Whoops!

That, in effect, is what LPGA officials said today when they backed off their plan to suspend players who couldn't meet English-language proficiency requirements next year.

The LPGA said it will announce a reworked plan -- a plan without suspensions -- by the end of 2008.

The Associated Press' Doug Ferguson has the story here.

Tickets to Central Florida's premier golf event are now on sale. The Arnold Palmer Invitational will be played March 26-29, the latest dates in the history of the 31-year event and just two weeks before the Masters. Tournament Director Scott Wellington hopes having the event so close to golf's first major will draw an even more star-studded field.

"We have always had one of the best fields of players in the world, according to the world ranking, including most of the highest-ranked players," Wellington said in a press release. "But we believe next year we will have more depth of players who previously have not included us on their schedules."

Tickets can be purchased at the tournament Web site, arnoldpalmerinvitational.com, or by calling 407-876-7774. Proceeds assist the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies.

Tiger Woods is one step closer to a foursome.

The world's greatest golfer and his wife, Elin, are expecting their second child late this winter, Woods wrote today on his Web site, tigerwoods.com. The couple had their first child, a daughter named Sam Alexis Woods, on June 18, 2007.

In an article appearing under his own byline -- kudos on that, by the way, Tiger -- he said, "Elin is feeling great, and we are both thrilled. While my injury has been disappointing and frustrating, it has allowed me to spend a lot of time watching Sam grow. I can't begin to tell you how rewarding it is being a dad and spending time with her and Elin."

Woods closed out his article this way: "I hope everyone had a great holiday, and I'm already starting to wonder if Sam's sibling will be a boy or a girl."

Vijay Singh continues to dominate the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs. Singh won for the second week in a row, capturing the Deutsche Bank Championship by five strokes Monday in Norton, Mass.

The Boston Globe's Jim McCabe writes about Singh's final-round 8-under-par 63 here. Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy asks the question many people have wondered many times before: Why isn't Singh more popular? In his column, Shaughnessy writes, "Vijay is the fly in the punch bowl at the wedding reception. His victories are embraced the way Patriots wins are celebrated by football fans who don't live in New England."

Today is the day U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger announces his four wild-card picks, as McCabe notes here.

By the way, did you see that Ian Poulter blamed the media Saturday when he missed the cut at the Deutsche Bank Championship? He said the press created too much of a distraction about European captain Nick Faldo's forthcoming upcoming wild-card picks, as The Associated Press notes here. Poulter and Paul Casey got on the team anyway.

Ron Sirak spoke to LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens about the LPGA's decision to impose English-proficiency standards next year and writes about the controversy here.

Melbourne's Steve Lamontagne shot a final-round 67 and won the North Florida PGA Section Championship on Thursday at LPGA International in Daytona Beach.

Lamontagne, who played on the PGA Tour in the early 1990s, finished at 11 under par and won $3,000. A picture of the winner can be found at the North Florida PGA Web site here.

Doug Rhea, Mark Rummings and Charles Raulerson tied for second place at 10 under.

Melissa Hatten won the women's championship, finishing at 5 over. She won $450.

Cheryl Anderson placed second, four shots behind Hatten. She earned $300.

Xenophobia or good business?

Cruel or forward-thinking?

The LPGA has told its foreign-born players that they need to speak English by 2009 or face suspension if they can't pass a verbal test of their ability to speak the language. Tour officials notified South Korean players of the policy last Wednesday at the Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore. Golfweek magazine was the first news outlet to break the story.

"Why now? Athletes now have more responsibilities and we want to help their professional development," Deputy Commissioner Libba Galloway told The Associated Press. "There are more fans, more media and more sponsors. We want to help our athletes as best we can succeed off the golf course as well as on it."

"A lot of Korean players think they are being targeted, but it's just because there are so many of them," LPGA Tour player Angela Park told Golfweek. Park was born in Brazil but is of Korean descent.

