Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren (Getty Images)The Big Miss, swing coach Hank Haney's highly touted book on Tiger Woods, hits stores in a couple weeks. And while Haney's story of Woods wanting to join the Navy SEALs caused a bit of a stir a few weeks back, the New York Times brings us a few new angles on that story and Woods' relationship with ex-wife Elin Nordegren.

The book primarily focuses on Haney's teaching relationship with Woods, a partnership during which Woods won six of his 14 majors. Still, as with any major work on Woods, the book touches on the scandals that have dominated Woods' life since Thanksgiving 2009. Haney, who quit teaching Woods in May 2010, had an up-close look at the changing relationship between Woods and now-ex-wife Elin Nordegren.

"Tiger really liked her competitive streak [while they were dating] and seemed to enjoy treating her like one of the guys, needling her and even telling raunchy jokes around her, which Elin didn't seem to mind," Haney writes. "But as life became more complicated, I thought Elin changed. By the time she and Tiger married, she remained friendly but had become more guarded, even in her own home. She and Tiger developed a calm, almost cool relationship in front of other people, and conversations with them tended to be awkward and strained. I never saw them argue, but they weren't openly affectionate either."

[Rewind: Why Tiger Woods' ex-wife demolished a $12 million mansion]

Haney points in particular to the 2005 Buick Invitational, the first event Woods won with Haney as his coach. At the time, Nordegren was a nanny for fellow tour golfer Jesper Parnevik, and she wanted to celebrate Woods' victory the way Parnevik would: with a major party. Woods would have none of it: "E, that's not what we do," he said, according to Haney. "I'm not Jesper. We're supposed to win."

Tiger Woods / Getty Images

Tiger Woods will get a final tuneup in before the Masters after all. Almost a week after the 14-time major winner limped off the course and withdrew from the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Woods confirmed, on his website, that the Achilles felt so good following a Friday practice session, he's going to play two tournaments in one week.

Woods will play in the Tavistock Cup, a two-day exhibition starting on Monday, followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitation at Bay Hill starting on Thursday. Some had questioned whether it would be beneficial for Woods to rest the strained Achilles prior to the Masters, but based on the way things have gone since Sunday, it would appear the injury is a non-factor at this point (at least that's what Woods is leading many to believe).

We'll certainly get an idea of what kind of condition the Achilles is in with Woods playing six rounds of competitive golf in a seven-day period.

Paula Creamer / Getty ImagesThe LPGA is certainly doing things the right way these days. Since Mike Whan was named commissioner in 2009, the tour has seen an impressive resurgence in recent years, as sponsors and new events were added to the schedule.

Aside from financial positives, the players have also made an effort to spend more time with fans, making the experience a memorable one for tournament-goers. As John Paul Newport of the Wall Street Journal noted in a recent article, the players are certainly going to great lengths to make the fans happy ... like giving out more than the standard signed glove if a fan gets hit with an errant drive.

On Thursday [at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup], when an errant drive by Creamer hit a spectator, Creamer not only apologized but gave her the watch off her wrist, instead of the more customary signed glove.

That's right, Paula Creamer gave the fan the watch off her wrist. Considering she's sponsored by Citizen, you'd have to believe the piece wasn't cheap. I'm sure this won't be a weekly thing for Creamer, but don't be surprised if her galleries increase in size and fans try to get in the way of errant drives. Apparently the pain of getting hit with a golf ball could be worth a lot.

(h/t Shackelford)

One day after Padraig Harrington fired a salty 10-under 61 to take a three-shot lead at the Transitions Championship and looked primed to win his first event since 2010, he let the field back into the tournament on Friday with a 2-over 73. Jason Dufner made the most of Harrington's struggles, posting his second straight 5-under 66 to take a two-shot lead going into the third round.

The good news is Dufner is a couple shots clear of the field. The bad news? Well, there are a host of big names within shouting distance of the lead -- including Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els -- so Dufner should definitely watch his back. Everyone's gunning for you, buddy!

Wozzilroy / Twitter ShowdownRory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki are quite the power-athlete couple, and like all good 21st-century stars, they're all over Twitter. But which half of Wozzilroy owns Twitter? Thanks to Golf Girl's Diary, we have the answer. Check out the larger version of the mini-infographic from visual.ly below. And go follow the happy couple at @McIlroyRory and @CaroWozniacki.

Were it not for the sudden and all-consuming explosion of Tiger Woods' career, Padraig Harrington's career arc would surely rank as the most perplexing of recent years.

One of only 43 men to have won three majors, Harrington nailed down the final two majors of the 2008 season -- albeit without Woods in the field -- and appeared to be that most elusive of players, a legitimate challenger to Woods.

And then ... nothing.

That's not quite true; Harrington did actually keep playing. But he made the curious decision to retool his swing at least twice, and the results have been nothing short of professionally disastrous.

He hasn't won on either the PGA or European tours since his 2008 PGA Championship win, missing the cut in six of the 12 majors since then. He's notched only a single top 10, a tie for 10th at the 2009 PGA. Indeed, the only event he's won at all since then was the 2010 Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia, part of the Asian Tour.

Now, though, he's rolling, at least for a day. In

Everybody's chasing the leprechaun! It was St. Paddy's Day on Thursday at the Transitions, as Padraig Harrington delivered one of the finest rounds of his professional career. Behind him, luminaries like Luke Donald and Justin Rose played well but not nearly well enough. Catch up on the first round here in preparation for Round 2 on Friday.

Rory McIlroy / Getty ImagesBeing the No. 1 player in the world certainly has its perks -- like getting an invite to the White House for a state dinner honoring British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Rory McIlroy, who was a guest at the dinner on Wednesday night, had a chance to not only meet Prime Minister Cameron, but a number of high-profile folks ... including President Obama.

As you can probably imagine, McIlroy and the president certainly didn't have any trouble striking up a conversation on the topic of golf. As most know, Barack Obama is a huge golf nut, so getting the chance to meet one of the top players in the sport afforded him the perfect opportunity to ask about, what else, his golf swing.

If you've ever seen the president swing the club before, well, you know he could use a couple of lessons. As McIlroy tweeted following the dinner, it looks like he's willing to oblige the next time the two link up (I'm going to assume the next venue will be the golf course).

Unbelievable experience at the White House last night! Big thanks to @BarackObama for the invite! We'll get that golf swing sorted soon!

— Rory Mcilroy (@McIlroyRory) March 15, 2012

If I were McIlroy, I'd probably offer to give him lessons for a chance to fly on Air Force One. Heck, maybe he can give the 22-year-old a lift to his next tournament! It seems like a fair trade-off, right?