Australian evangelist to visit Raceland church

An Australian minister bearing the titles of Catholic evangelist, mystic, healer and visionary plans to bring his story of radical change and spiritual gifts to a Raceland church next week.
Alan Ames is scheduled to minister during a Mass and healing service scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Hilary of Poitiers Catholic Church, 333 Twin Oaks Drive, Raceland. The service is free and open to the public — both Catholics and non-Catholics.

"It was deep and moving and all I can say is after about five minutes of tears, I looked around the church and I felt like a different person," said Jacob Lipari III, a Houma native who credits Ames with changing directions in his life.Ames has traveled the world for the past 15 years to speak to audiences about his conversion from violent alcoholic to spiritual healer. His ministry, known as "Touch of Heaven," also includes seeking spiritual and physical healing for those who ask.

The 55-year-old Ames, born and raised in England, stems from a Catholic upbringing, but at a young age grew involved in a pattern of alcoholism and fighting, even joining a motorcycle gang.

His life took a sharp turn at age 40, when Ames received guidance from an angel, followed by further help, visions and direction from Jesus Christ and other divine sources, according to his Web site.

Ames visits south Louisiana periodically, and has appeared at local churches in the past, said Annette Bourgeois, a parishioner of St. Hilary's who helped organize his upcoming visit. Ames last appeared at St. Hilary's in November 2006.

Ames' ministry has impacted the lives of local parishioners, with some reporting healing of physical ailments and others of spiritual revolution, Bourgeois said.

Lipari, who played golf for Vandebilt Catholic High School and Nicholls State University, credits Ames' ministry with a drastic change in the direction of his life.

The 29-year-old went from the professional golf world to studying philosophy at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.

Lipari was pursuing a career in golf and otherwise living "the normal life of a 20-something male" when he crossed paths with Ames in November 2006, according to a written account of the event by Lipari.

Lipari attended St. Francis de Sales School and describes faith as a major part of his life as a child. He also served as campus minister at Vandebilt, but his focus changed soon after high school.

Lipari earned a Bachelor of Business from Nicholls, where he played on the golf team. He then helped manage a professional golf tour in Dallas, worked as golf supervisor at L'Auberge du Lac Hotel and Casino in Lake Charles and started the U.S. Kids Golf Tour for Louisiana.

"Even though I had found success in my mid-20s in a career, I was not going to Mass, was living a worldly life, and was starting to question if God was real or not," Lipari writes. "In my opinion, I was on a path that was leading me towards losing my soul because of sin."

Ames' influence on Lipari began with a book handed to the young golfer as he was working in the golf shop at the Ellendale Country Club in Houma. The book, "Messages from Mary" by Ames, gave Lipari the sense that the Catholic deity was speaking to him personally, he said.

Curious about the book's author, Lipari visited Ames' Web site to learn more and noticed that Ames' travels would take him to Raceland in two days.

"I really thought that was odd since he traveled all over the world," Lipari writes. "I had to go to see what this was all about. I drove up that night not really knowing what to expect, but I just wanted to be open."

When Ames started talking about his own life experiences, Lipari said the words hit him "like a brick hitting a piece of glass."

Though Lipari said he initially "ran from the call" to seminary, his experience with Ames marked the beginning of his path to the priesthood.

Lipari moved to Boston to work for PGA of America, the fulfillment of a childhood dream, but the thoughts of priesthood persisted.

He was working at a golf tournament when "an interior voice in my soul" told him to leave the golf business.

Not long after, Lipari started his studies at the seminary.

Ames' ministry affects others in similar ways, Lipari writes.

Bourgeois encourages visitors to use Ames' visit to gain a closer relationship with God.

"The biggest healing you can have is your spiritual healing," she said. "It's important that you come with an open heart and an open mind and be open to the workings of the Holy Spirit."

Another hit for golf: Ginn withdraws its sponsorships

The economic downturn cast two more tournaments into an uncertain future Wednesday when Ginn Resorts abruptly ended all professional golf sponsorships.

The real estate company says it no longer will host or produce its two remaining events — the LPGA's Ginn Open and the Champions Tour's Ginn Championship. LPGA star Cristie Kerr was also a casualty, as Ginn dropped sponsorship of the last player wearing the company's apparel.

