Für unsere Gäste » g to the next three holes was big."

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The European Tour announced on Tuesday that it will group at least seven of its marquee events together as the Rolex Series and will be scrapping the Final Series format beginning with the 2017 season.The BMW PGA Championship, the Irish Open, the Scottish Open and the Italian Open will join the three Final Series events -- the Turkish Airlines Open, the Nedbank Golf Challenge and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship -- as part of the new schedule.The Race to Dubai, formerly known as the Order of Merit, will be retained. Each of the seven events will have a prize purse of at least $7 million.The cash-rich events are part of European Tour chief executive Keith Pelleys plans to have tournaments in Europe that can compete with the prize funds available on the PGA Tour. He believes they will prevent young European players from moving to the U.S., as well as attract PGA Tour stars to play in Europe.Pelley, speaking ahead of this weeks DP World Tour Championship, said that eight or nine events could end up as part of the Rolex Series next season and that its his goal to increase that number to 10 tournaments in 2018.He also said that the $7 million minimum is the threshold that we felt that was needed to produce something of a high quality for the series. Investments by the Tour in its television and digital productions and the pursuit of additional marketing and sponsorship opportunities are also part of the plan.Pelley said the Tour and Rolex will subsidize tournaments such as the Irish Open and Scottish Open to allow them to distribute at least $7 million to players.The Tour will also start the Access List, which will be a separate money list that will not include earnings from the Rolex Series, the Masters, the PGA Championship or the four World Golf Championships. The top three players on that list will be invited to play in Rolex Series events, and the top 10 finishers will be eligible for full European Tour membership for the following season. PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- A weekend filled with sharp words between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia came down to one last showdown Sunday in The Players Championship, this one staged across the water in a tiny, terrifying section of the TPC Sawgrass. Tied for the lead with two holes to play, Woods kept his shots on land and made two pars. Garcia hit three balls into the water for a quadruple bogey-double bogey finish. If there was special satisfaction in beating Garcia again, Woods kept that to himself. What mattered was having a chance to win, closing it out like he does so often, and capturing the richest prize on the PGA Tour for the first time in a dozen years. "We just go out there and play," Woods said. "I had an opportunity to win the golf tournament when I was tied for the lead today, and I thought I handled the situation well and really played well today when I really needed to. And thats something Im excited about it." Woods allowed the final hour to turn into a tense duel by hooking his tee shot into the water on the 14th hole for double bogey. But his short game bailed him out to save par on the 15th and make a critical birdie on the 16th, and he was solid on the final two holes for a 2-under 70. If only it were that simple for the Spaniard. Garcia was standing on the 17th tee shot, staring across to the island green to watch Woods make his par. He took aim at the flag with his wedge and hung his head when he saw the ball splashed down short of the green. Then, Garcia hit another one in the water on his way to a quadruple-bogey 7. The meltdown was complete when Garcia hit his tee shot into the water on the 18th. "Its always nice to have a chance at beating the No. 1 player in the world, but unfortunately for me, I wasnt able to this week," Garcia said. Woods was in the scoring trailer when he watched on TV as Swedish rookie David Lingmerth missed a long birdie putt that would have forced a playoff. It raced by the cup, and Lingmerth three-putted for bogey. "How about that?" Woods said to his caddie, Joe LaCava as he gave him a hug. Woods finished on 13-under 275. He won The Players for the first time since 2001 and became the fifth multiple winner at Sawgrass since The Players moved to this former swamp in 1982. It was his 78th career win on the PGA Tour, four short of the record held by Sam Snead. And it was his first time winning with his girlfriend, Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn, at the tournament. Lingmerth closed with a 72 and finished two shots behind along with Kevin Streelman (67) and Jeff Maggert, who also was tied for the lead until finding the water on the 17th to make double bogey. The 49-year-old Maggert birdied the 18th for a 70. Garcia took 13 shots to cover the final two holes -- 6-over par -- and tumbled into a tie for eighth. There was a four-way tie for the lead after Woods made his double bogey, and the infamous 17th green took out Maggert and Garcia. After Garcia went into the water twice, Lingmerth missed an 8-foot birdie putt that would have tied him for the lead. Given their public sniping at each other over the weekend, it was only fitting that Garcia had the best chance to beat Woods. Their dispute started Saturday when Garcia complained in a TV interview that his shot from the par-5 second fairway was disrupted by cheers from the crowd around Woods, who was some 50 yards away in the trees and fired them up by taking a fairway metal out of his bag. He said Woods should have been paying attention, and it became a war of the words the next two days. "Not real surprising that hes complaining about something," Woods said. "At least Im true to myself," Garciia retorted.dddddddddddd "I know what Im doing, and he can do whatever he wants." When they finished the storm-delayed third round Sunday morning, Garcia kept at it, saying that Woods is "not the nicest guy on tour." Woods had the last laugh. He had the trophy. Garcia, when asked if he would have changed anything about the flap with Woods, replied, "It sounds like I was the bad guy here. I was the victim. I dont have any regrets of anything." The real villain was the infamous 17th hole. "When youve got water in front of the green, thats not a good time to be short of the green. You know, it was close," Maggert said. "What can I say? A wrong shot at the wrong time and you get penalized on this golf course." It was at the 17th hole five years ago where Garcia won The Players Championship, when Paul Goydos hit into the water in a sudden-death playoff. This time, the island green got its revenge on him. Garcia hit a wedge and felt he caught it just a little bit thin, which is usually all it takes. "That hole has been good to me for the most part," Garcia said. "Today, it wasnt. Thats the way it is. Thats the kind of hole it is. Youve got to love it for what it is." Woods earned $1.71 million, pushing his season total to over $5.8 million in just seven tournaments. This is the 12th season he has won at least four times -- that used to be the standard of a great year before he joined the PGA Tour in 1996 -- and this was the quickest he has reached four wins in a year. It was the second time has won on Mothers Day. "Sorry, Mom," he said into the camera. "I think she might have had a heart attack. I was in control of the tournament, and I just hit the worst shot I could possibly hit." Typical of Woods these days, there were questions about where he took the drop -- some 255 yards from the hole. NBC Sports analyst Johnny Miller suggested it was a "borderline" where he took the drop. But Mark Russell, vice-president of competition for the PGA Tour, said there was nothing wrong with the drop. Woods conferred with Casey Wittenberg, who said there was "no doubt" that Woods took the drop in the right spot. "He asked me exactly where it crossed," Wittenberg said. "I told him I thought it crossed on the corner of the bunker, right where he took his drop. And its all good." Woods wound up with a double bogey, and he nearly fell out of the lead on the 15th until he saved par with an 8-foot putt. "The shot that turned the tide was the putt on 15," Woods said. "To go double bogey-bogey would have been huge. But to save a putt there and get some momentum going to the next three holes was big." Woods and Garcia played four tension-free holes Sunday morning to complete the third round, and they shook hands without words when they finished -- Woods with a 71, Garcia with a 72 to share the 54-hole lead with Lingmerth. With a three-way tie, Garcia wound up in the final group because he was first to play at the start of the third round. Garcia, however, continued to fuel the bad feelings between them. He told Sky Sports, "Im not going to lie, hes not my favourite guy to play with. Hes not the nicest guy on tour." And then he told Golf Channel, "We dont enjoy each others company. You dont need to be a rocket engineer to figure that out." Woods downplayed the episode and said it didnt matter who joined him on the tee. "Im tied for the lead, so Im right there." And thats where he usually wins. Woods now is 53-4 in his PGA Tour career when he has at least a share of the lead going into the final round. ' ' '