HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Nick Faldo and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson will play in next month’s RBC Heritage.

Tournament organizers announced the pair’s commitments Wednesday. For Faldo, a golf analyst for CBS Sports, it’s his first PGA Tour event in the United States since 2006. Watson plays a handful of PGA Tour events each season, but has not teed off at Harbour Town Golf Links since 2001.

Faldo’s first of nine career PGA Tour wins came at the 1984 RBC Heritage.

Watson has won twice at Harbour Town, in 1979 and again in 1982.

Both Faldo and Watson are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

RBC Heritage tournament director Steve Wilmot says he was excited when the two signed up to play.

The event runs from April 17-20.

According to the last census, the town of Weyburn, Sask. has a population of fewer than 11,000 people.

Only one with roots in the town will be playing in The Masters.

Graham DeLaet received his invitation to the most iconic tournament in golf in December, and says he had tears in his eyes when he read it.

Without question the best piece of mail anyone could ever receive! pic.twitter.com/o6NdvL7Jth

— Graham DeLaet (@GrahamDeLaet) December 31, 2013

Now, he’s completed a practice round at Augusta National, and has one more tournament left on his schedule before the first major of 2014.

“It seemed fake to me, like it wasn’t real,” he says when explaining the incomparable course. “I’ve seen all the holes on TV and I felt like I knew the golf course going in. It was all I had expected and more.”

DeLaet recalls his most important Masters memory was in 2003. He was at a college tournament in Idaho and Mike Weir captured the green jacket.

“I was getting butterflies and goose bumps all over my body. I remember exactly where I was. When Mike won in the playoff we (Graham’s father and friend) stood up and screamed and high-fived and everyone was looking at us like we were weird.”

It was a huge moment for Canada.

Now, DeLaet has Weir on speed-dial. He’s looking forward to a practice round with his hero during Masters week.

Back in Saskatchewan, DeLaet is inspiring a whole new generation of golfers, just like how Weir inspired DeLaet.

“When Graham tees it up, the province of Saskatchewan will be glued to the television,” says Executive Director of Golf Saskatchewan Brian Lee. “Coming from a province which is predominantly football, hockey and curling-crazy, it’s always nice to hear people talking about golf.”

One of those people talking golf is Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall.

“Having someone from Saskatchewan in the Masters is ridiculous,” says Wall. “We are so proud of Graham – not just because of what he’s achieved in golf, but because he is a great Saskatchewan ambassador and a great guy.”

DeLaet admits that the support he’s got sets him back a little bit, explaining how things happened so quickly.

“The support I’ve gotten has been pretty crazy. It’s pretty cool to give people something to cheer about.”

DeLaet returns each summer to Weyburn for an annual charity tournament and sees that “crazy” support first-hand. He’s also happy to see how many kids have taken up the sport.

“It’s amazing to see the ambition of these kids. It’s become cool to play golf. Getting kids involved in the game (is) really the most important part,” he says. “If I can help get kids out on the golf course (and) if we can get another PGA Tour kid to come out of Saskatchewan, that would be unbelievable.

For now there’s just the one, but he’s about to play in The Masters. Perhaps, 11 years after Weir’s triumph, he’ll inspire another generation to remember exactly where they were on a Sunday in April.

Adam Stanley is a freelance golf writer and and Director of Communications for the Golf Journalists Association of Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @adam_stanley.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Texas Open is the last chance for players to crack the top 50 in the world ranking and earn a spot in the Masters.

The drama is lacking this year.

Richard Sterne is No. 53 and George Coetzee is No. 55 – except they’re not in the field at San Antonio. The only players at the Valero Texas Open who can move into the top 50 are Chesson Hadley (No. 56) and Ryan Palmer (No. 62). Everyone else who could make it to the top 50 would have to win – and that’s an automatic invitation, anyway.

Without any movement, Stephen Gallacher of Scotland (who won Dubai) is the only player who will have moved into the top 50 since the end of last year.

Augusta National began relying on the world ranking in 2000, only it was slightly different. The top 50 at the end of the preceding year received invitations, along with the top 50 a month before the Masters. Starting in 2003, the final cutoff was moved to one week before the Masters.

The club has never said why it takes the top 50 at the end of a calendar year. Perhaps it’s so players can make travel arrangements, or perhaps it was to give an advantage to overseas players, who compete deep into the year. PGA Tour members have more avenues to qualify throughout the season.

