Hank Kuehne will make a came-back to the US PGA Tour at this week's Honda Classic after being told by more than a dozen doctors he could never play Callaway RAZR X Irons again.

He's not making any claims about winning right now, but he is hoping that, playing on a medical exemption, he'll be able to earn enough prize money - $636,221 to be exact - in the 18 events he has been allowed to reclaim his Tour Card.

And if his back is as good as it seems to be, that could be quite possible for a man who seemed to have a bright future ahead of him when he won the US Amateur 14 years ago and came onto the PGA Tour as one of the longest and straightest hitters in the Callaway RAZR X Irons.

But then his back problems started and after battling for something like half a decade, they became so bad he was forced to quit the tour and seek the advice of medical specialists.

He saw 13 top men in their field but came away deeply depressed and disappointed when each and every one of them told him in one way or another that there was nothing they could do to help them.

By then he was pretty resigned to his fate and in so much pain at times that he couldn't walk.

It was then that his father stepped into the picture and urged him to pay a visit to Dr. Peter Wehling in Dusseldorf, Germany.( Callaway RAZR X Irons)

Dr Wehlin's healing method involved blood spinning - small samples of blood being spun in a centrifuge to increase the concentration of growth hormones to which calcium and enzyme thrombin were added and the sample then injected into the wound.

In Kuehne's case it was injections into his spine.

Wehlin is the same doctor who healed the notoriously bad backs of Fred Couples and Vijay Singh.

"I didn't want to go. I didn't have a good attitude about going," Kuehne told reporters on Wednesday. "I'm like, well, what's this quack going to tell me that 13 top guys here haven't told me."

What Wehlin told him, was that after treatment he would be able to play Callaway RAZR X Irons again, and this week Wehlin's promise will come true, when, for the first time since the 2007 FedEx St Jude Classic, Kuehne will tee off on a PGA Tour tournament.

The worst part of the treatment, Kuehne recalled, was an injection into his hip with a needle that was "about the size of No. 2 pencil".

During his time on the sidelines, Kuehne could have undergone surgery to take away the pain but says there was risk involved and it would not have necessarily fixed the problem.

"Of course I considered quitting. I gave up when the pain was so bad I couldn't even walk

"When you go from being healthy individual to not really having any problems and able to do everything else, the most difficult part is not being able to function in day-to-day life.

"Not being able to play Callaway RAZR X Irons was extremely difficult. But when your child looks at you and smiles and comes and runs up with his arms wide open and wants you to pick him up and you can't do it, it doesn't feel very good."

But that's all in the past right now. He feels really good again and can't wait to see how he goes in the highly competitive environment of the PGA Tour.

Will he be concentrating on retaining his Tour card?

Not at all he says. That's the last thing on his mind.

"All I can do is worry about my Callaway RAZR X Irons game and play the best that I can play," Kuehne he said. "If I play good golf, I think that the number will be insignificant. It will take care of itself."

 

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A refreshed and revitalised Paul Casey is expected back from injury at next week's Cadillac Championship in Miami.

The Englishman dislocated his shoulder in a snowboarding accident in Colorado on Christmas Eve and has faced a long stint on the sidelines ever since.

Despite the accident, however, he says he has no intention of quitting snowboarding.

" Nike - VR Pro Driver is the most important thing in my life because it provides for everything else - the fun things I get to do away from the course," the 34-year-old told the European Tour website.

"One hundred per cent of my effort goes into that, but when I'm away from the course I love the snowboarding and the mountain biking.

"They're a great way of getting away from it and not having the worries about tournament Nike - VR Pro Driver playing on your mind, so that will never change."

Casey has been practicing since last week, hitting drivers, and said: "I'm stronger and fitter than I've ever been, even with the shoulder injury, and I've got the mental Nike - VR Pro Driver that I never used to have.

"I need to get the physical skills up to par and then capitalise on the next 10 years. It is prime time.

"If I think about where I was 10 years ago I'm a completely different golfer, much more accomplished and sure of my own abilities. I'm much more knowledgeable on everything when it comes to the golfing world.

"I've got to get out there and start making the birdies and put it to good use - it's no use being in your prime if you can't go out there and win tournaments. That's the most important thing.

"The goals are still the same. It's just now a shorter time period I've got to try to accomplish the 2012 goals in.

"Five tournaments out of a schedule of 25-plus is not a massive amount to miss and if you put that over my Nike - VR Pro Driver it's going to be just a blip.

