Donald started No. 2 in the rankings

With the win, Johnson got his eighth career title and some valuable Ryder Cup and FedEx Cup points. But his embarrassing brain flub was a reminder of the careful attention to detail it takes in all facets of the game. Replacing your ball is one of the most routine acts on a Titleist 712 AP1 Irons course. It's a good measure of courtesy to remind your playing partners to not forget to put the ball back in its original position on the green.

That's probably not the first time Johnson has failed to replace his ball. But it's likely to be his last time committing the rules infraction. It won't just be a force of habit. It will become a habitual concern of his and his caddie's. And we'll probably be looking closer than ever to catch that player in the act as someone who forgot to remember something he's done his whole life.

Some of Gainey's poor play can be attributed to a nagging elbow injury, but playing with injuries is a part of the game. Now that he's healthy, maybe he can show in the remainder of the year some of the dazzling play we saw from him in 2011.

Coming into the Colonial, Gainey had eight missed cuts and two withdrawals in 17 events. At the Valero Texas Open, he shot 80-84 to miss the cut with a 20-over-par total. The former line worker at the A.O. Smith water heater company, who once boasted of making $12 per hour Titleist 712 AP2 Irons at the plant, had earned less than $100,000 in the season. He was well on his way to a return to Q-school in the fall.

Johnson's caddie, Damon Green, or Dufner could have told him to replace the ball, but they, too, probably were caught up in the moment. It's the kind of thing that probably happens more often than we know on the PGA Tour. Lots of weird stuff happens on the golf course. We just don't see most of it because there isn't a gallery or a TV announcer to catch it. Unless it's a major or your name is Tiger, Phil, Daly or Rickie Fowler, the typical tour player competes in relative peace and anonymity with only his family and friends following him on the course.

"I just think I've lacked competitive rounds," McIlroy said on Friday. "I'm looking forward to getting to the states and playing four rounds. I'm still confident in my ability."

But miraculously, his game came together this week at Colonial, where he had rounds of 66-67-73-67 to finish in solo third, which was good enough for a $435,200 payday. Now he's in a position on the money list in which he needs to make probably another $150,000 to keep his card next year. He'll play another 15 to 17 events this year, so if he performs decently, his homespun nature should grace the tour for another year.

Since starting his year with five top-5s, including a win at the Honda Classic, McIlroy has had a disappointing tie for 40th at the Masters, a T-2 at the Wells Fargo Championship and the two missed cuts.

Tiger Woods, the benchmark for success on the contemporary PGA Tour, has never missed two cuts in a row in his pro career. If McIlroy wants to reach that level of greatness, he had better figure discount golf clubs out how in the world a player of his otherworldly abilities could ever shoot a 79.

He has no reason to lack confidence in his game, but he should be concerned about missing cuts so near the U.S. Open. Last year, he came into Congressional off of a tie for fifth at the Memorial. Though his runaway win in the U.S. Open was a signal to the world that he was going to be a contender for a long time, getting to No. 1 this year has been his real coming-out party.

Learn to play early swings

For the teachers and golf professionals who offered swing lessons, they hope it will become a gateway to a lifelong avocation.

McCormick trained with The First Tee junior golf program and received support from the PGA's Northeastern New York Section, New York State United Teachers and the school's PTA. He purchased callaway razr x irons designed to minimize the risk of injury.

"It's a lot of fun. We're learning to respect the game," said Noah Parker, a fourth grader who had only played miniature golf before.

They're trying to grow the game to counteract golf's decline, hastened by the 2008 recession. The number of frequent golfers has dropped 3 to 4 percent annually since 2006. More golf courses have been closing than opening for the past five years. The number of rounds played at municipal courses and memberships at country clubs have plummeted during the stubborn economic downturn. There are now an estimated 26 million golfers in America. The PGA has an ambitious goal of increasing that to 40 million by 2020.

"It's a good idea to get kids started when they're young," said Ziamandanis, who began playing at 7. "Golf taught me to be independent and to overcome obstacles."

Pepper grew up competing against boys on the golf team in Saratoga. She played boys' varsity beginning in eighth grade, a first at the time. She said her teammates were welcoming and she has remained close with several of them.

"I might end up liking it more than football," said Wyatt Dill, a fifth-grader who never picked up a golf club growing up in Brandon, Miss. He transferred to the school in December.

Pepper's dad was a pro baseball player and she learned to swing a bat at a tender age, but switched to a golf club in elementary school after she saw her grandparents play. She chipped in a corner of the basement and putted on the dining room rug. "It was really fast callaway diablo edge irons and I learned every break all the way into the kitchen," she said.