But imagine what would happen if there was only one cutoff for the top 50 in the world, and it followed the Florida swing.

Matteo Manassero (51), Branden Grace (57), David Lynn (65) and Peter Hanson (70) all were in the top 50 in December. They would have spent the Florida swing trying to stay in the top 50 or move back in. That change might be something for Augusta National to consider if it feels the field is getting too close to 100 players.

As it is, the Masters virtually is assured of having fewer than 100 players for the 48th straight year. But just barely.

WASHINGTON – Tiger Woods is not sure whether his ailing back will allow him to play in the Masters, which is two weeks away.

“For Augusta, it’s actually still a little too soon, to be honest with you,” Woods said Monday at a news conference to announce that Quicken Loans is the new title sponsor of his golf tournament. “That’s kind of the frustrating thing about this.”

The Masters is the only major tournament the 38-year-old Woods has never missed. Four of his 14 major championships came at Augusta National, including his first in 1997. He last won the green jacket in 2005.

This year’s Masters is April 10-13.

Woods is off to the worst start of his 18 years on tour, and he’s been troubled lately by back problems.

He stopped playing in the final round at the Honda Classic on March 2 because of what he called back spasms and pain in his lower back. He tried to defend his title the following week at Doral, only for his back to flare up again in the final round, when he shot a 78, the highest Sunday score of his PGA Tour career and his first closing round without a birdie.

Then last week, Woods withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational because of persistent back pain.

“I’ve had a couple weeks off and getting treatment and just working on trying to get ready for Augusta,” Woods said Monday. “As of right now, it’s still too soon, which is, as I said, pretty frustrating.”

This has been the longest sustained problem Woods has had with his lower back.

He first showed signs of back pain at Bethpage Black at The Barclays in 2012, which he attributed to a soft bed at his hotel. He felt twinges during the final round of the PGA Championship last year, and when his back bothered him in the final round of The Barclays two weeks later, he said it was unrelated.

At Monday’s news conference, Woods discussed a deal through 2017 for his tournament to be called the Quicken Loans National. It will be played June 26-29 at Congressional this year. AT&T was in the final year of its contract as sponsor.

The AT&T National began in 2007 with a military theme built around the Fourth of July in the nation’s capital. It has been held at Congressional for all but two years, in 2010 and 2011, as the course prepared to host the U.S. Open. In those years, it was played at Aronimink outside Philadelphia.

Congressional is under contract through 2014, and Woods said there will be a vote next week to determine whether the club would host every other year in 2016, 2018 and 2020.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Matt Every always believed he would finally win on the PGA Tour. He couldn’t have imagined it happening Sunday at Bay Hill.

Nine shots out of the lead going into the weekend, still four shots behind Adam Scott going into the final round, Every took advantage of a surprising collapse by the Masters champion and held on to the very end for a 2-under 70 to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Every made two bogeys in the last three holes, including a 4-foot par putt he missed on the 18th hole. That forced him to wait 10 excruciating minutes to see if Keegan Bradley could force a playoff. Bradley’s 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole missed on the left side.

Cocky by nature, Every choked back tears when he realized he had won in his 92nd try as a professional.

“It’s hard,” he said, stopping to compose himself. “It’s tough, man. You just never know if it’s going to happen. You get there so many times. It’s nice to get it done.”

Scott, in his final tournament before he defends his title at Augusta National, came undone.

Along with two quick bogeys to start his round, he didn’t make a birdie over the final 14 holes. Nothing summed up his awful day like the par-5 16th, the easiest at Bay Hill. Every made a bogey to fall to 14-under par. Scott, playing behind him in the final group, had a 20-foot eagle putt on the 16th to tie for the lead. He ran it 4 feet by, and then missed that for a three-putt par.

Scott closed with a 76 to finish third. He had to win to reach No. 1 when he arrived at the Masters. Now, the No. 1 spot held by Tiger Woods for the last year will be up for grabs at Augusta among Woods, Scott and Henrik Stenson, who tied for fifth at Bay Hill.

Every grew up about 90 minutes away in Daytona Beach. This was the first PGA Tour event he attended as a kid, coming with his father to watch Mark Calcavecchia, his favorite player. After a wild final hour, Every donned the blue blazer on the 18th green and had an audience with The King – tournament host Arnold Palmer.

“I kept telling myself, `Maybe it’s going to be somewhere special,'” Every said about going for his first win. “This is really cool. I still can’t believe it.”

Every finished at 13-under 275, one shot ahead of Bradley, who needed two late birdies for a 72.

