January 31 2011 Last updated at 03:30 PM ET
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Bubba Watson -- Watson's victory at Torrey Pines won't be remembered for the 362-yard drive he bombed on 13. Instead, it was the brilliant touch he showed with his short game as he got up-and-down from a tough lie in a bunker on the 72nd hole to secure the one-stroke win over Phil Mickelson. The left-hander had to earn his second career PGA win against an experienced group of competitors all making a push, but did so with consistency. He led the field in greens in regulation and only carded one bogey during the final round.
Paul Casey -- The Englishman called Sunday at the inaugural Volvo Golf Champions "one of the toughest battles I've ever had." On paper, Casey ended the day in the same position he started it -- first -- but he did so by surviving 23 final-round lead changes to win his first tournament in 20 months. If not for Mickelson finishing second in San Diego, Casey would have moved into the top five of the world rankings. Instead, he moved up three spots to 6th.
Golf Rulebook -- PGA commissioner Tim Finchem spoke out about the recent rules violations that were reported by television viewers and led to disqualification for Camilo Villegas and Padraig Harrington. Finchem, speaking from the Farmers Insurance Open, said he wants a thorough review of the rules to decide whether there is a better way to punish players that aren't aware of their violation. He'll meet with the USGA executive committee next week and has also asked the European Tour to join him in examining the rule.
Sunday at Torrey Pines -- The PGA was hoping for an exciting finish when Tiger Woods announced he would make his 2011 debut at Torrey Pines alongside Phil Mickelson -- and they got it, despite Woods struggling efforts on the course. With the top of the leaderboard filled with some of the top players on Tour and super-rookie Jhonattan Vegas, the level of competition bordered on majoresque on Sunday. Nick Watney went out early and set the tone with a 28 on the front nine and the leaders followed. On a day in which only 11 of the 79 players broke 70, six of those came from the top 6 finishers, and that provided an incredible finish.
Anthony Paolucci -- Playing on a sponsor's exemption, the 18-year-old amateur finished T29 at the Farmers with a score of 3 under. The 2010 Rolex Junior Player of the Year didn't shoot a round over par and ended two strokes better than Woods. Paolucci is a high school senior down the road from Torrey Pines at La Jolla Country Day -- he said his father just sent an email with his resume to event organizers, which led to him receiving an invite. The future looks bright for the country's top-ranked junior, who helped lead the US to a Junior Ryder Cup victory last fall and will enroll at USC later this year.
Phil Mickelson -- Lefty looks to have his game in order and confidence back after a second-place finish at the Farmers. All eyes were on him and Woods this week to see if they could put their recent struggles behind them at a course they both love, and Mickelson responded. While he wasn't tremendous off the tee, he flashed his accuracy and touch around the greens by hitting 76.4 percent of greens in regulation (T2), averaging 28.5 putts per round (T19), and totaling 22 birdies on the week (T2). Nothing showed the confidence he has in his game like his approach at the 72nd hole. Needing an eagle from the fairway to tie Watson, Mickelson had his caddy Bones tend the flag from 72 yards out, then missed holing it by about 15 inches.
Back to the Range
Tiger Woods -- A lot of question marks remain for Woods after he opened the year with a T44 finish on a course he has dominated over his career. His game just isn't there right now. The former world No. 1 averaged nearly two putts per green in regulation (63rd in the field) and hit more than 50 percent of the fairways off the tee in only one round. The most disappointing aspect of Woods' game this week was the way he finished. He entered the weekend at 6-under but played horrible by his standards on Saturday and Sunday -- finishing over par in both rounds, tallying nine bogeys to just four pars and a total of nine 5s on the final-round scorecard.
Hugo Chavez -- The Venezuelan president has been in the news this week following the victory by rookie Jhonattan Vegas at the Bob Hope Classic. Chavez spoke out defending his stance on golf, which has been attacked after closing multiple courses around the country and threatening to seize others. In a statewide speech Wednesday, Chavez said, "I'm not an enemy of golf, or any sport. I've simply criticized that a group of rich people in Caracas have a bunch of golf courses next to slums falling off of hills." Vegas has said since he qualified for the Tour that he wanted to bring more golf awareness to his native country. With a win and a T3, he's done that much quicker than expected and left Chavez to revisit his golf stance.
Colin Montgomerie -- The Scot took center stage at this week's European Tour event as the course he designed was on display in Bahrain. Feedback, however, was not encouraging. It took less than 24 hours for outspoken Twitter-holic Ian Poulter to make a comment: "Simply the worst greens I have ever seen and I'm not joking. They are embarrassing," he wrote on Twitter. "Apparently the Architect wanted to make a statement with the greens. He did that alright - they are sh*t." That architect is Montgomerie, but to his credit, he handled the criticism pretty well. The European Ryder Cup captain's week ended with Paul Casey, who he controversially left off the team, hoisting the trophy on his course.
Source: http://golf.fanhouse.com/2011/01/31/monday-movers-torrey-pines-dramatic-finish-excites-golf-world/
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