Tiger Woods made headlines today for the first time since his sex scandal broke over Thanksgiving. This time it wasn’t for the wrong reasons. In the 2nd annual Fab 40 magazine by Forbes, Tiger earned more money from endorsements then any other athlete in the world.

Tiger earned $64 million last year. That’s $46 million more then the number two ranked athlete, David Beckham.

Most of the money Woods earned was before the sex scandal broke. After the sex scandal broke, AT&T and Accenture dropped him. His spot as the number one earner in endorsements, is now in jeopardy.

Even though Phil Mickelson respectfully left his Ping Eye-2 out of his bag for this weekend’s Northern Trust Open at storied Riviera Country Club, the ongoing “Groove Controversy” just won’t seem to go away.  Rather than keep the focus on individual players and subject them to media ridicule (many pros using the Ping Eye-2 have recently been scrutinized and labeled as cheaters), PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem took the lead and commented about the 2010 Rule Change on this week.

At Wednesday’s News Conference at this weekend’s PGA Tour Event in Pacific Palisades, CA, Finchem outlined a 3-option strategy to work towards resolving the “Groove Controversy”:

1. Do Nothing – things remain Status Quo — Finchem acknowledged that this is certainly not a longterm solution as the PGA Tour Rules Committee firmly believes that clubs similar to the Ping Eye-2 provide players with an unfair advantage.  When it comes to fairness in competition, the Tour will not waiver
2. Ping’s Generosity – CEO of Ping John Solheim dismisses the Legal Loophole — at the heart of the controversy is a the ruling from the 1990’s in which the court ruled in favor of Ping.  As part of the agreement, Ping would stop manufacturing the club, but players would still be allowed to use it.  Such precedent creates the “loophole” , and it would be a tremendous gesture for Solheim to give up such leverage.
3. Group Ruling – nominate a special 5-person committee to determine whether or not a rule should be made to “close the loophole” — in essence this would mean that the “Groove Controversy” would work its way through the legal system.  Both sides are already beginning to form their positions, with Solheim stating that he didn’t believe that a local Tour rule could overrule a court decision, and Finchem saying, “I politely think he’s mistaken.”

This will be an ongoing issue especially if the only way to resolve it is via the legal system, and players are beginning to voice their opinions.  I’m just curious to see how long Lefty’s Ping Eye-2 stays out of his bag . . ,

John Daly stated via Twitter that he is not retiring, even though he told the Golf Channel on Friday that “I’m done.”

Daly said that financial difficulties are impairing his ability to focus on his golf game, leading to the frustration that caused him to suggest he was retiring.

Daly addressed the situation through a series of Twitter posts…

“To ALL my Fans—my financial situation is putting me where I cannot focus on my game, I’m putting too much pressure on myself,

“the few sponsors that I have are great but it’s not getting me thru these times–i want to thank my fans throughout all these years &

“I don’t like to continue to embarrass myself– maybe my mind may change down the road but right now i don’t have the money

“to be on the tour. My game has never been the same since my rib injury during the Honda Classic in 2007. God Bless! JD”

Daly will try to make his 1st cut of the season at the AT&T National Pro Am which is set to begin in 9 days.