It won’t be long before the 2012 PGA Tour regular season gets underway and everyone knows that golf betting is the best place to find odds for the opening tournament of the season as the Hyundai Tournament of Champions will begin PGA action January 6-9 from the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii. The tournament is worth 500 FedExCup points and will have a purse of $1.2 million dollars.

The Hyundai Tournament of Champions will begin a string of three consecutive weekends of action that will be televised on the Golf Channel before CBS join with the Golf Channel to cover the Farmers Insurance Open from Torrey Pines South Course in La Jolla, CA which runs January 26-29.

The first tournament that exceeds 500 FedExCup points will take place February 22-26 with the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship from Ritz Carlton Golf Course in Dove Mountain, Arizona as 550 points will be on the line.

There are some new names atop the Official World Golf Ranking as preparations begin for what promises to be a wide open 2012 season. Luke Donald rests atop the Official World Golf Ranking. The Englishman had two PGA wins last year and 14 top ten finishes with over $6.6 million in winnings. “The Donald” was voted the PGA Tour Player of the Year by his fellow competitors, which is a great compliment to his performance last year and his ability to dominate the future. Donald is something of a throwback and the antithesis of Tiger Woods in that he is small and not a powerful driver but instead an outstanding short game player.

Right behind Donald is another Englishman, Lee Westwood, who many consider to be the best player in the world. Westwood has certainly been a dominant player on the European Tour and is expected to join the PGA full time for 2012 which completely changes the dynamics of the race for the title. Westwood had over $10 million in career wins while focusing on action in Europe.

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is number three on the Official World Golf Ranking and has joined Westwood’s commitment to playing in the PGA for 2012. He is best known for his electrifying win in the US Open last year in which he captivated American’s search for a new golf hero.

America’s old golf hero, Tiger Woods, is coming off a much needed December win but many doubts remain about his ability to win consistently in 2012.

Martin Laird of Scotland wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida. meanwhile, Tiger Woods had more trouble again.

Tiger Woods has had a rough year in 2010, but his play in the Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club showed everyone that he’s on his way back.

That said, Tiger found a way to blow a big lead on the final day.

Graeme McDowell was “ecstatic” today after capping his most incredible golfing year with a dramatic play-off win over Tiger Woods in the Chevron World Challenge in California.

“2010 has been the stuff of dreams,” McDowell admitted after his stunning $1.2 million victory, worth £765,000, in Woods’ own tournament.

“Playing one of the greatest golfers who has ever played and to beat him like this I’m just ecstatic,” McDowell added.

It looks like Tiger will have a serious rival for the foreseeable future as well.

The face of Tiger Woods says it ass, as he misses his putt on the 12th hole during the final round of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament at Firestone Country Club in Akron. The entire weekend was a disaster for Tiger, and Plain Dealer columnists Bud Shaw sums it up.

Golf shirts from the Tiger Woods Collection retail for $100 in the Firestone Country Club pro shop. Hats are $28.50. Neither will help you play golf like Tiger Woods.

For the first time in memory, that’s not a disclaimer as much as a selling point.

To match the game Woods brought to the South Course this week at the Bridgestone Invitational, you’d have to miss fairways, flub chips, quit on shots and putt as if you spent the morning hooked to a caffeine IV drip.

The only way this tournament could more accurately embody the tumult of 2010 for Woods after Saturday’s third-round 75 would be if he were riding in a cart and that cart careened off the course into a fire hydrant.

Woods’ 5 over round was his worst at Firestone since his previous worst — 48 hours earlier. His 11 over after 54 holes is the highest relative to par since he turned pro in 1996.

“I drove it terrible, hit my irons terrible, didn’t putt well, and it added up,” Woods said before heading directly for the driving range.

For Woods to fix everything that ails him in one driving range session he’d have to stumble across Butch Harmon, Hank Haney and a hot tub time machine there.

We’re seeing a new Tiger who actually has to deal with his personal life outside the course. Maybe he needs a trip to Vegas . . . . .

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Tiger Woods watches his tee shot on the 5th hole during his practice round on the TPC Sawgrass course for THE PLAYERS Championship golf tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Woods, who failed to make the cut last week at the Quail Hollow Championship, is playing in his third tournament of the year following his return to golf and the PGA Tour.

TPC Sawgrass is a very impressive club and resort. Here are some highlights from a recent review:

The Tournament Players Club (TPC) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida is, arguably, the Mecca of Golf in the U.S. Located in the development of Sawgrass, the TPC is just down the drive from Tour headquarters. As the Tour’s “home” club, the TPC boasts two terrific Pete Dye courses, the Valley Course and the Stadium Course, which hosts The Players Championship in late March. The Championship has become known as “The Fifth Major.”

The Stadium Course

Opened in 1982, the Stadium Course became a sensation and a topic of considerable controversy for its departure from traditional design. It was the first course of its kind, featuring mounds, high banks and earthen amphitheatres specifically designed to accommodate larger golf-ravenous crowds.

Former Tour Commissioner Deane Beman pioneered the concept of stadium golf, recognizing the crescendo of ringing cash registers in football-game size crowds. Though it continues to be controversial as a style of golf course architecture, stadium golf has grown enormously since 1982 and now the Tour owns, operates or is building no less than 32 other stadium courses around the U.S.

While other tournaments might dispute the whole “fifth major” reference, it’s a great club and a great tournament.