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On Friday morning, by the time he reached the ninth hole of his second round, Rory McIlroy was, he said, “seeing red.” His bottom right impacted wisdom tooth, which is being treated by his childhood dentist in Belfast, was causing him pain. His “out of sorts” swing was causing him more pain. His scorecard through eight holes -- par, double bogey, par, bogey, par, par, triple bogey, bogey -- was causing him the most pain. When his second shot on the 18th hole at PGA National, home course for the Honda Classic, settled in a pond, McIlroy’s mind was overwhelmed with a single thought: “I don’t want to be here.”

Michael Thompson's dream of winning his first PGA Tour event was walking up the final fairway with a big lead and very little stress. The reality was much different Sunday in the Honda Classic. He had a one-shot lead as he stood in the 18th fairway, some 240 yards from the flag with trouble in the way in the shape of large lake. The motto from his golf team at Alabama was to "finish strong," and Thompson did just that.

A round that began with great promise for Tiger Woods ended with the world No. 2 right back where he began. After racing out to three birdies across his first eight holes, Woods was unable to pick up any more strokes the rest of the way, and his early gains were wiped out by a tough-luck double bogey at the 17th. He once again left PGA National with an even-par 70, marking just the third time in his career where Woods shot the same score for each of the first three rounds of a PGA Tour event.

Rory McIlroy, the world’s No. 1 golfer, abruptly withdrew from the Honda Classic midway through his round this morning. McIlroy was having a dismal day, shooting seven over par through the first eight holes at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., but initially offered only a mysterious explanation for his withdrawal as he left the course.

President Obama, back from his three-day golf getaway, on Monday made use of his bully pulpit, while Congress remains out all week, to turn up the pressure for a bipartisan agreement to avoid indiscriminate across-the-board budget cuts that will otherwise hit March 1.

President Barack Obama played golf with Tiger Woods for the first time on Sunday and got a chance to see how the game is played at the highest level.

Chinese teen sensation Tianlang Guan made history Sunday by capturing the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship and an invitation to the Masters in the process. Guan, 14, fired a 1-under 71 Sunday at Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand, to finish the event at 15-under 273 and hang on for a one-stroke victory. The youngest player in this week's field, Guan completed a wire-to-wire victory and will become the youngest competitor in the history of The Masters.

Nobody yelled 'Fore!' at a Southern California golf course when a 2-foot-long shark dropped out of the sky and flopped around on the 12th tee.

The Miracle at Brookline now has company. Trailing by the same margin as that improbable Ryder Cup comeback 13 years ago, the Europeans quickly erased a 10-6 deficit, winning eight singles matches in all, and received the clinching point from beleaguered former world No. 1 Martin Kaymer to win the Ryder Cup, 14 1/2 to 13 1/2, on Sunday.

The Americans are turning the Ryder Cup into a rout. Sparked by Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson's record-tying performance, the U.S. won all but one match Saturday morning to take a commanding 8-4 lead over Europe. The largest comeback in Ryder Cup history was at Brookline in 1999, when the U.S. erased a 10-6 deficit on the final day. "I keep telling the guys we're not even halfway over with this tournament so far," captain Davis Love III said. "There's a lot of points left, let's keep doing what we're doing. They're buying into it, they're playing great."