Woods to endorse new energy product from Fuse Science

Tiger Woods has signed an exclusive endorsement with Fuse Science, Inc.

This from the company's website: Fuse focus provides revolutionary energy and body replenishment products that combine cutting-edge body absorption technology with two proprietary formulas for powering professional athletes and weekend warriors.

Australian Open Photos

Woods in the hunt at Australian Open with opening round 68

Tiger Woods opened with 68 at the Australian Open, in a round that could have been much lower. He lipped out four birdie putts for the day but maintained his composure and finished without a bogey. 

''Anything outside the lip just doesn't go in,'' he said afterwords. 

Woods is currently in 8th place on a day that say an Albatross by Adam Scott, another tin cup meltdown for John Daly, a horrendous shank by Robert Allenby into the water, and a lot of low scores by top stars. 

''I hit it really good today,'' he said. ''That was exactly how I've been hitting it at home; that's good. I was able to take it to the golf course, under these conditions, and hit all the shots.''

Adam Scott scores Albatross at Australian Open

John Daly pulls a John Daly down under

John Daly has done it again in fine fashion. At the 10th hole of the Australian Open, he played the wrong ball on accident, took a penalty, missed a gimme putt, and ended with triple bogey.

Five minutes later, the television announcer says, "We have word of a developing situation back at the 11th hole." Sure enough, they cut to Daly blasting a ball into the water at the par-5. He attempted to hit the green in two shots but hit seven balls in the water. He ran out of balls and walked off the course.

If any golfer out there needs to see a mental coach, it's Daly.

Golf Australia's director of tournaments, Trevor Herden, condemned Daly's actions in the strongest terms and said: "I would say this is the last time we'll see John Daly in Australia.''

This is certainly not the first time Daly has blown up on the golf course as he's withdrawn numerous times and is on the list for highest golf scores of all time. 

Australian Open pairings: Woods to play with Day

The Australian Open pairings and tee times have been announced headlined by the pairing including Tiger Woods and Jason Day.

Notable Pairings:

Tiger Woods, Jason Day, Robert Allenby
Bill Haas, Geoff Ogilvy, Bubba Watson
Greg Norman, Dustin Johnson, Aaron Baddely
Fred Couples, John Cook, Peter Senior
Matt Kuchar, Adam Scott, John Senden
Hunter Mahan, John Daly, Craig Parry

It had been rumored that Woods, Day, and Scott would be paired together which would have been the best possible pairing. However, due to Steve Williams recent comments, this would have been unfair to put the two in the same group. Woods group will follow directly behind Scott and his intelligent caddie.

Former caddie Williams makes racist remark about Tiger

When asked a question about gloating after Adam Scott won at Bridgestone three months ago, caddie Steve Williams responded. My aim was to shove it right up that black --------," in reference to Tiger Woods, his former employer. 

The remark by Williams supposedly left the audience of players, caddies and sponsors aghast. While the occasion had been intended as a light-hearted celebration of the ‘caddie of the year’ award, Williams’ comment was uniformly seen as beyond the pale and escalated his bitter sniping at Woods to a new level. 

If this is true, it's another media disaster for Williams, especially with the Australian Open and President's Cup coming up in back to back weeks. This will certainly add to the drama for both weeks, with the possibility of Woods being paired with Scott for the Open or playing in a match against him in the Cup.

Williams is obviously still extremely bitter about getting fired but he has to know better.

Woods getting 2 million dollar appearance fee, possible match will high rollers

According to this Sydney Morning Herald article, Tiger Woods will be receiving a 2 million plus appearance fee for playing in the Australian Open.

During the week prior, he's rumored to be playing a round with Liz Hurley, as well as a possible round with high rollers at the Burswood Casino golf course. Hope they bring a lot of money.

He may also be attending the grand opening of Bar 23, co-owned by World Series of Poker Champ Joe Hachem.

What a terrible vacation.

Poulter's new mansion destroying his golf game

Usually when Ian Poulter's name comes up, it has something to do with him buying a new wardrobe, getting his hair or nails done, getting massages, or purchasing a new sports car. Sounds like a tough life.

And now he's facing an even more difficult challenge. Having a new mansion built is making it difficult on his golf game.

