Fowler flies blind on yardage at windy Kapalua

Yardage numbers were often meaningless for Rickie Fowler on a brutal Friday at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii where the first round was eventually abandoned because of severe gusting winds.
With golf umbrellas bending sharply in intermittent driving rain and balls being blown off line on the more exposed greens, Fowler realized he simply had to choose his shot and then try to pull it off.
"For the most part, I told my caddie I almost didn't even need any (yardage) numbers today," American Fowler told reporters after the opening round was scrapped because of winds gusting up to 45 mph.
"It's more looking at the shot and seeing what the weather is, just grab a club and pick the flight and hit it. Numbers were kind of irrelevant at times.
"I had a ball that rolled up the hill on (hole) six with a gust; and that was a few holes back from when we finished. We didn't say anything. We were just kind of toughing it out ... guinea pigs up front."
Fowler and fellow American Jason Dufner had teed off as the first pairing of the day in the PGA Tour's season-opening event at the Kapalua Resort.
They had completed only eight holes, with Fowler slipping to three over par and Dufner sitting at one over, when play was suspended.
Organizers later decided to wipe out the first round and send the players out on Saturday in a bid to complete 36 holes.
"After the strong winds that came through and the weather, I felt like it was a smart decision," said Fowler, who booked his place in the elite, winners-only field of 30 with his maiden PGA Tour victory at last year's Wells Fargo Championship.
"Obviously Webb (Simpson) is probably the only one that may be a little bummed," he added, referring to U.S. Open champion who was three under for the round after seven holes. "He was out there playing well and had control of his golf ball."
The killer blow for Fowler came when he double-bogeyed the eighth after dumping his tee shot into a hazard, and he was delighted when play was abandoned soon after.
"I'm really glad that didn't count because after hitting that and hearing the horn blow a minute later as I'm walking off the tee made me a little upset," he said.
"I felt like I was playing pretty well up until we had to hit in some crazy weather on eight and I ended up making double. Other than that, one over par, I felt like it was pretty good over seven holes.
"It was brutal out there. You definitely had to be hitting solid golf shots and picking the right times to hit."
Friday's decision by organizers to wipe out a round due to poor weather was the first on the PGA Tour since the second round of the 2005 Players Championship was declared "null and void".

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PGA Tour's season opener at Kapalua gets mulligan