Until Sunday, about the only time Every made news on the PGA Tour was when he was arrested and jailed on a misdemeanor drug possession charge at the 2010 John Deere Classic after agents were called to a casino hotel because of a strong odor of marijuana coming from the room he was in.

Every paid the price with a three-month suspension that kept him from retaining his PGA Tour card. He once said earning his card back was his greatest achievement, though that sure takes a seat back to his win at Bay Hill.

Along with getting into the Masters, Every qualifies for two World Golf Championships and the PGA Championship.

Jason Kokrak closed with a 73 to finish alone in fourth. Erik Compton, twice a recipient of a heart transplant, shot 69 and tied for fifth with Stenson and Francesco Molinari of Italy (73).

As big of a win as it was for Every, it was crushing for Scott. His long putter staked him a big lead at the halfway point, and it hurt over the final two rounds, particularly on Sunday. The longest putt he made all day was from 12 feet for par on the 15th hole, and he missed five putts inside 10 feet.

He had talked Saturday night about being in the prime of his career and needing to capitalize on chances. Instead, the 33-year-old Australian let another one get away.

Scott had a three-shot lead over Bradley to start the final round and had another sloppy start.

This time, however, he didn’t recover.

He went bunker-to-bunker for bogey on the opening hole and pulled his 3-wood off the tee and into the water for another bogey on No. 3. He appeared to steady himself with an up-and-down birdie on the par-5 fourth.

He didn’t make another birdie the rest of the way.

Every seized control after one of his worst shots of the day, and one of his best breaks. He pulled his tee shot on No. 9 toward the trees and the out-of-bounds stakes, only for the ball to roll along the cart path for a slight opening through the trees. He hit that 15 feet below the hole for birdie, and then tied Scott for the lead with a 20-foot birdie putt on the next hole.

And when Every made an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 12th, it was the first time since mid-morning Thursday that someone other than Scott was not atop the leaderboard. And it only got better for Every – and worse for Scott – the rest of the way.

Canada’s David Hearn shot a 2-over 74 Sunday. He finish 1-over par at 289 and tied for 52nd.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Adam Scott still has the lead at Bay Hill. At least five other players suddenly have a realistic chance at winning.

Scott lost more than half his lead Saturday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He missed three par putts inside 8 feet and had to settle for a 1-under 71. That gave him a three-shot lead over Keegan Bradley going into the final round.

Bradley’s approach to the 18th narrowly cleared the rocks and set up a 4-foot birdie putt for a 66.

Scott was at 15-under 201.

Matt Every (66) and Jason Kokrak (67) were four shots behind. Neither has ever won on the PGA Tour. Chesson Hadley and Francesco Molinari each shot 69 and were another shot behind. Hadley can qualify for the Masters with a high finish.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont. carded a 1-over 73 on moving day, which saw his drop 13 spots into a tie for 42nd.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Adam Scott keeps putting his name in the Bay Hill record book, each round moving him closer to another handshake with The King.

One day after Scott opened with a record-tying 62 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he hit his stride around the turn Friday with five birdies in an eight-hole stretch to leave everyone else far behind. Even with a three-putt bogey on his final hole, Scott still had a 4-under 68 for a seven-shot lead.

He was at 14-under 130, matching the 36-hole record at Bay Hill first set by Tom Watson and Andy Bean in 1981. And his seven-shot margin at the halfway point shattered the previous record held by Tiger Woods in 2002 and Paul Azinger in 1988.

Scott sounds like he’s not the least bit satisfied.

“The challenge might be just to start again and try and play a great 36 holes,” he said. “Start fresh and try to be the leader after the next 36.”

That would merit a visit with Arnold Palmer, the tournament host known simply as “The King” in golf circles. Scott has spoken glowingly all week about his first invitation to Bay Hill when he was 20. Walking off the first green, Palmer was in a cart to greet him with a handshake, and Scott was amazed that Palmer knew his name.

Now he’s the Masters champion, and the 33-year-old Australian is playing like one.

J.B. Holmes (69), Chesson Hadley (68) and Francesco Molinari of Italy (70) were tied for second at 7-under. Keegan Bradley had the low score of the blustery second round with a 67, putting him in a group at 138 that included Brandt Snedeker (71) and Jamie Donaldson of Wales (71).