Ginn's latest move comes on the heels of last year's decisions to end its sponsorship of the PGA Tour's Ginn sur Mer Classic and to buy out of a multiyear contract for another LPGA tour event, the Ginn Tribute hosted by Annika Sorenstam.

"We're disappointed and surprised by their actions," PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said about Ginn's latest decision. "We have a contract with them through 2011, and we were in discussions with them concerning ways to modify the contract and to assist them. And in the end, we were given no notice of their actions other than to see it in a press release."

Losing the Ginn Open would figure to be a major hit to the LPGA — the event's $2.5 million purse was the third-largest on tour in 2008, behind only the U.S. Women's Open and the Evian Masters.

Ginn's contract with the LPGA tour for the Ginn Open was through 2009. If the tournament is not replaced or restructured quickly, the LPGA tour will offer 30 events this year, down four tournaments from last year. The losses also mean a drop of nearly $7.5 million in prize money that was available last year. LPGA officials were in meetings Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.

"We have worked diligently with many others for several months to find solutions to our predicament with respect to these professional golf tournaments," said Robert Gidel, president and CEO of Ginn Development Company. "We did the best we could, but the economy got the best of us with respect to the tournaments."

The news about Ginn's decision to end its relationship with professional golf reverberated throughout the golf community, including PGA Tour players at the FBR Open in Arizona.

"There's some concern, for sure" about the future of professional golf, veteran Mark Calcavecchia said. "Things are tight for everybody, including Ginn and all the other huge companies. I mean, I think we're lucky to have the sponsors we have out here. My concern now, being 48 and a half years old, is how many tournaments are going to be left on the senior tour in a couple years.

"But I think the PGA Tour is going to be fine. We have a good product out here, but it's a concern. I think everybody is a little bit worried about it. I don't know how worried (commissioner) Tim Finchem is, but he doesn't outwardly come out like we're in danger too much."

While Votaw said it's hard for anyone to predict the future, he said the Tour is in good shape.

"We've always said than in any recession there is sponsorship turnover, but we have protected ourselves to deal with it," he said. "And we have to work hard to replace sponsors if we do lose them. And the players and our organization understand that."

Japan opts out of asia-pacific tour

Australian attempts to launch a unified Asia-Pacific tour appear to be floundering in the face of Japan's decision not to join the Tour.

The PGA of Australia announced last Friday, that it had agreements in place with the China Golf Association, the Japan Golf Tour, the Korea Golf Association and the Korea PGA to launch a pilot 6-event Super Asia-Pacific tour this year.

The announcement met with an angry response from the well-established Asian Tour who said they had not been consulted about such a Tour in a region for which they had been responsible for professional golf for many years

Executive chairman of the Asian Tour Kyi Hla Han even went as far as to accuse the Australians of breaching the spirit of the game in attempting to invade the Asian Tour's established territory.

The Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), the official organising body of professional golf tournaments in Japan, clearly agreed and has now said it could not take part in the series this year without the Asian Tour being involved.

It said 2009 should be used to "create the conditions and environment which are conducive to JGTO's full involvement beginning with the 2010 season".

"JGTO feels there are many unsolved questions regarding the tour status of other members, the playing conditions of JGTO members, the marketing and broadcasting arrangements and contractual obligations each tour has with its sponsors, organisers, TV networks and promoters - and that is just to name a few.

"However, the most significant problem JGTO considers in relation to this series is the lack of involvement on the part of the Asian Tour, whose involvement is absolutely imperative and necessary ..."

The latest wobble for the Australian-driven super series initiative follows its attempt last year to launch a OneAsia tour, involving 35 events to rival the US PGA and European Tours.

The OneAsia Tour idea fell away when the Asian Tour, who already co-sanction at least half a dozen of its more than 30 annual tournaments with the European Tour, said it was not in favour.

Now the long-established and successful JGTO says the Asian Tour was still "the most vital entity for the promotion of this sport in this emerging region and we look forward to a unified cooperative relationship between all the parties concerned and will continue to play a major role toward achieving that goal," it said.

The Asian Tour's Kyi Hla has welcomed Japan siding with the Asian Tour.

"The JGTO clearly recognizes the Asian Tour as the official sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia," he told AFP today.

"I appreciate the JGTO for respecting the protocols and ethics which are required by all members of the International Federation of PGA Tours."

