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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

MARANA, Ariz. -- As the PGA TOUR heads to Florida it is time to reflect on the first eight weeks of the year. After the West Coast swing, players take time to assess their performances, and if necessary, changes will be made. We used to joke that the parking lot at Riviera, at the time the site of the last full-field event on the West Coast, was a caddy graveyard. Dodging traffic on Highway 5 might have been safer than lingering among the cars parked at Hogan's Alley.

Several impressive streaks ended this year on the West Coast. Stuart Appleby's stranglehold on the Mercedes-Benz Championship ended after three consecutive victories. The man whom he beat in a playoff in 2006 captured the trophy, and with his victory, Vijay Singh was the first man invited back for the 2008 winners-only event. He also got a white blazer for the effort but I haven't seen him wearing it around the clubhouse at any other events.

Fred Funk has contributed to an interesting start to the new season. (Ehrmann/WireImage)

The following week "Mr. Sunshine," Paul Goydos, earned his second career victory on the PGA TOUR at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Paul, plagued by injuries and betrayed by Father Time, appeared to be in the twilight of his career. But he managed to push the sun back up into the sky over the islands and put it all together for a glorious week.

We have had an assortment of winners back on the mainland. Charley Hoffman won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in a dramatic playoff over John Rollins. The man with the golden mane is one of two players to earn their first career victory this season.

The following week someone let the cat out of the bag. Tiger Woods picked up his seventh consecutive PGA TOUR victory. It was his third victory in a row at the Buick Invitational, and he has won a total of five now. Need we say more?

Next, the PGA TOUR went to a party in Scottsdale and a golf tournament broke out. The FBR Open looked like it was to be rookie Jeff Quinney's debutante ball but Aaron Baddeley crashed the party -- wielding a lethal putter -- and stole the trophy. It was Aaron's second victory in less than a year.

A week later, the spirits that haunt the hallowed grounds along the Monterey Peninsula smiled on Lefty at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Much to the delight of several thousand fans, Phil Mickelson enjoyed the walk up the most famous par 5 in golf on a perfect sunny day with a five-stroke lead. His 30th PGA TOUR title perhaps exorcised the ghosts that have haunted Lefty since the debacle at Winged Foot.

Down the coast in Tinseltown, Charles Howell III finally reached the altar for the second time in his career at the Nissan Open. After being a bridesmaid so many times in the last five years, he must have a closet full of tacky dresses that he can never wear again. Charles took his first sip of beer when he won the now defunct Michelob Championship in 2002. No reports on his beverage of choice after the Nissan Open victory.

On Sunday, the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship crowned the year's other first-time winner. Perhaps more importantly, it was a little-known and lanky Australian who ruined one of the most impressive streaks in golf. With his victory on the second extra hole of their third-round match, Nick O'Hern dispatched Tiger Woods and prevented him from earning his eighth consecutive victory on the PGA TOUR. It was the second time Nick had sent Tiger packing early in the tournament.

Ironically, the last man to win a stroke-play event in which Tiger was playing won the Walter Hagen Trophy on Sunday at the Gallery at Dove Mountain. Henrik Stenson, winner of the Dubai Desert Classic three weeks ago, captured the Accenture Match Play Championship by beating defending champion Geoff Ogilvy 2 and 1. In a match that pitted two potential stars, the big Swede held off the U.S. Open champ and announced to America that he had arrived.

Henrik may have arrived, but there is another man who just won't go away. Like a bad penny, Fred Funk keeps turning up on the PGA TOUR after reaching retirement age. Unless someone shows Fred his birth certificate, he may never realize that he is a member of the over-50 set. His victory at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun made Fred just the second man to win on both the Champions Tour and the PGA TOUR in the same year. Craig Stadler accomplished the feat a few years ago at the B.C. Open. The difference is that Fred's victory didn't cost me any money.

The PGA TOUR says good-bye to Hollywood (always good to get in a Billy Joel reference) and the desert for another year. In the coming weeks, the boys on TOUR will play four of the best golf courses that Florida has to offer. The Honda Classic has a new home at PGA National, while the other three tournaments on this swing have new names. Only in Florida can the TOUR visit a copperhead, a king and a monster in a three-week stretch. And that is without even buying a ticket to a theme park.