“I think I’m 10 behind and playing pretty well for two rounds,” said Snedeker, who was off by two. “He’s playing pretty phenomenal. He’s going to be a tough guy to catch. A guy that hits it as good as he does and seems to have a complete game like he has, and the way he’s playing now, he’s not going to come backward. Seems like an awfully special week if you can get close to him.”

Scott played in the afternoon, when the course began to get firm under two days of full sunshine, and the pace on the greens began to quicken. No one ever got closer than his three-shot lead to start the round, though there were two pivotal moments.

He holed a 15-foot par putt on the first hole to calm his nerves, and he hit a gorgeous shot out of the rough from 167 yards and made a 12-foot birdie on the ninth. He went to the back nine 1-under par for his round, and he took off from there.

Scott hit a 7-iron to 4 feet on No. 11, got up-and-down for birdie on the par-3 12th, nearly holed a tough chip from behind the 14th green to save par, and then made consecutive birdies with a 30-foot putt on the 15th and a 7-iron to pin-high for a two-putt birdie on the par-5 16th.

He only made it look easy.

There were three rounds in the 80s, including by U.S. Amateur champion Matthew Fitzpatrick. U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, playing in the same group with Scott, had a 79 and missed the cut for the first time in a regular PGA Tour event since The Players Championship last May.

“This course will really start to bare its teeth,” Scott said. “I’ve got to take in the attitude of starting over again and trying to play a really hard 36 holes. And hopefully, if I can I can keep striking the ball like I am, I’ll give myself enough chances for birdie – and hopefully, more birdies than bogeys.”

At one point, caddie Steve Williams was some 275 yards down the left side of the fairway on the par-5 16th. His boss was barely visible back on the tee, but Williams watched his swing and instantly said, “Perfect.” And that it was, 325 yards right down the middle.

Scott missed only two fairways and has taken just 52 putts over the first 36 holes.

He was in no mood to celebrate just yet. For one thing, he is still recovering from being sick. His energy was better Friday, though he could barely talk above a whisper during a brief interview with Golf Channel before his round. And the Australian knows how a big lead can get away, even on the final day. He had a four-shot lead with four holes remaining in the 2012 British Open when it all went wrong – four straight bogeys – and Ernie Els walked off with the claret jug.

That’s a distant memory for Scott, who takes that green jacket from Augusta National with him just about everywhere he goes.

“Seven shots over two days is not enough,” Scott said. “I don’t think you can ever be enough in the lead, to be honest.”

DIVOTS: David Hearn of Brantford, Ont. is the only Canadian in the field. He carded an even-par 72 and is tied for 29th at 2-under 142. … Ryo Ishikawa had a 74 and was among those in the group at 5-under. The Japanese star has been working hard on his English. He used the words, “sucker pin,” in an interview, and then chatted comfortably with Jimmy Roberts of NBC Sports for about five minutes. … Southern Amateur champion Zachary Olsen made the cut. … Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer, had a 71 and was in a tie for 16th. … Paul Casey made a 7-foot bogey putt on his last hole for a 79 to make the cut on the number at 2-over 146.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Masters champion Adam Scott was feeling ill when he arrived at Bay Hill. One majestic round with the putter Thursday made him feel a lot better.

Scott made five putts from about 20 feet or longer, two of them for eagle and one of them from off the green for birdie, and matched the course record with a 10-under 62 to build a three-shot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The conditions were close to perfect. So was his work on the greens.

“I made a lot of putts today, and a lot of putts from considerable length,” Scott said. “I hit a lot of nice shots, too, but it wasn’t like I was hitting it 4 feet. I had a round like this in Australia at the end of last year – in the first six holes, I didn’t hit it outside 5 feet. There’s a lot of different ways to get the ball in the hole. But it’s good for the confidence. It’s what I wanted. I sat in here yesterday and said I’d like to make some birdies and build the confidence. And today is a good start to that.”

Ryo Ishikawa, who uses Bay Hill as his home course on the East Coast, birdied the 18th for a 67. John Merrick celebrated his 32nd birthday by reaching 8 under until a late bogey. He also shot 67.

Both were 10 shots behind before they hit their first shot of the tournament.

“That took the pressure off,” Merrick said. “You’re already 10 shots behind, so it’s not like you’re protecting anything. But this isn’t the Bay Hill I remember. I don’t usually play golf in Florida without 20 mph wind.”

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano had his best round of the year with a 66. Brandt Snedeker and Paul Casey were among those at 67. The lone Canadian in the field, David Hearn, opened with a 2-under 70. They were all but forgotten with Scott’s 62 on the board.

