GOLF NOTEBOOK: Former golfer Wayne Westner commits suicide

Wayne Westner of South Africa, who won 14 times as a professional, died of a self-inflicted gunshot in Pennington, South Africa.

News reports said the 55-year-old Westner took his own life with a shot to the right side of his head after allegedly holding his wife, Alison, as a hostage.

The couple recently separated.

Westner teamed with Ernie Els to claim the 1996 World Cup of Golf for South Africa by an amazing 18 strokes at Erinvale Golf Club in Cape Town, South Africa. Westner finished second to Els in the individual standings.

After hearing of his friend’s death, Els posted this note on Twitter: “Sad day, our friend Wayne Westner passed today. Great memories; thank you my friend.”

Westner won twice on the European Tour, at the 1993 Dubai Desert Classic and the 1996 FNB Players Championship, and also captured the South African Open in 1988 and 1991.

After an ankle injury forced Westner to retire in 1998, he operated the Wayne Westner Golf College.

Woods ready to go

Tiger Woods, who has not played a full season since 2013 because of a back injury that required three surgeries, announced that he will play four times in five weeks early this year.

After committing to three tournaments early in the PGA Tour season, Woods also said he will play in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club from Feb. 2-5.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing in Dubai, and it’s fantastic to see how the city has grown phenomenally from when I first started playing there,” Woods said. “It was great winning in Dubai in 2006 and 2008. When you win in Dubai, you know you’ve beaten an outstanding field. The support from the fans is also just wonderful.”

Woods earlier committed to play Jan. 26-29 in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Club in La Jolla, Calif., where he has won eight times, including the 2008 U.S. Open; in the Genesis Open from Feb. 16-19 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.; and in the Honda Classic on Feb. 23-26 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

The last time Woods played four times in five weeks was early in 2013, when he claimed the last five of his 79 PGA Tour victories, three short of Sam Snead’s record.

“I am working hard to sharpen my game for 2017, and my goal is simple: to win,” Woods said in a blog on his website.

“I know many people doubted whether I would play competitive golf again, and to be honest, even I wasn’t sure. My love for the game never left. It’s just that the body would not allow me to play. Now my body is allowing me to do it again.”

Woods played for the first time in 14 months in the Hero World Challenge, which benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation, last month at Albany Resort in the Bahamas.

The tournament host, Woods shot 65 in the second round and 76 in the last, led the field with 24 birdies and also with six double bogeys, and finished 15th in the field of 17 players.

Day’s back better

Jason Day of Australia, No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, tied for 12th last week in the SBS Tournament of Champions, the 2017 opener on the PGA Tour, after withdrawing from his last two events in 2016 because of a back injury.

Day claimed at Kapalua that his back is better, and he also reflected on a 2014 thumb injury.

“I actually thought I was going to have to quit the game because of the thumb, because I literally couldn’t hold the club,” said Day, who has claimed nine of his 10 PGA Tour victories in the past three seasons. “You can get away with a bad back a little bit every now and then; you can kind of get through it.

“I remember sitting there and they would pull the thumb, so the knuckle could expand and they could inject in between the knuckle. It hurt, I mean, like hell, it hurt so bad. I was just trying to get some sort of numbness so I could actually hold the club.”

Day said the thumb injury bothered him for much of 2014 before going away, and at one point he had three cortisone shots in four weeks.

Spieth back at Augusta National

Jordan Spieth told reporters last week before the SBS Tournament of Champions that he went back to Augusta National Golf Club in December, eight months after he blew a five-stroke lead on the back nine as he tried to repeat as Masters champion.

Most memorable in Spieth’s collapse was a quadruple-bogey 7 on the famed 12th hole, where he hit two shots into Rae’s Creek.

This time, Spieth hit his tee shot with an 8-iron over the bunker that guards the front of the green and sank a 15-foot birdie putt.

“First time back; I was very nervous when I got on 12 tee,” said Spieth, who said he celebrated a bit after making his birdie. “I probably gave like a big fist pump. I was walking around with my hands up, like, ‘Demons gone.’”

Spieth played the course again the next morning and hit his tee shot onto the green with a 9-iron to within 3 feet for another birdie.

Eight months too late.