Kyi Hla said that in spite of their fall-out, his tour "is still willing to work with the PGA Tour of Australia to assist its ailing golf tour".

Els eyes return to form

Since the day he won his first major title at the tender age of 24, defeating Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts in a play-off for the US Open, Ernie Els has never been outside the top 12 on the world rankings.

But now, nine months short of his 40th birthday, the big South African is in danger of being edged out of that elite group as he returns to the European Tour for the Qatar Masters starting on Thursday and next week's Dubai Desert Classic.

After finishing 39th at the Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday Els dropped from tenth to twelfth, Ryder Cup pair Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson being the pair to move past him, even though Westwood took last week off and Stenson missed the cut in Abu Dhabi.

Having begun last year fourth in the world and standing fifth when Tiger Woods began his long injury lay-off in June it has been a huge disappointment to his many fans that Els' only victory since then was in the unofficial Hassan Trophy in Morocco in November.

At least, however, he is spending the next fortnight in a region where he has had a lot of success.

'My record in the desert is good,' the former number one said on his website, 'with three wins in Dubai and one in Qatar, so I'm looking forward to it.

'The golf course at Doha is a good test, with strong par fives and par threes. The greens are very true to putt on, so there are birdies to be had, but a lot depends on the conditions.

'If the wind gets up, as it so often does in these parts, a low score doesn't come easy.

'I like to think I've always been a good wind player, so hopefully we can get something going. This was the scene of a great couple of weeks' golf for me back in 2005.

'The two tournaments were played the other way round that year and I started with a win in Dubai and then another win the following week in Qatar.

'That started my season on a really positive note and maybe being in the Middle East will be good for me again.'

Els did not play in Qatar last year when Adam Scott charged to a three-stroke win with a course-record closing round of 61, but in Dubai he stood on the final tee needing an eagle to win and a birdie four to tie Woods, who had just completed a stunning back nine 31 to set the target.

Going for the green in two Els came up well short in the water, blaming a gust of wind, and with a bogey six dropped to third.

It was shortly afterwards that he revealed his five-year-old son Ben had autism. A lot of his energies have been devoted to that cause since and a new course he has designed in Hawaii was opened last week and will host a charity event in late April.

By then Els hopes he might finally have achieved a first Masters victory to go with two US Opens and one Open.

Casey holds on for overdue win

Paul Casey clang on for his first victory in two years when he won the Abu Dhabi Championship.

It seemed like he was coasting to victory when he led by six shots with only eight holes to play, but then bogeyed three of the next four.

Although he was not looking at leaderboards, South African Louis Oosthuizen posted an eight-under-par 64 and suddenly the gap was reduced to one shot.

However, the 31-year-old Ryder Cup star, whose last win came in the same event at the start of 2007, parred the closing stretch for a 70 and took the 217,153 first prize with a 21-under total of 267.

Having slipped from 12th in the world to outside the top 40, the ninth European Tour title of his career should take Casey close to the top 20 again.

The former World Match Play champion said: "That was a bit of a nervous one. I started off great, but it was tricky coming in. The greens were exceptionally difficult to read and there were a couple of camera clicks which put me off."

He added: "It feels very satisfying to get my hands on the trophy again. I didn't think I would have to wait so long. My game is now better than it's ever been and I've played some great stuff in spurts, but I've never really put it together.

"I've been focused very much on the majors, and performed well, and maybe neglected other tournaments. That's what I'm trying to do and it looks like it's paying off."

Defending champion Martin Kaymer tied for second with Oosthuizen thanks to an eagle on the 557-yard last, and that could be enough to take the 24-year-old German into the world's top 20 for the first time.

Londoner Anthony Wall was fourth and Open and US PGA champion Padraig Harrington, Northern Ireland teenager Rory McIlroy and Swede Johan Edfors came joint fifth, while Sergio Garcia's 64 lifted him into a tie for eighth with England's Danny Willett.

The standout girls golfer is released from UCF scholarship offer.

Bolles senior Amelia Lewis, a three-time Times-Union girls golf player of the year, received a release Thursday from her scholarship offer by the University of Central Florida and will compete on the Duramed Futures Tour, which begins in March.

The Futures Tour is a developmental professional tour owned by the LPGA, similar to the PGA Tour's Nationwide Tour.

Although Lewis qualified for conditional status on the Futures Tour at a four-round qualifier last fall, she will retain her amateur standing for now.