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — A bum deal for Webb Simpson. A big break for Scott Stallings.
And a mulligan for the PGA Tour.
The new golf season was not even two hours old when the wind squalls roaring down the mountains above Maui made conditions too severe to continue Friday in the Tournament of Champions. Because the first group off had only completed eight holes — six players had not even started — and the forecast offered no relief from the wind, the first round was wiped out.
Season opener, take two.
Rickie Fowler will return to the first tee Saturday morning, and for the second straight day, officially launch the PGA Tour season. But even that's in doubt. The plan was to play 36 holes, though the forecast was for wind just as strong.
"I can honestly say the forecast isn't real good, but maybe we'll get lucky," said Slugger White, the tour's vice president of rules and competition. "That's the hope."
Fowler already was 3 over for the day after a 40-mph gust knocked his ball out of the sky on the par-3 eighth and sent it into a gorge, leading to double bogey. Conditions were so tough that only two of the 20 players who had a score on their cards were under par.
One of them was Simpson, who turned in a remarkable performance by keeping it simple and making a few putts. He was 3 under through seven holes, and now starts from scratch when he comes back to the Plantation Course at Kapalua.
"It stinks for me," Simpson said.
Stallings already was 7 over through four holes. That no longer counts, either.
"Obviously, I was thrilled," Stallings said. "It was just really bad. I hit bad shots and got bad breaks. I'd like to know how Webb Simpson was 3 under."
The wind was raging along the west coast of Maui from sunrise, mixed in with clouds and bursts of rain. When the rain stopped, white caps could be seen dancing along the gray ocean below the mountainous course.
The only way players could have claimed to get the short end of the draw would be if the wind had died after play was suspended. Everyone faced the same conditions, except for those who didn't have to play.
"I got off to a great start, but that's the way it goes. I'm sure they made the decision that's best for all the guys," Simpson said. "But the good news is, I had a good start and I'm playing well. We're just trying to keep the ball in play and in front of us and I was able to make a couple of putts. And that's what you have to do on a day like today."
So much for starting the year in paradise. Kapalua in this kind of weather felt more like work than a working vacation.
The 40-mph gusts became too much when Carl Pettersson lagged a 40-foot putt that was slowing around the hole until a gust came up and blew it another 30 feet and just off the green. Hunter Mahan went to address a putt and the ball blew a few feet forward. Ian Poulter said he used his umbrella to shield the wind so he could mark his ball on the green, but when the umbrella moved, so did his golf ball.
"You couldn't identify the best players out here," Pettersson said.
The last time a round was washed out on the PGA Tour was at The Players Championship in 2005, when 30 players were on a soggy Sawgrass course. That tournament finished on Monday, and this one is also scheduled for a Monday finish. With only a 30-man field, it should be no problem getting it finished by then.
But 36 holes figures to be brutal on the caddies who walk a Plantation Course built on a mountain.
"I'm not sure how I'm going to feel," Pettersson said.
Bubba Watson, who had yet to tee off, said it looked like "goofy golf" from what he saw on television. FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker was on the practice range and told of an 8-iron that only went about 50 yards.
"I could have caught it if I ran fast enough," he said.
Those were the kind of shots that counted on the golf course.
Players were averaging about 350 yards off the tee on the first hole, with the trade wind at their backs. On the third hole, dead into the wind, no one hit a drive longer than 248 yards except for Stallings — his went 265 yards, only because it hit a cart path and disappeared into the native grass and was never found.
Fowler hit a driver and a 5-iron on the third hole. It's usually a wedge.
"Numbers were kind of irrelevant at times," Fowler said, referring to yardages.
That happens all the time in golf, especially on links courses. The problem, however, was on the putting greens. And the back nine is the most exposed to the wind.
Why even start?
"We aren't really looking for these gusts up to 40 mph," White said. "We had gusts up to 42 mph. I don't think you can just not try to play."
Kuchar was on the eighth tee when play was stopped. He stood over his 4-iron, then back off. He got back into position to play, and then backed off again.
"It just felt too funny to pull the trigger," he said.
Players originally were told to stay on the course to see if conditions would improve, and before long, they were brought back to the clubhouse. About an hour later, White met with them in the dining room to tell them the day was over.

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Golf-Play abandoned for second straight day at Kapalua

Jan 5 (Reuters) - The official start of the 2013 PGA Tour was postponed for a second consecutive day because of strong gusting winds at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii on Saturday.
First-round play in the PGA Tour's season-opening event had been entirely scrapped on Friday because of similar conditions and hopes of playing 36 holes on Saturday had to be abandoned.
Winds gusted up to 40mph (64.4 kph) across the Kapalua Resort's Plantation Course, making the layout unplayable. On some of the more exposed holes on the back nine, golf balls rolled uphill when dropped on the greens as a test by officials.
With the weather expected to improve over the next two days, organisers said they planned to complete 36 holes on Sunday and 18 on Monday in a tournament cut to 54 holes.
While 24 players in the elite, winners-only field of 30 were able to tee off on Friday before the first-round scores were wiped out, not a single shot was struck on Saturday.

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Insight: Security fears dogged Canada debate on China energy bid

