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Tiger Woods has revealed the progress he is making since his surgery on his left knee. He has no timetable at present and is taking everything slowly and doesn’t intend rushing anything. Since his wife is due to give birth late in winter he has another reason not to rush things.

When asked when he would return he said next year, hopefully in time for the US Masters. He hasn’t played since June when he won the US Open. A US Masters return would mean a 10 month lay off from the game.

The surgery he has had requires a lot of recuperation time. The tendons need heal completely with as little stress as possible. He has the full range of forward movement and weight bearing. What he doesn’t have the one movement essential to golf, rotation, and that will be the last component to return.

Once he gets his rotation back he can return to the practice fairways and ready himself for competition. I don’t know about you, but I have certainly missed his presence on the greens. I am sure there are many happy pro golfers at present who have not missed him, particularly those who have won. Have you missed him or has golf been better for his absence? Visit SportsViews and share your opinion on Tiger Woods, Golf or any other topic.

Robert Karlsson is looking for his third win in row following wins in the Mercedes-Benz Championship and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He takes to the fairways today in the Portugal Masters a very firm favourite with most golf punters.

Karlsson has more to play for than just the Masters. Another win here will put him well in front of Padraig Harrington and Lee Westwood to take out the European Order Of Merit. His form is sound, you cannot deny two top wins in a row. His closest competitor, Lee Westwood hasn’t won all year - a dangerous stat on its own, he must be due.

Harrington isn’t playing in this event so Karlsson can put some space between himself and Harrington. The current Order of Merit has Karlsson leading the way from Harrington and Westwood. A win by Westwood would really upset the leaderboard. I wonder if he can remember how to win? If you have any thoughts, come and share them on SportsViews.

With only two tournaments left after the current Madrid Masters, there are a lot players hoping to boost their tour earnings and so get an automatic tour card for the 2009 season. Only the top 117 players receive the card automatically, the rest have to qualify late this year and early next year.

There are around 20 players who only need a top ten finish in one or more of these last three tournaments and they will make the top 117.

Heading the players Order Of Merit is Robert Karlsson. Although only having played half as many tournaments, Padraif Harrington is close behind in second place; Lee Westwood and Jiminez fourth.

Gaining a players tour card for the European Tour is hotly contested every year, particularly between the Europeans and the South Africans; Australians; and New Zealanders. The European tour is worth a lot of money to succesful golfer. The top four players after collected more 10 million euros between them - a tidy sum in anyone’s books. Players like Adam Scott struggled to make it into the tour five years ago, this year he hold the record for the lowest score - minus eleven in a single round - that round still has everyone discussing the subject.

Golf is one of those sports that a lot of people get out to the course to play on their own but not one that everyone follows (those who do follow the sport, of course, are likely to stay on top of every little shift in the world ratings and have been known to wait to leave for a family commitment during a sudden death hole). For them, Villegas’ jump into the seventh spot in the world rankings is something to talk about:

(source)Camilo Villegas won his second straight PGA Tour event Sunday and jumped to a career-best No. 7 in this week’s Official World Golf Rankings.

His moved created lots of change to the top 20, however the top five remained the same.

Tiger Woods is still No. 1 and was again followed by Phil Mickelson, FedEx Cup winner Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia.

For those who are interested in golf as a sport, this shake up in the world player rankings is something to talk about. Whether it’s a matter of another golfer climbing into the top twenty, or the slide in ratings of someone else or just a fascination with the fact that Tiger Woods still has the top spot despite the fact that he hasn’t been playing, it’s all about getting the conversation started.

While there has been less talk about golf and the PGA overall while Tiger Woods has sat out much of the year while recovering from knee surgery, the pro circuit has continued to go on. For those who are looking for golf’s next rising star, it’s not a stretch to say that Anthony Kim is the guy to watch.

(source)Anthony Kim fired a six-under 64 to take the first-round lead Thursday at the Tour Championship.

Kim, a key player in the United States’ win at the Ryder Cup last weekend, mixed eight birdies with two bogeys to take a four-shot lead over Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman.

“I feel very fortunate to be here,” said Kim, one of just five players who broke par in the 30-man field.

When it comes to identifying PGA tour champs, the reality is that it’s never over until it’s over. One miscalculation of the direction of the win or a serious failure to gauge the roll of the green can shake things up tremendously - and mighty quickly. That’s part of the reason why Anthony Kim feels fortunate; like most golfers, he recognizes that a great round is fantastic but it’s a series of those rounds that add up to success at the course.

