Teddy Greenstein

SAN FRANCISCO - It seems so obvious now.

How could anyone have opposed allowing Casey Martin to use a cart? Why was he forced to sue the PGA Tour in order to pursue his dream of playing professional golf? Has anyone ever paid to watch Tiger Woods walk?

This jaunt to the South Florida beaches won't be a General Services Administration-style boondoggle with mind readers and bicycle-building exercises.

CHICAGO -- Bo Van Pelt has yet to sneak a peek at the Ryder Cup points list. Honest.

"If you put too much emphasis on (points)," he said during the Masters, "you're probably not going to perform. The best thing to do is try to win golf tournaments."

For a man who strives for balance in his life, Luke Donald endured a dizzying four days in November.

His father, Colin, died suddenly near London while Donald was awaiting the birth of his second child at his North Shore home. Family members advised him to stay in Chicago, and he was rewarded with an early morning gift on 11/11/11: a second daughter, Sophia.

CHICAGO -- Dustin Johnson loved having a week off between the Deutsche Bank Championship and the BMW Championship, which begins Thursday at Cog Hill.

It allowed him to lose a lung cheering for his home-state South Carolina Gamecocks as they beat Georgia 45-42 on Saturday in Athens, Ga.

"The last three years," he said, "I had to miss it."

CHICAGO -- If the 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup team reflects its captain, the American players will be passionate, warm and articulate, quick to laugh and even quicker to cry. And smitten with both Chicago and Medinah Country Club, the host of the biennial event.

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. -- Sergio Garcia went ballistic Thursday after blasting out of a greenside bunker during a bogey-bogey-bogey stretch.