Michelle Wie closed with a 3-under 69 to win the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico. The victory was the first of Wie's career.  

by Tony Dear

The PGA European Tour rarely puts one over on its larger, richer counterpart across the Atlantic. But in the case of their respective year-long points' races ending in excessively-hyped finales, the European Tour's Race to Dubai has probably enjoyed a happier first year than that which the FedEx Cup suffered three years ago when it debuted. It's not over yet, of course, but barring a disaster - and compared with its much-maligned competitor once called "Finchem's Folly" - the Race to Dubai has been a roaring success.  

The acting commissioner of the LPGA Tour, Marty Evans, was in Houston Wednesday morning to give her "state of the tour" address and to meet with the media. The women's circuit concludes its 2009 season this week at the $1.5 million LPGA Tour Championship, hosted by the Houstonian Golf & Country Club.  

Lee Westwood carded a 3-under 69 in the second round to take a two-shot lead in the $7.5 million Dubai World Championship, the European Tour's season-ending event.  

First-round leader Lorena Ochoa never even teed off Friday in the LPGA Tour Championship as rain swept across Houstonian Golf and Country Club in Texas.  

Lorena Ochoa shot a first-round 6-under 66 to take the opening-round lead in the LPGA Tour Championship at the Houstonian Golf & Country Club in Texas. Ochoa's round included eight birdies and two bogeys on the 6,650-yard course.  

Only three players have a chance to win the inaugural $7.5 million Race to Dubai: Ireland's Rory McIlroy, England's Lee Westwood and Germany's Martin Kaymer. The event tees off Thursday on the Greg Norman-designed Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in the Middle East kingdom.  

Even though he received $3 million before he arrived in Melbourne, Australia, Tiger Woods was not just going to make a token appearance in the Australian Masters.  

Stephen Ames closed with an 8-under 64 to finish the Children's Miracle Network Classic at 18-under 270. The Trinidad-born Canadian then waited in the clubhouse as 54-hole co-leaders George McNeill and Justin Leonard shot 5-under 67s to fall into a tie with Ames.  

Though it took her awhile, Michelle Wie has at long last won her first tournament on the LPGA Tour. After closing with a 3-under 69, Wie beat Paula Creamer by two strokes in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico.  

The 2010 PGA Tour FedEx Cup schedule will again feature 37 regular season events followed by four PGA Tour Playoff events as part of the FedEx Cup.  

Robert Allenby of Australia opened with a 7-under par 65 to take the first-round lead in the $7.5 million Dubai World Championship. The tournament at the Greg Norman-designed Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates is the final event of the 2009 European Tour season and is the culmination of the Race to Dubai.  

It's a whole new world as the Bob Hope Classic embarks on its second half century, January 18-24, 2010. But, regardless what happens in the next 50 years, the highlights of the first 50 always will provide great memories.  

CordeValle will host the PGA Tour's Frys.com Open October 14-17, 2010. This year's event was held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., and will move to the new venue designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. in San Martin, Calif.