Pond Scrum: Whoa, Bubba, what a weekend it was

It was the Southpaws on the South course, lighting it up, electrifying fans, giving TV ratings a badly needed jolt and making nearly everybody forget that Tiger Woods finished a career-worst 44th at perhaps his favorite PGA Tour venue.
Lefties Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson shot it out on the back nine at Torrey Pines on Sunday, an event that in some ways marked the real beginning of the 2011 season in the States.
As has been their pattern over the past several years, Woody and Lefty teed it up in their U.S. season opener at the place where they each have won at least three times. But it was Watson who took home the chrome.
A struggling Woods plodded, a conservative Mickelson plotted, and both were outdone by the ad-libbing Watson, who never met a mind or a golf situation that he couldn't bend with one of his impressive, impromptu shots.
Earlier in the day, in Bahrain, former world No. 3 Paul Casey ended a 20-month victory drought and put his star -- tarnished slightly by an injury and his unfair Ryder Cup snub -- back in proper ascension.
Enough dawdling. There are jokes to be had at Monty's expense, so let's get to the grist of Pond Scrum, our weekly, transoceanic, motor-mouth match-play duel between European Tour correspondent John Huggan and CBSSports.com golf writer Steve Elling.
Gentlemen, start your search engines.

---

Well, the former world No. 1 made his much-anticipated season debut at a venue where he once owned the deed, Torrey Pines, and fell flat on his nose. What did you guys see from Tiger Woods from up close and afar?

Elling: Blunt assessment time: I saw a guy who still can't string together four good rounds. He barely pieced together two good nines. Right now, Tiger Woods isn't one of the world's 40 best players. Last night in the San Diego airport, a bunch of scribes were actually discussing what would happen if he never made it back to anything close to his former levels at all. All of a sudden, it didn't sound like heresy.

Tiger Woods (Getty Images)

Huggan: I'm perplexed. Tiger is supposed to have been (working) away since we last saw him at the Chevron and this is what he comes up with? He looked like Justin Leonard's idiot cousin. Can't drive. Can't chip. Can't putt. And let's not even get into his bunker play. Was he digging for buried treasure?

Elling: On Sunday, while he was carding his second-worst score on a course where he has won six of his last seven starts, I was trying to catalog his strengths during the week. Only thing he did above average was hit a few good long irons.

Huggan: Emphasis on a few. Most of the shots I saw were missing California, nevermind Torrey Pines.

Elling: The bunker play was downright amateurish, if not comedic. He musta thought he needed to get ready for the shifting sands of Dubai in his next start.

Huggan: You are right, though. Questioning whether or not he will ever be good enough to contend in a major is realistic right now. He seems to be so far from what we saw before. Bring back Hank!

Elling: Woods was particularly ragged with his scoring clubs -- short irons with green-light flags. Turns out, he said Sunday that he is using elements of his new swing with the short clubs, too, including the putter, where he seems to be putting more weight on his left side. The guy's "all in" in the new swing. Third verse (Harmon, Haney) is same as the first. How long will this one take to congeal?

Huggan: From what we saw these past few days, I can't see him winning anything this year. At this point, it would be usual to qualify that statement with a "but Tiger has always proved us wrong before." But this time, I'm not so sure. Perhaps most worrying is that he can't putt a lick anymore. That is what ultimately decides winning and losing at the highest level.

Elling: First week of every month, I have to post my subjective top 10 list of the best players in the world. Tiger will not be on the list posted Tuesday. That's an incredible thought, but I am not sure he'd be in my top 50 right now.

Huggan: Nor mine. There is nothing positive to go on. Not one thing.

Paul Casey ended a streak of 20 months without a victory by winning against another solid European Tour field in Bahrain. Does the former world No. 3 have the goods to contend at a major this year?

Elling: In my view, he's always had the goods to win one of the Grand Slam events. Speaking of which, has he won all four of the EuroTour's Desert Swing events now? Has Casey won the Sand Slam? Gotta look that up.

Huggan: I have always been a fan of Casey's game. Of that so-called "golden generation" of young Englishmen -- Poulter, Rose, Donald, etc. -- he has always had the most potential. Trouble is, every time he has been in good position after 54 holes of a major he has gone backwards. Which leads me to doubt his temperament. Helluva striker though.

Elling: The part I enjoyed most about Casey's win was that he made a clutch putt at the end to finish the deal. That's often been the shakiest part of his game, and he nailed it when he needed it. On greens that were overcooked by the one, the only, Colin Montgomerie. You know, the guy who wrongly left Casey off the Ryder Cup team.