McCormick's course will culminate with a scramble tournament for his students on May 26 at Hiawatha Trails, a kid-friendly, par-3 golf course in Guilderland. A focus of his teaching is to underscore The First Tee's nine core values, which include honesty, integrity, sportsmanship and perseverance.

McCormick is an avid golfer earning a doctorate in sports psychology at the University of the Rockies. He teaches golfers how to improve the mental aspect of their game. But he never had the equipment to teach golf to his students during 13 years at the school. He tried Frisbee golf and golf with lacrosse sticks, with mixed results.

"This was a really good start on the future of the game," said Scott Warren, golf pro at Pinehaven Country Club in Guilderland and a friend of McCormick's since high school.

"We're excited about what Dennis is doing and we hope to make this a pilot program for other physical education teachers to follow," said Tracie Warner, executive director of the PGA Northeastern New York Section. Voorheesville is one of six elementary schools discount golf clubs in the Capital Region teaming up with the PGA and The First Tee, which has set a goal of doubling involvement to 8,000 elementary schools nationwide by 2015.

Phil Mickelson grasped the magnitude of what was to happen Monday

"It kind of hit [wife] Amy and I that we've really had a pretty great life experience these last 20 years," Mickelson said, hours before induction ceremonies to make him one of the Hall's five newest members.

Mickelson, who swashbuckled his way to three Masters titles and a PGA Championship among 40 PGA Tour wins, was preceded in enshrinement by Sandy Lyle, Hollis Stacy, veteran writer Dan Jenkins and BBC "voice of golf" Peter Alliss.

Jenkins and Alliss both were honored for journalistic excellence that has spanned parts of six decades. Jenkins began discount golf clubs covering Hogan and Byron Nelson in the 1950s in his native Fort Worth, Texas; Alliss first joined the BBC's British Open telecast in 1961.

"I'm just pleased to be taken in as a vertical human," quipped Jenkins, the first living writer to receive Hall of Fame enshrinement.

"It was kind of an out-of-sight, out-of-mind thing," said Stacy, a Savannah native whose three U.S. Women's Open titles were recognized by the veterans' committee.

That Mickelson one day would enter the Hall of Fame was hardly in doubt since the San Diego native notched his first PGA Tour win while still a collegian. Lyle and Stacy, on the other hand, weren't sure if they'd ever get the chance.

"I had not thought of being in the TaylorMade RocketBallZ fairway wood Hall of Fame, so there were no hollow feelings or anything. I was just shocked when I got the phone call."

"I thought I was going to be overlooked. But it's happened, so I'm very happy."

"We don't really slow down and reminisce and think about it, because we're just right in the thick of it. And this was the first time we've kind of looked back together and thought about all that we've done together. It's been fun."

"That 'close' went on for quite a few years and I sort of thought, 'It ain't going to happen,' " said the Scotsman, who won Masters and British Open titles in the 1980s before his game took a sudden downward turn.

Lyle, on the other hand, went through something of an annual ritual of friends offering their condolences at falling short on the international ballot and reporters asking him for reaction.

It was Alliss, though, who brought down the house with a wordless finish. Wrapping up his acceptance speech, the 81-year-old broadcaster recalled a school headmistress from years ago whose TaylorMade RocketBallZ Driver final report said: "It's clear Peter has a brain; he's just loathe to use it."

Both found themselves short-sided by Hall criteria. Lyle waited while European counterparts Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer and Nick Faldo went in; Stacy had all but given up as her accomplishments fell short under an LPGA points system.

He then mentioned his parents, hoping they were looking down on him with pride. And as for the long-ago headmistress – he offered a closing one-finger salute.

Harper's Choice will be replaced with a new building

She added: "We hope the negotiations go well and we're looking forward to coming back in the new building."

The CA board had previously approved up to $6 million for the clubhouse project.

Those suggested improvements included adding a turn house; making modifications to the golf course, such as lengthening the driving range, enlarging the putting green and other changes, at an estimated cost of $230,000; and changing the curb cut entry toward the building for an estimated $112,000.

Hekimian worried that the money being put toward the clubhouse would keep other projects from being funded, such as Titleist 712 MB irons building a new park within Symphony Woods, upgrading CA's infrastructure, and improving the association's outdoor pools.

CA is in negotiations with the clubhouse restaurant, the Coho Grill, about its return once the new clubhouse is built, Goldman said

The Columbia Association board voted 8-2 Thursday, April 26 to construct a new building rather than renovate the old one. The board also voted 10-0 to build a "turn house" between the ninth and 10th holes with restrooms and snacks for golfers midway through the course.

The CA board had previously approved up to $6 million for the clubhouse project.