The 2008 LPGA media guide lists 43 players who were born in South Korea. Simply put, the LPGA is concerned that it will lose sponsors and fans if its some of its best players can't communicate in English.

So, what do you think? Feel free to voice your opinion in the Comments section below.

The New York Times' Larry Dorman had this well-balanced story today.

Bob Harig of espn.com offers his take here.

Newsday's Mark Herrmann notes that the LPGA could have held a news conference to announce the new policy. Instead, it finds itself in the middle of a public-relations mess.

The first event in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs ended in rousing fashion, as Vijay Singh out-dueled Sergio Garcia and Kevin Sutherland in The Barclays on Sunday. The trio was tied after 72 holes. On the first playoff hole, Garcia sank a 27-foot birdie putt to eliminate Sutherland. Singh followed with a 26-footer of his own to force a second playoff hole, then beat Garcia.

The New York Times' Larry Dorman has the story here.

While Singh's win evoked cheers from the galleries in Paramus, N.J., the players themselves are still trying to figure out how the FedEx Cup playoff system works, as USA Today's Steve DiMeglio writes here.

Tiger Woods told reporters in Dubai that he may not be ready to play in late January. His 2009 schedule is very much in flux as he recovers from his knee injury. Woods was in Dubai to promote a course he helped design.

How about some props for 18-year-old Danny Lee? Lee won the U.S. Amateur over the weekend and is now the youngest champion in the history of the tournament, as The Associated Press' Joedy McCreary writes here.

On the LPGA Tour, Cristie Kerr beat Helen Alfredsson and Sophie Gustafson in a playoff in the Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore.

ESPN.com's Jason Sobel wraps up the week that was in golf here.

Happy Friday, everyone. If you live in Central Florida, I hope you're staying dry. If you live somewhere else, well, I hope Tropical Storm Fay stays clear of you.

And, now, your whirlwind tour of the golf world:

Hunter Mahan (left) surged to the lead Thursday in The Barclays, the first tournament in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs. Mahan's 9-under 62 left Kenny Perry in awe, as The Associated Press' John Nicholson writes here. The New York Times' Larry Dorman chronicles Mahan's special day here.

Steve Elling of cbssports.com focused on how Mahan is still dealing with inflammatory comments about how the PGA handles players at the Ryder Cup matches.

You can keep track of the Barclays leaderboard here.

Meanwhile, the world's top-ranked amateur, Danny Lee, has reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur in Pinehurst, N.C.

The Barclays, the first event in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs, has started in Paramus, N.J. You can keep track of the leaderboard here.

As The Star-Ledger's Brendan Prunty writes, all eyes will be on how the players handle the signature hole at Ridgewood Country Club, No. 5, a 291-yard, par-4 monster known as the "Five and Dime."

CBSSports.com senior writer and former Sentinel golf scribe Steve Elling writes about the tweaks to the FedEx Cup system. As Steve notes, there's some added excitement because Tiger Woods isn't around to dominate the field.

"We have a race," Stewart Cink told CBSSports.com. "We have Tiger out, and we have a lot more changes going to happen in the playoffs."

This is also a huge week for amateur golf, as the U.S. Amateur has entered its match-play Round of 32. One contender is Kevin Tway, the son of PGA Tour regular Bob Tway.

Orlando-area golfers Sam Saunders and J.C. Horne were eliminated in the U.S. Amateur's first round of match play Wednesday in Pinehurst, N.C.

Saunders, a Trinity Prep graduate from Windermere, lost his match against Sihwan Kim of Buena Park, Calif., on the first playoff hole. Saunders had overcome a three-hole deficit with three holes remaining in regulation.

Horne, a Seabreeze High graduate from Daytona Beach, lost his match to Canada's Graham Hill 2 and 1.

Both Horne and Saunders survived the tournament's initial cut from 312 to 64 players after two days of stroke play on Monday and Tuesday.

Horne and Saunders will enter their junior years of college this fall -- Horne at the University of North Florida, Saunders at Clemson.