Pga Tour

Somewhat like the fight manager who did not know when to throw in the towel, the PGA Tour went on relentlessly last year, with no apparent end. And it started the new year in the same perplexing manner, with no clear-cut beginning. Once upon a time, the tour took a break around Thanksgiving and came back fresh in mid-January to show off those Hollywood stars with golf swings out of a Keystone Kops movie. That is not the case anymore. It has now become proper for touring pros, with blessings of the PGA, to seek out events whenever and wherever sponsors shell out the the loot.

HONOLULU - Russell Henley became the first PGA Tour rookie in 10 years to win his debut with a record-setting performance Sunday in the Sony Open. Tied for the lead with fellow rookie Scott Langley to start the final round, Henley seized control from the start with a birdie on the first hole. And then he really poured it on at the end of the round. Henley birdied his last five holes to close with a 7-under-par 63 for a 3-shot win over Tim Clark. Henley finished at 24-under 256. It was the second-lowest score for a 72-hole tournament in PGA Tour history, 1 shot behind Tommy Armour III at the Texas Open in 2003.

WINNING ON the PGA Tour is what Tommy Gainey dreamed about when he held a job wrapping insulation around hot water tanks, when he was playing more mini-tours than he can remember, when he was taking part in a Golf Channel reality series where he was best known as the guy wearing two gloves. "Two Gloves" never imagined his first win would unfold the way it did Sunday at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Ga. Seven shots behind going into the final round of the McGladrey Classic, Gainey came within one putt of a 59, and then had to wait more than 2 hours as David Toms, Jim Furyk and tournament host Davis Love III - who have combined for 49 wins, three majors and 17 Ryder Cup teams - tried to catch him. None of them could.

John Appleget of Stone Harbor Country Club preserved his first day's lead and won the Susquehanna Valley Open golf tournament of the Philadelphia PGA with a 36-hole par score of 140 yesterday at Susquehanna Valley Country Club in Hummels Wharf, Pa. It was Appleget's first victory on the local pro tour. JUNIOR BOYS Radley Run's Kyle Yerk, who eagled the third and eighth holes, shared the medal prize at 2-over-par 72 with Chris Hoyle of Llanerch Country Club in the qualifying round of the Philadelphia Junior Boys' golf championship on Merion Golf Club's West Course.

The Walrus still has some bite. Craig Stadler shot a stunning 9-under-par 63 yesterday to come from eight shots behind and win the B.C. Open in Endicott, N.Y., by one stroke over Alex Cejka and Steve Lowery. It was the 13th victory on the PGA Tour for Stadler and his second win in 8 days. He captured the Senior Players Championship last week. "It's like la-la land here the last 2 weeks," said Stadler, who became the first Senior Tour player to win a PGA event. Ray Floyd also won on both tours in 1992, but he was 49 and still on the PGA Tour when he captured Doral.

Prize money on the PGA Tour will go up to a record $180 million in 2001, with an even larger increase anticipated when the tour negotiates a new, four-year television contract in the spring. Also, commissioner Tim Finch-em said yesterday he's confident the tour can work out marketing issues with the player largely responsible for those rising purses - Tiger Woods. "We don't have issues that can't be resolved," Finchem said during a teleconference to discuss the state of the tour.

FOR ALL THE big moments in Graeme McDowell's career, his resume was short on PGA Tour victories. McDowell relished what he called his first authentic tour win, defeating fellow U.S. Open champ Webb Simpson in a playoff at the RBC Heritage on Sunday in Hilton Head Island, S.C. McDowell has been at the center of some of golf's biggest moments, from his rousing triumph at Pebble Beach in 2010 to capturing the winning point for Europe in that year's...

Tom Sieckmann, who had been winless in four years on the PGA tour and had missed the cut in 13 of 16 events this season, parred the second hole of a sudden-death playoff with Mark Wiebe yesterday to win the Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic in Williamsburg, Va. Both players made par-saving putts on the first playoff hole, the 427-yard 16th. Wiebe's putt was from 12 feet on the fringe of the green and Sieckmann's from three feet. Wiebe missed a six-footer for par on the next hole, and Sieckmann sank a two-footer.

VIJAY SINGH sued the PGA Tour yesterday for exposing him to "public humiliation and ridicule" during a 12-week investigation into his use of deer-antler spray that ended last week when the tour dropped its case against him. The lawsuit was a surprise, and so was the timing - the day before The Players Championship, the flagship event on the PGA Tour held on its home course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where Singh has honed his game for the last...

