Backspin

Monster Mash
Doral's 18th angers David Toms

DAVID TOMS didn't want to be in Miami. His wife and kids were skiing in Beaver Creek, Colo., and he would have preferred to be with them. What's worse, he already felt that a short hitter like himself couldn't win on Doral's Blue Monster, especially when he injured his right hand on a gate while stepping onto the 1st tee at the Wednesday pro-am, causing the hand to swell up. But the swelling went down, the wind stayed calm, and Toms found himself at the 72nd hole a shot behind leader Tiger Woods and facing his biggest obstacle of the week: the brutish 443-yard 18th hole. After bogeying the hole in two of the first three rounds, Toms had called it unfair because long hitters could clear the water, giving themselves a 60-yard-wide landing area, while shorter drivers had only a 20-yard-wide target. "They could have put the tees 50 yards up," Toms said, "so we all could hit over the lake." But they didn't, and Toms made bogey again to fall into a tie for second with Camilo Villegas at 19-under 269, good for $484,000, yet somehow still disappointing.... Woods said he couldn't recall the last time he bogeyed the final two holes of an event and still won. That's easy: at the 2005 Masters.... Woods hit 26 (out of 56) fairways for the week, the same total as last year, and improved his record to 34-3 when holding a 54-hole lead.

Christina Slim

During a six-week "family vay-kay" to South Korea, Christina Kim (below) lost 25 pounds through a program that included running nine miles and hitting 700 balls a day, plus eating almost nothing but fruits and vegetables. The changes added length to her game and made her more philosophical. Asked if she would have some cake on her 22nd birthday (March 15), she said, "If I'm in the mood, I'll have a little piece. Everything in moderation."

ALSO ...
? Stuart Appleby's wife, Ashley, gave birth to the pair's second child on March 1. Mia, born at seven pounds, six ounces, joins sister Ella, 1.

Survey Says ...
As one might expect, 137 of the 144 pros at the Nissan Open carried drivers featuring clubheads of 400cc or greater, with 43.8% using 460cc models, the largest allowed. Craig Barlow bucked the trend with the smallest driver, a 300cc throwback from TaylorMade's 300 Series, which was discontinued in 2002.

The Darrell Survey has tracked equipment usage at golf tournaments since 1938.

New Math
In a calculated move, the LPGA's glamour girls go Hollywood

BEAUTY + TALENT x YOUTH x MARKETING [divided by] CELEBRITY = LPGA AT THE OSCARS

> Alan Shipnuck's Inside Golf appears every Wednesday at SI.com/golf.