Huggan: You have to give Casey a chance at Augusta. He's done well there before -- for three days at least. Maybe he has matured enough to go all the way.

Elling: What did you think of that course and its greens? All week, guys were going nuts about the excessive swales, lumps, protrusions and hillocks. Either they were talking about the greens, or Monty took his shirt off.

Huggan: I think you are giving Monty too much credit on two counts. It is my belief that he wanted Casey in the RC but was talked out of it by his assistants, Messrs Bjorn, Clarke and McGinley. And saying Monty has designed a course is like you running for president. Hasn't happened; never will happen. The course was a joke. I was getting all kinds of messages from my spies on tour, all of them saying the same thing. And please don't mention Monty without a shirt. I've just eaten.

Elling: I will say this for Monty -- he sent two text messages of congratulations to Paul last night after the win. They should have read: "Well done," and, "What was I thinking when I left you off my team?"

Phil Mickelson, as ever, made it interesting down the stretch on Sunday, including that insanely theatrical birdie on the 72nd hole, where he almost jarred a wedge for an eagle to force a playoff.

Huggan: Say what you like about Lefty -- and I have more than once -- but he is forever entertaining. I just wish he'd put in the same effort one week earlier in Abu Dhabi. I felt let down by his obvious lack of preparation there.

Elling: It was like Lefty and Tiger switched personalities. Phil hadn't done much at Torrey since he last won there in 2001, and Tiger had won almost everything in the span since. Be interesting to see what the TV ratings are, since Tiger was finished when leaders were starting the back nine. A few of us ran into Jim Nantz after the round and he put it best: "Bubba won the tournament, but Phil found a way to steal the show." You should have seen the San Diegans rooting for their homeboy as he was lining up that 72-yard wedge shot on the 72nd hole. It was unforgettable. He missed by maybe a foot.

Huggan: Does Tiger still merit the blanket coverage he gets from CBS? I mean, how much fun can it be watching him hack, slash and gouge his way round? Even Stevie looks bored.

Elling: Well, everybody in TV land was curious to get their first peek at the guy in 2011. Turns out he was the same guy they saw in late 2010. He might even have regressed. Phil, on the other hand, seems ready to rumble. He has come to grips with his family's heath issues and is clear-headed. He was far sicker from the arthritis last year than he will ever admit. He was hurting last summer. As for Tiger's excessive coverage, don't forget that there's a decent percentage of viewers who enjoy watching him rake it around like a 10 handicapper, after what he did in 2009-10.

Huggan: Which is to Phil's credit. There is much to admire about him as a man, a father and a husband. All in complete contrast to you-know-who. Bottom line: you guys had a great event to watch last week. Bubba is terrific entertainment and Dustin Johnson isn't half bad either. Wee Timmy must have been loving it all.

Elling: I will add this -- I did not hear one fan say a single discouraging thing to Woods last week. Tiger was a model citizen, even when he was struggling. I heard a couple of muttered epithets, but I have never seen him behave better. Give credit where it is due -- he said he would try harder. Vast improvement.

Huggan: And as for Sunday's show, what about Jhonny Vegas? You've got to love him.

A guy who swings it completely unlike the sweet-swinging Vegas, Bubba Watson, held off talent-laden board at Torrey for his second career win? When did he become such a stoic assassin on Sundays?

Huggan: Bubba is one weird dude. And he's one weird golfer. I've never seen anyone swing it like him. Well, no one with a handicap in single digits anyway.

Elling: Bubba Watson is unlike anything I have ever seen. He never hits the same shot twice. Vegas has a beautiful, athletic, graceful swing that looks effortless. Bubba is carving, conniving and cajoling his ball all over the acreage. It's insane. He steer-jobs drives, hikes his approaches in the air, and is a master manipulator in the Mickelson mold. Even Phil doesn't carve that many shots.

Huggan: And it is heartening to see someone at the highest level play like he does. I don't see anyone else moving the ball in the air like him. In that respect, he is a welcome throwback to a bygone age. I do have concerns over Bubba's longevity, though. Same with Dustin Johnson. Both have so many technical "flaws" that one has to wonder where they go if their games ever go off.

Bubba Watson (Getty Images)

Elling: Bubba Watson's golf swing is like one of those hula girls you put on your dashboard. Lotsa moving parts. That chicken-wing elbow is crazy. Bubba doesn't hit straight shots. Way too boring. That creativity might just help him contend ... at Augusta. Bubba claims he has never had a lesson. I mean, it doesn't get more "throwback" than that.