OTTAWA (Reuters) - In September, two months after China's state-owned CNOOC Ltd made an unexpected $15.1 billion bid for Canadian energy company Nexen Inc, Canada's spy agency told ministers that takeovers by Chinese companies may threaten national security.
The rare warning from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which was disclosed to Reuters by intelligence sources, did not stop the takeover. That was approved by Canadian authorities earlier this month.
But the intervention and an influential U.S. lawmaker's warning in October that Canadian companies should be careful about doing business with Chinese telecom equipment companies Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp made the approval process for the deal more difficult than initially expected.
"CSIS did not like the Nexen bid and thought it was a bad idea for Chinese firms to be investing in the oil sands. It all played into their greater fears about firms like Huawei," said one person familiar with the agency's concerns. "They do not want to wake up one day and realize a crucial sector of the economy is under the control of foreign interests."
And after listening to the spy service, which usually keeps a low profile, Canada drew up surprisingly tough foreign investment rules that were unveiled when approving the Nexen deal, China's biggest-ever successful foreign takeover. In a clampdown on companies it deems influenced by foreign governments, Canada will block similar purchases in the future.
CSIS has been silent about what it said to Ottawa on the Nexen transaction, and it declined to comment for this story. It didn't specifically recommend the CNOOC deal be blocked, but rather warned more generally about such deals with Chinese entities, the person said.
In reality, the government was unlikely to want to block the CNOOC bid, given a high-profile push by Prime Minister Stephen Harper earlier in the year to boost ties with China, and given that a lot of Nexen's assets are outside Canada, and it has underperformed other energy companies.
SPECIFIC WORRIES
By pushing back aggressively, CSIS ensured that it got foreign investment policy tightened significantly to deter similar such takeovers by companies under the sway of foreign governments.
"I think people at CSIS and elsewhere are going 'Good. That was a very good response by the government'," said Ray Boisvert, a former CSIS assistant director of intelligence, who retired this year after almost three decades at the agency.
"It did reflect some of those deep strategic concerns that practitioners have had about this kind of investment."
Specific worries include theft of Canadian intellectual property, espionage, computer hacking and foreign companies gaining too much influence over crucial sectors of the economy, said the person familiar with the agency's views.
The government could, in theory, nationalize assets if it thought foreign control was problematic. But the pro-business Conservatives would likely find it politically unpalatable to take such a step.
"To be blunt, Canadians have not spent years reducing the ownership of sectors of the economy by our own governments, only to see them bought and controlled by foreign governments instead," Harper said as he announced the new investment rules.
In October, the U.S. House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee urged U.S. firms to stop doing business with Huawei and another Chinese telecom equipment company ZTE on the grounds that Beijing could use products made by the two companies to spy.
The House Intelligence Committee's chairman, Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, urged Canada to take a similar stance, and two days later, the Canadian government indicated it would not let Huawei help build a secure government communications network because of possible security risks.
"The Huawei business caused a lot of political complications for the CNOOC bid," another person familiar with the CNOOC deal said of the U.S. committee's report.
Both Huawei and ZTE have repeatedly denied the allegations in the report, and China's foreign ministry dismissed as "baseless" the idea that security concerns could impede commercial ties.
"We hope that the relevant party can objectively and justly treat Chinese companies' overseas investment and cooperation plans, and stop actions which harm Chinese companies' image and do more to benefit the promotion of bilateral trade and business cooperation," said ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
CLANDESTINE SUPPORT
In its annual report, released in September, CSIS noted risks that included espionage and illegal technology transfers, and said some foreign state-owned enterprises had "pursued opaque agendas or received clandestine intelligence support for their pursuits" in Canada.
The agency did not give details, but added: "When foreign companies with ties to foreign intelligence agencies or hostile governments seek to acquire control over strategic sectors of the Canadian economy, it can represent a threat to Canadian security interests."
CSIS, hit by controversy in 2010 after its head suggested China had too much influence over some Canadian provincial politicians, did not mention any country or firm in its report.
It is unclear how much, if any, influence the United States had on the Canadian authorities' foreign investment policy.
Fen Hampson, head of the global security program at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ontario, said he had learned that a U.S. official visited Ottawa in the last few months to discuss mutual concerns about foreign state-owned enterprises.
U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson told Reuters he was not aware of such a meeting, but he noted that officials from the two countries met constantly. "I would be surprised if almost any issue you could think of has not come up in one or more of those conversations," he said. "The United States has not sought to influence Canada's decision with respect to that (CNOOC's bid)... We respect that decision."
The Canadian government did not respond to a request for a comment.
Chinese companies have bought up smaller Canadian energy firms before, but the July 23 bid for Nexen was their first attempt to buy one of the larger players.
Nexen has assets in Canada, the North Sea, Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico. Technology that Nexen and its partners use for deep sea drilling could interest CNOOC. [ID:nL4N09N3R5]
Asked about the CSIS concerns, a spokeswoman for Industry Minister Christian Paradis replied: "The government has the authority to take any measures it considers necessary to protect national security."
Yet two people close to the deal noted that the Canadian government did not exercise its option to do a separate review of the potential security risks of the CNOOC-Nexen bid, again signaling its concerns were tied to overall Chinese investment rather than to this particular deal.
Under the new rules, which Paradis is responsible for enforcing, foreign state-owned enterprises can no longer buy controlling stakes in assets in the oil sands, the biggest reserve of crude oil outside Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
Such enterprises can buy minority stakes in the oil sands, or majority stakes in companies outside the oil sands. Companies deemed to have strong government links will be treated with particular caution wherever they propose to invest.
"When it comes to our security and intelligence services, they would rather pull up the drawbridge than let it down," said Hampson, co-author of a report on trade ties between Canada and emerging nations that he discussed with Harper in June.

