Readers of this blog know that I’ve been all over the Tiger Woods’ U.S. Open discarded apple cores. (see related links below.)

The red apple supposedly from the fourth round sold for $36,000, but the buyer told us he typed in that number as a joke. Then there was a second apple (green)--this one perhaps the more important core, as this could have been the apple core that Tiger said helped him through his playoff victory over Rocco Mediate.

While the $36,000 apple got all the attention, the supposed playoff apple was sold for $716.66 on June 29.

Today, I learned that it was purchased by Rotohog, a fantasy sports company.

“We were looking for something that would be a good Golden Palace play,” said Shane Igoe, the site’s director of content and viral marketing, referring to the online casino that has generated publicity by buying weird auction items.

After purchasing the apple, Rotohog execs met with the two men who picked up the apple. The men told their story on camera, so that their story can be revealed on the company’s web site in the next couple days.

A la Marc Ecko, who put the Barry Bonds’ No. 756 home run ball up for a public vote, the folks at Rotohog are asking the masses what they should do with the apple.

Here are the choices.

A. Plant it. Petition San Diego County and Torrey Pines to use the seeds of the apple to plant a tree on the 16th hole of the South course to commemorate Tiger and even Rocco – as we would also donate a rock to sit next to Tiger’s apple tree.

B. Plane it. Send the apple--and a lucky person to the PGA–-to serve as Tiger’s representative since he is currently on the mend.

C. Pound it. Tee it up at Torrey Pines and have a celebrity hitter blast the apple core.

D. Prove it. Send the apple to a leading scientific facility to conduct a DNA test to prove once and for all if it is indeed Tiger’s and to gauge any cloning potential.

Ebay

Go to www.tigersapple.com to make your vote heard.

The votes will be tallied until Aug. 1 and an announcement of the winning choice will be made a few days later.

As someone who is always interested in authenticity, I’d love to see the DNA test come to fruition, but it would of course rely on Tiger providing some DNA, which I doubt would ever happen.

Rotohog is using the apple to drum up attention for their two NFL fantasy games launching next Tuesday; a commissioner style league and a player stock exchange game.

Questions?  Comments?