Huggan: Yes, Augusta should be made for Bubba. Plus, I'd love to see the green jackets spluttering over someone called "Bubba" winning their precious toonamint. Maybe they could bring back Hootie for the jacket ceremony.

Elling: The most impressive part about Sunday was this: Bubba has blown numerous chances to win in the past, and every time he failed, he got squirrelly down the stretch and hit nervous, fidgety shots. He was a man possessed yesterday. He made 23 feet of clutch putts on the last two holes to beat Phil.

Huggan: That was impressive. But I still want to see what happens next time he gets into contention for major. Remember last year at the PGA? He couldn't hit the world by the end of the playoff.

Elling: One of the XM Radio guys interviewed Bubba on the range before the PGA Championship playoff last August. He said Bubba was so jacked about making the Ryder Cup, he was telling everybody he didn't care about the playoff result. The guy maybe has a few bolts loose in his belfry, but he can surely play.

The game's rule-makers are poised to rewrite the rule about scorecards, according to reports. In the aftermath of the Villegas and Harrington disqualifications, how do you see this playing out?

Elling: At this point, I am thrilled that the game's powers-that-be can actually agree that something needs to be done. I hope this turns out better than the asinine grooves changes. Phil hit 22 fairways all week and was second in the field in GIR. That's ridiculous, no? I thought there was supposed to be a higher premium on hitting the fairways? Anyway, I hope the USGA and R&A do something on the scorecard issue. Anything. Please.

Huggan: I was up at St. Andrews the other day for one of semi-regular pow-wows with R&A chief executive Peter Dawson. He told me that plans for reform of the rule that DQs players who unknowingly sign for a wrong score are under way. In fact, I met with him right after he sat with his rules boffins. They have the wording already, they just have to OK things with the USGA.

Elling: Oh, great, the rules are going to be written in British. Like they weren't already hard enough to understand.

Huggan: For once, the authorities are to be commended for prompt action. Now, if only they could knock 50 yards off the ball all would be well with the game!

Elling: You just dropped "boffins" on us. No idea what that means.

Huggan: Since you apparently haven't noticed, the rules have always been written in "British." We were here first, old boy.

Elling: Apparently, you didn't get the memo that nothing in golf that happened before the 1997 Masters counts.

Huggan: Besides, in my time living in the States, I don't think I saw more than five of your compatriots playing by anything resembling the proper rules, anyway.

Elling: You didn't live in the States. You lived in the Florida Panhandle. Witness how local products Bubba and Boo Weekley turned out.

Before we call it a day, let's revisit something that Huggan wrote last week in GolfWorld. Are Martin Kaymer and Rory McIlroy the two best players in the world under age 30, as he asserted?

Huggan: I agree with that Huggan fellow. Smart guy. Writes some great stuff. You should get him on board for this sort of thing. Are you suggesting there are two better? Take a look at the rankings my friend.

Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer (Getty Images)

Elling: I have to pick sides in this one and am backing Dustin Johnson, who is at least as good as young Rory. In total wins, D.J. has a 4-2 edge over Little Mac.

Huggan: D.J. wins meaningless pro-ams against weak fields. Rory wins against the very best. Enough said.

Elling: Johnson finished third last week at Torrey. McIlroy seems to be a more consistent player, and they each have shortcomings. Rory's putting issues have hurt him and D.J.'s wedge play is spotty. Crazy that an insanely long guy who hits a short iron into every hole isn't better with a wedge, but D.J. is working on it, apparently.

Huggan: Look at their swings. Are you seriously telling me that someone -- like D.J. -- who is as shut at the top of the backswing will last beyond his "young and strong" years? Shut at top equals crap wedge game. I'm living proof of that! What they have in common is that they are both enormous fun to watch.

Elling: I am more concerned about the torque D.J. puts on his back. His spine looks like it's being wrung out on every follow-through.

Huggan: Saying Rory is better isn't the same as saying D.J. is rubbish. He'll win his share of big events in the next five years. But when they are done, Rory's vastly superior technique will be the telling factor in his vastly superior record.

Elling: Largely amassed against vastly inferior competition.

Huggan: I notice you haven't mentioned Kaymer. So he is one of the two best under 30? That's sticking your neck out.

Elling: Oh, no, not remotely suggesting anything like that. Right now, Kaymer is the best player in the world. Of any age. Period. End of sentence.

Huggan: We shall see regarding Rory. Plus, I suspect he isn't done with the PGA Tour just yet.

extracted from cbssports.com