However, that could change.

"If I do well, such as win a tournament or finish second or third a couple of times, I might turn professional," Lewis said.

Lewis, who has a combined 49 victories in junior, high school and amateur tournaments, finished among the top 10 in the Class 1A state high school tournament four times in five years of eligibility. In the past two years, she was the individual district and region champion.

However, it was a prestigious women's amateur tournament in Sebring in which she finished second last week that convinced Lewis to bypass college.

Lewis shot 6-under 282 for four rounds in the Harder Hall Invitational, in a field top-heavy with existing college players.

"We believe that showed Amelia is ready," said her mother, Gina Lewis. "And she will be getting better competition on the Futures Tour than she could in college tournaments."

"I want to go out and try for my dream of making the LPGA," Lewis said. "I didn't want to wait a couple of years for college golf. I believe I'm giving myself the best chance to reach that dream."

In the meantime, Lewis will be unable to play and practice for two months after scheduling outpatient surgery Jan. 25 to remove a benign cyst in a bone of her left ring finger.

The cyst was discovered last year, but after tests showed it was not malignant, Lewis said she wanted to complete her senior season at Bolles, then play in the Futures Tour qualifier and the Harder Hall before surgery.

Ogilvy looks to pull off the Hawaii double

Geoff Ogilvy got his PGA TOUR season off to the perfect start with a six-shot victory at the Mercedes-Benz Championship last weekend.

It was his fifth victory in five years, but the 31-year-old Australian has had only one multiple-win season, that coming in 2006 when he won the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and the U.S. Open.

Badz/PGA TOUR

Geoff Ogilvy could become the first player since Ernie Els in 2003 to win both events in Hawaii.

After Kapalua last week, he's stayed in Hawaii for the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club, even though his odds of winning are slim.

Five winners at Kapalua this decade didn't win again for the rest of the season.

"It's probably just a coincidence," Ogilvy said on Wednesday. "Might be a bit of complacency. When you get to the top of the money list after one week, you get all excited, maybe you take the rest of the year for granted. Hopefully, I can change the trend so the coincidences go away."

Or he could be like Ernie Els in 2003 and sweep the Hawaii events.

Els and Adam Scott are back at Waialae but among the missing will be Vijay Singh, who had surgery on his right knee on Wednesday.

K.J. Choi is the defending champion, winning last year by three shots despite becoming the first Sony Open winner in 41 years who failed to break par in the final round. That was a tribute to the wind, which can blow on Oahu as much as it does on Maui.

Tadd Fujikawa was one of two teenagers in the field, playing for the Sony Open for the third straight year. The 18-year-old high school student earned his spot on Monday in a qualifier across the island at Turtle Bay. The other was 14-year-old Lorens Chan, who earned the exemption set aside for the top amateur in Hawaii.

In the 144-man field, 76 have never won a PGA TOUR event. Of the 26 rookies at Waialae, 10 of them will be teeing it up in a tour event for the first time ever.

Simpson, Mathis take their shots at the tour

Webb Simpson is 23 and, like many in his graduating class at Wake Forest, is beginning his career of choice, which happens to be the highest level of professional golf.

David Mathis will turn 35 next month, a veteran of just about ever minor league golf tour out there. His graduating class at Campbell already had its 10th reunion. Like Simpson, he'll be making his full-time PGA Tour debut today at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Simpson, who went to Broughton, and Mathis, who lives in Morrisville and plays out of the TPC Wakefield Plantation, took very different paths to the tour -- Simpson without missing a step, Mathis after years of mini-tour toil.

Yet they share the same excitement as they begin their first full seasons on the tour, unsure of what will happen next but with the optimism that can only exist before the first shot is struck.

"It's pretty cool," Mathis said in a telephone interview from Hawaii this week. "Even after being on the Nationwide Tour, I guess it really doesn't hit home until you get here and start seeing guys you've been watching forever. Their golf is no different than my golf. It's just a little bit of a different level of distractions and stuff going on."

Mathis and Simpson have played in PGA Tour events -- Simpson six last summer before and after turning pro and another as an amateur in 2006, Mathis five over the past 12 years. This is different, though. This year, they're both full PGA Tour members, which more or less guarantees them a spot each week.

