When you think of the U.S. Open, you think of difficult roughs and winning scores that are often above par. But that is not the case this year at the restored Pinehurst No. 2 course as Martin Kaymer is taking advantage of the lack of rough and running away with the tournament in the second round.

Kaymer, who won the 2010 PGA Championship, is 10-under after two rounds. His 8-shot lead and total score of 130 are both 36-hole records for the U.S. Open.

In the last ten years, the winners of the U.S. Open have finished with an average score of 1-under and only one golfer (Rory McIlroy, 16-under in 2011) finished better than 4-under.

One big change to the course is the fairways are wider this year. In the first round, the golfers hit the fairways 71% of the time, compared to just 59% in 2005. But the biggest change to the course is the rough, which is actually no longer rough. It has been replaced by native vegetation and course sand.

In the previous two U.S. Opens held at Pinehurst, the winning scores were 1-under (Payne Stewart in 1999) and even-par (Michael Campbell in 2005). During those tournaments, the rough looked more like typical U.S. Open rough where the grass could be ankle- or even knee-deep.

The changes have been dramatic. The 18th hole is nearly unrecognizable compared to 2005.

This hasn't made the course easy. But the lack of rough has allowed players to be more aggressive, such as Kaymer using a driver on the par-4 third hole and driving the green. He 2-putted from here for a birdie.

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Zhou Xunshu came from a village so poor that the grown-ups tore down his primary school for the bricks.

They did not know much about book-learning, but they knew good building materials when they saw them.

As an adult Mr Zhou took a job as a security guard at a golf course in Guangzhou, though he had no idea what golf was.

It was while standing guard that he learned about the game.

He watched the players through his binoculars, observing their strategies, squinting to make out the numbers on their shiny clubs. He wished he could afford to play, too.

One day Mr Zhou's bosses were testing some new drivers. "Can I have a try?" he piped up. People laughed at him--a security guard wants to put his rough hands on a club that would cost three months' salary! But someone let him have a go and, to gasps of disbelief, he smashed the ball over the hill at the end of the driving range--dead straight. Mr Zhou was hooked.

Dan Washburn, a journalist who lived in China for a decade, uses golf as a barometer of change. Under Mao Zedong the sport was banned, like so many things that were decadent and fun. When the country began to open up under Deng Xiaoping, a few golf courses were allowed, to entertain foreign investors. As China grew richer, more and more locals wanted to try the sport. Suddenly more golf courses were being built in China than anywhere else, despite the fact that their construction was technically illegal.

For Mr Washburn golf is symbolic not only of China's economic rise but also of "the less glamorous realities of a nation's awkward and arduous evolution from developing to developed: corruption, environmental neglect, disputes over rural land rights and an ever-widening gap between rich and poor".

He tackles these great themes indirectly, by interweaving the stories of three men whose lives were affected by the golf boom. One is Mr Zhou, whose rise from peasant to professional golfer is, as Mr Washburn puts it, "the stuff of movies". Hugely talented but utterly skint, Mr Zhou struggled for years to make a living playing a rich man's game. He travelled to tournaments on slow trains because he could not afford to fly and slept in sordid flophouses miles from the courses.

When he earned enough to buy a flat in Chongqing, he urged his parents to come and live with him. They would be able to rest after 60 years sweating in the fields, he said. Finally they agreed, and came and filled his flat with live roosters. But they were homesick for their dirty village. As soon as their son flew away for a tournament, they went home to their friends and their corn. Anecdotes like this bring China to life in a way that outlandish-but-true statistics--some 250m peasants have moved to Chinese cities--cannot.

The book's other main characters are Martin Moore, an American who builds golf courses, and Wang Libo, a lychee farmer whose land is bulldozed to make way for one. Both tales are as gripping as they are revealing.