Ellie Ennis, a managing partner at the restaurant, said "it is our goal to remain open until construction begins."

Board member Andrew Stack of Owen Brown said he didn't believe renovating would solve the problems the current clubhouse has, including a "sewage smell we've tried and tried to have fixed Callaway Razr X Tour irons for years that nobody knows where it's coming from."

The new clubhouse, on the spot of the existing building, will cost about $5.85 million, according to Kenneth Hart, director of architecture for The H. Chambers Co., a Baltimore-based architecture and engineering firm CA hired for the project.

Board member Cynthia Coyle of Harper's Choice said she preferred not to change the course.

The golfers are already "really happy with it," she said. "Why would we disrupt the course?"

The votes against the new clubhouse came from board members Ed Coleman of Long Reach and Alex Hekimian of Oakland Mills.

The CA board had three options from which to choose: renovating the clubhouse, gutting the interior and changing the layout, at a cost of about $5.7 million; building a new clubhouse on the spot of the existing building for about $5.85 million; or building a new clubhouse discount golf clubs and also making improvements to the golf course.

"I wanted a lower-cost option," said Coleman, who had asked board members whether they would support renovating the clubhouse if that price tag were significantly lower than the cost of building new. "I believe that there's other ways that money can be spent within CA that can benefit residents as a whole."

CA president Phil Nelson said, however, that $1.35 million has been set aside over the next two fiscal years for pool improvements, and another $850,000 is available for the 2015 fiscal year.

Beth Bader took a one-stroke lead in the LPGA LOTTE Championship

"It feels good," said the 401st-ranked Bader, making her first start of the year. "Been awhile since I've been here. Been awhile since I actually teed it up in an event. But it's good.

"I practiced hard. I played some Grasshopper Tour events in Phoenix to get ready and keep going. So it was nice to be able to transition back into target golf, because I haven't done that for a while. So, I'm very pleased."

"Overall, I stay patient and I make lots of good putts," Tseng said. "I still miss some, but I hung in there. It's only first ping g15 driver day of the tournament, so I'm pretty happy today. Still on the leaderboard, still can see my name up there, so very happy."

"I hit it in the water on No. 10, so made bogey there," Tseng said. "I made another bogey on No. 11 hole, kind of a short hole. ... On No. 12, I made a tough 12-footer for par. I think that's the big turning point for today. If I make another bogey, I don't know what's going to happen. But I save par there and make birdie the next hole, so it's a good turn for me."

Sun Young Yoo, coming off a playoff victory over I.K. Kim on April 1 in the Kraft Nabisco, was two stroke back at 70 along with Suzann Pettersen, Brittany Lincicome, Cristie Kerr, Elisa Serrama and Inbee Park

Winless on the LPGA Tour, the 38-year-old Bader birdied Nos. 5, 6 and 7 to reach 5 under, but dropped a stroke on the par-4 ninth — her final hole — with her lone bogey of the round played in 30-mph gusts.

Stanford also bogeyed her final hole. The Texan won the last LPGA Tour event played in Hawaii, overtaking Ping G20 Hybrid Michelle Wie in the 2009 SBS Open at Turtle Bay.

Wie had two early double bogeys in a 78 that left her 10 strokes back. She has missed the cuts in her last two starts.

Lang, also from Texas, had only 24 putts.

Tseng, the Taiwanese star who has won three of the first six events this year, was second along with HSBC Women's Champions winner Angela Stanford, Jiyai Shin and Brittany Lang.

"That wind is crazy," Lang said. "I hit the ball fantastic. When you hit pure, solid shots the wind does not affect it as much. I hit the ball really solid and gave myself a lot of chances discount golf clubs and I putted really well with my new putter."

Kim, devastated by a missed 1-foot putt on the final hole of regulation in the Kraft Nabisco, shot a 71.

"Flying over, all those positive memories came flooding a back," Stanford said. "I love Hawaii. I love being here. I love just the atmosphere, the people. It is always windy, usually, so I'm just comfortable."

Golf is a little like gambling

Morrow said roughly 90 percent of his site's customers were from North America and the man still expected to see a handle approaching $500,000 with this year's Masters. In an attempt to exploit golf's popularity, Morrow said software specialists at Bovada.lv was working feverishly to have the site's in-round betting offerings ready for your Masters; those same pages allow bettors to wager on players on a hole-to-hole basis, literally betting while lying on his or her couches.

Think there is no way McIlroy will make par from off the fairway on No. 1? Click. Click. You only bet on a Titleist 712 MB irons bogey. Just like the way Vijay Singh is hitting his short irons? It is possible to wager on him making birdie on the par-3 12th.

