Woods, Garcia, McIlroy in the hunt at Dubai golf

Two golf marshals who were on the course during the Tiger Woods-Sergio Garcia "distraction" controversy on Saturday say Tiger isn't lying about how the events went down. A quick refresher on the saga:

Tiger Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational yesterday to reclaim the No. 1 spot in the world golf rankings.

The Tiger Woods-Sergio Garcia feud began in August 2000 at a made-for-TV match-play event called the "Battle of Bighorn," according to reports from Sports Illustrated and Golf Channel. The event was part of a series called "Monday Night Golf." It was a simple 18-hole match play event, with the winner getting $1.1 million (which was donated to charity). 

Tiger Woods was looking to close in on leader Rory McIlroy in the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic on Saturday with gusting winds complicating the job on hand for both men.The 35-year-old American, who last won 15 months ago in Australia, reached the halfway stage in a tie for fifth place four strokes behind the 21-year-old Ulsterman who was on 11 under par.Woods had his best round of the year to date on Friday with a bogey-free, six under 66 and firmly stated he had played himself "right back in the tournament."

The Tiger Woods-Sergio Garcia spat took another turn last night when a golf marshal said he never spoke to Tiger during the controversial sequence at the second hole on Saturday.

When Rory McIlroy recently replaced Tiger Woods as Nike Golf's highest-paid endorser, it felt like Nike was prepping golf's torch to be passed from one generation to the next. And Nike's newest commercial shows that they believe McIlroy can indeed replace Tiger.

World number one Tiger Woods announced on his website Sunday that he will compete at the 2011 Dubai Desert Classic, hoping to claim his third title in the European PGA Tour event.Woods won in 2006 and 2008 and has never fared worse than fifth in five appearances at the 1.9 million-Euro tournament at Emirates Golf Club."The level of competition has always been extremely high, so I know I'll have to play my best golf if I'm going to regain my title," Woods said.

Tiger Woods and Anthony Kim are squared off, just as everyone would like to see them in 2009. The setting, of course, isn't the final nine of a major but a clinic on a shimmering October day off the Pacific. Kim is hitting the shots while Woods—his celebrated left knee still on the mend—faces him from a few feet away and does the commentary. Tiger is holding a club, but his last full swing remains a 9-iron approach to the seventh green at Torrey Pines on the 91st and final hole of the 2008 U.S. Open, back on June 16.