Mr Moore, a laid-back, outdoorsy southerner, knew nothing about China before he accepted a job in the remote city of Kunming. But he soon realised that he was not in Florida any more. The local mayor insisted that he join him for a booze-up and a public execution. Mr Moore watched drunkenly as two drug-smugglers were placed on a stool and shot. He couldn't refuse this grisly hospitality because golf-course-developers cannot operate without friends in government.

The tycoons Mr Moore worked for were as ambitious as they were tough. One course was never enough--they wanted ten, or even 36. They wanted the biggest and most opulent golf resorts in the world, and they wanted them built "faster, faster, FASTER". Every step required bribes for officials to look the other way. When the central government cracked down, Mr Moore's workers had to fill in bunkers and pretend that the project was something other than a golf course.

Many new courses appeared to make no economic sense--the owners couldn't plausibly recoup their costs by charging green fees. Mr Washburn explains that golf was often a marketing tool to sell luxury villas nearby. Many Chinese officials have heaps of cash and no easy way to invest it, especially if it has been illicitly earned. Buying property is considered both prestigious and a safe investment, even though China's property market swings more wildly than a drunk golfer.

The victims of China's golf boom are the same people who suffer from other mega-developments: the peasants. When well-connected developers bulldoze villages, the inhabitants are compensated, but they do not get a choice. Mr Washburn describes peasants who rioted after receiving barely a tenth of the payout to which they were entitled. Their protest earned them only tear gas and jail.

That said, Chinese peasants are hardly passive in the face of injustice. Of the 187,000 mass protests that the Chinese government admits occurred in 2010, two-thirds were over land grabs. Some villagers use trickery to boost their compensation--when rumours spread that a new golf course is to be built, phoney graves suddenly pop up on the site, since developers must pay for each one they move.

Mr Wang fared better than many. Realising that he could not fight the Communist Party, he took the cash for his land and opened a shop to sell cigarettes and drinks to the construction workers building a golf resort. "Everything is possible", he tells Mr Washburn, "if you have money."

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Lucy Li started a small controversy on the LPGA tour when she became the youngest golfer to ever qualify for the US Open at the age of 11. But if anybody thought Li would shy away from the spotlight and the pressure, the prodigy quickly silenced those thoughts with the outfit she chose for the first round.

It is perfect because it is the US Open. It is perfect because she is 11 years old and she would probably be wearing something similar if she was at school today instead of playing in a golf major against women three-times her age.

Go Lucy!

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SALEM TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Kurt Tyszkiewicz and his wife enjoy golf, and their daughters are soccer players.

On a recent weekday, the Detroit-area family played both sports at the same time, with 18 holes of FootGolf.

The soccer-golf hybrid has gained a foothold in the U.S., where officials at a number of courses say it's helping them financially and drawing a younger and more diverse crowd.

And repeat customers.

"We'll absolutely come back," said Tyszkiewicz, a 44-year-old school district administrator from Canton Township, Michigan. "It was a great event for a family and a lot of fun."

His family's inaugural FootGolf round was played at Fox Hills Golf & Banquet Center in nearby Salem Township, which started offering the sport at its Strategic Fox par-3 course in May.

Fox Hills added larger FootGolf holes — 21 inches in diameter — but other than that, the course looks the same.

The rules are largely the same as well.Players tee off by kicking a soccer ball from the tee box. They follow the basic rules of golf, advancing the ball until it drops into the oversized hole.

What is different is who's playing.

Most FootGolfers who play at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, California, are "teens, kids, 20-somethings — heavier on the Hispanic side — lots of families," said Mike Woods, PGA director of golf at Haggin Oaks, which started offering FootGolf last summer.

"It's kind of everything golf's not," in terms of demographics, Woods said. "And we're really happy about that."

Haggin Oaks averages 700 to 1,000 FootGolf rounds per month at its Arcade Creek course. Comparatively, Arcade Creek hosts 3,000 to 4,000 golf rounds over the same period.

