Golf notebook: PGA still investigating Singh

--Vijay Singh withdrew from the Shell Houston Open last week because of a knee injury, according to the PGA Tour, but it brought up more questions about the ongoing investigation of Singh.

The Big Fijian, who turned 50 on Feb. 22 but continues to play on the PGA Tour rather than moving to the Champions Tour, admitted in a Sports Illustrated article that he has used deer-antler spray, which contains the banned ingredient IGF-1.

Singh, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, withdrew from the Waste Management Phoenix Open the week the story came out, citing a back injury, but has continued to play while the investigation continues.

"The process is still ongoing," PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw told Golfweek last week.

Commissioner Tim Finchem said there is no timetable for a ruling to be made.

In five starts since Sports Illustrated broke the story, Singh has played in four tournaments, with his best result a tie for 38th in the Tampa Bay Championship.

His best finish in six starts on the PGA Tour this season was a tie for 20th in the Sony Open in Hawaii and he broke 70 in his first five rounds of the year, but has done so only four times in 19 rounds since.

Singh, who is in the field for the Masters next week, has won 34 times on the PGA Tour, including three majors, but has not found the winner's circle since the 2008 Deutsche Bank Championship.

--Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore., has been selected as the site of the 2018 United States Senior Open Championship by the United States Golf Association.

The tournament will be played Aug. 25-30 at the club, which has hosted four USGA championships previously.

"The USGA is excited to return to the Pacific Northwest and Eugene Country Club," said Thomas J. O'Toole Jr., USGA vice president and Championship Committee chairman. "The club has hosted national championships at many amateur levels, including juniors and mid-amateurs.

"Now the best senior amateur players will have an opportunity to evaluate their skills on a course that has stood the test for nearly a century."

Johnny Miller captured the 1964 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Eugene Country Club, and Amanda Blumenhurst, who plays on the LPGA Tour, won the 2008 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship on the course.

The other USGA events held on the course were the 1993 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and the 2002 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship.

--Mike Weir, who became only Canadian to claim a major title when he won the 2003 Masters, hopes to be in the field this week at Augusta National despite a rib injury.

The 42-year-old Weir, the first left-hander to win at Augusta, withdrew after two rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational two weeks ago and could not play as planned last week in the Shell Houston Open because of the injury.

However, he plans to be at Augusta.

"I'm going to be going," said Weir, who has been hampered by injuries in recent years. "No matter what, I'm going to be there. I've got to be really smart here the next week and a half about when I decide to try hitting a few balls and see how it is. And then, if I feel anything (bad), to back off.

"(When I) go there to Augusta, if I have to not hit any balls until Thursday, I won't. Just maybe putt a little bit, because I really want to play. I don't know if I could put a percentage (on being able to play) at all, I just know I'm going to be there."

Weir, who has won eight times on the PGA Tour, shot 76-70 -- 146 to make the cut two weeks ago at Bay Hill, but walked off the course at 4-over-par through 11 holes on Saturday because of the rib injury.

"I was able to play through it on Friday and tried to keep playing on Saturday but the pain was just too much," said Weir, who first felt discomfort in his ribs while hitting on the range after the opening round on Thursday.

Doctors believe that cartilage between the ribs is either torn or inflamed.

Weir, who underwent surgery on his right elbow in 2011, missed the cut in all 14 PGA Tour events he played last season, and has made it to the weekend only three times in nine tournaments this year, including the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

--Jack Nicklaus won the Australian Open six times, so who better to rework a course that will again host the tournament in 2014?

The Golden Bear was in Sydney recently to unveil for club members and the media his redesign of the Australian Golf Club, where Nicklaus claimed three of those titles in 1975, 1976 and 1978.

As he often does when he designs new course, Nicklaus played several holes to show how they should be navigated, before mingling with the crowd and signing autographs afterward.

"I've always loved coming here," Nicklaus told Australian Golf Digest. "This is the first place I played in Australia back in 1962. To see the changes in the club, the clubhouse and the changes in the membership have been special.

"The commitment I've seen from Kerry Packer (a wealthy Australian businessman who funded the earlier redesign) right through to today's board, it's just been a wonderful association for me."

Nicklaus also helped redesign the course between 1977 and 1980, adding length and water hazards.

The Australian Open will be played in December for the third consecutive year at the Lakes Golf Club in Sydney, where 53-year-old Peter Senior, who plays on the Champions Tour, won last year.

Craig Parry captured the title in 2007, the last time it was played at the Australian Golf Club.

--After missing the cut 34 times and failing to finish in the top three even once in his first three seasons on the PGA Tour, Cameron Tringale is turning things around this season.

The 25-year-old Tringale, who lives in Laguna Nigel, Calif., and graduated from Georgia Tech, gives much of the credit to caddie David Clark, whom he hired before this season.

"I feel like caddies are a really important piece of the puzzle," said Tringale, who has five finishes in the top 30, including solo third in the Tampa Bay Championship, the best result of his career on the PGA Tour. "He's been great for me."

Tringale equaled his best score of the season last Thursday, when he shot 7-under-par 65, hitting 17 of 18 greens on the Tournament Course at Redstone, to finish the day tied for second, one stroke behind leader D.A. Points in the Shell Houston Open.

He went on to finish with 73-72-71 to tie for 16th.

"Game is good," Tringale said. "I feel like it's been going in a positive direction all year and it's kind of coming together a little bit more on the greens and with my short game and wedges.

"I'm seeing the ball end over end (off the putter). It's really nice to just stand up there and know, if you read it right, I feel like I'm going to put a good stroke on it and that it's got a good chance to go in."

Tringale's finish in Houston lifted him to 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings.