Golfer from Zambia gets shot at crackerjack field

The field for the Bank of America Open, which begins its 72-hole run today at The Glen Club in Glenview, couldn't be much stronger.

Forty-nine of the top 50 on the Nationwide Tour money list are entered, including 11 of the season's 12 tournament winners. And 31 PGA Tour members have dropped down, in part because the tournament offers the fourth-largest Nationwide purse ($750,000) and is opposite the PGA Tour's Memorial, an invitational event with a limited field.

While Sunday's champion figures to come from one of those ranks, at least one other player merits special attention.

Tournament director Scott Cassin, always diligent in determining who gets his four coveted sponsor exemptions, went all the way to Zambia for one of them. The little African nation hasn't produced champion golfers, but Madalitso Muthiya might be an exception. He was the first black African to play in the U.S. Open, and Cassin believes he'll add spice to this week's tournament.

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UCLA, USC share lead in golf

UCLA's Kevin Chappell shot a 3-under-par 69 on Wednesday, and the Bruins were tied with rival Southern California after the first round of the NCAA men's Division I golf championship.

Oklahoma State is one stroke back at 298, on the 7,450-yard Kampen Course at Purdue's Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.

Texas A&M is tied for 12th at 309 with three other schools, including defending champion Stanford. Texas is 17th at 311.

A&M's Andrea Paven and the Longhorns' Charlie Holland are among 17 golfers tied for 23rd after shooting 75s.

Nicklaus still loves golf, at more of a distance

Sometimes it seems like the only connection between Jack Nicklaus and today's professional golfers is an ill-advised loyalty to plaid pants and day-glo collared shirts.

There is little resemblance between the game that Nicklaus dominated from his professional debut in 1962 until his final major victory at Augusta National in 1986. The equipment and swings have changed, many of the courses are obsolete, and players surround themselves with coaching staffs whose sizes rival that of a college football team.

"It's a different day," he said during a press conference on Tuesday to discuss The Memorial, this week's PGA Tour event played at the course he built near his native in Columbus, Ohio in 1973.

The game has passed by Nicklaus, or perhaps he's let it go. Either way, the Nicklaus of now is focused more on his course design than the daily activities on the PGA Tour. "I used to play golf," Nicklaus joked, "You remember?"

He admits he no longer follows the game that closely, and despite the youthful resurgence that has marked the PGA Tour this year, he is relatively unfamiliar with the new faces.

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Garcia, other young PGA Tour stars still fighting the fight

Tiger Woods is absent, his surgically repaired knee and its effect on his game subjects of conjecture. Woods' return must wait until the U.S. Open, but that hardly means he is not on the minds of those competing in this week's Memorial Tournament or any other event.

Sergio Garcia thanked Woods for not being at the Players Championship two weeks ago, jokingly implying that it helped pave the way to the biggest victory of his career.

No doubt, Sergio would have welcomed Woods' presence and the opportunity to beat him. But he surely isn't returning the trophy -- or the money -- just because the No. 1 player in the game was out.

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Tiger Woods talks about AT&T National's future

Tiger Woods strode to the podium in the main room of Congressional Country Club in Bethesda with the slightest limp, the result of arthroscopic knee surgery that has kept him out of competition since the Masters in April.

Yet, on Tuesday, attending the media day for the AT&T National, which will take place at Congressional from July 2-6, Woods, the most famous face in professional golf, said his rehab was on schedule. He will make a return the PGA Tour on June 12, at the start of the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, and expects to play in the AT&T National, of which he is the host. He also spoke of the future of his tournament, which enters its second year.

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Ryder Cup not a major event, says Nicklaus

Four months to go and the Americans are already getting in their excuses. That is how Jack Nicklaus's put-down of the significance of the Ryder Cup was being seen here yesterday as the Wales Open field struggled to finish off their preparations for this morning's first round.

It was perhaps apt that this was the venue for the European Tour to digest Nicklaus's opinions on the biennial match that America have just happened to have lost in five of the last six stagings. In a little over two years, Celtic Manor will host the Ryder Cup and today the Principality's grandest golf resort will celebrate the official opening of the Twenty Ten course. Weather permitting, that is.

Yesterday's pro-am fell victim to the traditional downpour meaning many will tee it up without any prior experience of this highly rated layout. That is rotten luck for the organisers who have assembled a fine cast-list including Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Colin Montgomerie.

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Tiger Woods to help launch new Comcast SportsNet golf program

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic is teeing off with a new program focusing on golf.

The 30-minute program, dubbed "Tee Time," will debut June 2 on the Bethesda-based regional sports network.

The inaugural show will be entirely dedicated to Tiger Woods, featuring a one-on-one interview with the golf superstar. Woods' AT&T National golf tournament will be held July 2-6 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda.

The program will be hosted by Comcast SportsNet personality Chick Hernandez and will feature analysis by author and Washington Post columnist John Feinstein and experts from the Golf Channel.