"This year, (FootGolf) will have about a $75,000 positive impact on our bottom line," said Woods. He said an informal survey of players at the first hole shows that 60 percent of FootGolfers never had been to a golf course before.

The uptick in FootGolf interest domestically can be traced to 2011 when Roberto Balestrini founded the American FootGolf League, which is the governing body for the sport in the U.S.

The Palm Springs, California-based AFGL has accredited 160 courses in 32 states and does so at no charge.

FootGolfers bring a different energy to the course, said Woods, who added that it's not unusual to see them high-fiving after a big shot or doing cartwheels down the fairway.

While there were no acrobatic maneuvers involved, a threesome playing behind the Tyszkiewiczes at Fox Hills generated excitement during their round.

When 20-year-old Josh Maxam's long, winding putt found the bottom of the cup, his two playing partners roared.

"That was money," Philip Taucher yelled, referring to his friend's birdie putt.

But Taucher, the clubhouse manager for Fox Hills' FootGolf course, just as easily could have been referencing the financial impact FootGolf has had during its month-and-a-half stay.

"It's changed our business. ... Eventually, everybody is going to see this is a win-win," he said.

___

Online:

American FootGolf League: http://www.footgolf.net

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A group of golfing buddies were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission in an alleged insider trading scheme that netted them more that $554,000 in illicit profits, the agency said in a release. 

From 2009 until 2011, amateur golfer Eric McPhail, 40, shared non-public information about American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC) with six friends, the SEC claims.

The SEC alleges that McPhail received non-public information from one of the company's executives he befriended at the country club golf course. The AMSC exec wasn't named in the complaint. 

According to the complaint, McPhail would then share info about yet-to-be-released earnings reports and deals with his golf buddies and friends via a group email chain.

In one of his tips, McPhail wrote, "I like Pinot Noir and love steak …. looking forward to getting paid back. Good Luck …. SHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

From the complaint [.PDF]: 

On September 29, 2009, at 12:38 a.m., McPhail emailed Parigian and Andy
Drohen:

Well boys....went to the Sox game with a friend of mine tonight. He seems to think that AMSC has a $100 million deal with China that should be signed very shortly. It could be done in the next few days … if it is not done/announced by Thursday, it will not be announced until the week of the 12th because all of China shuts down on vacation for 10 days – starting Friday. This announcement should spike them close to 10%. Furthermore, circle October 29th for the next big day…it could/should be as good as the last one, provided the market cooperates that day.

I like Pinot Noir and love steak….looking forward to getting paid

Good Luck …. SHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Parigian responded to McPhail later that morning stating: “I will take you for a nice dinner at [a high end steakhouse].”

Records on the Golf Handicap Information Network show that McPhail golfs at the Oakley Country Club in Massachusetts. He has a golf handicap of 3.3 and his last outing was in June, the records show.

According to the SEC's complaint, McPhail became a member of the country club because of his wife. After they got divorced, the American Superconductor exec petitioned so he could keep his membership.  

Here's the full SEC press release: 

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a group of friends, most of them golfing buddies, who made more than $554,000 of illegal profits from trading on inside information about Massachusetts-based American Superconductor Corporation.

In a complaint filed in federal court in Boston, the SEC alleges that Eric McPhail repeatedly provided non-public information about American Superconductor to six others, most fellow competitive amateur golfers.  McPhail’s source was an American Superconductor executive who belonged to the same country club as McPhail and was a close friend.  According to the complaint, from July 2009 through April 2011, the executive told McPhail about American Superconducter’s expected earnings, contracts, and other major pending corporate developments, trusting that McPhail would keep the information confidential.

Instead, McPhail, of Waltham, Massachusetts, misappropriated the inside information about the energy technology company and fed it to his friends, often via email.  The insider-trading ring included a handful of golfing buddies, four of whom live in Massachusetts: Douglas A. Parigian of Lowell, John J. Gilmartin of Andover, Douglas Clapp of Walpole, and James A. “Andy” Drohen of Granville. The fifth, Drohen’s brother, John C. Drohen, is a resident of Cranston, Rhode Island.  In addition to the group of golfers, McPhail tipped a sixth man, his longtime friend Jamie A. Meadows, of Springfield, Massachusetts.  Each of the six traded and profited on the inside information McPhail supplied to them.

