Haas' eagle on 17 makes race of it

Bernhard Langer and Jeff Sluman appeared ready to run away from the field as the third round of the Senior PGA Championship was coming to a close Saturday.

That was before they were both undone by a string of bogeys. And then came Jay Haas, who's stunning eagle-2 from the rough on Oak Hill Country Club's No. 17 vaulted him into contention, making this $2 million tournament a compelling three-player race heading into the final round.

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Talks begin to bring golf to 2016 Olympic Games

When Canada's George Lyon holed out to win the individual golf gold medal at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, he couldn't have known the special place he'd hold in the sport's history.

That would be the last time golf was part of the Olympics. The 1908 links event at London was cancelled at the last minute for organizational reasons.

Last Thursday, leaders of the European and U.S. golf tours met with Jacques Rogge, head of the International Olympic Committee, to discuss bringing golf back to the Games for 2016.

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European Tour ready to start drug testing in July

The European Tour is ready to begin drug testing its players in July, chief executive George O'Grady said on Sunday.

"We are almost certain to start the week of the European Open (at the London Club from July 3-6) or maybe it will be the Scottish Open (at Loch Lomond a week later)," O'Grady told reporters at the PGA Championship at Wentworth.

O'Grady said the European Tour was in the same boat as most of the other leading organisations around the world as far as golf's anti-doping policy was concerned.

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Oman sees tourism future in golf as well as sunshine

It may have year-round sunshine, sandy beaches, cliff-top forts and desert dunes, but Oman is hoping golf will help it lure more tourists as it tries to wean its economy off oil exports.

Today, the Gulf Arab country has one 9-hole course which is frequented by Western expatriates, businessmen and tourists.

That sand course has seen better days, but foreign investors are developing beach resorts incorporating luxury hotels, villas and condominiums nestled amid 18- and 36-hole golf courses.

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Nicklaus-Palmer rivalry remains unmatched in golf

Tiger Woods is injured, and the PGA Tour seems to be on hold. This is the Tiger effect: He has created so much interest in his own game that, when he isn't playing, it's hard to get excited.

This is not so terrible; it's a price we pay for living in the same era as the most dominant golfer ever. But people often wonder what golf would be like if Tiger had a true rival. Phil Mickelson comes closest, but Tiger and Phil haven't dueled enough in important tournaments.

The answer comes in the excellent book, "Arnie and Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus and Golf's Greatest Rivalry," by Ian O'Connor. Palmer was the Woods of his day, in popularity if not in skill. Nicklaus eclipsed him.

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Mickelson and Woods Take Two Paths to the U.S. Open

With the 108th United States Open approaching, the two best golfers in the game are plotting very different courses toward their showdown at Torrey Pines on the cliffs above the Pacific in San Diego in three weeks.

First, Phil Mickelson, No. 2 in the world. At this week’s Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial — a tight, par-70 course with firm, fast greens and hard-running fairways framed by thick rough — Mickelson is relaxed, oozing confidence and in contention. He is driving it long and remarkably straight. His iron game? Through Saturday, he had hit 72 percent of the greens in regulation, and he was putting like a nerveless 20-year-old.

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