Quick 18: Tiger, Phil on top; Westwood, Europe trending up

text size

How/Getty Images

Lee Westwood continues to close in on the No. 2 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking

Editor's note: PGATOUR.COM's Melanie Hauser will be shaking out the mental lint and pulling together the "Quick 18" on Mondays this year.

1. Tiger Woods' earnings are down, but he and Phil Mickelson are still one-two in Sports Illustrated's Fortunate 50 list of top earning American athletes. Right behind them? Boxer Floyd Mayweather. Tiger has Phil by $29 million and Mayweather by $30 million. Rounding out the top five are NBA hype master LeBron James and New York Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez. By the way, Tiger and Phil are the only two golfers in the top 50. There are 16 NBA players, 15 NFL stars and 13 from Major League Baseball.

2. The hottest name in coaching right now? It just might be Pete Cowen who counts Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen in his stable of players. Not a bad record of late.

3. Wondering why some big names skipped the Senior British Open? It might have to do with geography. Getting from Carnoustie (closest airport is Edinburgh) to Sahalee (Sammamish, Wash., just outside of Seattle) for this week's Senior U.S. Open is no easy trip. Not to mention an 8-hour time difference.

4. Na-na-na-nana. "Caddyshack" was released 30 years ago yesterday. Q-18 -- like so many others -- ranks the classic as the all-time best golf movie. After all these years, er, decades, we still laugh as hard as we did when saw it in the theater. Q-18 didn't skip work to see it, but did just that to catch "Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" two months earlier. The only question we have -- are those of us who remember that debut really that old? Or simply classics? Bill Murray will choose the latter.

5. Don't look now, but Westwood is gaining more ground on the No. 2 spot in the rankings than Phil is gaining on No. 1. How does four top-3 finishes in the last five majors -- the lone blip was a T16 at the U.S. Open -- grab you?

6. LPGA commish Mike Whan might have some thinking to do. And soon. If Lexi Thompson's share of second at the Evian Masters is a portent of things to come . . . well, what happens if the 15-year-old wins an LPGA event? She's too young to drive and too young to join the LPGA -- you have to be 18 -- but has earned $314,842 in two events. That would put her 18th on the money list if she were a member. Nicholas Thompson's kid sister could petition the LPGA, so Q-18 figures Whan and his brain trust are working on a solution.

Oosthuizen

7. What did Oosthuizen splurge on after winning at St. Andrews? Not a fast car or a house, but rather a tractor for his farm. "Being a farm boy, it was one of my big dreams and I got a nice John Deere tractor," Oosthuizen said. "I made sure that there is space for my little daughter in her car seat next to me, so, yeah, we are going to have a lot of fun in it."

8. Anyone else wondering why the Royal and Ancient hasn't announced the next Open for St. Andrews? The Old Course has been on a five-year rota, which would put the Open back there in 2015. Everyone wants to play there. Ever heard someone say I can't wait to get back to Royal Liverpool? Or St. George's?

9. In the past three months, we've seen a 59 from Paul Goydos, two 60s (Carl Pettersson and Steve Stricker) and a 61 (Cameron Beckman). And there have been 11 61s this season. Yikes! Seems like a run on low numbers, right? Last year the season totals were one 60, nine 61s and 33 62s.

While we're at it, Chris Sauer shot a 56 in a men's club tournament at Cedar Creek Golf Course in Albertville, Minn., but it won't count as any official golf record because the course was shorter than 6,500 yards.

10. Count Q-18 among those wondering how Colin Montgomerie could leave Jose Maria Olazabal off his brain trust . . . well, maybe he wants no remnants of Nick Faldo's decision makers. Yes, Darren Clarke is a good fit and will keep things light, but if he keeps playing well shouldn't he be a wildcard thought? Who knows where Monty's mind is wandering. He has already added Welsh rugby legend Gareth Edwards to his crew and wants Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson in his war room too. Wonder how the latter will sit with massive Arsenal loyalists like Ian Poulter.