“Whether the tips are passed on the golf course, in a bar, or elsewhere, the SEC will continue to track down those who seek an unfair advantage trading stocks,” said Paul G. Levenson, director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office.  “Working with our partners in law enforcement, we are sending a message to all investors that insider trading does not pay.” 

According to the SEC’s complaint, in April 2011, McPhail tipped Parigian and Meadows a few days before American Superconductor announced that it expected fourth-quarter and fiscal year-end results to be weaker due to a deteriorating relationship with its primary customer, China-based Sinovel Wind Group Co., Ltd.  Parigian and Meadows used the information to place bets, through option contracts, that the company’s stock price would decline. When American Superconductor made the announcement, its stock price fell 42 percent and as a result of this one tip alone, Parigian made profits and avoided losses of $278,289, while Meadows made profits of $191,521.

McPhail tipped the various defendants on other occasions, funneling them inside information about American Superconductor’s quarterly earnings announcements in July and September 2009, and again in January 2010.  He also alerted them in the fall of 2009 to a contract worth $100 million, and in November 2010 to a likely drop in American Superconductor’s share’s price, which occurred a few days later when AMSC announced a secondary stock offering.

The complaint charges that McPhail, Parigian, Gilmartin, Clapp, the Drohens, and Meadows violated federal antifraud laws and the SEC’s antifraud rule, and seeks to have them be enjoined, return their allegedly ill-gotten gains with interest, and pay financial penalties of up to three times their gains.  Gilmartin, Clapp, and the Drohens agreed to settle the SEC’s charges, without admitting or denying the allegations, by consenting to the entry of judgments permanently enjoining them from violating the relevant securities laws.  The judgments also order:

• Gilmartin to return $23,713 in trading profits plus prejudgment interest of $4,034 and a civil penalty of $23,713, for a total of $51,460
• Clapp to return $11,848 in trading profits plus prejudgment interest of $1,767 and a civil penalty of $11,848, for a total of $25,463
• Andy Drohen to return $22,543 in trading profits plus prejudgment interest of $3,845 and a civil penalty of $22,543, for a total of $48,931
• John Drohen to return $8,972 in trading profits plus prejudgment interest of $1,511 and a civil penalty of $8,972, for a total of $19,455

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Asita Obeyesekere and Kevin Kelcourse of its Boston Regional Office and by Mike Foster of its Chicago Regional Office, who will lead the SEC’s litigation of this matter. 

The SEC appreciates the cooperation and assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts and the Boston Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in this matter.  The SEC also thanks the Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for their assistance.

Here's a breakdown of the alleged ill-gotten gains: 

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American Mo Martin had never finished higher than 29th in an LPGA major championship but she eagled the 72nd hole to win the British Open at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in England.

Martin, who is in her third season on the LPGA tour looked like she lost her opportunity to win the tournament when the 31-year-old missed a birdie putt on the 17th hole that would have pulled her to within one stroke of the leader, 4-time major champion Inbee Park.

But on the 18th hole, with the leaders still having several holes to play, Martin landed her drive in the middle of the fairway. With winds greater than 20 mph on the 18th hole, Martin had a chance to reach the green with her second shot, where a 2-putt would pull her within one stroke and put pressure on the leaders.

With nothing to lose, she grabbed her 3-wood and went for it.

The result was even better than she could have imagined as the ball struck the pin, nearly scoring a double-eagle which would have given her the outright lead.

She celebrated with a little dance in the fairway.

This left Martin with an easy eagle putt and a share of the lead. Of course, things are never easy on the final hole of a major and the ball just dropped in on the left side.

