Luke Donald in the desert / Courtesy Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority

The last time we saw a Luke in the desert this big, he was getting attacked by sand people, amirite, people?

Anyway, this is Luke Donald, World No. 1, "playing" a dune in Abu Dhabi's Liwa Desert. The desert is the world's largest uninterrupted sand mass, which means you're probably not going to get out of it in one stroke. No grounding your club!

Donald, of course, is playing the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship with Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and other reasonably well-known names. Alas, Donald is T32 after two rounds, sitting six strokes off the lead at -1. But at least he's got a little more experience getting out of the bunkers.

The birdies and eagles were flying on Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open, with names like Vijay Singh and Bill Haas getting in the mix with red-number cards. But it was Spencer Levin and Kyle Stanley who made the most noise, relatively speaking, both cracking double-digits to finish the day at 10 under and a share of the lead. Festivities continue all weekend.

McIlroy Woods Abu Dhabi / Getty ImagesThere is an old saying in golf that simply goes, "You can't win a golf tournament on the first day, but you sure can lose it," and yes, such a thing is simply the truth. But still, what do you want from a threesome at an early tournament in the season that includes the world No. 1, the former world No. 1, and the future world No. 1?

Yes, the Abu Dhabi Championship had a feature group on Thursday that included Luke Donald, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, a group you don't see much outside of majors these days, and for most of the day, it lived up to the hype.

The final tally? McIlroy finished with a 5-under 67, Tiger with a 70 and Donald with 71.

The Snake Shaker YouTubeSo in an attempt to inject a bit more life and interest into tournaments, and because we're all inveterate gamblers who are one bad card from being out on the streets, Jay Busbee, Jonathan Wall and I are playing a golf version of a football suicide pool: We each pick one golfer per tournament and see how they do against each other, straight up. Victory over the other guy gets one point, victory in the tournament gets three points, and a tie between two of the three lands you half a point. (Double for the majors.) And when we burn a golfer, he's done for the year. Busbee won the inaugural run at this, so we decided to add a third member to the team. The season is really starting to heat up with the Farmers Insurance Open.

Wall: I'm going to roll with Nick Watney this week. His past success in this event makes him a must-play, in my opinion. He won the event in 2009 and also has four top-10 finishes in his last five starts at Torrey. With numbers like those, I have a feeling he's going to produce another strong finish.

Torrey Pines / Getty ImagesIt's tournament time! We continue the season in at famed Torrey Pines, as the PGA Tour heads west to San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open. Here's a tournament primer to get you prepared for the week.

The course: There are certain courses on the PGA Tour where the shorter hitters are at an advantage ... but Torrey Pines isn't one of them. The longest course on tour last season at 7698 yards, Torrey's South is a bomber's paradise, and it shouldn't come as a surprise that 2011 winner Bubba Watson led the field in driving for the week. But with the North also in play this week, players need to be mindful of the course's tight fairways; they were the toughest to hit on tour (39.8 percent) last season.

The schedule: The tournament runs Thursday-Sunday. It'll be broadcast on the Golf Channel from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday,  and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday on CBS.

The field: Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer may be over in Abu Dhabi, but that doesn't mean the field at Torrey is full of no-name players. Phil Mickelson leads the list of big names teeing it up this week in San Diego, followed by Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland, Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy, and Nick Watney. Johnson is the only player in the OWGR top 10 playing the Farmers Insurance Open.

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We accept cash, check, money order or PayPal.Welcome to the new season of Teeing Off, where Devil Ball editor Jay Busbee and head writer Shane Bacon take a day's topic and smack it all over the course. Suggest a future topic by writing jay.busbee@yahoo.com, or hit us on Twitter at @jaybusbee and @shanebacon. Today, we consider whether it's time for the PGA Tour to start paying appearance fees to its marquee players.

Busbee: So Tiger Woods is playing on the other side of the world, and to no one's surprise, money is a factor. Woods confessed that the appearance fees offered up to play in Abu Dhabi were enough to get him to turn his back on Torrey Pines. So is it time for the PGA Tour to read the writing on the check? Is it time for the Tour to start paying its marquee draws to come to less-than-marquee tournaments?

Bacon: I never thought it would come to this, but it seems time for the PGA Tour to follow suit. Honestly, if it was you or me, and someone was going to pay us $500 to play at this course, or $0 to play this other one, we are taking the one with the cash, and anyone out there that dogs Tiger for taking the money is being hypocritical. I know it's a slippery slope with this, but just LOOK at the comparable fields. Tiger, Rory, Lee, Luke, Sergio vs. Phil and Bubba? It seems like a no-brainer which tournament is a bigger draw.

It's tournament time! We're taking a detour this week and heading to the desert for the star-studded Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Here's a tournament primer to get you prepared for the week.

The course: An emerald oasis in the middle of the desert, the Abu Dhabi Golf Course is playing host this week to some of the best golfers on the planet. The par 72 Championship course measures 7,334 yards and truly has it it all, including undulating fairways, seven salt water lakes and palm trees aplenty. The lush conditions almost make you forget this event actually takes place in the Persian Gulf.

The schedule: Tournament runs Thursday-Sunday. It'll be broadcast on the Golf Channel from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday, and from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday.

The field: One quick peek at the field makes you wonder if a major championship in Abu Dhabi was added to the schedule this year. Seriously, this field is impressive. Tiger Woods is the tournament headliner, but just look at who else decided to show up this week: Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel, Graeme McDowell. Do I need to continue? With 6 of the top 10 players in the world playing in Abu Dhabi, it's clear the $5 million appearance fee pool was put to good use.

Your turn. Who are your picks for this week? Swing away!

Tiger Woods / Getty Images

Torrey Pines holds a special place in Tiger Woods' heart. Not only was it the site of his historic U.S. Open victory in 2008, the course has been a staple of his schedule since 1998 -- a familiar track that became his personal playground over the years, as Woods won six times in a 13-year span, including four consecutive victories from 2005-08.

Simply put, Torrey is Woods' second home. But despite his love for the California gem, he decided to pass on playing the event this year. What would make him pass on one of the top events on the PGA Tour? Try a nearly $3 million appearance fee he's going to get for showing up to play the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

With the European Tour's star-studded event in the desert going head-to-head with the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, the Sheikhs pulled out the big guns to lure Woods to Abu Dhabi, reportedly giving him, according to the Golf Channel's Rex Hoggard, somewhere between $1.7 million and $2.7 million. That's some serious coin,