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The Presidents Cup was not the final event of the year. Twenty-eight two-man teams will compete in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup at the Mission Hills Resort on Hainan Island. Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland will represent the US but they will not be strongest players in the field.

According to the power rankings, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy have the biggest chance of winning the tournament. The two Irish golfers already played together in 2009 when they finished as runners-up. Since then, both of them won a major.

The South African squad including Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and former British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen ranks second. The two friends previously played together in the Eisenhower Trophy in 2002, back when they were amateurs and were extremely happy that they got a chance to team up.

England is represented by Barclays Singapore Open champion Ian Poulter and BMW Championship winner Justin Rose. The two of them paired up in 2007 as well to take fourth place.

America’s Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland are only fourth, though Kuchar earned fifteen top 10 finishes and nineteen top 25 finishes on PGA TOUR in 2011.

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It took American-Australian golfer Aaron Baddeley a day to turn things around at the Presidents Cup on the same hole.

Baddeley’s three-wood off the 18th hole in Thursday’s foursome cost the Internationals a victory. Baddeley  and his partner Jason Day lost one shot lead as a result, allowing Matt Kuchar and Dustin Johnson to get away with a halve.

On Friday, the situation was quite the opposite – Day made a poor shot, and Baddeley saved the day by firing a four-foot putt. The pair eventually beat Tiger Woods and Johnson 1-up.

This comeback brought the International team squad which is two points behind the US team a huge lift.

Baddeley’s partner, Jason Day, was happy with Aaron. He said that their victory over Woods and Johnson was even more satisfying, considering the bad conditions at Royal Melbourne on that day – it was very windy and it was quite difficult to play in slick greens.

Though the Internationals are trailing behind, if other International players pick up Baddeley’s initiative on Saturday, things might level out.

The International team members won 7 and 6, reaching the record for the biggest Presidents Cup victory.  And Woods and Stricker, unbeatable a few years ago, became the weakest link of the US squad.

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The United States won three games of the day, and settled for a draw in the other two matches, securing a  4-2 lead after the opening day.

Woods and Stricker who were victorious in their first six games together now have been defeated in the second game in row, following last year’s defeat to Lee Westwood and Luke Donald in the Ryder Cup.

The golfers will have the chance to prove themselves on Friday when they will get new partners. Woods will pair up with Dustin Johnson, while Stricker will team up with Matt Kuchar. Woods will play with any golfer but Stricker for the first time in four years.

Though the US squad is leading, the International team is determined to win. According to International captain Greg Norman, the Internationals “sick and tired” of being defeated by the United States in the Presidents Cup.

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Tiger Woods will come face to face with Aussie Adam Scott in the opening match of the Presidents Cup a few weeks after his caddie slapped Woods with a racial slur.

Woods will play for the United States on the same team with Steve Stricker while Scott will put for the International team together with South Korean K.J. Choi.

This means that Woods will also face Scott’s caddie Steve Williams who had a falling out when Woods sacked him earlier this year after working together for twelve years.

Hurt by the unexpected dismissal, Williams used a racial slur when talking about Woods during an awards ceremony in Shanghai.  He gave an apology to Woods for the comment a few days later and the two of them shook hands.

US team captain Fred Couples and International captain Greg Norman said that this pairing was just a coincidence but were very excited about the match-up.

However, according to 2009 U.S. PGA champion Y.E. Yang, Woods and Scott will not have an easy job at Royal Melbourne. The South Korean golfer said that the greens at this course are the toughest greens he had ever played on, and even the slightest mistake could result into a bogey, double or triple.

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For the first time in too many months, Tiger Woods saw his name at the top of the leaderboard. This happened Friday in the Australian Open as he walked off the course with a one-shot lead.

The last time when Woods led an event was in the third round of the Chevron World Challenge last year so some golfers are not used to seeing Woods lead the field. Woods felt very confident and though he shot a 5-under 67, he said that he could have fired an 8 or 9 under.

However, there are some golfers like Australian Robert Allenby who played with Woods many time in different golf tournament who still remember Woods being on top of the golf standings. Allenby said that it was Tiger at his best and if he kept playing that way, he would win the Australian Open for sure.

But Tiger Woods’ excellent performance does not mean that other competitors are going to let the American have an easy victory.

Lakes member Peter O’Malley who has a history of outplaying Woods in the opening round of the Match Play Championship in 2002 fired two birdies on the last two holes for a 66.

In the meantime, Australian Jason Day who played alongside Woods carded a 68 and finished two shots behind him.

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Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle who made just one top 10 finish on the US PGA Tour this season, recorded carded a seven-under 65 in a spotless opening round of the Australian Open with a $1.54 million prize purse, including five birdies and an eagle three.

World no. 5 Dustin Johnson, the top-ranked American player on the field, made a six-under 66 to finish the round one shot away from Lyle. Johnson, who scored a victory and finished in the top 10 on the US PGA Tour six times this season, claimed that he was a “little rusty” after almost two months without participating in any golf events.

Lyle, who got over leukemia when he was 17 in 1999, said that it was his best result in a difficult season on the US PGA Tour where he took 161^st place to get relegated to the Nationwide Tour next year.

