Cochran wins Asia’s first Champions Tour event
AMERICAN Russ Cochran has won the first Champions Tour event to be held in Asia whilst Australia’s Peter Senior posted three birdies on his back nine to further cement his standing on the US based over 50’s circuit in his rookie season. The 51 year old left handed Cochran sunk a birdie putt on the first [...]

Read more on Australian Senior Golfer

Anthony Kim won twice, starred in the Ryder Cup and climbed to No. 6 in the world ranking. That was two years ago, and it would seem the 24-year-old American would strive to get back to that level.

But as he makes his PGA Tour debut this week in Los Angeles, Kim is aiming higher.

“After the year I had two years ago, even though people said it was a breakout year, I don’t feel like I did anything super special,” Kim said on Tuesday. “I would like to do something super special this year.”

Anthony Kim makes his 2010 PGA Tour debut this week at the Northern Trust Open. (Getty Images)

And what does he have in mind?

“Win golf tournaments,” he said. “Nobody cares if you finish in the top 10.”

Even before Tiger Woods took his indefinite break, Kim thought he’d get plenty of attention in what could be a pivotal year to determine whether he makes the most of his talent or makes excuses.

For a guy like Kim, it’s a backhanded compliment when the PGA Tour refers to his 2009 season in the media guide this way: “Despite failing to reach the career-best numbers he posted in 2008, (he) still managed to finish No. 35 in the FedEx Cup standings.”

Kim said his only entourage this year will be his personal assistant, caddie and occasionally his swing coach, another change from having a posse of friends with him at most tournaments.

He already has managed to be in the news this year. Kim became the scapegoat for the Bob Hope Classic’s weak field when he was among nine PGA Tour players who took releases to play in Abu Dhabi. All nine were European Tour members, six of them were Europeans. Kim took heat as the only American, not to mention a kid who went to high school not far from the tournament.

Kim offered no apologies, saying that he will be playing more PGA Tour events than the 22 he played last year.

“We’re trying to grow the game everywhere. It’s not just about the PGA Tour,” he said. “If golf grows on the European Tour, in Asia, that only helps the PGA Tour. That’s where I wanted to start my season.”

Scott McCarron, who seems to be in the news a lot these days, was among those who criticized Kim for skipping the Hope. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but Kim ran into McCarron on Sunday in the Palm Springs, California area.

He said McCarron tried to explain what he meant in his comments, although Kim didn’t seem terribly interested.

“I saw what Scott said. He’s on the player board (Players Advisory Council), and his opinion got out in the media more than it usually would, or would at all,” Kim said. “I saw him a couple of days ago, briefly. He mentioned something about it. But he really didn’t bring it up to me, so there was really nothing for me to say to him.”

Going into a pivotal year, Kim is mainly interested in delivering a message through his scores.

South Africa tours India to play 3 Test Cricket Matches from 26th March to 15th April.

Both teams are coming from successful overseas tours. South Africa just finished their tour of Bangladesh where they won all the test and ODI matches and even moved past the world champions Australia as the best ranked ODI side. Even though India lost the test series 2-1 in Australia they won the Commonwealth Bank ODI Series beating Australia in the finals 2-0. Both teams are equal strong but the home environment will give India a small advantage.

A Brief History

In 1991, nearly 22 years after being isolated from the international fold due to apartheid, South Africa arrived in India for a three-match one-day series. And in 1992 India had the privilege of being the first international side to play a Test in South Africa since 1970. Here are the past series and results.

1991-92 in India – India won the ODI series 2-1

1992-93 in South Africa – South Africa won the Test and ODI series 1-0 and 5-2

1996-97 in India – India won the Test series 2-1

1996-97 in South Africa – South Africa won the Test series 2-0

1999-00 in India – South Africa won the Test series 2-0. India won the ODI series 3-2

2001-02 in South Africa – South Africa won the Test series 1-0

2004-05 in India – India won the Test series 1-0

2005-06 in India – ODI Series drawn 2-2

2006-07 in South Africa – Africa won the Test series 2-1. South Africa won the ODI series 4-0. India won the only Twenty20 international.

Here is the schedule for this series

1st Test – 26th to 30th March 2008 – MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

2nd Test – 3rd to 7th April 2008 – Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

3rd Test – 11th to 15th April 2008 – Green Park, Kanpur

The Teams

Both sides got many experienced as well as young talented players.

