By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Scott McCarron will undergo surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn ligament and bone spur in his left wrist and thumb. He is expected to miss the next 3-4 months.

“When I get to the top of my backswing, [the ligament] pops out,” McCarron said. “I was hoping it would heal. It’s been bothering me for a long time.”

McCarron made just six starts this season in part due to the injury. He didn’t make a cut and failed to break 70 in any of his 14 rounds on TOUR.

The procedure will be performed Dr. Steven Shin at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles. Shin is the same doctor who repaired Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul’s thumb following the Olympics earlier this year.

“I’ll be fine after 3-4 months,” McCarron said. “I feel very confident I’ll be able to play a lot of golf after that.”

While he’s sidelined, McCarron will be part of Golf Channel’s broadcast team at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and the McGladrey Classic.

At 47 years old, the broadcast booth is an avenue MCarron has considered.

“I’ve though a lot about it,” said McCarron, who has failed to finish in the top 125 on the money list the last two years. “I’m just testing the waters. So far, I’ve enjoyed it. If the right opportunity came along, I would consider it.”

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Tuesday was all business for President Bill Clinton as he hosted the very successful "Health Matters: Activating Wellness in Every Generation" conference held in conjunction with the Humana Challenge.

Now the 42nd President gets to enjoy himself a little as he plays not one, but two rounds of golf in the Coachello Valley this week.

The first comes today in a pro-am to benefit the William J. Clinton Foundation, which has partnered with Humana to present this week's popular PGA TOUR event. The event, which will be played at The Tradition, is not open to the public.

That said, there will be at least one high-profile spectator -- the legendary Arnold Palmer, who designed the course and has a home at The Tradition.

"I'll be there to receive him," Palmer told the Desert Sun, adding he was flying in early Wednesday morning. The King won't play in the pro-am but he is expected to have lunch with the former Chief Executive.

On Saturday, Clinton will play in the Humana Challenge for the second time -- this time partnering with his good friend Greg Norman in a foursome that also includes Humana CEO Mike McCallister and three-time PGA TOUR champ Scott McCarron.

The high-powered foursome tees off at 10:20 a.m. on No. 1 at the Palmer Private Course at PGA West.

In 1995 Clinton became the only sitting President to play in a PGA TOUR event at what was then called the Bob Hope Classic. He played with the comedian; two former Presidents, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush; and PGA TOUR veteran Scott Hoch.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- The first round of play has concluded at Sea Island with Webb Simpson and Zack Miller tied atop the leaderbaord at 7 under. Simpson, looking to overtake Luke Donald atop the PGA TOUR money list, took the lead after the morning wave. Miller, a 2010 q-school graduate and TOUR rookie, caught him after 14 holes and pared his final four to claim a share of the overnight lead. The lead looked as though it would be divided three ways until the waining moments of the round. Martin Piller, playing the day’s next-to-last group, suffered a bogey on the 18th hole to drop to 6 under, one off the pace. Piller joins Scott McCarron and Billy Horschel on that number. At day’s end, 77 of the 132 players in the field were under par. Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, Bo Van Pelt and defending champion Heath Slocum are among the players at even.

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Even longtime PGA TOUR veterans need to make moves in the Fall Series sometimes. Take Scott McCarron for example. A decade removed from his third PGA TOUR victory, the 46-year-old entered this week at No. 163 on the money list, needing to make up nearly $300,000 in two weeks to retain his TOUR card. McCarron can’t make up ground on that front on a Thursday, but he did set himself up nicely. The veteran closed with a trio of birdies to reach 6 under after the first round of the McGladrey Classic. He’s one shot out of the lead. “It was a very solid day,” McCarron said. “I hit it pretty well off the tee, hit a lot of good iron shots and I putted really well. I love these greens. They’re rolling fantastic.” McCarron, who hasn’t posted a top 10 since last May, needed 28 putts on a day he hit 15 greens in regulation with a new set of irons in his bag. “It’s a good start to the week,” he said. “I put in a new set of PING irons when I missed the cut at the (Frys.com Open). My other set, the grooves were pretty much so gone and worn, and I’ve just been so reluctant to change… That gave me some confidence to hit some shots and hold some greens and hit the right distances.” With renewed confidence, a hot flatstick and a start that has him one shot out of the lead, McCarron has a chance to move much closer to (or into) the top 125 on the money list and retain full status on the PGA TOUR. “I’m so very happy with the way I played today,” McCarron said. “I putted beautifully. I just love this golf course, and I've got a great opportunity in front of me.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Webb Simpson (5 under through 14 holes) is the early leader at the McGladrey Classic, but the guys one shot back may be on the minds of more players in the afternoon wave. Four players -- Richard S. Johnson, Michael Letzig, Scott McCarron and Paul Stankowski -- of the six tied for second are currently outside the top 125 on the money list. Their presence near the top of the leaderboard gives guys like No. 123 David Mathis, No. 125 Matt Jones and No. 127 Paul Casey a little something extra to think about before teeing it up this afternoon. It’s far too early to start predicting what the leaderboard will look like Sunday, but with such a high quantity of players outside the top 125 near the top of the leaderboard, at least a couple can be expected to make major moves this week. This leaves the current bubble boys knowing that they must at least make it to Sunday, or risk being on the outside looking in when the TOUR heads to Disney for next week’s Fall Series finale.

