(AP) — One of Greg Norman's golf courses at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai has been selected to host the inaugural Dubai World Championship, which will end the European Tour season in 2009 and offer a $10 million purse, the richest in golf.
The tournament will be held on the Earth course, which features a four-hole closing stretch that measures exactly one mile. Norman said it will be considered "one of the most challenging and exciting miles of golf."
The "longest mile in golf" used to be known as the four closing holes at La Costa Resort, which hosted the Accenture Match Play Championship as recently as 2005. But that was before the nines were switched. And before the final 300 yards were under water because of so much rain.
THRILL IS GONE? For those who believe the excitement at the Masters is forever gone because of changes to Augusta National, there are still a few questions to consider.
How to explain 2003, two years after the first big overhaul, when Len Mattiace only needed a par on the 18th hole to shoot 64 and win the Masters? He made bogey and lost in a playoff to Mike Weir.
What about 2004, when Phil Mickelson birdied five of the last seven holes to beat Ernie Els by one shot?
In 2005, Tiger Woods tied a course record by making seven straight birdies in the middle of the third round, the final four on Sunday morning because of rain delays. He went on to beat Chris DiMarco in a playoff after both finished at 12-under 276.
And for a course that supposedly had gone silent, Trevor Immelman was at 11-under 205 going into the final round. One has to go back to 2001 to find a lower score for the 54-hole leader, when Woods was at 12-under 204 and on his way to a fourth straight major. That was the year before the first dose of lengthening.
Could it be that one reason Immelman closed with a 75 — and this is just a guess — was the wind? According to the weather service, the wind was blowing 16 mph and gusting to 26 mph when the final group teed off.
Much was made out of CBS Sports showing highlights of Gary Player's victory in 1978, when he shot 30 on the back nine for a 64, the lowest final round by a Masters champion. Great stuff, for sure, but it's not like that happens every year.
Remember, it was only a year ago when Jim Nantz produced a colorized version of Arnold Palmer's victory in the 1960 Masters. Palmer didn't birdie either of the par 5s on the back nine, but rallied with a 30-foot birdie on the 17th and a 6-iron to 6 feet on the final hole.
He closed with a 70.
One final thought: Woods missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 13th, failed to get up-and-down for birdie on the 15th (not the easiest chip), missed a 12-foot birdie on the 16th and three-putted for bogey on the 14th. Convert all those and he shoots 68, coming from six shots behind to the win his fifth green jacket.
Still a boring Masters?
POWELL HONORED: Renee Powell gave a public lecture last summer at St. Andrews titled, "The Many Faces of Women's Golf." She returns to the gray old town this summer for an occasion she never imagined.
A coach, player, pioneer and one of only three blacks to play on the LPGA Tour, Powell will become the first female golfer awarded an honorary degree at the University of St. Andrews.
"This is my first honorary degree, and to receive it from the University of St. Andrews, I am truly humbled," Powell said. "I am very honored to be one of just a handful of golfers to receive an honorary doctorate from the university. And to be the first female golfer is incredible."
