Earlier this fine Monday morning the 2010 Tavistock Cup got underway. The world’s most talented interclub championship features some of the best golfers in the world. I have it on the ‘ol TV right now, and am listening to it in the background while I work away here. This years’ edition looks to be another stellar competition, even though the world’s #1 isn’t present. The Isleworth and Lake Nona teams are both stacked to the hilt. In fact, the talent is rediculous. Below are the lineups for the 2010 Tavistock Cup:

Team Lake Nona:

• Ben Curtis
• Ernie Els
• Ross Fisher
• Retief Goosen
• Peter Hanson
• Trevor Immelman
• Graeme McDowell
• Ian Poulter
• Justin Rose
• Henrik Stenson

Team Isleworth:

• Robert Allenby
• Stuart Appleby
• Arjun Atwal
• John Cook
• Brian Davis
• J.B. Holmes
• Charles Howell III
• Lee Janzen
• Nick O’Hern
• Mark O’Meara

Early betting have the odds in favor of the Lake Nona team, but heck, how could you ever count out an Isleworth team chalked-full of major winners? I’m really looking forward to the great shots that are sure to hit us over the competition. All players are out on the Isleworth course right now, and the wind is picking up… Should be a challenging first day.

The folks at PGATour.com did a post that proposed six reasons why Tiger returning for The Masters makes sense.  Not that the listing is in any particular order, but the first one happens to be “Controlled Environment.”  We all know Tiger likes control.

Reason 5, “Competing Storyline” makes a good point.  The Masters event is the first “major” of the year.  According to Nielsen, when comparing TV ratings for the final rounds of golf’s four major tournaments since 1977, they found that the top ten telecasts were all from the Masters.

Clearly, with or without Tiger, The Masters tournament itself is an attention getter.  We already noted that The Masters will be available in 3-D, which is a storyline too.  No doubt, Tiger will be the main attraction this year, but he won’t be the only story.

As for six reasons CBS and ESPN should be ecstatic about Tiger’s return (ESPN will air the first two rounds while CBS will broadcast the final two round), check these numbers from a Nielsen Wire post that appeared in February 2009:

The Nielsen Company compared the network TV ratings for the 3rd and 4th rounds of golf tournaments played by Woods after the U.S. Open in 2007 with those same tournaments he missed in 2008 due to a season-ending knee injury. And the results are just what you might expect: Tiger’s absence almost singlehandedly sliced tour ratings in half.

For the broadcasters, and let’s include the Golf Channel in that mix, all six reasons have to do with dollar bills (perhaps “pots of gold”).

The AP is reporting that Farmers Insurance Group has just signed a 4-year title sponsorship deal for the PGA Tour stop held at Torrey Pines in San Diego.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.  PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem did say that next year’s purse would increase half a million from this year, to $5.8 million.

The Torrey Pines event, now known as the Farmers Insurance Open, is held during the West Coast Swing in January.  For the 2010 event, Farmers signed on to be title sponsor the week before the event.  Since 1992, it had been known as the Buick Invitational.  Things changed when the automaker’s parent company, General Motors, filed for bankruptcy and ended its sponsorship last year.

Another day, another 3D announcement.  This time, it came from an unlikely source — Augusta National Golf Club and Masters Tournament Chairman Billy Payne.  They just issued a press release stating that the 2010 Masters will be produced and broadcast live in 3D.

“This innovative step forward, the first of its kind in golf, will include multiple 3D cameras placed strategically throughout the course resulting in perspectives never before seen of Augusta National.”

Sony, IBM and Comcast on board.

Sony Electronics will support the golf effort not only as a sponsor of the 3D Masters telecast, but will showcase the latest advances in professional camera equipment and its 3D-capable televisions. Comcast will join in the production effort and provide the distribution channels necessary to deliver the content free to its households throughout the U.S. Additionally, Comcast and IBM, the tournament’s technology partner, will combine efforts to offer the 3D feed via www.masters.com.

There will be two hours of live afternoon 3D coverage each day starting with  the Par 3 Contest scheduled for April 7.