Tiger Woods, Golf | featured news

Tiger Woods shot 2-under-par 70 on Sunday at the Masters, doomed by an over-par front nine and the two-stroke penalty he incurred from Friday's improper drop on the 15th hole.

Australian golfer Jason Day leads the pack after two rounds of the Masters golf tournament, though a host of players -- including No. 1 ranked player Tiger Woods and Chinese teen phenom Tianlang Guan -- remain in contention for the prestigious green jacket.

The Masters is a monster of many parts. But the beautiful beast is defined, most of all, by her diabolical undulating lightning greens, 18 creatures that seem to change in speed, texture and disposition from year to year and even from day to day. Just because the Augusta National greens have loved you once, or in Tiger Woods’s case four times, doesn’t mean they’ll love you again. Your stroke and nerves change a bit with the years. The rain, the growing season, who knows what, gives those greens a slightly new nature over time.

Maybe winning doesn't take care of everything. Nike is causing a social media storm with its latest online ad showing a picture of Tiger Woods overlaid with a quote from him, "Winning takes care of everything."

Tiger Woods regained the No. 1 spot in the world golf rankings, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Monday in Orlando, Florida.

Talk about a couple of champions: Lindsey Vonn says she is dating Tiger Woods. Olympic and World Cup champion ski racer Vonn says in a posting on her Facebook page Monday that their "relationship evolved from a friendship into something more over these past few months and it has made me very happy." Lewis Kay, a spokesman for Vonn, confirmed the validity of the post to The Associated Press.

Although he didn't take over the No. 1 world ranking with his victory Sunday at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Tiger Woods more than cut in half his deficit between himself and Rory McIlroy.

Tiger Woods is hitting his stride on his march to the Masters. Woods had full control of his game Sunday and never let anyone get closer than three shots until he had locked up his 17th World Golf Championship title. With a bogey that didn't matter on the final hole, he closed with a 1-under 71 to win the Cadillac Championship.

Michael Thompson won the Honda Classic last weekend for his first PGA Tour victory. The former University of Alabama golfer is known for his practice habits, "finding it in the dirt," as some golfers say. The crazy thing about his Honda Classic win is that he finished in last place in his previous outing. He shot a 78-80 at the Northern Trust Open to finish at plus-16.

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.