Tiger says caddie's Mickelson comments over and done with

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — The caddie for Tiger Woods received a reprimand, but not a pink slip.

Steve Williams generated plenty of headlines this week when he was quoted at a charity dinner in New Zealand calling Phil Mickelson an obscenity and confirming in another newspaper that he doesn't like the three-time major champion.

That led to Mickelson putting out a statement extolling the class of his own caddie, and Woods issuing a statement that said he was disappointed by his caddie's ``inappropriate'' comments.

``What ended up happening is I communicated with Phil, and we have discussed it,'' Woods said Wednesday. ``I talked to Stevie about it, and he feels bad what happened. At this point, that it happened at all is something that none of us really wanted to have happen. But it's over and done with, and we put it to bed.''

Woods was asked if Williams will be on his bag when he returns next year.

``Yes, he will,'' Woods replied.

Then he paused.

``I don't know what he'll be carrying yet, but ... `` he added with a smile.

It was unclear if Woods was referring to the end of his corporate sponsorship with Buick - its logo has been on his bag for the last nine years - or if he was going to make sure the bag was extra heavy.

Tiger: I voted for Paddy for player of year

"Padraig Harrington or Tiger Woods for player of year?" has been a decent 19th-hole argument for golf fans, weighing Tiger's early season dominance, 2nd place at the Masters and U.S. Open win for the ages against Padraig's British Open and PGA Championship victories.

Consider the question resolved. Harrington won the players' vote, the writers' vote, and, most importantly, Tiger Woods's vote.

"I did actually [vote for Harrington]," Woods said Wednesday at his Chevron World Challenge tournament in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Woods's vote is especially significant because he has voted for himself for the honor in the past. (For the record, Harrington said he abstained this year.) Woods's reasoning is the same as most people's: Harrington won two majors. And the World No. 1 was obviously impressed with how Harrington did it.

"It was nice to see Paddy play as well as he has," Woods said. "It was just a matter of -- as I said, a matter of time. The confidence you get from winning one, and then two just proves it to you that one wasn't a fluke, and it gives you all that confidence in the world. And look how he did it; he shot 32 on the back nine on both of them.

"He got it done the right way. He went out and earned it," Woods said.

Time to get real about Tiger talk

A LOT has been said about Tiger Woods coming to Australia next year. It's a little hysterical. Here is what has actually happened thus far. Major Events NSW, an arm of the State Government and sponsor of the tournament until 2015, has put a fully-funded deal to Woods's management to come to the Australian Open next year.

The inducement has not been made public, but it will be some millions. Nor is it known whether MENSW has found a benefactor or whether it intends to sting the taxpayer. Yet the deal to bring Woods to the Open at NSW Golf Club will need to be good; Woods is known to get at least $US5 million ($7.5m) from the likes of the sheiks in Dubai or in China to tee it up there.

Golf Australia, which runs the Open, is involved and ironically was told by Woods's management firm that it would have a better chance of success if the bid was kept quiet. So much for that one.

But the words of Greg Turner, the New Zealand professional who has been on the PGA Tour board, ring out loud. Turner called the 2002 New Zealand Open, where Woods appeared for a fee, an "unmitigated disaster". It poured throughout the week, few spectators came and those who put up the appearance money did not get a return.

Paul McNamee, who ran the Australian Open for two years, has said more than once that the tournament needs to establish itself as a viable entity before it chases Tiger. McNamee also felt that there was a danger that if Woods did tee it up Down Under, there would be a tremendous letdown the following year if he did not come.

One of Australia's top players, Stuart Appleby, addressed the letdown factor last week, a little crudely, but accurately: "We don't want to have a date with a supermodel and all of a sudden you're going out with someone else who's not so beautiful."

It has been said that Woods wants to play in Australia. But Woods is unfailingly polite, a consummate politician. It is a fact that he likes the Melbourne sandbelt courses, and he has said so before.

Realistically, the money would have to be right, for he can get it elsewhere.

Equally as important is his left knee. Woods had surgery after winning the US Open this year, the second time under the knife for the ailment. Already, it has limited his schedule to 15 to 20 tournaments a year, fewer than most professionals. He knows that he has a finite number of tournaments in him, and Woods desperately wants to overtake Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major championships (he has 13).

Woods will return early in the 2009 season. Commonsense suggests he is scarcely going to start playing more tournaments; possibly fewer. All of which means that trips to Australia to check out the fancy bunkering won't be at the top of his wish list.

Allenby gets sick mother's blessing to back up for PGA

ROBERT ALLENBY, whose emotional breakdown on the 15th at Huntingdale on Sunday when the Australian Masters was lost in front of his dying mother Sylvia was there for all to see, very nearly didn't board the plane north on Tuesday morning for the $1.5 million PGA Championship which starts at Coolum today.

Allenby tossed the thought around in his mind on Monday when he hosted his annual charity day for Challenge Cancer in Melbourne and came to the conclusion he might not be mentally and emotionally ready to play this week.

His mother, who has been taken off her medication and treatment for kidney and lung cancer, attended the charity dinner at Melbourne's Crown Casino on Monday evening, and that, too, was an emotional affair.

Over breakfast on Tuesday, Allenby said to his mother: "Mum, I'm happy to stay home and be with you. I don't have to go play. You're more important than golf. Tell me what you'd like me to do."

"Go up there and win the tournament," she replied.

Then she added: "I'd love to to win the tournament but, if you don't win, don't worry about it. It's not the end of the world. I'll still love you."