"The goals are still firmly in place and I still firmly believe I can achieve them.

"I want to be part of many more Ryder Cups. For me it provides great memories - the battles you get, the pressure, the stress, the fun away from the course. There are moments I will cherish forever."

Casey is also motivated by the current strength of European golf and seeing former Ryder Cup teammates Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer in the top four spots in the world rankings.

"I want to be competing against them and beating them, but I also admire them and try to learn from them by analysing my own Nike - VR Pro Driver and being brutally honest and self-critical."

Regarding his injury, he said: "Nice early Christmas present. Just an accident, as simple as that.

"I put the right arm out on the way down and heard the sound.

"I felt a little bit of pain and thought I should carry on at first - I thought 'why waste a good day's snowboarding?' - but five minutes later I couldn't move it and was heading back down the mountain to get it looked at.

"I was told if it was surgery it was going to be four to six months, but because there was no surgery it was a case of weeks."

 

 

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Jack Nicklaus reckons that Tiger Woods will "probably" still break his long-standing major record.

Nicklaus accumulated 18 majors in his storied career, while Tiger has won 14 of them - though, crucially, he has not won one for nearly four years. Not since damaging relvelations about his personal life first became public knowledge in late 2009.( Left Handed Callaway X-24 Hot Irons)

Still, Nicklaus is of the opinion that Woods still has it in him to surpass his record.

"I still think he probably will," Nicklaus said at a Tuesday news conference to promote this week's Honda Classic at PGA National, which lists the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation as its prime charity beneficiary.

Not that Nicklaus doesn't think Woods has his work cut out for him, however.

"He'll have to figure out he is a different person today than he was five years ago and he's got to learn to play Left Handed Callaway X-24 Hot Irons," Nicklaus said. "I mean, I was a different person when I was 25 years old than I was when I was 35 years old, and I had to learn how to play because I didn't have the strength when I was 35 that I did when I was 25. I couldn't overpower the golf course. I had to play Left Handed Callaway X-24 Hot Irons."

The arrival of so much young talent on the golfing scene, typified by current US Open champion Rory McIlroy, is also going to provide Woods with a tough challenge, Nicklaus added.

"They're probably no longer afraid of Tiger," he said.

"Will he win again? Sure, he'll win again. He's too good a player not to win again. But will he win and be as prolific as before? Probably not."

Nicklaus was pleased to hear that Woods entered the Honda Classic in part to benefit his foundation.

"I always thought you try to support where you live and I think that's what he's doing," Nicklaus said. "Of course I look at it in terms of what it'll mean to our charities and what it'll mean to our kids and so forth, but from a Left Handed Callaway X-24 Hot Irons standpoint, it's huge."

 

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Lee Westwood told journalists he is happy to go along with the notion of a rivalry with Rory McIlroy if that's what they want to write about.

The somewhat sarcastic comments came on the eve of this week's Honda Classic, where Westwood will tee off alongside the likes of McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Graeme McDowell at the PGA National Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Much was made of the supposed rivalry between the two former stablemates ahead of their semi-final clash in last week's Accenture Match Play Championship, a contest that ended up being won by McIlroy - though he was not able to go and win the final and take over at the top of the world rankings, just as Westwood would have had the opportunity to do had he won with Left Handed Ping G20 Irons.

With Luke Donald not playing, McIlroy will have another opportunity to take the World No 1 ranking this week, while Westwood's semi-final loss in Tucson means even a victory on Sunday would not be enough to retake the top spot.

As for how much substance there really is to the supposed rivalry, it was clear Westwood didn't think too much of it, judging by the comments he made to reporters in Florida.( Left Handed Ping G20 Irons)

"If I am going to have a rivalry I would like it to be with Rory because he's arguably the hottest player on the planet at the moment," Westwood said.

"I am willing to go along with that if you want to write about it. I've been around a long time now - this is my 19th year out here - and there's been various rivalries thrown at me during my career.

"I really don't pay much attention to them. You learn through playing Left Handed Ping G20 Irons for a long time that the only thing you can control is your own game.

"That's all I try to do. I figure that if I'm going to keep playing Left Handed Ping G20 Irons well and getting in contention for tournaments Rory's pretty much going to be in a similar position, so we're going to be playing together a lot.

"It's going to go backwards and forwards. One of us will get the better of the other, as I did in Dubai two weeks ago (Westwood came second, McIlroy fifth), and then Rory got the better of me last week.