Indian Team – Anil Kumble (Captain), MS Dhoni (Vice-captain/wicket keeper), Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Wasim Jaffer, Murali Kartik, VVS Laxman, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Virender Sehwag, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh

South African Team – Graeme Smith (Captain), Ashwell Prince (Vice-captain), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher(Wicket keeper), AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Monde Zondeki

Watch the Matches Live

As the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry of India decided not to term this test series a “event of a national importance”, the first match will not be aired on Doordarshan (DD), nor on All India Radio (AIR), leaving several hundred million fans without access to the game. The fates of the other two matches are also uncertain. Most probably they also will not be aired for the general public.

Audi R15 TDI embarks on a world tour
Ingolstadt, August 24, 2010 – A new worldwide racing series focused on innovative drive concepts, new technology and reduced fuel consumption will stage its inaugural round at Silverstone on September 12. The newly incepted Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) makes it possible for Audi to tour the world with its innovative diesel-powered race sports cars.

Read more on Motorsport.com

PGA Tour Confidential: The Wyndham Championship
Every week of the 2010 PGA Tour season, the editorial staff of the SI Golf Group will conduct an e-mail roundtable. Check in on Mondays for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors and join the conversation in the comments section below.

Read more on Sports Illustrated

Zimbabwe Cricket offers to tour Pakistan
STARVED of international cricket for more than a year, Pakistan has finally received good news after Zimbabwe showed its willingness to tour the strife-torn country for a full series.

Read more on New Zimbabwe

Jesse Ryder ruled out of Sri Lankan tour
New Zealand Cricket today confirmed that Jesse Ryder has been ruled out of the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

Read more on 3news

Younis not selected for England tour
Pakistan in England 2010

Read more on Cricinfo via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Sport

After a dismal Ashes performance against a tough, rugged and highly motivated Australian outfit there are now serious questions marks over team England and the whole management structure which was so successful during 2005. So what has exactly gone horribly wrong for England on a winter tour to Australia that promised so much.

A large percentage of England cricket fans point the finger at severe lack of preparation prior to the first Ashes test in Brisbane. A couple of meaningless one day party games and two first class four day games matches against state opposition was quite clearly not enough preparation time for the batsmen and even more importantly for the bowlers who were severely undercooked for that fateful first test match that set the tone for a miserable tour. Relying on a highly rated seam attack which performed so well against Australia in 2005 potential match winner Steve Harmsion openly admitted he was very nervous before even a ball had been bowled and this is testament to Harmison being under prepared and lacked serious overs. Prior to the Ashes tour England bailed out of ICC Champions Trophy in another inept showing.

In order for England to compete against one of the great sides of world cricket, getting off to a good start was key. With serious concerns over the fitness of champion stand in captain Andrew Flintoff it was extremely disappointing to watch a beleaguered and disinterested Steve Harmison, in fact only Matthew Hoggard, who for the record is a traditional seam bowler, displayed the necessary fight and character needed to take the game to the opposition. Harmison soon announced his retirement from one day cricket after the test series. In this statement he claimed that it was to preserve his test career. Who does he think he is trying to kid? It is well known that Harmison suffers major homesickness and in a post match interview with ex former captain Mike Atherton he openly stated that he could not wait to get back home. With the comfort of a central contract, many fans of English cricket have wondered if the desire and heart of test cricket is still in the blood of the Durham paceman. Only time will tell.

Coach Duncan Fletcher has also come in for some serious criticism. The omission of the best finger spinner in world cricket, Monty Panesar and the insistence of selecting the hopelessly out of form Geraint Jones had contributed to Englands downfall. Many cricket experts such as Geoff Boycott has called for Fletcher to be sacked stating that every coach has a shelf life and that his stubborn approach had led to England failing in Australia. Having said that, Fletchers record as coach of England is excellent and surely has be given a chance to redeem himself in the forthcoming Cricket World Cup to be held in the West Indies, 2007.

The justified cause for optimism after the great series of 2005, English cricket has arrived at a cross junction in the world of international cricket. In the next few months we will see if it was another false dawn or that they have strength of character to bounce back in 2007.

India rest Tendulkar, Dhoni for Zimbabwe tour
India’s top batsman Sachin Tendulkar and regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni have been rested for a triangular one-day series in Zimbabwe in May and June.

Read more on Reuters via Yahoo! Sports