Retief Goosen, your 2004 U.S. Open champion, did a Mickelson and took his first long break away from the game over the winter. He's not setting any records, either (although a final-round 66 did lift him into a tie for 15th at Doral with, among others, Vijay). You don't suppose 42-year-old Davis Love, who's playing some of his best golf in more than year, might make a run at it, do you? Or will it be David Toms, the player who ultimately pressured Tiger at Doral?

• Who's going to be the bigger breakout star on the tour this year? After the FBR Open in Scottsdale, we assumed it was going to be long-hitting J.B. Holmes, a rookie from Kentucky. Not so fast. Colombia's Camilo Villegas, a star collegian at the University of Florida who played his way onto the Nationwide Tour last year, is the current flavor of the month, finishing third at the FBR and tying for second at Doral. He's a long hitter, he's got the dimpled smile, the wild hair, the lean body of a soccer goalie, the go-for-broke style of Arnold Palmer and he favors brightly-colored clothes. If you missed him Sunday at Doral, he wore all white, except for orange golf shoes and an orange belt. Somewhere, Doug Sanders is smiling. So are a gaggle of female galleryites.

• Was Jason Gore just another tour pro riding a hot streak last summer when he became a Cinderella story after his collapse at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, followed by his battlefield promotion from the Nationwide Tour to the PGA Tour and then his surprising victory at the Lumber Classic? Gore is a media darling. He's an early-week story for the local paper at every tour stop he tees it up at this year, but it hasn't been the feel-good story it was last year. Gore has missed four cuts in six tournaments.

• The media jumped on the LPGA for its new player rankings, which badly missed the mark, but when is someone going to speak up about the whacked points system used to select the U.S. Ryder Cup team? Players earn points over two years, with this year's points more heavily weighted than last year. The weird part is, only players who finish among the top ten get points. There are three problems with that.

One, you get the same points for winning the B.C. Open (held opposite the British Open) as you do for winning the Players Championship -- let's see, that's one weak field versus perhaps the strongest field in golf.

Two, what makes 10th place worth points and 11th place worth nothing? A guy who misses 10 cuts and finishes third once blows away a guy who finishes 12th in eight straight tournaments -- which guy would you rather have on the team?

Three, it's not unusual for the top 10 to be populated with international players. In any given tournament, only three or four Americans may finish in the top 10 and earn points. Does this system make any sense? Why not just use the cumulative world ranking points (which factors in strength of field? Or maybe we ought to copy the Euros (especially since they've been beating us like a drum) and take the top five from a points list and the top five from the world rankings?

• It's cool that Tiger gives the souped-up car he got for winning the Ford Championship at Doral to caddie Steve Williams, a racing enthusiast, but wouldn't it be cooler if Stevie had to retrieve it from the middle of the lake by the 18th green all by himself?

• After another round of changes to the golf course, Augusta National will play at 7,445 yards for the Masters. Jack Nicklaus, who supposedly played his last Masters in 2005, said recently that he hopes he's smart enough not to bring his clubs with him to Augusta. The course is a monster and you're 66, Jack. Why even joke about returning?