Scott walked from the ninth green across the practice range to the scoring trailer as one player after another turned his head and asked how low Scott went on the day. One caddie quipped, “Is there a 10-shot rule when you haven’t teed off?”

It was the lowest round in 30 years at Bay Hill, and it was good enough to make a large gallery following Scott forget for a moment that defending champion Tiger Woods is not here this week because of a back injury.

Andy Bean in 1981 and Greg Norman in 1984 are the only other players with a 62 at Bay Hill.

After watching Scott make another putt – this one from 20 feet for eagle on No. 4 – U.S. Open champion Justin Rose asked if Scott could get to No. 1 if he were to win at Bay Hill. The answer: no and yes. He couldn’t overtake Woods this week, but likely would go to No. 1 over the next few weeks if neither played.

Scott had reason to be mildly surprised by this round. For one thing, he had not been to Bay Hill in five years. Scott typically plays Innisbrook, but decided to mix it up. And he does have some experience on the bag. His caddie is Steve Williams, who worked for Woods in six of the eight Bay Hill wins.

Even more surprising, though, is that Scott said he was coping with flu-like symptoms, and still doesn’t feel completely healthy.

“It’s hard to say that I’m sick,” Scott said with a smile. “I feel actually better now than when I woke up. Just a bit under the weather. I can’t complain.”

Scott is a believer in the adage, “Beware the injured golfer.” He lowered his expectations, concerned himself only with the next shot and was more concerned with his energy than feeling any nerves.

It didn’t take long for him to realize it was going to be a special day, starting with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 10th to start his round. He got up and down from a bunker on the par-5 12th for birdie, made a 25-foot birdie putt on the 14th, and then rolled one in from 30 feet on the 15th from a collection area right of the green.

Scott drilled a 7-iron into 35 feet on the par-5 16th and made that birdie. On the front nine, he hit a pure 3-wood into 20 feet on the par-5 fourth for birdie, and then hit a tough bunker from some 35 yards away to 8 feet for birdie on the par-5 sixth.

It was the sixth time Scott has had a 62 on the PGA Tour, the most recent in 2011 at Firestone the year he won. But he didn’t want to look at it as anything more than just a great start, especially with half of the field still to play in the afternoon.

“Hopefully, with a solid round tomorrow I keep myself right in this golf tournament,” he said. “Like at any event, you want to start and put yourself right in it from the get-go and I’ve done that here.”

DIVOTS: Bubba Watson hit three tee shot into the water on the par-5 sixth and made an 11. He shot 83 and withdrew. … Snedeker had not broken 70 in the first round all year until Thursday. … Pat Perez opened with a 70, ending his streak of nine straight tournaments in which he shot in the 60s the first round.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Arnold Palmer believes age will be an issue as 38-year-old Tiger Woods tries to break the major championship record.

The standard all along for Woods has been the 18 professional majors Jack Nicklaus won over 25 seasons. Woods reached his 14th major when he was 32, but he has not won another since that 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. And now the world’s No. 1 player is coping with an ailing back.

“I don’t think 38 years is the ultimate stopping point for his quest to do what Jack did,” Palmer said Wednesday at Bay Hill. “I think it lessens the possibility of that happening. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be tough to keep the concentration and the type of the game that is necessary to win majors.”

Nicklaus won four of his majors after turning 38. Ben Hogan, with battered legs from a car accident, won five majors after turning 38.

Palmer, however, believes more than age is at stake for Woods.

“These young guys are tough, and they’re strong,” Palmer said. “And if they continue to play as well as they’ve been playing, it’s going to be tough for anybody – whether it be Nicklaus or Tiger or whomever it would be – to continue to win major championships. And we’re talking about guys that are playing good and coming on.”

He also alluded to Woods’ mystique that appears to have eroded.

“And the fear of a player being so good that they back off, I don’t think that’s the case anymore,” he said. “I think that the players that are going to win, and win major championships, have to be physically fit, mentally fit and they’re going to continue to be tough to beat.”

Former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell also said the strength of the field is as much an obstacle for Woods as his own health.

“I would say the field is probably the biggest issue he’s got, maybe 70-30 – 70 being field, 30 being body,” McDowell said. “It’s tough to say. He never ceases to amaze us. … You’d never put anything past him. He could prove us all wrong and show up at Augusta, win by 10, and you guys will be back to the keyboards and waxing lyrical and away we go again. Who knows?”