Ian Poulter said Thursday a British golf magazine took his words out of context when it quoted him as saying when he reached his potential he would be the only one capable of challenging Tiger Woods. The interview with Poulter, in the March edition of Golf World U.K., created a buzz at the Dubai Desert Classic, where Woods opened with a 7-under 65 to build a two-shot lead.

Ian Poulter said Thursday a British golf magazine took his words out of context when it quoted him as saying when he reached his potential he would be the only one capable of challenging Tiger Woods. The interview with Poulter, in the March edition of Golf World U.K., created a buzz at the Dubai Desert Classic, where Woods opened with a 7-under 65 to build a two-shot lead.

Davis Love III plans to play next week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, his first tournament since he had surgery on his left ankle to repair torn tendons. “I’m eager to get back into competition and get this year started,” Love said Thursday. “I have some goals I want to achieve in 2008 and beyond, so I am excited to get back into the mix.” He has some catching up to do.

Tiger Woods picked up right where he left off last week — at the top of the leaderboard. Woods, who won the Buick Invitational on Sunday by eight strokes, shot a 7-under 65 Thursday to take a two-shot lead after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic. “I played well today, just a bunch of good golf shots,” Woods said after his bogey-free round at the Emirates Golf Club.

Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom led the Women’s Australian Open by a stroke after shooting a 3-under 70 in the first round Thursday. Wikstrom, who had six birdies and three bogeys in heavy rain at the Kingston Heath course, was confined to indoor practice in Finland before the tournament. “I haven’t played outside for a month until I came here,” Wikstrom said.

Annika Sorenstam will begin the year at the LPGA Tour’s season-opening SBS Open, tournament officials said Wednesday. It will be the first Hawaiian appearance in years for the 69-time winner. The Swedish star recently said she planned to enter about 18 to 20 tournaments. She played in only 13 events last year because of neck and back injuries and had one of the worst seasons of her career, going…

For a change, the FBR Open isn’t the biggest show in town, not with the Super Bowl just down the freeway. Still, it’s “party on” when the PGA Tour’s most raucous event begins a four-day run Thursday at TPC Scottsdale. The FBR draws the largest crowds on the PGA tour. The biggest day is Saturday, when more than 150,000 revelers are expected to attend.

Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger is switching the format with hopes of giving his American team an edge, going back to alternate shot in the opening matches for the first time since 1999. “I felt like the Americans had an edge in alternate shot,” Azinger said Wednesday at the FBR Open. “And I think it’s partly responsible for why Europe has gotten off to a pretty hot start.” The Ryder Cup will be…

Torrey Pines turned out to be a real wake-up call. Some players were overwhelmed, nervous, even a little scared. Others were frustrated. Most of them were deeply concerned about the future of golf, perhaps not grasping the magnitude of what lies ahead. And that was before Tiger Woods teed off. In morning and afternoon sessions last week at the Buick Invitational, more than 100 players filed into a…

Michelle Wie will begin the season in Hawaii for the fifth straight year, this time against the women. Wie accepted a sponsor’s exemption Monday to play in The Fields Open at Ko Olina, hopeful of getting her career back on track after a troublesome season of injuries, missed cuts and withdrawls. An 18-year-old freshman at Stanford, Wie has started her season at the Sony Open on the PGA Tour the…