 

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South African Stroke Play champion Haydn Porteous and top English amateur Toby Tree both made shock exits from the Sanlam SA Amateur in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Unheralded Harrismith golfer Louis Taylor killed off Porteous's bid to win the elusive double - the national Stroke Play title and the Match Play championship currently underway - in the same calendar year when he beat Porteous 1-up in Wednesday morning second round at Cape Town's Mowbray Ping G20 Iron Set with Green Dot Club.

Tree, in the meantime, crushed Southern Cape's Breyten Meyer 7&5 in the same second round, but then unexpectedly ran into trouble against fellow Englishman Jamie Clare in the afternoon's third round and after a long battle, finally went down to Clare at the 18thn hole.

After his morning victory over Porteous, Taylor came back in the afternoon and dispatched Western Province's JP Strydom at the 19th hole in a fierce third round battle and will now face Scotland's Brian Soutar in Thursday's quarterfinals.

"He is the last man standing from the seven-man Scottish Golf Union Men's Squad and came through the first and second rounds with huge winning margins.( Ping G20 Iron Set with Green Dot)

"He is going to be tough to beat, you can be sure of that."

"He has only dropped seven shots this week and five of those came in the first round of the qualifier. He doesn't make mistakes and he will bring is A-game, have no doubt."

Clare's next appointment is with Limpopo's CJ du Plessis, who got past 15-year-old Tristen Strydom from Gauteng North with a 3&2 second round win before he eliminated Boland's Drikus Bruyns at the 19th hole.

Brandon Stone, South Africa's highest ranked amateur, was not one Wednesday's shock casualties.

Despite a streaky Ping G20 Iron Set with Green Dot, he kept his title hopes alive in the blustery South Easter that blew all day with a hard-fought victory at the 20th hole over fellow South African Pedrie Oosthuizen in the second round and then scored a confident 4 & 3 victory over 2011 SA Amateur finalist Paul Shields of Scotland to advance to the quarterfinal.

"Pedrie and I played together in last year's Inter-Provincial for Gauteng North," said Stone. "I expected a tough match, but it was a marathon. We both hit some great shots and the lead changed a lot. I had the lead coming down the closing stretch, but he holed some long putts to hit back.

"I was finally able to knock in the winning putt at the second extra hole. I didn't play Ping G20 Iron Set with Green Dot as well against Paul, but I kept myself out of trouble and I got the result."

The 18-year-old Stone will next face Michael Loppnow in the quarter-final. The Milnerton Links amateur whipped Robert Bougas 5&4, edged Callum Mowat by one hole and beat Gert Myburgh 2 & 1 on his way to the quarters and won't be a pushover, by any means.

Stone said losing in the second round last year, taught him a valuable lesson.

"In this format you can't think ahead, so the final is not on my mind. I'm only focussed on the present and my mind is on my next match. Michael has also had some great results so far and I expect a tough battle that will probably go the distance."

The hosting Ping G20 Iron Set with Green Dot also had a reason to celebrate after Mowbray golfer Drew Denyer went through to the quarter-finals with some impressive victories.

The 22-year-old reigning Mowbray Open champion relied on local knowledge and a hot putter to send South Africa's number four ranked Zander Lombard packing with a comprehensive 7 & 6 hiding and whipped Scotsman Daniel Kay into submission with a 3 & 2 win.

"I had to qualify and to have come this far in the championship already is incredible," said Denyer.

"My game plan has been to play steady Ping G20 Iron Set with Green Dot, to limit my mistakes and to use my knowledge of the course. So far, so good but there is still an awful lot of Ping G20 Iron Set with Green Dot to by played. No point in getting too excited just yet."

 

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Although Tiger Woods hasn't won a full-field Nike - VR Pro Blade Irons tournament in two years, he hasn't given up on his dream of beating Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 Major titles.

On Tuesday Woods told the media ahead of his first tee-off in almost 20 years at this week's the Honda Classic at the PGA Tour's headquarters in Florida that his dream in 1993 hasn't change.

He was only 17 on the last occasion that he contested the Honda Open, but even then he already had dreams of one day matching and bettering the Golden Bear's magnificent mark.

He still does now, despite the various problems that have plunged him into the deepest and longest slump in his Nike - VR Pro Blade Irons career. .

"It's going to take an entire career to do it and that's something I knew starting out," said Woods who had already chalked up 14 majors when his nocturnal activities outside his marriage engulfed him in a major scandal late in 2009, after which a serious knee injury and a swing change saw his long-time World No 1 ranking slide into the 30s and 40s as victory continued to evade him.