Philadelphia's only PGA tour event yesterday changed country clubs, but tournament officials said the switch had nothing to do with the recent controversy over minority membership practices. The Bell Atlantic/St. Christopher's Classic, which was played its first six years at Chester Valley Golf Club, will move to White Manor Country Club, tournament director Mary Ann Saleski said in a statement. Both clubs are in Malvern. The six-year contract with Chester Valley expired this year, and the organizer, United Hospitals, decided bigger and better facilities were needed for the $500,000 tournament, according to Robert Hoffsis, managing director of special promotions at Bell Atlantic.

BETHESDA, Md. - Philadelphia was on Tiger Woods' mind yesterday at media day for his AT&T National tournament. About Merion Golf Club, site of next month's U.S. Open, Woods said he has never seen the Ardmore course but he is planning to play it before the Open. And while he said he wants to keep his tourney at Congressional in suburban Washington, he appeared to leave the door open for a possible return to Aronimink. The Newtown Square club hosted Woods' tourney for 2 years while Congressional was being prepared for the 2011 U.S. Open.

Stu Ingraham has utilized an anchored stroke with a long putter for the last 23 years, a span during which he has won Philadelphia Section PGA player of the year honors on eight occasions including last year. So Ingraham strongly disagreed Tuesday with the joint decision by the U.S. Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews to ban an anchored putting stroke, either with a long putter or a belly putter, saying the stroke goes against the traditional golf swing where a club is gripped with both hands away from the body.

GOLF'S GOVERNING bodies approved a rule yesterday that outlaws the putting stroke used by four of the last six major champions, a move opposed by two major golf organizations that contend long putters are not hurting the game. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club and U.S. Golf Association said Rule 14-1b will take effect in 2016. "We recognize this has been a divisive issue, but after thorough consideration, we remain convinced that this is the right decision for golf," R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said.

SANG-MOON BAE watched anxiously after hitting his tee shot at the par-3 17th hole yesterday in the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas. When the ball landed on the front edge of the green fronted by water, he bent his knees and leaned backward, obviously relieved. He was only a few shots away from his first PGA Tour victory and a congratulatory hug from the widow of the tournament's namesake. After squandering a four-stroke lead in the final round, the 26-year-old South Korean beat Keegan Bradley by two stokes for a win in the United States to go with his 11 international victories on the Korea, Japan and Asian tours.

IRVING, Texas - Sang-Moon Bae won the Bryon Nelson Championship on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title, beating Keegan Bradley by 2 strokes after blowing a 4-stroke lead. The 26-year-old South Korean closed with a 1-under 69 to finish at 13-under 267. Bradley was trying to become the Nelson's first wire-to-wire winner since Tom Watson in 1980. Bradley set the TPC Four Seasons course record with an opening 60 even with two bogeys, but finished with a 72 on a day with wind gusting near 40 m.p.h.

VIJAY SINGH sued the PGA Tour yesterday for exposing him to "public humiliation and ridicule" during a 12-week investigation into his use of deer-antler spray that ended last week when the tour dropped its case against him. The lawsuit was a surprise, and so was the timing - the day before The Players Championship, the flagship event on the PGA Tour held on its home course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where Singh has honed his game for the last...

Joe Daley uses the words lucky and phenomenal to describe his journey from credit manager to golf nomad to PGA Tour member to the oldest man ever to make his first-ever appearance in the Players Championship, which begins Thursday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Daley, 52, who was born in Chestnut Hill and graduated from Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, earned a berth in what observers like to call "golf's fifth major" by winning the 2012 Senior...

A WEEK LIKE no other at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., held one final surprise yesterday when 22-year-old rookie Derek Ernst birdied the 18th hole to force a playoff, and then won the Wells Fargo Championship on the first extra hole against David Lynn, of England. Ernst, playing only his ninth PGA Tour event, was the fourth alternate at the start of the week. He was No. 1,207 in the world ranking. None of that mattered when he choked up on a 6-iron from 192 yards and drilled his shot into 4 feet.

The PGA Tour dropped its doping case against Vijay Singh based on new information from the World Anti-Doping Agency, which said using deer-antler spray is no longer prohibited because it contains such small amounts of a growth hormone factor. Tour commissioner Tim Finchem declined to say Tuesday what kind of suspension Singh had faced. The television viewer who reported the illegal drop Tiger Woods took during the second round of the Masters was more than just a golf fan. Sports Illustrated reported it was David Eger , a rules expert who has worked for the USGA and the PGA Tour.

THE TELEVISION viewer who reported the illegal drop Tiger Woods took during the second round of the Masters was more than just a golf fan. Sports Illustrated reported yesterday it was David Eger, a rules expert who has worked for the USGA and the PGA Tour. Eger said he was watching the Masters from his home in Florida when he replayed the 15th hole to see how Woods had made bogey. Woods hit the pin with his third shot and it caromed back into the water. He dropped from around the same area, hit into 4 feet and made bogey.