Bridgestone Notebook: Allenby out three weeks after fishing accident

Robert Allenby will miss the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship next week after he slipped on his boat while fishing and tore ligaments in his right knee. Allenby had been gearing up for this week's World Golf Championship, followed by the final major of the year. He decided to take a weekend fishing trip in the Bahamas, then slipped on a wet spot on his boat and his legs went in different directions. The Australian figured he hyperextended his knee. Tests revealed a torn ligament, and he had surgery Tuesday. Allenby, who is No. 14 in the world ranking, said doctors told him he should be able to return in time for the FedExCup playoffs in three weeks. BY ANY OTHER NAME: Sometimes a golfer needs to not be so concerned about winning in order to win. That was perhaps the case for Justin Rose for his first decade as a professional. In six full years (and parts of four or five others), he never won on American soil. Second-place finishes at the Valero Texas Open in '06, Bridgestone in '07 and Memorial in '08 not only whetted his appetite for winning, but also increased the questions about why he wasn't winning. Rose turned 30 last week but he's been celebrating all year in the United States. Wins at the Memorial and AT&T National have pushed him up the charts in the world rankings. He was 70th to start the year but is now 19th. After years of promise mixed with disappointment, he is considered a threat to win every tournament. "I said before I started winning that my game was in great shape," he said on Wednesday. "I didn't need to do anything different; I didn't need to work on anything. I guess it was the patience factor of just letting it happen." Rose was born in South Africa and raised in England. He now has homes in London and Orlando, Fla. Some athletes begin to press when they don't meet their own or others' expectations. The difference for Rose was letting go. "The switch for me was ... just letting it come out on the golf course, just letting my game sort of go to the first tee, not getting in my own way," he said. "It's a very simple mindset to talk about, much harder to do." 59 FALLOUT: It's difficult for the typical once-a-week golfer to even contemplate how someone shoots 59. Stuart Appleby became the fifth player to shoot a 59 in a PGA Tour event when he won the Greenbrier Classic on Sunday by going 11 under over the last 18 holes. Appleby, set to tee it off in Thursday's opening round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, turned the front side in 6 under. The thought immediately came to him that if he maintained that he might just win the tournament. "Then I eagled 12 and I thought, 'I'm on record pace,'" he said. "I thought there's nothing at the end of the round that's going to stand out to be a real test if I'm playing any good. There's no 500-yard par 4s; there's birdie opportunities there. The course was very benign." Still, he needed to continue to not just play well but to make birdies. As he traversed the back nine at the Old White Course, the word spread about what he had within his grasp. The pressure grew, because Appleby also knew. "I thought, well, just got to keep hitting it close and see if I can make putts -- and the putts just seemed to come to me," he said. Always, his primary incentive was catching, then staying ahead of Jeff Overton. "I sort of had two motivating forces," Appleby said. "One was to try and chase, and one was to also do something a bit unique." WHO'S NO. 1? Tiger Woods has been No. 1 in the world golf rankings for the past 270 weeks. But he could fall from that perch this weekend at the Bridgestone Invitational. If Woods wins, he stays No. 1. If second-ranked Phil Mickelson wins, he takes over the top spot. If third-ranked Lee Westwood wins, and Tiger finishes third or worse, he could be the world's top player. Mickelson or Westwood could also take over No. 1 if they were to finish high and Woods were well back in the pack. DIVOTS: The top 50 players in the world rankings are scheduled to play in the Bridgestone which has a purse of $8.5 million and pays $1.4 million to the winner. ... An older woman stood by the first tee on Wednesday wearing a pink T-shirt that said, "You Thrill Me, Phil." ... Spectators who spend $75 on tournament merchandise receive a free ticket to Sunday's round. ... Appleby met his wife, Ashley, at a nearby restaurant 10 years ago during the Bridgestone. They've been married eight years.