He seemed utterly in control all day, and even a couple of 50-footers from G-Mac early in the round couldn't change that.

ESPN.com features a few stats from day, including this about Tiger's par-5 play.

Woods also dominated the par-5s at Bay Hill, finishing -12 on those holes, the best mark in the field. Entering this tournament, Tiger was -101 on par-5s at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his career and +6 on par-3s and par-4s.

Ryan Lavner notes several things from Sunday, including that Tiger will be climbing up the OWGR.

Woods is expected to move from No. 18 to No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking, his highest position since May 2011.

Golfweek posts an image gallery from the round.

And here are the Sportscenter highlights:

The highlights, as approved by the PGA Tour:



R.I.P. "Tiger Is Close," April 2010-March 2012

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The dreaded phrase "Tiger is close," first uttered following an initial birdie early into Woods' return at the 2010 Masters and to virtual absurdity after each hint of his previous golfing prowess right up until the morning of his 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational victory, has died.

"Tiger is close" succumbed at 23 months, just a month shy of his 2-year-anniversary.

Woods, who had not won a PGA Tour event in three years but had exhibited a healthy dose of his trademark play and improved ball striking compared to his pre-2009 accident days, continued to hear the phrase used in conjunction with his game from all corners of the world. Even following a thrilling win at the 2011 Chevron World Challenge, recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking as a points-earning victory, Woods' game was subjected to repeated "close" references in various forms and on all media platforms. Earnest but at times painfully-desperate Golf Channel personalities were typically the worst offenders.

"They really rode the phrase to death, not just on the air but also on Twitter," said Terry Posthumous of Golf Media Matters. "Just this morning I heard them use it ad nauseum and frankly, the entire golf media can put the over-used phrase to rest. But it will go down as a very special two years for inanity."

Arrangements are pending, but it is believed a ceremony to retire the phrase is being planned by Woods spokesman Glenn Greenspan for Tuesday, April 3rd in the Masters Media Center, five minutes before Woods takes the podium to address the press. Woods is said to be "close" to making a decision on whether to attend the service.

Stinger Turns Into Screaming Hook; Tiger Still Up By 1

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Larry Dorman on Tiger's prospects heading into the Arnold Palmer Invitational final round with a one shot lead:

Woods's record with the third-round lead is daunting, 48-4. But Woods has lost three of the last five times he has held or shared the 54-hole lead.

So, which will it be on Sunday? The Woods whose presence on the leaderboard with lead in hand was virtually unbeatable on Sunday? Or the more vulnerable Woods of recent times, who surrendered leads at the 2009 PGA Championship, the 2010 Chevron World Challenge and the 2012 Abu Dhabi Championship?

"I'm looking forward to getting out there and seeing what happens," Woods said, smiling.

Bob Harig on a confident-sounding pursuer in Graeme McDowell, one shot back.

"The atmosphere is going to be fantastic out there tomorrow, due to him being in the mix," McDowell said.

"There's going to be a nice amount of expectations on him tomorrow, trying to complete the comeback.

"He's still got to win," McDowell said. "Still got to go win tomorrow like the rest of us have to."

Farrell Evans asks, "What's at stake for Tiger on Sunday?

His legacy is secure as a one of the greatest players of all-time, but a win at Bay Hill could signal a new period of growth in his career and a check on those who seek to completely dethrone him as the barometer of great play on the world scene.

Steve Elling thinks a wild and wacky 2012 is about to get even more interesting Sunday.

In a season filled with riveting finishes, careening crashes and Sunday shootouts, this could be the white-knuckle Maalox ride to top them all. Reclamation beckons for the world's biggest sports figure, and Woods almost casually said he's ready to answer the doorbell.

"I'm looking forward to getting out there and seeing what happens," he said, as calmly as he would order a pizza.

Now, there's this business of Tiger's OB-hook on the 15th hole. You can see it within ESPN's highlight package.  Or this YouTube video that Yahoo's Jonathan Wall posted, and which the PGA Tour's finest censors are complaining to YouTube about as we watch it.

Wall explained what caused Tiger to flinch.

A woman screamed during Woods' backswing, after her teenage son fainted. So, yeah, that probably played a role in the errant shot.

Woods commented on the incident after the round, saying: "Yeah, we're finding out what happened, there was an 18‑year‑old kid that passed out right at the concession stand, hit, and she yelled, and it happened to be right in midway on my downswing, and I tried to stop it but I passed the point of no return.  I stopped it and flipped it out‑of‑bounds."

The transcript includes Tiger's comments about the moment.

Here's the video:

Amazingly, the PGA Tour Productions highlights leave out the Woods out-of-bounds shot.