Simpson fought his way through "Q-School," the PGA Tour's grueling six-round qualifying tournament many pros regard as the toughest test in the sport, after making three cuts on the tour last summer. He also played eight Nationwide Tour events, finishing second twice. All told, he cleared $187,451.

That's nothing compared to the opportunity he has this summer, when he won't be relying on sponsors' exemptions to get into fields.

"There's probably not as much pressure on me as there was in those events this summer, knowing I have the whole year," Simpson from Hawaii before heading out for a practice round with Charles Howell III and Bo Van Pelt.

"That's really nice. But once again, you kind of want to go out there and start off with a bang."

Mathis earned his way onto the tour by finishing 14th on the Nationwide money list last summer. His win in South Carolina in May basically guaranteed him a spot, so he spent the second half of the season working on some major changes to his swing.

It wasn't something he could have accomplished during the offseason, so he basically sacrificed the second half of last summer preparing to make the jump to the PGA Tour -- an example of both the confidence and maturity he has gained over the years.

"In 2005, when I first got into the finals at Q-School, had I played well at finals and gotten a tour card, no way would I have been prepared for the PGA Tour," Mathis said. "I was 99th on the Nationwide money list that year [in 2006] and I would have been 250th on the PGA Tour. ...

"Playing a few years out there in all kind of conditions prepared me a lot better. As I've gotten better physically, I've gotten better emotionally. I'm handling things better than I ever have."

Still, even if the golf hasn't changed, the environment has. As Mathis pointed out, player registration at a Nationwide Tour event (or the NCAA events Simpson has been playing, for that matter) might consist of a couple of people sitting behind bare folding tables. On the PGA Tour, it's a dozen people sitting behind tables covered with white tablecloths.

And if that weren't enough, just arriving in Hawaii was a reminder that it's golf season again.

"Absolutely," Simpson said. "I got off the plane and felt that humidity. It felt so good. I'm so excited."

He should be. For both players, no matter how they got there, it's the biggest season of their lives so far.

At the 19th

The competition was a two man Ambrose event sponsored by Steve Williams from Gloucester Ceramics. Thanks Steve for your generous support of the club.

Near perfect weather conditions were enjoyed by all of the 56 players, a really great field for this time of the year.

In a surprising result, all the major winners on the day came from our morning players. In first place were Bill Norris and Bob Hewett with a nett score of 62 1/2. Great work to you both. Runners up were Steve and Rob Foot only 1/4 of a nett stroke behind. Third pace went to Terry Irelend and Barney McInnes with 64 nett.

Balls went to the major place getters and to Murray Bowden and Stacey Groves on 64 3/4, Mark Howland and Rob Moore with 65, Derek Bardwell and Brian Osborne 65 1/4 and Col Laurie and Wayne Westley on 65 1/2. Some very close scoring between all the prize winners.

A grade nearest the pin on the 5th/14th went to our sponsor of the day, Steve Williams. To say that he was pleased with the shot would be a huge understatement! B Grade NTP on the 6th 16th went to Dave Garland and C grade to I Coates.

Best second shot on the difficult 7th hole was hit by Denver Webb.

The Stratford Coal Super Seven competition for the week was won by Rob Moore on a count back from Drew Garland on 18 points. Balls went to Brian Barlow, Evelyn Blanch and Dan Buckley, all with 17 points, and Lindsay Merchant, Phil Bowden, Dave Garland and Paul Blanch with 16 points.

Competition next Saturday is a 4BBB Stableford with an Individual in conjunction sponsored by Gloucester Autolec.

Vets golf

Under overcast skies on December the 23rd. saw the last Vets golf competition for the year. With Christmas celebrations rapidly looming, the days event was not short on participants for the very interesting and challenging Bob and Marie Hewett’s Mulligan’s Trophy.

In this event each player is restricted to using only three clubs of their own choice which makes for some interesting tactical as well as careful playing.

Time to find a better way to start the season

With awards season upon us, I thought a good metaphor would be this: Winners-only tournaments are the golf equivalent of Oscar goodie bags.

I like Members Only jackets better.

How's this for an idea? Let's gather together the most successful among us, somewhere where the weather's warm and everyone's tan, and offer them more money and more prizes.

No thanks.

Geoff Ogilvy won the Mercedes-Benz Championship on Sunday, taking home $1.12 million for beating 32 other players in the PGA Tour's season-opener in Hawaii. The event is reserved for the previous year's winners.