What an amazing time to sink her first eagle of the year.

But there was still work to do. Moments later, Park bogeyed the 14th hole and suddenly Martin had the lead all to herself. But with the par-5 18th still awaiting Park as one of only two holes to play under-par on average in the final round, Martin took to the driving range.

But after Park's drive on the 18th hole landed in the rough and an approach shot ended up in the greenside bunker, she needed to sink her shot from the bunker to force a playoff. She left the shot well short.

ESPN cameras captured the moment Martin's caddy informed her that Park had missed and Martin was the British Open champion.

After Martin started the day seventh on the leaderboard, it was a perfect 18th hole and an incredible final few holes for the woman that had never even held a lead after any round on the LPGA tour.

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Tiger Woods is making his return to major championship golf at the Open Championship at Hoylake this week.

For U.S. viewers, it's going to be really easy to watch every stroke Tiger takes, as long as you're willing to get up early.

Tiger tees off at 4:04 a.m. eastern time on Thursday. ESPN coverage of the first round starts at 4 a.m. eastern, so you'll be able to watch him live on TV. There will also be a steam of Tiger's group on ESPN3.com, which you can access with your cable log-in.

Tiger tees off at 10:05 a.m. eastern time on Friday. ESPN coverage starts at 4 a.m. eastern and runs until 6 p.m., so you'll be able to watch his entire round live on TV. If you're stuck at work, the best way to watch will be the Tiger stream on ESPN3.com.

Easy as that.

As long as you're around a TV or have an internet connection, you'll be able to watch Tiger.

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Tiger Woods lost a drive right on his 17th hole of the day at the Open Championship, hitting a man in the face on the bounce.

The man was inside the ropes, so we're assuming he works for the tournament in some capacity.

Look at how professional he keeps it. He gets hit in the head, walks back a step, and talks to his friend like nothing happened.

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After a nightmare start, Tiger Woods rallied at his first major championship of the year, shooting at 3-under 69 in first round at the British Open.

He went into the clubhouse tied for 8th place, three back of leader Rory McIlroy.

It's an impressive return. Tiger had played just two competitive rounds of golf in the last four months coming into the tournament. While he has a history of success at Royal Liverpool, no one knew exactly what to expect.

He started the day in the worst way possible, going bogey-bogey on the first two holes.

But he responded by shooting 5-under over his next 16 holes to post a solid number.

This chip-in on the 11th started a run of five birdies in six holes that put him in competition:

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Twitter user @mikegaughan77 noticed that the 18th green at Royal Liverpool, the site of the British Open, looks like a crocodile.

Yes it does:

From the opposite angle, though, it doesn't look like a crocodile:

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If he couldn't before, Rory McIlroy can now buy his dad whatever he needs after taking home the British Open's $1.66 million first-place purse Sunday. 

His dad may tell him to keep the change.

The Guardian reports that Gerry McIlroy has won £100,000, about $171,000, on a £200 bet he placed 10 years ago that his son would win the British Open before his 26th birthday. McIlroy turned 25 in May.

The paper explains that Gerry McIlroy, then a Belfast barkeep, made the bet on a lark even as he slaved away to give his son opportunities to work toward becoming the world's No.1 golfer:

Gerry, 52, and his wife, Rosie, are credited with a crucial influence on Rory's stunning rise to golfing prominence. Gerry at one stage worked 100 hours per week to fund Rory's participation in amateur events. "From 12pm to 6pm I was a bartender at Holywood Golf Club, then, after going home for tea, I'd return to the sports club from 7pm-midnight to work behind the bar," he said in 2009. "I am a working-class man and that's all I knew – to get the money we needed for Rory to be able to learn and compete at golf," he added.

Two of Gerry's mates will also take home $137,000 on similar bets they'd made.

Click here to read the full story at The Guardian »

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Rory McIlroy is well positioned to become one of the world's highest-paid athletes for a long, long time.

