NEWS AND NOTES

Author:
Chris Lewis

Ernie's Out For PGA, Prez Cup

Ernie Els (above), the third-ranked player in the world, will sit out the rest of the season after injuring his left knee while playing with his kids on an Italian beach. Els, 35, who had surgery on the knee last Thursday at a hospital near his home in Wentworth, England, had been on a sailing vacation in the Mediterranean with his family. "Obviously the timing is unfortunate," Els said.

TWO WEEKS TO GO

U.S. Presidents Cup standings are based on earnings, the Internationals' on World Ranking. The top 10 qualify for the match, Sept. 23-25 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Lake Manassas, Va.

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¬†	U.S.	¬†	INTERNATIONAL	¬†
1.	Tiger Woods	19,378,819	Vijay Singh	12.11
2.	Phil Mickelson	14,322,372	Ernie Els	9.21
3.	David Toms	9,066,858	Retief Goosen	7.21
4.	Kenny Perry	8,004,453	Adam Scott	5.76
5.	Chris DiMarco	7,718,466	Angel Cabrera	5.01
6.	Jim Furyk	7,325,012	Tim Clark	4.14
7.	Fred Funk	7,176,038	Michael Campbell	3.86
8.	Stewart Cink	6,925,277	Nick O'Hern	3.49
9.	Davis Love III	6,507,884	Stuart Appleby	3.43
10.	Scott Verplank	6,246,985	Mike Weir	3.42
11.	Justin Leonard	6,022,456	Mark Hensby	3.23
12.	Zach Johnson	5,352,722	Peter Lonard	2.98
13.	Chad Campbell	5,143,542	K.J. Choi	2.76
14.	Ted Purdy	4,748,923	Shigeki Maruyama	2.73
15.	Joe Ogilvie	4,567,634	Stephen Ames	2.64

¬†

O'HAIR'S OFF THE HOOK

Marc O'Hair, the estranged father of Tour rookie Sean, said in a statement that he is releasing his son from two contracts that call for Sean to pay him 10% of all his earnings and repay the $2 million that Marc says he spent developing Sean's game. Sean called the release "words written on paper. I haven't read it and am not planning to."

--C.L.

COLOR PHOTO

ALASTAIR GRANT/AP (ELS)

COLOR PHOTO