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Huawei shows off 6.1-inch Android phablet ahead of CES [video]

It looks like things are going to get worse before they start to get better. Further blurring the line between a smartphone that is too big to be used comfortably and a tablet the is too small to be used efficiently, Huawei has plans to unveil a new smartphone-tablet hybrid device at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January. The Android “phablet” was recently shown off by a Huawei executive outside of a Huawei store in Guangzhou, China, and Engadget lists among the device’s key specs a 6.1-inch 1080p display with a pixel density of 316 ppi, a 1.8GHz quad-core processor, a 4,000 mAh battery and a case that measure just 9.9 millimeters thick. A video of the device follows below.

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Iran says defeats cyber attack on industrial sites

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Internet virus attacked computers at industrial sites in southern Iran, in an apparent extension of a covert cyber war that initially targeted the country's nuclear facilities, an Iranian official said.
Iran, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, has tightened online security since its uranium enrichment centrifuges were hit in 2010 by the Stuxnet computer worm, which Tehran believes was planted by arch-adversaries Israel or the United States.
The unit tasked with fighting cyber attacks, the Passive Defence Organisation, said a virus had infected several sites in Hormozgan province in recent months but was neutralised.
"Enemies are constantly attacking Iran's industrial units through Internet networks in order to create disruptions," Ali Akbar Akhavan, head of the Hormozgan branch of the organisation, was quoted as saying by the Iranian Students' News Agency on Tuesday.
"This virus has even penetrated some manufacturing industries in Hormozgan province, but with timely measures and the cooperation of skilled hackers in the province, the progress of this virus was halted," Akhavan said.
"As an example, the Bandar Abbas Tavanir Co., a producer of electricity in the province and even adjacent provinces, has been the target of Internet attacks in recent months," he said.
Bandar Abbas is the capital of Hormozgan province on Iran's southern coast and home to an oil refinery and container port.
Israeli officials have threatened military action against Iranian nuclear facilities if Western sanctions on Tehran's banking and oil sectors do not persuade the Islamic Republic to shelve its disputed atomic program.
Western powers suspect Iran is trying to develop the means to produce nuclear weapons. Tehran says it is enriching uranium only for civilian energy.
Iranian authorities said in April that a computer virus was detected inside the control systems of Kharg Island - which handles the vast majority of Iran's crude oil exports - but the terminal had remained operational.
Cyber attackers also slowed Iran's Internet and attacked its offshore oil and gas platforms this year, Iranian officials have said.

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Iran media report new cyberattack by Stuxnet worm

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian semi-official news agency says there has been another cyberattack by the sophisticated computer worm Stuxnet, this time on the industries in the country's south.
Tuesday's report by ISNA quotes provincial civil defense chief Ali Akbar Akhavan as saying the virus targeted a power plant and some other industries in Hormozgan province in recent months.
Akhavan says Iranian computer experts were able to "successfully stop" the worm.
Iran has repeatedly claimed defusing cyber worms and malware, including Stuxnet and Flame viruses that targeted the vital oil sector, which provides 80 percent of the country's foreign revenue.
Tehran has said both worms are part of a secret U.S.-Israeli program that seeks to destabilize Iran's nuclear program.
The West suspects Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program, a charge Tehran denies.

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Phablet wars heat up with ZTE’s quad-core Nubia Z5

2013 is shaping up to be the year of the “phablet” with virtually ever major handset maker preparing to challenge Samsung’s (005930) impressive Galaxy Note lineup. While there’s no clear definition on how large a phablet is, most tend to have screens that hover in the 5-inch range, though Huawei’s upcoming 6.1-inch smartphone will only push that boundary. ZTE’s newly announced Nubia Z5 packs a 5-inch display with full-HD 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, an aluminum case, a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 13-megapixel rear, a 2-megapixel front camera, Dolby sound and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. It even edges out HTC’s (2498) slim DROID DNA in terms of size with slightly thinner dimensions and a larger battery: 2,300 mAh versus the DNA’s 2,020 mAh. The only deal-breaker is the Nubia Z5 likely won’t be available in the U.S., but importers drooling over its specs can pick one up in China for about $554.

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Ford 4.6 Crate Engines Now Built for Car Owners at CrateEnginesforSale.com

Ford 4.6 crate engines are now built for car owners at the CrateEnginesforSale.com website. This company is now offering the V8 Ford and Lincoln series motors in 4.6 size to car owners or installers that purchase these for replacement in vehicles.