At age 25, he has already won three of the four major championships and has a deal with Nike rumored to be worth as much as $200 million.

He also has the makings of a pretty fantastic lifestyle off the course, with a lavish house in Florida, a $400,000 car, and much more.

He earned $23.5 million last year, making him the 35th-highest-paid athlete in the world at age 25.

Source: Forbes

He made $20 million in endorsements alone.

Source: Forbes

His biggest deal: a monster Nike contract rumored to be worth $200+ million.

Source: USA Today

Tiger Woods finished his 2014 Open Championship an hour and a half before eventual winner Rory McIlroy teed off. In that moment, the Tiger Woods Era of golf officially ended.

Over the weekend, lead Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said, "There was a beginning of his career, middle of his career, and this is the end of his career, no question about it. And if you want to qualify 'era' as dominance, then the Tiger era is over, and we’ll never see it again."

Of the players who made the cut, only three finished with worse scores than Woods. This was not a surprise. Woods is just three months removed from back surgery. Nobody expected anything from him coming into the Open. 

But when Woods shot a three-under 69 to start the event, people suddenly started thinking that maybe Woods had a shot at contending. That quickly changed on the first hole of his second round. He pulled his drive left, chunked his second shot across the first fairway into more rough, hit his third shot over the green, then left his fourth short, and two-putted for a double-bogey six. It didn't get much better from there. Woods struggled with driver all day and barely made the cut.

While Woods tried to figure out his driver, McIlroy ran away from the field. 

"I’d say this was a coup d’etat by self-immolation," said Chamblee on TV. "We’re talking about a guy who has willfully dismantled a golf swing that made him the best player in the world. Saying ‘I want to get better’ is one thing. But most people say that because, well, they’re not good enough, and they’re not the best. Well, he was the best, and he willfully dismantled the golf swing that made him the best player in the world."

Chamblee isn't the only talking head in golf who thinks the Tiger Era died this weekend. 

At Golf.com, a roundtable of writers all agreed. Eamon Lynch a Golf.com put it best, saying, "This point isn't even worthy of debating. It's demonstrably true that Tiger's days as a dominant force are over, and not based solely on this week's rusty performance. Dominance is measured in majors, and he hasn't won one in six years."

In golf, most people focus on the putting "yips." That's when a golfer gets nervous with short putts and either pushes or pulls their putts and can't make anything. On the putting green, where it's a touchy stroke, it makes sense to be nervous and have mental issues. 

But there are driver yips, too. And Tiger has the yips with the driver. He doesn't look comfortable with the club in his hand. He's either pushing the ball way right or getting crossed up and pulling it left. Meanwhile, Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy, Jason Dufner, and Adam Scott, are winning majors by confidently bombing the driver and then hitting easier clubs into the green. 

Until Woods can fix that problem, he's unlikely to win another major. And even when he does win another major, it will just be another major. It won't be a part of the Tiger Era. That era is now over. 

Tiger, even if he's great again, is just another guy, according to golf's smartest analysts.

NOW WATCH: 7 Psychology Tricks To Influence People And Get Exactly What You Want 

SEE ALSO: How Tiger Makes And Spends His Millions

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Bubba Watson, Martin Kaymer, and Rory McIlroy won the first three majors of this year's golf schedule. But if we look at all three majors combined, no player has played better than 25-year-old Rickie Fowler, better known for his bright outfits.

Fowler, whose only career win on the PGA Tour came in 2012, finished tied for fifth at the Masters and tied for second at both the U.S. Open and the British Open. His combined score of 18-under at the three majors is seven strokes better than any other golfer. He is also the only golfer to finish under par at all three tournaments. In fact, Jordan Spieth is the only other golfer to finish under par in more than one major this year.

Many assume that McIlroy will be the next dominant force in the world of golf. But it looks like it is only a matter of time before Fowler breaks through and starts making a name for himself.

