For years we golf scribes sat around, scratching our heads, wondering when Justin Rose, the one-time amateur phenom turned professional, would start winning big events.

His game always seemed solid, but it never came together when he needed it to. Some great play at the 2003 U.S. Open, and another solid performance at the '07 Masters, but for the most part, he was just another young star that flamed out before we got a chance to watch him shine.

But 2010 has been different. Rose shot a blistering 66 on Sunday at the Memorial to beat Rickie Fowler by three shots for his first PGA Tour victory. The problem was, that win came a little too late, and Rose wasn't allowed in the field at Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open, even though he had just won one of the biggest non-major tournaments of the year.

It was a strange situation for Rose, and golf fans in general, as the 30-year-old Englishman was playing some of the best golf of anyone in the world, but wouldn't be invited to the second major

You don't have to go as far as Michelle Wie's Wikipedia page to understand the troubles she's encountered early in her career. A talent that women's golf had never seen, Wie was the next big thing without someone within a 3-wood distance of her, and she made waves with those big finishes in the majors at such a young age.

But, as golfers tend to do when the sophomore slump hits, Wie struggled to find her game, and made a questionable decision here or there.

On Sunday, Wie was in the final group of the CN Canadian Women's Open with Jiyai Shin, one of the top players in the game and a seven-time LPGA winner at the ripe age of 22. People expected Michelle to falter with someone so traveled in her group, but that wasn't the case. Wie went out and shot a 2-under 70, good enough for a three-shot victory, her second in less than a year.

The problem is, people still expect more. Michelle is ranked seventh in the world after the win in Canada, but that still isn't enough for the 20-year-old.

This can't be easy for Tiger Woods. Smiling, and waving and chipping in front of the crowds, and then heading back to his rental house knowing that yes, life this week and for the weeks to come will be totally different.

On Tuesday, Tiger announced on his website that he and his wife Elin would be divorcing, an announcement that shocked few but still rattled the shaken world of Mr. Woods. He then had to go out on Thursday and play in these FedEx Cup playoffs that initially seemed tailor-made for Tiger, but are now just a struggle to make it to the next week.

But he went out on Thursday with a 65, and then couldn't find that same magic on Friday and Saturday. It's been typical of Tiger this season to get us thinking he found his game again only to struggle as the event lingered on. But this week was different. On Saturday Tiger made a triple-bogey on his opening hole, which basically cost him any shot at the title at Ridgewood, but he bounced back with three birdies on his back nine to

Follow Shane Bacon on Twitter at @shanebacon.

For all the thousands and thousands of rules that the game of golf possesses, the only one that you must always abide by is this; be honest, because the moment someone calls you a cheater, that smell will never go away.

This week at the CN Canadian Women's Open, two of the brightest stars in the game are atop the leaderboard, but it is two names that won't be making a check that are getting the most press. That is Shi Hyun Ahn (right) and Ilmi Chung (left), two players that were disqualified on Thursday for playing the wrong ball on the final hole, but signing the scorecard without any penalty.

People play the wrong golf ball all the time, so that isn't the problem. The uproar comes because some think that both players knew they had done wrong but decided between themselves that they weren't going to say anything.

Two reports have come up, with one being that the ladies knew what they had done, but had a discussion in Korean after the

Fifteen months ago, if Tiger Woods had opened with a 65 at the Barclays, the game would have been over. Nobody would be wondering how he was going to do on Friday, we would all just expect him to do something equally as impressive in the second round, on his way to, yawn, another PGA Tour victory.

But 2010 has been as strange a year as ever in the golf world, and most of that has to do with Tiger. Starting the day 6-under, Woods teed off on the back nine to start his round, and made two birdies over his first nine holes. He was leading the first leg of the FedEx Cup, and everything seemed normal again.

That was, until Tiger turned to his second nine holes, and everything fell apart. He couldn't buy a putt with all the money he has, and ended the day with a very disappointing 2-over 73 that has him four shots back of the leaders.

That front nine, the same cluster of holes that Tiger went around in just 31 shots on Thursday, didn't give up a birdie to the top golfer in the land, and the

For all the numbers that are tossed around on the golf course, the one that matters, that truly matters, is 19. That's the number of major championships Tiger Woods will have to win to surpass Jack Nicklaus as the all-time majors winner. It is a number that seemed insulting to Tiger when he was pulling in majors by the handful at the turn of the century, but as things have slowed, it seems further and further away.

Tiger is currently sitting at 14, and although some people feel he has no chance of reaching that number, he does, and admitted it on Thursday at the Barclays.

Asked after his post-round news conference if he still believes he will break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major titles, Woods told ESPNNewYork.com, "Absolutely."

"I look at it this way," Woods said. "[Ben] Hogan won all nine of his [majors] at my age and older. I think for every kid out there, the goal is to get there. That is the benchmark in our sport, and that's still my goal."

I think you can take his point two

Follow Shane Bacon on Twitter at @shanebacon.

Sometimes, all you need is a little weight lifted off your shoulders to feel like yourself again. On Monday, Tiger Woods announced on his website that he and wife Elin would be splitting up, news that shouldn't come as a shock to most after all that was discovered in 2010, but still news nonetheless. It was something that was inevitable, and even though a guy like Tiger is still thinking a ton about it, a hurdle he had to cross to get back to himself.

Then, on Thursday, because of his low ranking, Tiger was teeing off first at the Barclays, the first event of the FedEx Cup playoffs which were basically created for a guy like Tiger to add to his bankroll. After round one, where Tiger shot a 6-under 65 to share the early lead at Ridgewood Country Club, it seems that maybe this is what he needed to get back his golf game.

Maybe we've all been speculating a little too much, as writers and journalists tend to do in situations like this. Maybe

When Chambers Bay opened in 2007, people knew right away it was a golf masterpiece. The links-style course in University Park, Wash. was pinned right away as the next big golf destination on the west coast, rivaling that of Bandon Dunes for sheer beauty and difficulty.

The USGA were some of the first to jump behind Chambers Bay. They issued the new course a U.S. Amateur in 2010 and the U.S. Open in 2015. The Amateur is going on this week, but the questions aren't about how the course is holding up to it's first big tournament. The questions are about the difficulty of the golf course, and if this thing is too hard to host even a major championship.

Here some facts from the two days of stroke play that completed at Chambers Bay and the Home Course on Tuesday.

-- The stroke average at Chambers was 79.25 during the two days.

-- There were more rounds in the 90s (six) over the two days at Chambers than there were under par (five).

-- Only four players broke 70 at Chambers, and only one,