Now, you're going to tell me that just because a player won a tournament doesn't mean they are among the most successful golfers in the world or undeserving of additional perks.

After all, the field at Kapalua included Mark Turnesa and Ryan Palmer and Greg Kraft and Parker McLachlin.

You'll say that just because so-and-so earned an Oscar nod for playing the hooker with a heart of gold, or the English widow with a heart of gold, or whoever, doesn't mean she is a highly-paid actress undeserving of a bag full of expensive gifts.

Fiddlesticks, the bishop would say. Guess what? I don't care.

There are already so many exclusive tournaments in golf, beginning with the four majors and the ultra-lucrative World Golf Championships, do we really need to start the season with such a small event?

Sometimes, the players we want to see the most don't show up anyway. Consider that the Mercedes-Benz Championship was missing the top four players in the world rankings -- Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington -- who were all winners last year.

Vijay Singh, the world No. 5, was the top-ranked player in the field, but Vijay shows up everywhere. He's like the guy you knew in high school who would sit anywhere in the cafeteria.

The tournament, like every one since the U.S. Open, lost Woods due to an injury. Usually, though, when a top player decides not to make the flight to Hawaii, it's because he doesn't feel like it, plain and simple. Woods hasn't shown up in Hawaii since 2005.

As for those second- and third-tier players who win to make the field, the ones who always seem to show up at Kapalua? They rarely title in the season- opener.

Excluding Daniel Chopra's victory last year, all of this century's Mercedes Benz Championships have been won by stars: Ogilvy, Singh (2007), Stuart Appleby (2004-06), Ernie Els (2003), Garcia (2002), Jim Furyk (2001) and Woods (2000).

The rich are getting richer off this tournament -- when they show up, anyway. And the biggest reason they show up, when they do, is the riches. It's time to open it up to everyone else.

Me? I mark next week's Sony Open, also in Hawaii, as the real start of the PGA Tour season. A hundred and forty players and a cut line. That's more like it.

Woods won't do Buick media day

In another indication that Tiger Woods probably won't play in next month's Buick Invitational, he canceled his participation in the tournament's media day Monday at Torrey Pines.

As the Buick's defending champion, Woods was scheduled to do a news conference via telephone, but his representatives informed tournament officials this week that he would not be participating. The world's No. 1 golfer would have faced questions about the progress of rehabilitation for his surgically repaired left knee and about when he might return to competition.

Mayor Jerry Sanders will sub for Woods at the news conference.

Limited to hitting short-iron shots and putting last month, Woods hasn't revealed a target date for his return. It has been speculated that the earliest he might come back would be to defend his title in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship near Tucson, Ariz., which begins Feb. 25. Woods' wife, Elin, also is due with their second child in February.

He won't officially be out of the Buick until Jan. 30, the deadline to enter the tournament, which is held Feb. 5-8.

Woods hasn't played a competitive round since winning the U.S. Open on June 16 in a 19-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines. He had surgery to reconstruct a torn ACL a week later.

Woods has competed in nine straight Buick Invitationals, winning five and finishing every time in the top 10. He has won four straight Buicks, and if he had been able to play this year, he would have been trying to become the first player in PGA Tour history to win the same event five years in a row.

As of yesterday, the Buick Invitational's top commitment has come from the PGA Tour's 2008 Player of the Year, Padraig Harrington, winner of the British Open and PGA Championship last year. San Diegan Phil Mickelson, ranked third in the world, has not officially committed, but he will play in his 19th straight Buick, which he has won three times, the last in 2001.

Riley has stress fracture

San Diegan Chris Riley, hoping to get off to a fast start after regaining his PGA Tour card, will instead have to sit out four to six weeks with a stress fracture in his left foot.

Riley said the injury was diagnosed by Dr. Jan Fronek, a San Diego orthopedic surgeon who works with the Padres and other high-profile athletes. Riley was to meet with a foot specialist yesterday.

Riley said he first thought the foot was just sore, but was encouraged to get an MRI exam by Jay Brunza, the noted sports psychologist with whom Riley has begun working.

Riley was scheduled to begin his season next week at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He is now hoping to heal in time for the Buick. In 2004, Riley and Luke Donald lost a playoff in the Buick to John Daly.