Shortly after Tommy Gainey made his way to the clubhouse after a 5-under 65 -- the week's best round -- Scott McCarron knocked his approach tight on no. 18 and tapped in for a 65 of his own ( Watch McCarron’s closing birdie here ). McCarron opened with a bogey on Shaughnessy's difficult first hole, but posted five consecutive birdies to close out his front nine. He added three more birdies against two bogeys on the back nine while taking a total of 23 putts during his second round. Now at 1 under for the week, McCarron looks safe to make his seventh cut of the 2011 season. The former UCLA Bruin missed out on the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup last year. Currently projecting to 165th in the FedExCup standings, McCarron still has work to do if he hopes to get back into the Playoffs.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- The low numbers continue to pour in at Aronimink, where Kevin Stadler and Cameron Tringale each shot up the leaderboard after course record-tying 64s.

Defending champ Justin Rose was right behind them with a 65. Ditto Scott McCarron.

“You combine calm conditions and pure putting surfaces, you’re going to get low scores,” Rose said. “I would have liked to have seen it get it more baked out today and be a little bit more of a test.”

Of course when you hit 17 of 18 greens the way Stadler did, it makes things a little easier.

“The course was a lot softer today,” Stadler said. “The greens were more receptive and there were a lot more accessible pins today.”

One of those pins, for example, is on No. 11, where Rose nearly made an eagle-2.

“They made a concerted effort to soften [the greens] up, whether that was for the health of them so they don’t get too far or because they wanted to see low scores,” Rose continued. “But with the pin placements, there’s an opportunity for a low one.”

Or several low ones it appears.

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- For two days, Aronimink looked like a major championship venue. Here in the third round it’s resembling something else with several players going low.

Chris Kirk is 6 under through 11 holes, Kevin Stadler is 6 under through 17 holes, Cameron Tringale is already in with a course record-tying 64. Scott McCarron carded a 65.

You get the idea.

How low will they go? We’ll continue to find out over the next few hours but with 23 players within four shots of the lead there could be some shake-ups on the leaderboard before the day is over

By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM Site Producer

Sounds like the most incongruous of golf pairings, but it wasn’t far from coming to fruition Sunday at Augusta – the Green Jacket and the long putter.

Adam Scott fell a little short of capturing his first major at Augusta National, but if he had it would have also

been the first major for the long putter, the one-time curiosity that is becoming more mainstream on the PGA TOUR.

Tim Clark used one to win THE PLAYERS Championship last year and finished second with one in the 2006 Masters. Nick O’Hern and Scott McCarron also use long putters. Belly putters are even more prevalent, as we saw last month with Martin Laird and Spencer Levin using them while battling for the Arnold Palmer Invitational title.

When Jack Nicklaus won his signature sixth Green Jacket with an oversized-head Response ZT putter, the public bought thousands in the days afterward. Might the same thing have happened if Scott had won with his 49-inch Scotty Cameron Studio Select Kombi? Who knows.

But don’t expect to see Scott with anything else anytime soon. He put one in the bag earlier this year at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and it has more than earned its place.

“After I saw some putts going in, it wasn't really hard to change,” Scott said. “The rhythm with the long putter is very nice, and that's something I was fighting in my putting with the short putter. So I started practicing with it, and the more I practiced with it, the better it felt and the more putts I made and eventually it was a pretty easy decision that I should give it a run.”

Scott tied for third at the Masters and had 111 putts over four days, which tied him for third in the field behind Luke Donald and the winner, Charl Schwartzel.

MORE BELLY TALK: World No. 2 Lee Westwood couldn’t hide his disgust with his work on the greens at Augusta and went to a belly putter for the final round. The 2010 runner-up finished tied for 11th, shooting 74-70 for the weekend after a Friday 67 moved him into contention.

“To come so close last year and get myself in good shape this year and then, on the greens, it just makes me feel like pulling my hair out,” Westwood said. “I felt a little more comfortable (Sunday) with the belly putter. At least I made one 15-footer.”

Westwood added that he “didn’t see any future in the short (putter) for a while.”

ANOTHER TIGER PUTTER?: OK, maybe not yet. But this photo from his trip to China this week is amusing. Look closely and you’ll see Woods practicing a long-putter stroke with a standard-length putter.

 

Scott McCarron couldn't be disappointed with his round of 63. But it could have been much better if he’d gotten any putts to fall.

The 45-year-old found all but one fairway and gave himself plenty of chances by hitting 17 of 18 greens. But for the third straight day, McCarron had 30 putts.

"I played very solid today," McCarron said. "I was very patient.  A couple under, then I birdied 12.  And, again, it was when am I going to start making the putts?  Left a lot putts short out there.

"Our scorekeeper said, 'If you made any putts today, you'll be leading this thing.'"

But McCarron, who finished second at the Wyndham Championship two years ago, vaulted up the leaderboard when he closed with four straight birdies.

He two-putted the par-5 15th from 40 feet, then rolled three more birdies from 9, 12 and 20 feet. The final one was particularly quick.

"That ball got above the pin," McCarron said. "I was kind of hoping it would come back but it didn't. I read it absolutely beautifully."

McCarron is trying to play his way into the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. He started the week at No. 142 and could make the field at The Barclays  next week if he stays near the top of the leaderboard.

McCarron has been around long enough to know not to get ahead of himself, though.

"We always say stay one shot at a time," he said. "Really do a lot of breathing and get out there and just trust it and let it go." – Helen Ross