Global Golf Post - August 8, 2011

The European Tour says the Volvo Golf Champions will not take place at Bahrain’s Royal Golf Club but that the Tour’s return to the

Gulf kingdom has been
“delayed” rather than
canceled following
political unrest there.
At least 32 people
died in Bahrain this
year in protests for
greater freedoms.
The European Tour
says, “with work still
ongoing to resolve
issues in Bahrain and
the need to confirm
the venue by the end of
July 2011, the difficult decision to postpone the
event for 2012 was taken.”
to read more.

Padraig Harrington is taking a break from long-time coach Bob Torrance in a bid to rediscover his form ahead of this week’s PGA Championship.

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Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova remains the world’s highest paid woman in professional sports with an estimated $25 million, according to Forbes. Paula Creamer was the only golfer in the top 10 (No. 10, $5.5 million).

Tiger Woods will compete in this year’s Aus-
tralian Open in Sydney, marking a milestone for
OneAsia, as he will be making his circuit debut.
to read more.

Rory McIlroy chose Graeme McDowell over Open champion Darren Clarke to be his partner on Ireland’s two-man team for the World Cup in China in November.

The PGA Tour and Wyndham Worldwide announced that Wyndham has extended its title sponsorship of the Wyndham Championship for four years through 2016.

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Public access play was up 1 percent in June, but on a year-to-date basis trails 2010 by 4.5 percent, according to Golf Datatech. Private clubs are seeing less play by members and their guests as it was down 0.1 percent in June and is off 3. 9 percent compared to the first six months of 2010.

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HSBC, a title sponsor of a handful of men’s and women’s premier professional golf tournaments, announced it is cutting 30,000 jobs worldwide over the next three years and will sell 195 retail bank branches.

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Electronic Arts is trying out a new subscription service that will, for a small annual fee ($25), give members early access to the company’s major sports releases before they hit store shelves.