When you start talking about golf, one of the things that you’re going to find is that people start talking about the major tournaments cups like the US Open and the Masters. You’re also going to be sure that you are taking the Ryder Cup into consideration.

This year, a lot of fans were thinking that the US didn’t stand a chance in the Ryder Cup with Tiger Woods not participating. Of course, the fans who thought that the game just wouldn’t be the same without Tiger may have been right - a Washington DC sportscaster said, “That’s the thing about the Ryder Cup. It takes the game of golf, a game of class and turns it - more or less - into a college football game.” But that doesn’t change the fact that the team representing the United States didn’t take the top prize.

Whether you want to join in on the conversation about the Ryder Cup or you are looking for someone with whom you can talk about the latest course developments, PGA standings and upcoming events, you’ll find that over at Sportsviews.com you’ll find other fans and plenty of great opportunities to make a connection and to get the conversation going.

Usually, when it comes to golf’s Ryder Cup, the America team isn’t exactly leading the field, and yet, somehow, this year, it seems as though the players are coming out ahead of the game:

(source) The United States grabbed a 5 1/2 - 2 1/2 lead over Europe after Friday’s two sessions at Valhalla, marking the first time it held the day-one advantage since 1995.

In afternoon fourballs, the U.S. took 2 1/2 points to win both sessions in a day for the first time since 1981.

After a 3-1 win in foursomes in the morning, the Americans’ first Friday morning victory since 1991, the U.S. finds itself in a commanding position after day one.

There are no givens in golf - ask anyone who plays the game let along any professional players. A lead on one hole isn’t enough to ensure that a particular golfer is going to stay ahead of the curve; in a competition, there’s nothing that ensures that a lead during one day of a tournament will last throughout the next day - let alone through the entire event.

The thing is, that’s what draws golf enthusiasts to the game - the knowledge that anything could happen, and the chance to talk with other golfers and fans of the game to speculate about what is going to happen next.

For those who follow golf, knowing who is where in the standings is a big deal. For Robert Karlsson, this weeks standings for players worldwide is even more significant:

(source)Robert Karlsson’s eighth European Tour victory on Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Championship moved him back into the top 20 in this week’s Official World Golf Rankings.

Karlsson moved up five places to No. 17 this week as he is a member of Nick Faldo’s European Ryder Cup team this week in Valhalla.

Now, top 20 lists are - sometimes - an every day occurrence (thinking more about lists like David Letterman’s daily top ten lists on the Late Show). However, when you’re on a list that includes Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Stewart Cink, Ernie Els and Henrik Stenson, there’s a little something that’s worth celebrating.

When it comes to golf - anyone who plays can tell you - that there’s sometimes nothing quite so challenging as hitting a small ball hundreds of yards to get it into a hole. Somehow, it seems to me that, for many golfers, even the top 20,000 is too high to aim.

Every now and again, when it comes to the world of sports, there’s going to be a decision that’s made that leaves everyone scratching their heads and wondering “what were they thinking?” This time, the decision that stands out is by the LPGA:

(source)What was the LPGA Tour thinking when it decided it would require its members to learn and speak English or face suspension?

How could the major North American golf circuit that relies on the participation of foreign players more than any other possibly have seen a positive outcome in the implementation of a policy that would have required those women to speak English efficiently or risk losing paychecks?

The summation of this decision is simple: speak English, or you’re not going to be able to play to win. As the reporter commented, this is a remarkable bold (or foolish) move for a sport in which the majority of the players come from far off places.

Whenever decisions like this are made, people start talking - specifically, the fans start talking. More importantly, other conversations are inspired - conversations like those that imply that something similar could happen in other sports.

The last few days, whenever I’ve heard anything about a pregnancy in the news it’s been connected - however tenuously - to the presidential election in November. So imagine my surprise last night when one of the lead stories that I heard was all about Tiger Woods and his expanding family. Mind you, congratulations are in order - families are important - but I’ve got to wonder: do we really need to know?

Especially this year when Tiger hasn’t really been out on the course all that much while recovering from knee surgery, does it really matter to people that Tiger Woods and his wife are having another baby?

Sports fans - golf fans included - enjoy talking about the game; there’s talk of players, of coaches, of plays that everyone will always remember and, well, of those that would be best quickly forgotten. Today this just has me wondering whether or not the news is big just because Tiger fans haven’t had all that much to talk about with his missing a lot of the major tournament play this year. It also has me wondering a bit how it will impact the talk of his game come next year when he’s back on the course but with a bit less sleep.