In the meantime, Tiger Woods fired a 4-under 68, three shots behind Lyle. His future Presidents Cup captain, Fred Couples, opened with a five-under 67.

Couples, 52, who has 53 event wins under his belt in his 30 year playing career, shot a bogey and six birdies playing veteran Aussie Peter Senior, 52 and with American John Cook, 54.

World no.17 Bubba Watson who will also play for the US team next week, recorded three bogeys, five birdies and an eagle in a four-under 68.

President Cup International captain Greg Norman had a 71. Norman snatched his first Australian Open title in 1980, before five members of his squad were born.

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It is never too late to become a winner. Ken Duke, 42 proved it by winning the Tour Championship at Daniel Island Club on Sunday. Duke shot a 4-under 68 in the final round and won the tournament by two strokes for his second Nationwide Tour victory.

Thanks to this victorious finish of the season, Duke climbed from 36^th to seventh on the money list and earned a berth to the PGA TOUR together with 24 other top earners. Fort Worth’s J.J. Killeen of Texas was at the top of this list with $414,273.

Duke became the second-oldest golfer in the Nationwide Tour Championship history to claim a victory. He has yet to beat Allen Doyle who won the same event in 1995 when he was almost 48.

Duke has played in the Nationwide Tour for many years (2010, 2005-2006, 2003, and 1995), and even managed to claim the 2006 BMW Charity Pro-Am victory. His best years were2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009, when he played on the PGA Tour and finished as a runner up three times.

The winner says that he owes his result to all the hard work that he did with his new trainer. He hopes to keep up his performance next year on the PGA Tour.

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US Open winner McIlroy shocked the world by sacking his long-time manager Chubby Chandler last week, but the managerial change did not impact his focus as he completed the opening round in a brilliant manner.

The 22-year-old Northern Irishman swamped the field with an eight under par 64, vying for the $2 million prize purse at the exhibition event.

Three-time PGA Tour event winner Hunter Mahan of America fired a seven-under-par 65 to take second position on the leaderboard.  Paul Casey and Ian Poulter of England both shot five-under 67 to tie for third with three-time major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland.

McIlroy got paired with world No. 2 Lee Westwood at the Lake Malaren Golf Club designed by Jack Nicklaus though the golfers had a falling out after McIlroy suddenly sacked Chubby Chandler, the agent which they had previously shared.

Englishman Westwood called the Irishman’s decision ‘bizarre’ in a tweet but seemed to go a little softer on Rory during the competition and even gave him advice on the 15^th hole. As for Westwood’s performance, he had a good initial run but failed to keep his end up at the end and came in eighth after the opening round.

Other big golf names attracted to the $ 2 million prize tournament were China’s Li Chao, America’s Anthony Kim, Charl Schwartzel and Bradley Keegan. No matter how they will finish, they are guaranteed a $25,000 check at the end.

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US Open champion Rory McIlroy and world No. 2 Lee Westwood are vying for the $2 million winner’s check in the Lake Malaren Shanghai Masters. Though the tournament is unsanctioned and will bring no points to the participants, the world’s top golfers were still attracted to the possibility of landing the world’s biggest golf prize.

Besides Westwood of Great Britain and McIlroy of Northern Ireland, the event also features Masters 2011 winner Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, his compatriot Retief Goosen,  Padraig Harrington of Ireland, PGA Champion Keegan Bradley of America, Ian Poulter of England, Scottish veteran golfer Colin Montgomerie and the first Chinese golf player to win a European Tour event, Zhang Lian-wei. South Korea also has strong representation in the tournament, including Asia’s most successful golfer Choi Kyung-Ju.

The Chinese tournament is staged at a premium course designed by eighteen-time major winner Jack Nicklaus and his team. The course covers nearly 560 acres, including numerous valleys and changes.

Not everybody in China was content with the exhibition tournament and its huge purse. Asian Tour CEO Kyi Hla Han said that the event served only for elite golfers and not for Asian players as they cannot match American and European golfer in performance.

However, tournament organizers do not agree, saying that the field has many Asian players and they have a unique chance to play against the world’s top golfers.

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Aussie Gavin Coles grabbed a victory at the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open after a final one-over-par 71 he made to get ahead of Swedish Jonas Blixt by one shot. This year’s debut win sent the golfer to 15th place in the Nationwide Tour money list. The top 25 golfers on this list will qualify for PGA TOUR membership after next week’s season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship.

Coles had to sweat to snatch his fifth Nationwide Tour win and best Blixt in the final round. The wind speed increased to 20 mph, making it difficult to make good shots.

If the Aussie plays well in the next tournament, he will get his fifth berth to the PGA TOUR. Coles already got to the most prestigious organization of professional golfers through the Nationwide Tour in 2006, 2004 and 2002.

Despite finishing as a runner-up, Blixt was content with the tournament. The second-best result propelled him to number five in the Nationwide Tour money list, which means that the Swedish golfer will get the PGA Tour membership card next year. It will be the first time when Blixt will play on the PGA Tour.

Another Swedish golfer, David Lingmerth, finished third, making it his best result of the season in 25 appearances. This allowed him to jump from 75^th to 50^th, landing a spot in next week’s tournament in Charleston.