Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson has won The Royal Bank of Scotland Shot of the Year Award for the outstanding stroke he played at the final hole of the Volvo Masters Andalucia. ...

An international field from 10 countries including 45 from South Africa will be competing at Atlantic Beach Golf Club January 8-9 in the first of five International Final Qualifying competitions for the 2004 Open Championship. ...

GOLF Intelligence, Inc., a provider of integrated communications, marketing, and commerce systems and services to the golf industry, announces that its National Golf Network system has been selected and endorsed as the official handicap system of the Midwest Chapter of the National Golf Course Owners Association. ...

First-time celebrity participants in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic January 19-25 include late-night TV talk show host Carson Daly; Craig T. Nelson, star of "The District"; Emmy Award winning and Oscar nominated actor James Woods; comedian George Lopez, star of "George Lopez"; and Chicago Bears' all-pro linebacker Brian Urlacher. ...

In TechTV's "Guide to the Golf Revolution: How Technology is Driving the Game" (0735714061, $24.99), golf writer and author Andy Brumer takes a relaxed, jargon-free approach as he explores a wide range of topics including clubs, balls, grips, golf fitness, swing analysis, apparel, bags, shoes, and courses. ...

The Chrysler Championship will make its annual charity distribution at a special luncheon at Inverness Hall at the Westin Innisbrook Golf Resort on Monday, January 13 at noon.

Officially, the Target World Challenge doesn't count in the PGA Tour statistics.

The title and the money are both unofficial. It certainly didn't seem that way to Davis Love III and Tiger Woods last Sunday.

When Love won the Target World Challenge back in 2000, it provided him with a springboard into the next season in which he gained his first official tour victory in nearly three years.

His victory in the Target this season is different. Love is wrapping up his best season ever - four victories, including the title in the Players Championship, and more than $6 million in earnings, ranking him third on the tour's money list.

Love's two-stroke win last Sunday, coming as it did over world No. 1 Woods, was the cherry on top of a great year. And the $1.2 million payday will buy a lot of cherries. It was, by the way, the biggest payday of his career, beating the $1.17 million in official money he earned at the Players.

The victory, Love said, was a continuation of his excellent play in 2003.

"I made some strides in my game this year," he said. "Certainly over 2001 and 2002. My start of 2001 was pretty good, and then I just didn't really do much with it. I think that this year I've met my goal of trying to compete every week and be ready to play every week.

"Even though I've had two weeks off, I came out here to play to win, not just to show up and collect a little money and go snowboarding. I came to win and I worked hard to win."

And Love was definitely pressed by Woods on a day that began as a miserable, rainy Sunday.

Woods, who had not broken 70 in the first three rounds, found his game and threatened for much of the day to make an incredible comeback. His 65 came up just short when Love, who missed a couple of short par putts on the front nine, gathered himself and fired an even-par 72.

"Sixty-five was realistic, but not to win," said Woods, who was 10 shots back with 10 holes to play. "I thought I had to at least hit the double digits."

A 62 was not to be found, however, and Love, with an outrageous 45-footer on the 16th that had more curves than a Playboy centerfold, sealed the deal over his nemesis.

Had this been a regular tour event, the golf world would have buzzing for days over one of Woods' great rounds and Love's resolute round. Since it was an unofficial tournament, the Target was good for a little chatter on television.

That's unfortunate. This tournament has developed into the best of the unofficial events. It always has a world-class, although very limited, field. This season the top 12 players in the world who were available teed it up, along with four sponsor's exemptions, two of whom were major champions.

After hoisting the trophy on Sunday, Love explained what it means to win a tournament with an asterisk by its name on the PGA Tour schedule.

"It's a different feeling, obviously, because it's not world ranking points and it's not official money," he said. "But the guys that aren't in this tournament are wishing they were in, and the guys who are playing are wishing they could win. Tiger is going to give his money away like he usually does, I assume. What's his motivation to shoot 65 today? It's because we want to win. We don't want to lose.

"If you come and show up, you want to play to win. Does it feel like the Players Championship or Hilton Head or Denver (the International)? Not really, but it's still very exciting, and you still get just as nervous. Your pride's on the line and there are people watching on TV and people watching in the gallery and they're pulling for you and pulling against you and you want to win."

In that regard, the Target is no different from any other tournament. And unofficial though it may be, it was a great ending to the 2003 golf season.