"If you mention player meeting to the average tour player you will get eyes rolled and a sigh."

John Maginnes previews this week's PGA Tour player meeting and gives us an insider's take on what these PTA-gone-bad sessions are like.

Most of the time it seems the agenda and the inevitable hypotheticals concerning it become belabored and exhaustive. However, this meeting and the meetings the rest of the year will be as important as any since the inception of the PGA Tour playoffs. The playoffs were an easy sell - and easy to explain in the beginning. The players like it when you throw money at them. When they perceive, rightly or wrongly, that there job is going to be less secure next year than it is this year even those players who have never spoken in a player meeting will stand up and be heard.

The path to the PGA Tour is changing, that seems inevitable. This week will find out just how dramatic those changes will be.

Either way, there will be a lot of resistance.

"Everyone has their price, a fact of sporting life that applies as much to Tiger Woods as it does to Hank Haney."

Lawrence Donegan previews this week's European Tour event at Abu Dhabi and it reminds that there are two things that'll be fun about Tiger's appearance there: (A) he's playing a golf he doesn't know, which doesn't happen too often, and (B) during his Tuesday press conference, the Haney book questions are going fast, furious and fun!

Golf Channel's Morning Drive says they'll be picking up the Tiger press conference Tuesday morning, though I'm not sure yet on the exact time.

Update on 2012-01-23 23:00 by Geoff

**John Hawkins described Woods' appearance this way:

So Tiger Woods will skip a tournament he’s won six times to play in what is essentially a conflicting event – I guess that “horses for courses” thing comes with an expiration date. At least theoretically, Tiger’s little Abu Dhabi boondoggle will cost the PGA Tour plenty, be it in ticket sales, corporate clout or mainstream-media attention. Consider it another gentle reminder as to who wears the pants in that relationship.

Update on 2012-01-24 06:37 by Geoff

**From Golf Channel:

Tiger Woods’ pre-tournament press conference at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship is scheduled air tomorrow (Tuesday) during Morning Drive (show airs live from 7-9 a.m. ET).  Woods’ press conference is scheduled to run near the top of the show.  Morning Drive also will re-air from 9-11 a.m. ET.
 
Morning Drive also will premiere Ben Crane’s newest workout video on Wednesday. Crane is scheduled to appear on Morning Drive following the premiere of his new video.  Morning Drive will have expanded live coverage Wednesday from 7-11 a.m. ET

Thanks for the warning.