By RODNEY PAGE, St. Petersburg Times

There are certain words that make golfers of all levels cringe.
Shank. Hook. Yips.
The first two can be remedied by a swing coach and hours of practice . The yips, that horrifying affliction that causes even scratch golfers to shake over a 3-foot putt, is still a mystery to most who play and teach the game.

On the first day of the LPGA's first major of the season, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, Annika Sorenstam was thousands of miles away in the Tampa Convention Center.

Now that Tiger Woods is back, the rest of the PGA Tour is playing for second. The Tour's television ratings will skyrocket, sponsors will jump back on board and the economy will right itself. Well, maybe that's expecting too much. But here are some things you can expect now that golf's best player is competing again.

-- He will be good right away

Times are tough. Belts are tightening due to the economic downturn. Perhaps golf isn't as high a priority as it used to be. We understand.
But we also know that avid golfers are still going to get their fix. So if they received some cash for the holidays, here are few things they can pick up for under $100. It's not everything that's out there, but it's a good start.

The golf season was full of drama this year. Here is a chronological look at the top 10 events:

The ADT Championship in West Palm Beach capped the LPGA season two weeks ago. Ji-Yai Shin of South Korea won by one shot over Karrie Webb. It was Annika Sorenstam's last tournament on the LPGA Tour, for now.
But that was just one of many newsworthy events. Here is a look at some of the top stories from the LPGA season:

LARGO, Fla. -- Anybody who has played golf long enough either has a hole-in-one story or knows somebody who has a hole-in-one story.There's the beginner who hits a 110-yard ground ball with a driver, bounces it off a sand trap rake and into the hole. Or there is the 93-year-old legally blind golfer who aces a hole on his first shot of the day.

The PGA Tour is three events into its Fall Series, a stretch of seven tournaments that has more meaning to players hovering near 150th on the money list than to those with higher rankings. The top 150 earn playing cards for 2009.