Woods travels to Japan, Singapore, and Australia

Tiger Woods has made his way on an overseas expedition which will include several ceremonies, exhibitions, challenges, clinics, and receptions, as well as participation in the Australian Open and the President's Cup.

He seems to be making an effort to not only get his game back, but also focused on spreading his knowledge of golf and promoting his brand worldwide.

Bookies wary of Tiger assault in Australia

Despite not having won in two years, Tiger Woods still has the top odds to win the Australian Open next week along with Aussie Adam Scott.

After being the number one player in the world for 623 weeks, he's now down to number 56. Even so, bookmakers are still worried.

"He's not one you want to take on," a TAB Sportsbet spokesman said.

"He's popular regardless of his form at the moment. If it all clicks he could win and we don't want to lose a fortune on him."

MJ out, Cook in for U.S. Presidents Cup team

There will be no 6'6" former greatest basketball player of all time smoking cigars in Australia this year. Michael Jordan, assistant captain for the U.S. Presidents Cup team, has cancelled his trip due to his NBA obligations.

"After careful consideration, it is with regret that I have decided to cancel my trip to Australia later this month for The Presidents Cup," Jordan said. "With the NBA labor situation unsettled, as the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, I feel it is necessary that I remain in the country. It was an honor to have been chosen to serve as a captain's assistant. I wish Fred and the United States team the best of luck."

Champions Tour member John Cook will replace Jordan as an assistant captain for the cup, which begins November 17th in Sydney.

Betting Odds: HSBC Champions

Adam Scott of Australia, Lee Westwood of England, Francesco Molinari of Italy, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Keegan Bradley of the USA take part in a traditional Chinese Dragon dance at the Peninsula Hotel to herald the start of the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China. on November 1, 2011 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird)

Excellent field set for the WGC HSBC Champions event in Shanghai. Rory McIlroy is the betting favorite and will look for back to back wins this week.

Rory McIlroy: 6-1
Lee Westwood: 9-1
Adam Scott: 17-1
Nick Watney: 23-1
Charl Schwartzel: 25-1
Martin Kaymer: 25-1
Francesco Molinari: 29-1
Justin Rose: 40-1
Keegan Bradley: 40-1
Tom Lewis 67-1

McIlroy wins Shanghai Masters in playoff over AK, takes home 2 million

Although without his best stuff Sunday, Rory McIlroy held on to win the Shanghai Masters and the 2 million dollar prize with a playoff victory over Anthony Kim. McIlroy birdied the first playoff hole for his first win since the U.S. Open.

"It's something that I feel like I can still get better at is winning and putting yourself in the position to win when you're not playing your best," McIlroy said.

"Even if it's scrappy golf where you grind it out, you're going to win a lot more tournaments by doing that rather than playing your best golf the whole week. I was very happy I was able to pull this one out."

You Vs. McIlroy contest.

Jason Day joins the race for number one

Jason Day has risen fast over the past 18 months. The 23 year old won the Nelson last year and finished runner-up at both the Masters and the U.S. Open this year. He's currently the number seven player in the world but has his sights set a lot higher.

''You know, it's always been a goal of mine to get to the No.1 spot,'' Day said. ''But I know it comes with a lot of sacrifice, a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication to the game. It's small steps. At the start of my career, I thought I was going to come out and kill it. Unfortunately it didn't happen that way. I've worked my way back up to where I believe I can be [No.1]. I know it's going to take a while, but hopefully I can get to that No.1 spot in the next five years, and that would be nice.''

The race for number one throughout the next decade in golf should be interesting with so many great players vying for the spot. Luke Donald, the current number one, is playing great and seems to be getting better and more confident by the tournament. Rory Mcllroy, with one major under his belt already at age 22, also wants the number one spot and is closing in quick. Other young players out there capable of hitting number one include Martin Kaymer, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Ryo Ishikawa, and Anthony Kim.

Plus, there are a few veterans out there who may have another run left in them including Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, and the current number 55 in the world, Tiger Woods.

Day will next be seen playing down under at the Australian Open where he hopes to be paired with number 55. ''If they paired me with Tiger, there would be a lot of people out there, no doubt.''