As golf has become a greater portion of a spectator sport, this can be a way for people to feel more coupled to the experience, Morrow said.

Opinions on the reason behind golf's betting boom vary, but most trace the start to Woods's dominant stretch beginning in the late 1990s. Golf happens to be a name sport when it comes to betting, Sherman said meaning the tournaments where stars like Woods or Phil Mickelson play get more betting ?a so its increase in general popularity at that point also sparked a desire for wagering.

During those times, however, Woods won so often there was little value in betting on him; chances were way too low.

Now, with Woods's career revived, a person's eye in golf has spiked again and there is more payoff on backing Woods as a result of his inconsistent form along with the emergence of other stars to challenge him. On Wednesday, Woods was roughly 4 to 1 to win the Masters in most sports books, with McIlroy at approximately 6 to 1 and Callaway Razr X Tour irons Mickelson at 12 one.

When the tournament begins, many sports books will update their odds after each round (something rarely happened in the past) along with a number of books making the effort to seize upon the raised TV coverage of the Masters by offering variations about the hole-by-hole betting structure.

Previously, when TV coverage of golf was minimal, it made little sense to supply in-round betting because no you are able to see the things they were betting on, Morrow said.

When they might only show the trunk nine or only show 1 or 2 players, there was clearly no reason, he added. With Web site video coverage and more coverage on television though, you are able to sit at home to make your own personal decisions on how a specific shot will affect a new player and then make your bets.

The sports books' fascination with promoting golf betting is strategic, too; while golf will never challenge the handles for events such as the Super Bowl (which routinely approaches $100 million in Nevada alone), it does fill a crucial void. The late spring and summer are slow times for sports books, so helping the desire for golf betting is essential on the industry's growth.

Any PGA Tour players who might be discount golf clubs enthusiastic about joining the fad using a bet on themselves are prohibited by the tour's rules. Whilst it would be na?ve to consider casual practice-round wagers between players don't come about constantly around the tour ?a as well as betting on other sports, like Mickelson's famous forays into N.F.L. betting ?a you can find strict regulations prohibiting players from betting money or anything valueable with a golf tournament or similar event, whether or not the player is within such competition..

Yoo won the LPGA Tour's first major

Yoo won the LPGA Tour's initial of the season with steady play down the stretch, but she reached make traditional leap into Poppie's Pond only after Kim's mind-boggling miss on a single green minutes earlier.

"She's an excellent putter," Yoo said about Kim. "She usually doesn't miss that type of putt, but ... you  will never know after that happen."

Yoo, who earned her second career LPGA Tour victory, and Kim finished at 9 under, but Kim could have basically wrapped up her starting while using tap-in par putt. Kim could have struck the ball oddly, also it toured the lip in the cup before being released about the same Taylormade R9 Irons side it entered. The gallery gasped, and Kim raised her left hand to her mouth in disbelief.

Kim's unbelievable miss on the Dinah Shore course lowers in tournament lore after a thoroughly wacky final round where five players held the lead. Kim ended up one of the most consistent contender amid those wild momentum swings, going bogey-free through 17 holes.

"On the playoff hole, it is simply tough to kind of target what are you doing right now," Kim said. "Because I had been still a bit bummed (about) so what happened on 18, honestly."

Yoo and Kim totally 18th again inside playoff, and Kim's drive barely cleared the water, landing inside rough. She resulted in a birdie putt short in the fringe, and Yoo calmly reached the green before burying her winning putt.

Kim and Yoo shot 69 inside final Ping K15 Irons round. Top-ranked Yani Tseng finished third at 8 under with a disappointing final-round 73. Even after blowing a Sunday lead in the Kraft Nabisco to the second straight year, the Taiwanese star stood a opportunity to join the playoff on the 18th, but pushed a long birdie putt wide by an inch.

Kim had been incredibly steady until her miss, creating a 15-foot birdie putt about the 16th hole and a 20-footer for the 17th to destroy a three-way tie for your lead. Kim comfortably reached saving money for the 18th and barely missed a lengthy birdie putt.

Kim needed only a tap to preserve her lead with Tseng one stroke back around the 18th fairway. Kim lined up over it patiently, but somehow missed. She tapped in for a bogey that dropped her right discount golf clubs into a tie with Yoo. Tseng then barely missed her tying putt.

Defending champ Stacy Lewis closed strong using a 66 to finish in the four-way tie for fourth place with Amy Yang and late leaders Karin Sjodin ?a who shot a 74 after entering the final round even with Tseng ?a and Hee Kyung Seo, who a three-stroke add the trunk nine before bogeying her final four holes.