You show up at a golf tournament on the first day of play. You warm up a little bit. You hit some putts to get the feel. You make sure you've got something in your stomach before you head to the first tee. When you show up, you get handed a few things, including a pin sheet for the day and a scorecard.

In the tent there is a sheet of local rules for the week. Most caddies snag one for their players, but for full disclosure, hardly ever check it closely.

Ryuji Imada won't be one of those players anymore. At the Mission Hills Star Trophy tournament in China, Imada was administered 26 shots in penalty strokes because he didn't pay close enough attention to the rules.

You see, the Blackstone course was wet, so they decided to let the players lift and clean their golf balls through the green. Imada was doing that fine, but in Europe and Asia, you only get a scorecard's length from where the ball originally was. In the States, it is always a club length.

Imada got two strokes per hole for 13

Not playing this week? No problem for Lee Westwood, who is set to become the No. 1-ranked player in the world on Sunday after Martin Kaymer got off to a slow start in Spain.

Kaymer, currently ranked third in the world, needed a win or a second-place finish to take over the top spot from Tiger Woods, but his shaky start at the Andalucia Valderrama Masters means that Westwood will most likely be the one to replace Tiger up top.

How big of a deal is this? Well, for us golf fans, it's pretty huge. Having a European atop the rankings is something we haven't seen in ages, and it means that the golf world is really globalizing (not like you couldn't tell that from the recent Ryder Cup win, the Euros' fourth win in the last five matches).

But, it's also something that probably should have happened a while ago. Tiger has been in the top spot for five years, but his play the last 12 months has been anything but No. 1-worthy. He hasn't won on the PGA Tour since last September, and his reign at

I'm sure Sun Mountain employees everywhere will hate this analogy, but for their rain suits, torrential downpours on Day 1 of the Ryder Cup and complaining from nearly everyone, it was the perfect storm of bad press.

The company that provided rain gear for the American Ryder Cup team in Wales this October was the dog of the opening ceremonies, becoming one of the biggest stories of the first two days of the Ryder Cup because it seemed they failed to repel water. Players complained, captain's complained, and stories were tossed around everywhere badmouthing the company that was picked to keep America dry.

But founder and owner Rick Reimers finally spoke on the phone about the wet, worriment of Wales, stating that he thinks it wasn't really the rain suits' fault to begin with.

Reimers admitted that he was as confused (and depressed) as anyone, and even stuck an employee in a shower for two hours with the team's rain suit on (Ed. Note: That dude needs a raise) and didn't see the suit

I know, I know, after reading that headline you think I'm crazy, but hear me out.

The Fall Series, for all it brings to the game of golf, is better than the FedEx Cup. By a lot.

Why? Because, unlike the FedEx Cup, the Fall Series is actual drama. It isn't that "which multimillionaire is going to cushion his retirement by eight figures" drama, it's "which golfer is going to have a great job next season or just a good job." It's "which player will be playing at places like Harbour Town and Riviera, or which will be playing at Hardscrabble Country Club and Midland Country Club?" It's the difference in having a job the next year that will surely make your life a ton better, or driving from town to town hoping to find a good guy on the Nationwide Tour to bunk up with. It's the difference in lobster tail and hot dogs.

Sure, sure, sure, the Fall Series doesn't give us the likes of Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson (hell, it barely gives us Brian Davis and Jason Bohn), but it does give us names

There are a lot of knocks thrown John Daly's way, but nobody can say he isn't honest about his past. Daly, 44, has been one of the most likable golfers in the history of the game, mainly because we have lived through his transgressions as his career continues to be the PGA Tour version of a yo-yo.

On Monday, Ron Green Jr. of The Charlotte Observer talked with Daly as he signed books at Rock Barn Golf and Spa, and Big John admitted a few things about his golf game, with the heaviest quote coming about how he used to play when he was liquored up.

"I've done everything right and haven't played worth a" darn, Daly said. "It's unbelievable. I'm giving myself the chance to play good. It seems the more I work, the worse I get." [...]

Daly was asked what he's learned about himself through the years.

"That I was happy when I was a miserable drunk. I played better when I was drunk," he said.

Daly paused, smiled half a smile and gently shook his head.

"I don't know," he said.

It might sound

Just a few days ago, we posted a story about Sergio Garcia and his current attitude about golf. The 30-year-old Spaniard had taken two months off of competitive golf to try and love it again, and was back at his hometown golf tournament ready to jump back on the pro golf pony.

Garcia even mentioned hoping to be number one in the world someday, a far cry from his tales of falling out of love with golf that forced him to take the hiatus.

But it didn't come so easy for Sergio. He missed the cut after rounds of 71-73, and was once again complaining about the passion he feels for the sport.

"It's tough for me especially missing the cut here. The way I putted I feel as though I am back to where I was when I left the game in the summer. It's very frustrating."

The bad putting he is referring to came mostly in the second round, when Garcia had five very short putts that he couldn't cash in, and he wasn't around on the weekend for his first tournament back since his missed cut at the PGA

Jonathan Byrd didn't move. He didn't high five, he didn't jump up and down, he didn't even smile. The 32-year-old PGA Tour veteran had hit the shot of 2010, and as it disappeared in near darkness, he just stood there, slumped over like a guy should be when something happens that is nearly unforgettable.

If you haven't heard, Bryd made a hole-in-one on the fourth playoff hole to win the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Bryd aced the 204-yard par-3 17th hole to beat Martin Laird and Cameron Percy in near darkness on Sunday in Las Vegas after discussing just moments earlier if the playoff should continue.

It was the perfect shot at the perfect time, landing just 15 feet short of the pin and rolling dead center as announcers and players alike celebrated.

Byrd stood there, hands on his hips, asking his caddie if the ball really went in. It was so dark that even the guys on the tee couldn't see if what had happened really actually happened, but it did, and Byrd now has

Follow Shane Bacon on Twitter at @shanebacon.

Normally reporting on John Daly is as lighthearted as golf journalism gets, but this one is a little touchy.

Daly told The Golf Channel's Rex Hoggard that his email, Twitter and Facebook accounts had all been hacked into, and his girlfriend and two daughters were getting threatening messages sent their way by the culprit that forced them to close their accounts.

"(Daly’s girlfriend Anna Cladakis) got on Facebook and the guy was talking to her and says, 'If you want this back you know what to do. I will get you and I will get your daughters. I’ll steal their identity.'" Daly said in an interview that will air Saturday on Golf Central at 1:20 a.m. (ET). "Other things that were said scared me to death."

The FBI is currently investigating the situation, taking hold of Cladakis' computer to check and see exactly who the person is that hacked into Daly's accounts.

Currently, both John Daly's Facebook fan page and Twitter accounts have been