Golf: March 12, 2007

Phil Mickelson will play twice more before defending his Masters title next month. Mickelson said he again plans to have two drivers in his bag at Augusta and undoubtedly has worked with Callaway during his break to refine them. He will return for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and play the following week in the World Golf Championships-CA Championship at Doral. -- USA Today

Daniel Chopra is a longtime friend of Arjun Atwal, the PGA player under investigation after what police said appeared to be a high-speed street race ended in a fatal crash near Orlando. Chopra said his wife talked to Atwal's wife Sunday. "It's shocking," he said. "But from what I heard, it was 5:35 on a crowded road. They obviously weren't racing. It was more of one car going fast and the other car trying to get out of the way." -- St. Petersburg Times

Ernie Els said he has put the first-round loss to Bradley Dredge of Wales in the Accenture behind him and believes his game is rounding into form heading to the Masters. will play again on the PGA Tour in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. -- USA Today

Mark Calcavecchia won the PODS Championship on Sunday, coming back from the worst first-round effort by a PGA winner in a decade. Magic, he called it.

Eric Larson was by his friend's side as a caddie on Sunday, coming back from the worst mistake of his life and an 11-year prison term. Lucky, he called it. Larson was indicted for dealing cocaine in 1993. -- St. Petersburg Times

J.P. Hayes was taken from the PODS Championship course by ambulance after complaining of chest pains. He teed off Sunday but did not complete the first hole and was taken to a hospital. Hayes, 41, sprayed his tee shot 30 yards to the left. He hit his second wildly before asking an official for medical attention. -- St. Petersburg Times

Whether a change in leadership will make that much difference remains to be seen, for it was the PGA Tour that put the Royal Canadian Golf Association into its difficult position after handing the Canadian Open the worst dates possible this side of that laughable fall series it tries to pass off as a legitimate portion of the schedule. -- Toronto Sun