Unless he undergoes some sudden metamorphosis, or inexplicably decides to carry a grandma across the fairway to get her a better view, Rory Sabbatini is not likely to win many polls for being one of the PGA Tour's swell guys.

On too many occasions, he comes across as being the tour's enfant terrible, an image borne from the manner in which he stalks the fairway like a neighborhood bully looking for a fight. He probably did not do himself any favors a couple of years ago when he played out of turn and walked to the next tee while his slow-poking playing partner, Ben Crane, was still on the green -- an episode that should have been applauded by every golfer who has ever had to wait for a player to finish his fifth practice swing.

And Sabbatini was assailed again last spring when he observed that Tiger Woods "looks more beatable than ever" -- a comment that was meant to praise Woods' ability to still win a tournament (the Wachovia Championship) despite hitting the ball all over the property, but instead was turned into a verbal dart that Sabbatini was supposedly firing at Woods' seemingly impenetrable balloon.

As though it has become an unpardonable sin to throw anything but bouquets at the world's No. 1 player.

Know this about Rory Sabbatini: He is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour and the 10th-ranked player in the world, a player who finished second at the 2007 Masters and is on the verge of winning a major championship, maybe even this season.

And he's not a bad guy.

When he withdrew before the final round of the Target World Challenge in December, complaining of shin splints, all the Sabbatini-bashers came charging out of the closet again, waiting to skewer the 31-year-old South African like a shish-ka-bob. Leading the charge was none other than Fred Couples, a player who has withdrawn from or not started five tournaments in the past three years because of injuries.

Assuming that Sabbatini withdrew because of some ongoing feud with Woods, whose foundation is the charitable benefactor of the Target World Challenge, Couples said Sabbatini is "messing with the wrong guy" and suggested the $177,000 he received, even for withdrawing, should be donated to Woods' foundation.

If Sabbatini is such a bad guy, why did he donate the $177,000 to a program sponsored by Target that allows military families to record bedtime stories by parents serving in war-zone areas?

How can you truly dislike a player who has raised more than $750,000 for America's military families, which Sabbatini has done through his Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund?

And one more thing: While golf is not a game of trash talk and verbal jibes, Sabbatini's occasional gamesmanship with Woods -- e.g., signing up to play a practice round with him at the U.S. Open -- is something the sport needs and the fans should embrace.

It beats all the hearts and flowers routinely showered on Woods by the other PGA Tour players, even when it's not Valentine's Day.

The 2008 U.S. Open will be played at Torrey Pines GC, site of this week's Buick Invitational -- the 10th time the U.S. Open will be played in the state of California. Prior to the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, when was the previous time the tournament was staged in California? Answer at end.

Don't hold your breath, but there has been discussion between several local groups and the PGA Tour about bringing a Nationwide Tour event to the Pittsburgh area, possibly to Quicksilver Golf Club.

But the biggest deterrent has been finding a title sponsor for the event, which wouldn't be staged until 2009 at the earliest. Quicksilver, located in Midway, was the target site because the course once played host to Senior PGA Tour and Hogan Tour (the original name of the Nationwide Tour) events in the 1990s.

The Nationwide Tour already has a tournament in July at the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, W.Va. but the Pittsburgh market would be desirable because there is no regular PGA Tour, Champions Tour or LPGA Tour event in the area.

"We're always having conversations with people representing cities and facilities who are entertaining the idea of hosting a Nationwide Tour event," said Jeff Adams, the tour's director of communications. "Pittsburgh is a great golf market with no PGA Tour or LPGA Tour events. It would be a good place for the Nationwide Tour to find a home."

• Sean Parees has left Quicksilver after 17 years to become general manager/director of golf at Shadow Lakes CC, formerly known as Beaver Lakes.

• Oakmont CC assistant Tony Romansky has been named head professional at Montour Heights CC.

• Former Montour pro Alexander Childs has been named head professional at Fox Chapel GC, replacing retired Mark Hessler. Childs once worked at Fox Chapel as an assistant.

• Rob Murphy has left his position as head professional at Scotch Valley CC to become director of instruction at the Blair County Golf Center in Hollidaysburg.

U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera, who said after his victory at Oakmont that he smokes rather than use a sports psychologist, on recently quitting: "I just felt like not smoking anymore. But I still don't have a sports psychologist."

Prior to Pebble Beach, the U.S. Open previously was played in California in 1948 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.