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Rory McIlroy is fresh off his first win at the British Open, the third major win of his young career, and he is already thinking about how to win next year's Masters, the one major that eluded him so far.

McIlroy also revealed a secret weapon that will try to help him complete the career grand slam.

His name is Jeff Knox, one of the greatest Augusta National golfers ever, and he has never even officially entered the tournament. McIlroy wants to play some practice rounds with the amateur and pick his brain.

McIlroy has played with Knox before.

Knox is an Augusta National member and holds the course record from the members' tees, a 61, which is two strokes better than the Masters single-round record (63 by Nick Price and Greg Norman).

Knox also serves as the tournament's marker, playing with the last place golfer on the weekend if there is an odd number of players who make the cut.

During this year's Masters tournament, Knox was paired with McIlroy on Saturday, the last player in under the cut-line. Knox actually beat McIlroy, shooting a 2-under 70, one stroke better than the Northern Irishman, and "showed [McIlroy] a few things"according to Bob Harig of ESPN.com.

After winning this year's British Open, McIlroy was asked about the Masters and brought up Knox.

"What really helped me [this year at the Masters] was playing with Jeff Knox in the third round," McIlroy told the media. "He's my amateur marker and he's the best I've ever seen on Augusta's greens. I might have to take a couple of trips up before it next year and have a couple of practice rounds with him.''

In fact, McIlroy has already sent Knox a letter requesting a couple of practice rounds prior to next year's tournament according to David Westin of the Augusta Chronicle. Knox has already agreed to help McIlroy, calling it "quite an honor."

If McIlroy wins, Knox may have discovered a new calling.

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Golf sales still stink.

Back in May, Dick's Sporting Goods highlighted its struggles with golf sales during the first quarter. 

Today, Adidas joined the "party." 

In a statement, the company said it expected to report that second-quarter sales in its TaylorMade-adidas Golf segment declined 18%. And this negative news for Adidas golf came amid a 10% sales jump during the quarter.

Adidas said the challenges in its golf segment were related to "poor retail sentiment and the slow liquidation of old inventory in the golf category across the globe." The company also said it would restructure its TaylorMade-adidas Golf segment "to align the organization's overhead to match lower expectations for the golf industry's development."

Earlier this month, Callaway Golf reported second-quarter sales that fell 7%, below the company's prior outlook for sales to fall 5% or less. Callaway also cited "high retail inventory" and "anticipated promotional activity" as drags on sales. 

Back in May, we highlighted this chart from Golf 20/20, which included golf through February, that gave a discouraging picture of how much people were playing golf. 

Updated through April, rounds played are still down this year. 

And aside from falling sales and declining participation, golf faces a less tangible problem. As BI's Jay Yarow, who is also a huge golf fan, wrote following Rory McIlroy's victory at the British Open earlier this month, the Tiger Woods era is officially over.

McIlroy is just 25 years old and may well be the sport's next big star, but this doesn't seem to be helping golf's popularity.

Tiger's popularity swelled from the late 1990s through the early 2000s, as did the sport's popularity. Tiger's ignoble fall from grace not only damaged his image but struck a blow to golf as a whole.

A post on the blog Sports Media Watch said that TV ratings for each of professional golf's three major tournaments this year declined double-digits from last year. 

Citing data from the National Golf Foundation, ESPN's Darren Rovell reported that approximately 400,000 left the sport in the past year. And earlier this month, Dick's gave the golf world more bad news, laying off 400 PGA professionals at its stores.

No matter the cause, something is wrong with golf in America.

SEE ALSO: Wall Street's Brightest Minds Reveal The Most Important Charts In The World Read

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Golfer Dustin Johnson announced on Thursday that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence to "seek professional help for personal challenges."

According to Michael Bamberger and Michael Walker of Sports Illustrated, the leave of absence is the result of a six-month suspension for testing positive for cocaine.

The PGA Tour doesn't publicly disclose punishments for failed recreational drug tests.

