News: SEVE BALLESTEROS' condition has improved as he remains in Madrid's La Paz hospital recovering from brain surgery.
Ballesteros (51) last week underwent a lengthy procedure to alleviate pressure on the brain caused by an edema and to remove remaining tumour tissues.
A statement from the La Paz hospital yesterday said: "The patient Mr Severiano Ballesteros has a favourable trend in his neurological status, but needs to be further controlled in the Intensive Care Unit."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the hospital confirmed Ballesteros had also had a tracheotomy to help him breathe.
"It is true that he has a tracheotomy but, like many other procedures, it is customary and is part of the protocols established for similar cases," the spokesperson said in a statement.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: The season ends this week at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and, fittingly, the Charles Schwab Cup (and the $1 million annuity for the winner) will be decided at Sonoma Golf Club in California.
Twelve points separate Jay Haas and Fred Funk, the players in first and second, respectively, in the standings. With double points available, five players are still mathematically in contention: Haas, Funk, Bernhard Langer (96 points behind), Eduardo Romero (524 points behind) and John Cook (689 points behind).
Although the field open to just the top-30 money-winners, 29 players will tee it up this week as Tom Watson, 17th on the money list, will not be playing due to injury.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Anthony Kim has joined the European Tour for next season, leading what is expected to become a migration of high-profile Americans to spend more time playing in lucrative tournaments overseas.
The Kim (23), who has shot up to number eight in the world rankings, paid the mandatory fee for membership, but will depend on invitations for any event he plays in, the Tour said yesterday. He is scheduled to play at next week's HSBC Championships in Shanghai, the first event of the 2009 schedule.
The tour said Camilo Villegas of Colombia had also paid the dues to become a member, meaning both players can play in next season's Dubai World Championships, a €10 million tournament that will replace the Volvo Masters as the season finale to determine the tour's leading player.
"Anytime you get players from the caliber of Camilo and Anthony into the tour, it's great. It's an asset, it's good for golf, it's good for the European Tour," Sergio Garcia said.
Phil Mickelson and Mike Weir have also talked about playing more in Europe next season, and Garcia said he expects several other American players to seize on the moneymaking opportunities offered overseas.
Mickelson, who will defend his HSBC Champions title in Shanghai, said economic conditions and a lack of US golf growth had made it crucial to play all over the world.
"Certainly the dollar weakening over the past few years has made foreign currencies much stronger, making the purses much larger," the world number two said in a conference call yesterday.
"The US golf industry has been stagnant for quite some time, so all of our growth had been occurring on a global basis.
"As a professional golfer we have to adapt to that, and that means playing more internationally because that's where the opportunities are and that's where they'll continue to grow," the three-time major winner added.