11. Speaking of Monty... He's saying he's got a massive headache having nearly two teams worth of choices. No question he has more top 15 players in the world to choose from, but . . . he'll probably have just a couple of players vying for the last spot or spots come August. And while we're at it, one name he hasn't mentioned, but maybe should at least put on his radar -- Sweden's Carl Pettersson, who closed on the weekend with 60-67 to win the Canadian Open.

12. Sir Bob Charles made a quiet exit from competitive golf at Carnoustie on Friday after his second-round 78. The best left-hander in the game until Phil came along said earlier the Senior British Open would be his last international event.

"It's been a great ride and I have enjoyed the success but then I haven't enjoyed the poor tournaments,'' he said. "But you are looking at a 74-year-old who is not a kid anymore, and I actually feel like I am playing against 50-year old kids out here and I am old enough to be the father of a good percentage of them.''

He said he's had great innings in the game. He's now ready to kick back and take some cruises with his wife.

13. Keep an eye on this year's wild and wacky weather. Whistling Straits, site of the upcoming PGA Championship, was part of that area in Wisconsin pummeled by seven hours of rain and tornado watches last week that caused flooding in the cheese state. The course got a bit lucky, since the worst of the weather hit Milwaukee, an hour south. But players in the PGA field hope the weather stays away so come next Monday they won't be splishing, splashing and squishing down fairways.

Kim

14. A snooze fest? Kinda. Sorta. And, well, Q-18 can't blame Anthony Kim for admitting he snoozes during televised golf. He's been sidelined with a thumb injury and is due back in the next few weeks, so watching when he wants to be playing becomes Pavlovian. "When I want to go to sleep sometimes, I've watched it," Kim said during Canadian Open week. "You know, when Tiger's playing I've watched a couple times, and you know, it's hard to watch because I want to be out there.

"I want to be competing, and I know that's my passion. So to not be able to get in there and mix it up with the guys is pretty frustrating, so I try to stay away from it and try to watch everything else but golf.''

15. Quite a bidding war shaping up for the 2016 Ryder Cup. Le Golf National has Paris going for it. And the Madrid bid? The design for the yet-to-be-constructed Club de Campo Tres Cantos includes a par-3 known as Plaza de Toros --The Bull Ring -- that can pack 25,000 spectators onto the hole. Yes, it's designed along the lines of the 16th at TPC Scottsdale and the 17th at TPC Sawgrass. British designer Robin Hiseman, who, at 16, wrote Jack Nicklaus for advice about becoming a course designer and took Jack's words to heart, said "We want to make an intimidating atmosphere -- one where it notches up the tension to 11 -- the ultimate nerve-shredding test."

16. Four-time PGA TOUR winner Carlos Franco, who has never been one for practice, has struggled the past few years with his game, but never more than this year. He missed the cut last week at the RBC Canadian Open, giving him five missed cuts in eight PGA TOUR events this year. His best finish? A T22 at the Quail Hollow Championship. He can't pinpoint what's wrong, only that once he hits a bad shot, his whole game falls apart.

"My first shot I miss, bye-bye Carlos," Franco told The National Post. "Done. This is my problem, my difficulty to stop this equation right now. This moment is very hard, very difficult for my job. But I want to play. I like to play. When I start the tournament I feel 20, or 23 years old. After four, five, six holes? Done."

He's far from giving up, though. "I'm still the same guy. I don't want to change. But I want to come back and play good. That's what I need right now."

17. Poulter on golf fashion: "Personally, I think it's too easy for people to just throw a pair of khaki trousers on with a polo shirt. It takes some thought and some effort to look good but I think it's worth it.'' Wonder if Monty will allow him input on Ryder Cup fashion? Probably not.

18. Tweet of the week came from proud papa Zach Johnson, who tweeted the birth of second son Wyatt, then followed it up with several updates, including "My lil man taking a snooze...so peaceful! He is such a good baby... http://yfrog.com/mu90zij". Gotta love proud dads.

Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.