This Week in Golf - November 27th through November 30th

Golf Betting Lines

11/24/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - SKINS GAME - Indian Wells Golf Resort (Celebrity Course), Indian Wells, California - This year's $1 million Skins Game will feature Phil Mickelson, K.J. Choi, Rocco Mediate and two-time defending champion Stephen Ames.

Mickelson, now the world No. 3 behind Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia, will join Choi and Mediate in seeking his first Skins Game title as he plays competitively for the first time since tying for eighth place in his title defense at the HSBC Champions in China three weeks ago.

Ames, meanwhile, will be looking to become just the second player to win three consecutive Skins Games after the late Payne Stewart turned the trick from 1991-1993.

The format is well-know to anyone who has taken in the Thanksgiving weekend staple before: The four players vie for money on a hole-by-hole basis, earning money only by winning a particular hole with the lowest score. If there is no winner, the money carries over to the next hole -- and on and on.

The prize money increases as the round wears on. The initial six holes are worth $25,000 apiece, while the middle six holes are worth $50,000 each. The next five holes are worth $70,000 apiece, with the 18th hole offering a cool $200,000 prize.

They will play nine holes each day.

ABC will have coverage of both days beginning at 1:00 p.m. (et) on Saturday and 3:30 p.m. (et) on Sunday.

WORLD CUP

OMEGA MISSION HILLS WORLD CUP, Mission Hills Golf Club (Olazabal Course), Shenzhen, China - The World Cup takes place this week in China as Colin Montgomerie returns to help Scotland defend its title at Mission Hills.

Montgomerie, who teamed with Marc Warren for a victory in 2007, will be paired with Alastair Forsyth this year. The duo will be looking to lead their country to the tournament's first back-to-back wins since Tiger Woods led the United States to victories with Mark O'Meara and David Duval in 1999-2000.

Among the 28 countries competing this week on the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills will be the home Chinese team of Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong.

Zhang, a five-time winner on the Asian Tour, and Liang, the reigning Order of Merit winner on the circuit, teamed up to place 11th last year. China has never won the event.

In fact, only three Asian teams have ever claimed victory since the tournament's inception in 1953: Japan (1957 and 2002) and Taiwan (1972). The United States has historically dominated, winning it 23 times, although not since Woods and Duval in 2000.

In the seven years since that victory, South Africa has won twice while Japan, England, Wales, Germany and Scotland have claimed on win apiece.

The United States will be represented this year by Ben Curtis and Brandt Snedeker. Curtis owns three PGA Tour wins, including the 2003 British Open championship, while the one-time PGA Tour winner Snedeker is best-known for his surprising third-place finish at this year's Masters.

The Golf Channel will begin its coverage of the event at 10:30 p.m. (et) on Wednesday night.

EUROPEAN TOUR

AUSTRALIAN MASTERS, Huntingdale Golf Club, Melbourne, Australia - This week marks the 30th anniversary of the Australian Masters, an event co-sponsored by the European and Australasian Tours.

It is the third event already in the European Tour's 2009 schedule -- and the third event in the new $10 million Race to Dubai, a year-long money sprint that replaced the tour's Order of Merit this season.

The field will be highlighted by a large Australian contingent that includes Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Peter Lonard, Nick O'Hern, Rod Pampling, Craig Parry, John Senden and Scott Strange, among others.

Two-time major champion John Daly of the U.S. will headline an international field that also includes fellow major-winner Michael Campbell of nearby New Zealand. Daly, who will play again next week in Australia, is fresh off a sparkling final-round 62 at the Hong Kong Open on Sunday that earned him a share of 17th place.

Australian Aaron Baddeley (2007) and England's Justin Rose (2006) have won the tournament the last two years, also the first two years the tournament was co- sanctioned by the European Tour. Baddeley is not scheduled to defend his title.

The Golf Channel will have three hours of coverage for all four rounds this week beginning each morning at 9:30 a.m. (et).

The European Tour will take a week off following the Australian Masters, returning on December 11 for the Alfred Dunhill Championship. John Bickerton won that tournament last year.

LPGA TOUR

LEXUS CUP, Singapore Island Country Club (Bukit Course), Singapore - Annika Sorenstam will again captain the International team this week versus a team of 12 Asian players at the Lexus Cup.

Sorenstam will be a playing captain this week and it will be her penultimate event before stepping away from golf. She will play her last event in Dubai in a Ladies European Tour event.

The International team boasts six of the top 10 players in the world.

Se Ri Pak will lead the Asian team again this year as she was selected as one of two sponsor's picks. Her squad is comprised of five of the top 20 players in the world, including McDonald's LPGA Championship winner Yani Tseng and U.S. Women's Open champ Inbee Park.

The lone remaining LPGA Tour event this year is the LGPA Qualifying Tournament. Q-School will take place December 3-7 at LPGA International.

CANADIAN TOUR

SPORT FRANCES OPEN, Sports Frances Golf Club, Santiago, Chile - The Canadian Tour heads to South America for three events beginning with this week's Sport Frances Open.

This is the first of three events that will be co-sanctioned by the Canadian Tour and the Tour de las Americas. These three events mark the start of the 2009 season for the Canadian Tour.

The field will be split evenly with 50 players from each tour, as well as 20 players from the PGA Chile and 20 others.

Next week is the Argentine Masters.