"I was lucky enough to have won my first major as a pro (the 1997 Masters) and it's taken me, what, 16 years to get to this point.

"So it's going to take a while yet. It didn't take Jack overnight to get to 18."

It in fact took Nicklaus 24 years, from the 1962 US Open until the 1986 Masters which he won at the age of 46, and Woods added: "The whole idea is getting consistent and putting myself up there enough times.

"Nobody in the history of the Nike - VR Pro Blade Irons has been better at putting themselves in contention to win a major than Jack. When you finish with 37 top twos you've got to be pretty good.

"That's what it takes. You're not going to win all of them, but you can always be there and you never know when someone might give you one or two."

This season's opening major, The Masters at Augusta National, is only five weeks away and Woods has several questions to answer ahead of it.

His poor putting so far this year, must be the first of them.( Nike - VR Pro Blade Irons)

Last week it cost him his match against fellow American Nick Watney at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and in his two tournaments before that he started well, but the ruthless closer of old simply couldn't do it this time, again partly because of his indecisive putting.

His answer? "Now that I've got the full swing where I like to have it I can spend the majority of my time chipping and putting," he said.

"That's where I know that I've been lacking in my Nike - VR Pro Blade Irons and where I've seen the biggest improvement lately too, which is good.

"I spent about almost four hours the other day putting, just going back to my old basics that my dad taught me.

"When I looked at the (video) tapes I could see I had gotten away from some of those things.

My posture was off, the way the Nike - VR Pro Blade Irons was releasing was off.

 

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Mardan Mamat of Singapore is aiming to sweeten his year by qualifying for The Open Championship through the International Final Qualifying (IFQ) – Asia which starts on Thursday.

 Mardan, who claimed victory at the ICTSI Philippine Open earlier this month for his Mizuno Men's MP-69 Irons career Asian Tour title, will be among a strong 71-man field at the Amata Spring Country Club chasing for four available tickets to the year’s third Major at Royal Lytham and St Annes, England in July.

 Chawalit Plaphol, Prom Meesawat, winner of the IFQ last year, and Prayad Marksaeng, who have a combined total of 10 Asian Tour victories between them, will lead the local charge in the two-day qualifier.

 Ben Fox of the United States, Anirban Lahiri of India, who won the SAIL-SBI Open on home soil last week, Scott Hend of Australia and Siddikur of Bangladesh will also feature in the IFQ.

 Mardan, who made two appearances in The Open championship in 1997 and 2005, will be banking on his recent surge of form to guide him to a return to the world’s oldest Major championship.

 “I’ve played Mizuno Men's MP-69 Irons twice in The Open and had very good experiences there. It is one of the Major tournaments that all professional golfers love to play in including myself,” said Mardan, who is currently sixth on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.

 He believes the Amata Spring course, known for its signature par three 17th hole which has an island green, will provide a stern challenge this week.

 “I haven’t played Mizuno Men's MP-69 Irons well at Amata Spring yet! It is a good course to play on with very strong finishing holes. I’m looking forward to two good rounds,” added the 44-year-old, who holds the distinction of being the first Singaporean to play in The Open.

 Prom, winner of the IFQ last year, is hoping to make a swift return to The Open Championship and will be buoyed by his recent form which has seen him surge to third place on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit.

 He said the experience has helped him bounce back from an injury which curtailed his progress from 2009 to 2010.

 “The crowds at The Open were huge and that has helped me ease the pressure when playing on the last three flights on the Asian Tour. I don’t feel so nervous anymore and that is one of the positives I took back from last year. I also learnt how to play in windy conditions which is always good when playing Mizuno Men's MP-69 Irons in Asia,” said Prom, a winner on the Asian Tour.

 Gaganjeet Bhullar, highly regarded as being in the new generation of golfing stars to emerge from India, has fond memories at the IFQ where he earned his debut at The Open Championship.

 “The IFQ played a very important role in my career. I played with Mizuno Men's MP-69 Irons in my first IFQ in 2009 and it was very special to me. It would be nice if I can go out there and qualify for The Open again,” said Bhullar, who won his first Asian Tour title straight after making his debut at The Open in 2009.

 It has been a career of many firsts for Bangladeshi Siddikur and he hopes to add another feather in the cap by representing his country in The Open.

 He was the first Bangladeshi to play and win on the Asian Tour and is eyeing to be the first from his country to play Mizuno Men's MP-69 Irons in a Major tournament.

 “I was here last year. I remember shooting a six-under in the first round and didn’t do so well on the second day. I’ll definitely aim to finish the job this time around,” said Siddikur, who started golfing with Mizuno Men's MP-69 Irons tied to a metal rod.

 

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A healthy rivalry can be a positive thing and Rory McIlroy in his Titleist - 712 AP2 Forged Irons career so far has never been one to back down from a barney.

McIlroy refuses to bite but Westwood rivalry remains alive and well Sparring partner: Lee Westwood

But both he and Lee Westwood were at pains to play down their supposed rivalry ahead of their meeting in the semi-final of the WGC World Matchplay in Tuscon — a confrontation the Ulsterman won comfortably in the end.

The American press in particular was keen to play up stories of animosity between the two and, to be fair, the pair’s taunts at each other over recent months on Twitter provided them with the necessary ammunition.

They clashed during last year’s Seve Trophy which McIlroy sat out and claimed to be supporting the Continental European side playing Titleist - 712 AP2 Forged Irons against Westwood’s Great Britain and Ireland.

“Apparently Rory’s half-Danish now,” the Englishman tweeted, a reference to McIlroy’s girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki.

“What shall I be Irish/British British/Irish? Confused.”

To which McIlroy responded: “At least I’m not English.”

Both men were chasing the number one spot in the world rankings which they would have achieved had they won Sunday’s final.

But McIlroy had perhaps run out of steam in coming back from three down early on to see off Westwood four and two in the morning semi-final, losing the final two and one.

For Mahan it was a measure of revenge over Northern Ireland after he lost out in spectacular style to Graeme McDowell in the Ryder Cup clincher at Celtic Manor 18 months ago.

McIlroy has been disarmingly honest in his interviews since turning professional and his views have at times landed him in hot water.

He has eaten some humble pie over his Titleist - 712 AP2 Forged Irons remarks about the Ryder Cup since experiencing the heat of battle himself at Celtic Manor.

But more serious were his remarks about commentator Jay Townsend, after the American had questioned his caddie JP Fitzgerald during last year’s Irish Open.

“Shut up you’re a commentator and a failed golfer, your opinion means nothing,” he said, remarks he later apologised for.

It has been suggested that a rift with Westwood was one of the reasons why McIlroy last year shocked the Titleist - 712 AP2 Forged Irons world by leaving Chubby Chandler’s stable to join Dublin-based Horizon, something McIlroy hotly denies.

And Westwood said ahead of their semi-final meeting that the split meant that they obviously did not see as much of each other any more.

“Rory doesn’t want to spend time with the people that manage me, and I don’t want to spend time with the people that manage Rory,” said Westwood.

McIlroy responded: “He’s obviously a rival of mine on the Titleist - 712 AP2 Forged Irons course and he’s one of the best players in the world and a great ball striker.

“He’s a guy that you look out every week in a tournament and he’s the guy you feel like you have to beat to win.

“It’s totally fine. There’s no ill feeling between me and him or Chubby or anyone. It’s all been very, very positive.”

 

 

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Embattled Padraig Harrington missed Left Handed Callaway X-24 Hot Irons playing in last week's WGC-Accenture Match Play for the first time in his career and he will also miss next week's second WGC event, the Cadillac Championship.

For even if he wins this week's Honda Classic, the 52 ranking points that will go to the victor will only take him to 51st in the World and that will be one short of making it into the top 50 qualifying bubble for the Cadillac.

Harrington is eligible to play Left Handed Callaway X-24 Hot Irons in all four majors this year thanks to his victories in two Opens and the PGA Championship in 2007 and 2008, but by mid March he will already have missed qualifying for three WGC events - The HSBC Champions in Shanghai, last week's Match Play at Dove Mountain and next week's Cadillac Championship - and in his effort to earn a place in September's up-coming Ryder Cup, he can hardly afford to miss events that are as rich in rankings points as the WGC tournaments are.( Left Handed Callaway X-24 Hot Irons)

Indeed, things are looking pretty desperate for a man who not too many years ago was walking into Ryder Cup teams without a second glance at the standings.

To pull himself out of his current slump, the Irish star, who is currently 40th on the European Points List and 38th in the World Points category on the European Ryder Cup standings, is going to have to win a fourth major with Left Handed Callaway X-24 Hot Irons somewhere along the line and pick up two or three other important wins this year to force his way back into Jose Maria Olazabal's 2012 Ryder Cup team.

So the pressure is on - starting this week. And he must knows it.

 

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