When Johnson took a similar leave in 2012, many speculated that it was drug related. In a story Friday, SI reported that Johnson was indeed suspended for a failed cocaine test in 2012. He also tested positive for marijuana in 2009, SI reports.

Johnson released the following statement on Thursday:

"I am taking a leave of absence from professional golf, effective immediately. I will use this time to seek professional help for personal challenges I have faced. By committing the time and resources necessary to improve my mental health, physical well-being and emotional foundation, I am confident that I will be better equipped to fulfill my potential and become a consistent champion. I respectfully ask my fans, well-wishers and the media for privacy as I embark upon this mission of self-improvement."

A source told The New York Post in the wake of the leave, "It’s one of the least-kept secrets on Tour how much [Johnson] likes to party."

In addition to the cocaine test, both SI and Robert Lusetich of Fox Sports are reporting that Johnson had an affair with another pro golfer's wife.

From SI:

"Johnson’s conduct has long been a topic of conversation among close observers of the Tour. He is often seen in bars near his home in Jupiter, Fla., and is also known to have had a sexual indiscretion with at least one wife of a PGA Tour player."

From Lusetich:

Not a huge secret either that #DustinJohnson had affairs with 2 wives of PGA Tour players. One broke up the marriage.

— Robert Lusetich (@RobertLusetich) August 1, 2014

Johnson recently got engaged to Paulina Gretzky, the daughter of Wayne Gretzky, who rose to fame because of her racy Instagram feed.

She consistently posts picture of her and Johnson having a good time:

Johnson will miss the Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship.

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Tiger Woods was forced to withdraw from the final round of the Bridgestone Invitational with an apparent back injury and now there is speculation that his 2014 season may be over.

Woods was struggling throughout the front-9 of the final round, grimacing after several shots. But it wasn't until the ninth hole when he appeared to be in great pain after his tee shot.

Woods's game was just not right all day. Earlier on one par-3, Woods' tee shot with a 5-iron came up nearly 70 yards short of the green (via @cjzero).

After his tee shot on the ninth hole, Woods struggled just to pick up his tee.

Shortly after that shot, Woods limped to a cart and was taken off the course.

After noting that Woods had withdrawn from the tournament, CBS Sports commentator Jim Nantz added, "and in all likelihood, the end to his 2014 season." At the very least, it would seem highly unlikely that Woods would be able to compete in next week's PGA Championship, the final major of the year.

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Sergio Garcia had a rough go of it yesterday in the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He entered Sunday with a three-stroke lead, only to finish runner-up to Rory McIlroy for the second time in as many tournaments. He also nearly caused a woman to lose her engagement ring. 

On the third hole, Garcia's drive hit a spectator directly on her left ring finger, knocking the diamond out of its setting and into the grass. The commentators were quick to call the aftermath exactly what it was: a diamond in the rough. 

Here's the woman's diamond-less engagement ring:

Sergio gave the woman a signed golf ball:

And then asked a course marshal for her contact information, assuming the diamond was lost for good. Luckily, it turned up not long after Sergio made his way to the green.

Watch the video below (h/t TheBigLead): 

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With Tiger Woods once again suffering from a back injury, it looks like he will be forced to miss the PGA Championship this week, the final major of the year. If he does, it will increase the number of rounds Tiger has missed (due to injury or missed cut) at the majors to 30 since turning pro. Of those, 28 have come in the last seven years.

At the same age (38), Jack Nicklaus had missed a total of eight rounds in his career at the majors, and none due to injury. In fact, by the time Nicklaus won his 18th major at the age of 46, he only missed 15 rounds at a major with only three of those due to injury. Those came when he was 43 years old and was forced to withdraw from the 1983 Masters before the second round.

Which gets us to why Tiger will never catch Jack: He is just not giving himself enough opportunities. Nicklaus' frequency of wins slowed down in his late 30s and early 40s. But he was out there every time and had more opportunities. Woods is not and there is no indication it will ever get better.

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