Has it really been 4 years since Retief Goosen had won a PGA Tour event? Seems like it couldn’t be true, but his win at the Transitions (?) Championship in Tampa this week was his first in quite a while. He has come back in to form recently, with multiple wins on other tours worldwide, and now he seems to be on target as we head to Augusta. My question… where did his game go?? You look at him swing the club, so smooth and effortless, you wonder why any of us try to play the game part-time when even a man like Goosen can lose it for a period of time. He recently turned 40, and has made a commitment to fitness that has apparently paid off. He said he keeps reminding himself that Vijay Singh won more in his 40’s than his entire career previous, so he plans to follow suit.

The difference maker on sunday was his putter… the greens at Innisbrook got very baked out and fast, and guys were running it 5 feet past the hole on a regular basis. Add to that list Goosen, who just needed to 2 putt from 20 feet for the win, and then ran his first putt by the hole at least 4 or 5 feet. He managed to sneak in the comebacker, but all of us were thinking Southern Hills 3-putt time when that happened, and I wondered if he was thinking the same thing. In his interviews, he admitted yes, that came to mind. Pretty amazing even a major champion has bad memories jump back at the worst time… I suppose the difference is, he shrugs it off and makes the putt anyway.

Mental toughness seems easy for Goosen, at least keeping his emotions in check does. Or does he actually have emotions? He had a good putt lip out hard at 15 or 16, and he barely blinked. He snuck in the winning putt, and calmly took off his hat to shake hands. Come on, Retief! At least raise one arm? Anything? The next tournament you win, I would like you to please drop to the green, do the worm for about a minute, and then run over to the TV camera and slap it around Happy Gilmore-style, yelling”That’s riiiight, baby! Plenty more where that came from!!!” Or not.

Following this week’s World Golf Championship at Doral, interesting things happening in the world golf rankings. Phil Mickelson has jumped over Sergio Garcia for #2 in the world, and is closer than he’s ever been to overtaking Tiger Woods for #1 in the world. If Phil decides to play Bay Hill, and beats Tiger, I believe that will do it. My question is: is that really news? You’d think so from watching the Golf channel, but I don’t think so.

Let’s face it: the only reason anyone is close to Tiger in the rankings of anything is the tiny matter of his not having played golf for 9 months. Add to that, the last time we did see him play he was winning the US Open one one leg, hobbling around like Blackbeard with a 7 iron instead of a peg leg. So can anyone get excited that the world rankings are closer than normal? If Sergio had been able to win the PGA last year, and hadn’t gotten bounced in the first round of the match play event, he’d already be #1 in the world. Sergio! A man who, although being maybe the best ball-striker alive, has as much confidence on the greens as I do in front of my mirror in a speedo. Bottom line: give it 2 months, Tiger will be back at #1 with a comfortable margin.

Hey, I hope I’m wrong! I get bored when Tiger wins all the majors and everyone else sheepishly comments on how great he is. I would like to see Phil, Sergio, maybe Ernie challenge him on a regular basis. Yet, history has shown us that Mr. Woods is just that much better than everyone else on earth… I my mind, not a knock on any of those players, just a testament to the superiority of Tiger’s game.

Phil did say the right things after winning… that Tiger’s the greatest player ever, and how he doesn’t really put much stock in where his world ranking is day to day. But you know he would love to have at least one clipping from GolfWorld reading “Phil Mickelson: #1 player in the world” on his mantle somewhere. It might happen. Regardless, he’s playing great, and you know Tiger will play great soon. Here’s hoping for a Woods - Mickelson showdown at Augusta National. How great would that be? Even their caddies can’t stand each other. Coming down the stretch, even going in to the back 9 on Sunday? With CBS constantly cutting to show who has the hotter blonde wife, or the cuter toddlers? I’m setting my Tivo just thinking about it.

Monday morning… watching highlights of the tournament at Doral. OK, so it’s not in the 80’s and we won’t have perfect greens to putt on for quite a while, but oh well. Can we play yet?

