Tiger Woods at the Fiesta Bowl / Getty Images

Tiger Woods was back on the field of competition, but like so much of his recent past, it didn't quite go like he'd hoped. Woods was the honorary captain for his Stanford Cardinal in the Fiesta Bowl. (In a golfy turn of events, none other than Rickie Fowler honorary-captained Oklahoma State, and Michelle Wie cheered on Stanford as well.)

And perhaps because Woods didn't wear his proper Sunday reds, or perhaps because close-but-not-quite is becoming standard operating procedure for him, Woods' team lost 41-38 in overtime due in part to two missed field goals. Perhaps Sean Foley could help.

The Great Clips Chevy Impala

Kasey Kahne will be serving as Jedi master to newcomer Brad Sweet in the Nationwide Series, as the two will be splitting time in Turner Motorsports' No. 38 Great Clips Chevy. Kahne will drive 15 Nationwide races, while Sweet will take the remaining 18. Sweet has competed for Kahne's Kasey Kahne Racing World of Outlaws team for the last two years.

This is a bit of closing-the-circle with Kahne, who started in Nationwide driving the Great Clips 38. Kahne drove the car to his first victory in the Nationwide series, back in 2003 in Homestead. Kahne would return to the car for eight races in 2010 and 2011, taking four top-five and six top-10 finishes.

Of note: Great Clips is currently the longest-running sponsor in the Nationwide Series, having served as a sponsor for the last 11 years. So give 'em a little thanks next time you see one. You'll confuse the hell out of the stylists in there when you do.

And Brad? Don't go to Kasey for tips on how to use Twitter. That doesn't always go so

Phil Mickelson / Getty Images
We're just days away (actually, it's Thursday) from the first swings of the 2012 PGA Tour season, and so it's time to get in our last-minute predictions, guesses, estimates and prognostications. We continue with one of golf's most familiar faces ... and wonder if he can build on a down year.

You'd be hard pressed to call 2011 a terrible year for Phil Mickelson; he had one win (the Shell Houston Open) and seven top-10 finishes; he ranked 12th on the money list and pulled in $3.8 million. That's a fairly successful season by most standards.

But as is always the case with Phil, there's the pesky question of what could have been. He was flat-out forgettable in three of the four majors, and only an amazing bounceback on the final day of the Open Championship, where he would tie for second behind Darren Clarke, kept the year from being a total major washout.

So here's the question, as it always is with Phil: Is this the year? Could he take down those elusive U.S. and British Opens? Could he

Say what you will about Robby Gordon as a NASCAR driver, the dude has the lug nuts to race anything, anytime, anywhere. He's at the Dakar Rally right now, and after three stages, sits in second place, just 54 seconds out of first.

Now, even though the rally is named for Dakar, Senegal, it's run in South America now, thanks to that nasty habit African countries have of getting overthrown. We'll keep you updated, or you can follow the action from the official website. And for you Robby Gordon fans out there, keep up with your boy over at Planet Robby, where they'll be covering his every mile. Kilometer? Whatever.

Above, Gordon's start, where he pulled off a lovely burnout right in front of perhaps-not-so-smart crowds before launching into the race. You don't need a translator, do you?

It's 2012, and time for another NASCAR live chat! Join us, friends, at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday as we hang and talk whatever you like. Maybe it'll be NASCAR, maybe it'll be whatever rotten Christmas gifts you got or horrid New Year's Eve encounters you had. You never know! See you here.

Luke Donald / Getty Images

We're just days away from the first swings of the 2012 PGA Tour season, and so it's time to get in our last-minute predictions, guesses, estimates and prognostications. We begin with the World No. 1 ... and ask what he could do to get better.

Ever since Tiger Woods fell from golf's good graces, we've seen a strange melange of top-ranked golfers and major winners capturing the headlines, but never at the same time. The reigning world No. 1 hasn't won a major since Woods at Torrey Pines more than three years ago.

That's going to change in 2012. Luke Donald, without a doubt the best player in the world, is going to win his first major this year. Best guess? Either Augusta or the PGA Championship. But it will happen, and Donald will secure his place as the best golfer on the planet.

Why? Recent history. The guy ran the table in 2011, winning the money titles on both the PGA and European Tours, taking four tournaments over the year, and securing Player of the Year honors from both the PGA

David Reutimann and Dave Blaney / Getty Images

It's a good-news, bad-news kind of day for David Reutimann. Good news: he's got a ride for 2012, with Tommy Baldwin Racing. Bad news? There's no sponsor yet.

Reutimann and Dave Blaney will make up Baldwin's 2012 lineup, although there are no details yet as to sponsors, car numbers or crew members. So we'll just have to wait on that. Anybody got any spare coin?

Reutimann, now 41, was one of the higher-profile drivers left without a ride in the wake of 2011's seat-shifting fiesta; he was replaced, in effect, by Clint Bowyer and part of Mark Martin at Michael Waltrip Racing. While at MWR, Reutimann notched two wins in the Sprint Cup Series and brings instant credibility to the Baldwin organization.

"One of the things I like about Tommy and what's refreshing about him is that he is just a racer," Reutimann said in a statement. "There are lots of things he could be doing but instead he is at the shop every day working hard to build the organization from the ground up. There are not a lot

On Monday, Greg Biffle joined the Natural Balance Pet Food float, riding alongside Mr. Eight-Is-Enough (anybody still remember that show?) Dick Van Patten while, behind them, dogs surfed.

Yes, dogs surfed. And no, nobody paid much attention to the actor or the NASCAR driver as a result. The 116-foot-long, 50-ton float was billed as the "World's Heaviest and Longest," and hey, who are we to argue?

Surfing dogs, everybody. God bless America.