Hartford, Connecticut (PRWEB) January 04, 2013
Owners of Ford and Lincoln vehicles now have a way to purchase a replacement motor for a discount price online. The CrateEnginesforSale.com company is now selling the Ford 4.6 crate engines custom built for car owners. This new addition is providing an online resource for vehicle owners or installers of engines to find a custom built motor for replacement. More information can be found online at http://www.crateenginesforsale.com/ford-2/ford-46l-crate-engines-sale.
The Mustang, Lincoln Town Car and other vehicles in the Ford Motor Company lineup relied on the 4.6 V8 motor. This edition was introduced in the early 1990s and used primarily as an upgrade to the V6 series. The 4.6 variant was recently retired in favor of the 5.0 edition.
Vehicle owners or installers that search online for these replacements can now benefit from additional incentives offered by the Crate Engines company.
A new same day shipping policy has been created to help improve customer satisfaction. While most sellers drop ship motors, the warehouse inventory that is held by this company is independently shipped. New freight agreements have been reached that allow same day shipments for customers. These shipments are now routed out of the company warehouse immediately after customer orders are placed. This measure is expected to reduce delivery time frames.
The new Ford additions to the company inventory are part of a larger plan for growth started in 2012. Recent additions include Chevrolet, Dodge and import motors that are all custom built. The CrateEnginesforSale.com company has helped to strengthen its engineering capability and is now able to produce custom built engines at a faster pace. The news announcement for the Chevrolet additions was recently reported in a news release at http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/Chevy-Crate-Engines-Now-Sold-Online-by-4122879.php.
About Crate Engines for Sale
The Crate Engines for Sale company was introduced online in 2009 and has sold its custom built engines for decades offline. The new inventory additions made to the company warehouse have helped to introduce more buyers to the benefits of the motors now available. The complete lineup of Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, Honda and other brands are now in stock and shipping to customers in the U.S. The Crate Engines for Sale company offers warranties, same day shipping and dyno testing of all inventory to help improve the quality and performance of all engine builds.

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Susan Hankinson Announces the Release of ‘Tell Me a Story, Grammy Sue’

GLEN GARDNER, N.J. (PRWEB) January 04, 2013
With a desire to share her stories with children all over the world, Susan Hankinson penned “Tell Me a Story, Grammy Sue” (published by AuthorHouse), a simple, quaint collection of short stories about overcoming fear with imagination.
Each short story brings readers into a world of fear – most were taken from Hankinson’s children – and Hankins then turns that world upon its head by debunking the mysteries that cause the fear. Each story also brings bright, colorful pictures to help children immerse themselves in the story – imagination is key. As readers progress through the collection, they will ride an emotional roller coaster that will leave them wanting more.
An excerpt from “Tell Me a Story, Grammy Sue”:
“It didn’t matter when it was, I didn’t want to be the person who had to go to the basement for a jar of fruit. The cellar was very dark except for the glare of the light bulb on the far side of the room by the shelves of canned goods. The steps leading down to the basement were very narrow and squeaky, and I was sure that IT was just waiting for me to reach that last step and IT would attack. I never figured out what IT was, but I knew where IT lived - in my cellar, which was always cold and damp and smelled of musty clothes.”
“Tell Me a Story, Grammy Sue”

By Susan Hankinson

Softcover | 8.5 x 8.5in | 108 pages | ISBN 9781467035811

E-Book | 108 pages | ISBN 9781477293058

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author

Susan Hankinson grew up in the small towns and farms of northwestern New Jersey. Most of the stories she has written are drawn from her life experiences, or the experiences of her children. In addition to “Tell Me a Story, Grammy Sue” she has published two adult novels, “Aunt Daisy Knows” and “Feathers In the Blood,” and one other children’s book, “Carrot Walnut Pie,” has also been published.
Regina Y. Rispoli, the illustrator, states that her first loves are her husband, children and grandchildren. A very close second is dancing and painting. She started to draw and paint as a very young girl.
AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is a leading provider of book publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe and offers the industry’s only suite of Hollywood book-to-film services. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service, AuthorHouse assigns each author personal publishing and marketing consultants who provide guidance throughout the process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, AuthorHouse celebrated 15 years of service to authors in Sept. 2011.For more information or to publish a book visit authorhouse.com or call 1-888-519-5121. For the latest, follow @authorhouse on Twitter.

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