Painted Hills is open on permanent greens. If you haven’t played there, it’s in a quiet little part of the valley, and has some nice holes for a 9 hole course… and it’s 9 regulation holes, not a pitch-and-putt. They do have a short course, but the main 9 holer has 2 par 5’s, long par 3’s, and some solid dogleg par 4 holes. My one beef is the faux-Pinehurst effect they originally tried on several greens, elevating the front for no good reason except to obscure your view of the pin. The other reason to go out there is one of the better practice areas in town… and I think we’ll all need a bit of practice before going out to play. They have a grass area to the range as well as mats, and a seperate green for chipping and putting practice, which is always nice. Somehow I always end up practicing putting when some guy is chipping to the hole behind me… and of course, chips 8 balls into me in the process.

I will address the local golf situation first, sad as it may be, with snow falling this Sunday in the first week of March. Assuming it warms up beyond freezing, Painted Hills golf course in the Spokane Valley is open, on permanent greens. It’s a bit brown out there, but it’s golf on real grass, so what do you want, anyway? You can go play the regulation 9 holes, and then play their short course as well to get the rust off your short game… typically this time of year that’s the weakest phase of the game for most of us.

Also, I got down to Columbia Point, in Richland, Wa last week. I really like that course… I know some who don’t, and they usually point out the setting, how you either have the highway next to you, or a shopping center. It’s not exactly set in a pristine natural environment, but I enjoy the actual course. If you can’t play the Club at Black Rock, and you won’t be in Colorado for some time, Columbia Point might be your only chance to play a Jim Engh designed course. He really did a lot without much natural help… the biggest compliment I can give is that it’s just fun to play. I always want to go back after playing it.

The benefit to going down to Tri-Cities, even if some Spokane courses open, is conditioning. I was amazed at how well the greens were rolling down there. We won’t see speeds like that until May, I fear. Nice job by the Columbia Point grounds crew.

If you are headed to West Palm Beach, FL, first of all… I hate you. Second, you might stop by PGA National, home of this last week’s Tour event, the Honda Classic. If you play the host course (The Champion), bring a bunch of balls and prepare to get beat up. The multitude of water on the course, combined with the spring winds, make for a real challenge… as evidenced by the single-digit winning score. Be warned, though… greens fees are over $250, a lot to pay to shoot in triple digits. Thankfully, PGA National has 4 other courses to play, all easier and cheaper as well.

Plus, just up the road is PGA Village, a smaller, less pretentious version of PGA National, and they currently are having an “unlimited play” special… If you pay for one greens fee, you can play as much as you want that day based on availability. The one clubhouse serves 3 courses, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting on one of them in the afternoon. Based on the quality of these courses (2 designed by Tom Fazio, one by Pete Dye), this is currently my pick for the best deal in golf!

The Accenture Match Play event this last weekend became much more exciting when it was revealed it would debut the return of our lord and saviour… oh, wait. Sorry. It’s actually Tiger Woods. If you watched any commercials for it though, you would have thought it was the second coming, and Tiger’s followers would be raptured as he made the turn. I realize Tiger is the draw in golf, and really, without him the Tour would be in real trouble financially, but tone it down a bit, will you? Especially in a match play event!

Tiger’s record in match play is very good. Yet, anything can happen in a match, which is why it’s so much fun to play… or watch. If you’ve ever been in a match where you know you’re better than your opponent, and the creep just keeps scratching out ugly pars hole after hole, then you can feel for Tiger. He didn’t play poorly against Tim Clark, but on the few holes he did, Clark took advantage. He’s the classic steady Eddie on the golf course, and it came back to bite Tiger in the end. I’m guessing Tiger will play the next WGC event in Doral, where he just about owns the place, so don’t worry too much.

Here’s my thought as the Tour moves from the West coast to Florida… which would you rather watch, guys making birdies almost every hole on what to them is a glorified pitch and putt, or guys grinding it out on a tough course to win with a score of -3? The Florida swing has really toughened up in recent years… The Tampa event at Innisbrook was always tough, Mr. Palmer tweaked Bay Hill to be a par 70 instead of 72, and when the Honda event moved to PGA National, some serious golf needed to be played. The ever present wind in Florida helps toughen things, but the courses are just flat harder than the ones played out West. Is that better or worse to watch on TV? I know I would rather make birdies than struggle for pars, but I think these guys on Tour are so good, they should be tested. Add to that, when the course is more challenging, the cream tends to rise to the top. Players with more game, more shots, better nerves seem to prevail. The last 3 holes at PGA national will test your nerves, I know that. If you’re going to Florida, it’s a course you can play, as well.