Queen of Sports

Ne-Yo Scheduled To Headline Celebration For Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational In Vegas

The 11th Annual Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational is kicking off in Las Vegas tomorrow. The first two days of the charity tournament will consist of a celebrity-amateur golf tournament, after which the celebrity-only tournament begins.

The tournament will be held at the exclusive Shadow Creek golf club, marking only the second time the club has ever opened its doors to the public.

On Friday night, an annual gala will be held for the tournament’s celebrities and VIP invited guests. Grammy award-winning artist Ne-Yo will take the stage to perform at Aria Resort & Casino at CityCenter.

Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, UC San Diego Nevada Cancer Research Institute, James R. Jordan Foundation, Opportunity Village, and Cats Care which is a charity related to the Charlotte Bobcats.

Celebrities and athletes participating include Aaron Rodgers, Wayne Gretzky, Roger Clemens, Maury Povich, LeAnn Rimes, Michael Strahan, and many more.

Photo: MJCIGolf.com

Shaq And Tiger Team Up In PGA Tour 13 Commercial

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Shaquille “Swinging Giant” O’Neal joins Tiger “Crimson Cat” Woods in this spot for the new PGA Tour 13 video game, which pays homage to old kung fu movies.

The commercial shows the two champions swinging using the Kinect version of the game, which also happens to look like kung fu.

Athlete Sighting: Caroline Wozniacki

Caroline Wozniacki stopped to sign a fan’s tennis ball on her way out of the Fox Studios in New York City earlier today.

Wozniacki was ousted from the Dubai Tennis Championships last week after losing in the semifinals.

The tennis star will be flying into Florida tomorrow to cheer on her golfer beau Rory McIlroy attempt to move up in the rankings at the Honda Classic.

Photo: Splash News

Tiger Woods Making Big Bucks In Appearance Fees In Abu Dhabi

Tiger Woods passed up playing in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines this week where he has had plenty of success in the past. Woods opted, instead, to head to the Middle East to play the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

His payday just for appearing in the tournament? Woods will reportedly cash out with between $1.7 and $2.7 million. He wouldn’t tell reporters exactly how much he’s earning but did say it was a major role in his decision to play overseas.

It’s all for the love of the money.

Photo: PAPSFIRST/ Splash News

Athlete QOTD: Tiger Woods On Ex Coach’s New Book

Hank Haney, Tiger Woods‘ former swing coach, wrote a book that is set to be released just before the 2012 Masters Tournament. It will chronicle Haney’s 6 years with the former top golfer. While Haney was coaching Woods, he won 6 majors and 31 PGA tournaments. Of course, after his marital issues, Woods’ only win was this past December at the Chevron World Challenge. Woods is now being coached by Sean Foley.

In a phone interview with ESPN’s Bob Haring, Tiger Woods sounded off on the book, saying,

“I think it’s unprofessional and very disappointing, especially because it’s someone I worked with and trusted as a friend. There have been other one-sided books about me, and I think people understand that this book is about money. I’m not going to waste my time reading it.”

The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods hits bookshelves this March.

Tebow And Tiger To Partner Up At Pebble Beach?

Tim Tebow and Tiger Woods: now that’s an unstoppable force.

A source at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am has confirmed the tournament is seriously considering sending the Broncos quarterback an invitation. And if Tebow accepts, the tournament wants to match him up with Tiger Woods.

It was announced on Monday that Woods would be entering the tournament for the first time since 2002. Woods last won the tournament in 2000.

The tournament takes place the weekend after the Super Bowl.

Photos: Image of Sport / PR Photos

Elin Nordegren Donating Parts Of Demolished Mansion To Habitat For Humanity

We reported last week that Tiger Woods’ ex-wife Elin Nordegren had the $12 million home she purchased demolished in order to a build a new one from scratch. The builder of the new home, talking to People magazine, cleared up the reasoning behind the demolition: the home was not built to code to withstand Florida hurricanes.

Another problem with the home was discovered when Nordegren allowed Habitat for Humanity to go through and salvage “tens of thousands of dollars” worth of cabinets, fixtures, and hardware. A carpenter-ant and termite infestation was found in the cabinets and walls of the home. A spokesman for Habitat for Humanity involved in the salvaging said, “When we pulled out the windows, the bugs were everywhere,. To rebuild that house would have been ridiculous. We’re so grateful to Elin. It’s rare we get this kind of donation.”

Photo: Ralph Notaro / Splash News

Elin Nordegren Had $12 Million Home Demolished

Talk about starting fresh. The $12 million oceanfront mansion Tiger Woods‘ ex-wife Elin Nordegren bought last year was just completely demolished.

The six bedroom, 17,000-square-foot home had a swimming pool and elevator but Nordegren reportedly wanted a completely new home built. Nordegren can afford it too, she got $100 million in her divorce from Woods. The North Palm Beach home was not one she ever shared with Woods.

There has been no word yet on the details of her future dream house. If a pool and elevator weren’t enough for her, we can only imagine the amenities the new home will have.

Photo: Ralph Notaro / Splash News

John Daly Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

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Check out golfer John Daly performing an acoustic version of Bob Dylan’s  “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” at the Thailand Golf Championship.

While his American flag suit was maybe a little bit tasteless, his performance was not.

Tiger Woods To Serve As Stanford’s Honorary Team Captain At Fiesta Bowl

Tiger Woods wrote on his blog yesterday that Stanford Cardinals head coach David Shaw asked him to be an honorary team captain for the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2 when the Cardinals take on Oklahoma State in Arizona. Woods said he “happily accepted” the invitation.

Woods said, “I’m very close to Stanford. They’ve done so much for me in my life. Everyone knows Coach Shaw and I had a class together. We go way back. It’s neat to be able to come back and help him any way that I can.”

In the post, Woods basically recapped the last year. He started off by saying, “it was extremely satisfying to close out the season with a win at my own event, the Chevron World Challenge.”

Photo: Tiger Woods Foundation