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Keep an eye on Charley Hoffman. His worst finish this year has been a tie for 19th.

Welcome to PGATOUR.COM's newest feature. Each Monday, the Backspin will provide insight and analysis on the latest results, happenings and news on the PGA TOUR. We welcome your feedback; click here to let us know what you think!

WWTD? WHAT WILL TIGER DO? That seems to be the most-asked question in golf right now. Will he return at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, where Accenture just happens to be a sponsor of his? Or will the World Golf Championships-CA Championship, where he's won five of the last seven years, be where the world No. 1 makes his PGA TOUR season debut?

Here's a little insight as we try to figure out the answer to WWTD.

Over the weekend, Champions Tour player Tom Jenkins said that Mark O'Meara told him Woods plans to return in Tucson, and if not by then, at Doral and Bay Hill. At the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Carson Daly, who grew up playing junior golf with Woods in Southern California and has since stayed in touch with him, said, "Look out, because he's going to be back in a couple of weeks so everyone should start to get a little nervous." Hmm. That would seem to indicate a date in Tucson. Then there's Tiger's new baby, Charlie Axel ... or CA for short. Okay, that last one might be a stretch.

Here's what we do know: We'll have an answer, at least on the Accenture Match Play Championship, by Friday at 5 p.m., the deadline to enter. Stay tuned. -- Brian Wacker

CHARLEY MANIA: It's still early in the season, but Charley Hoffman has already done enough to lead me to believe this is going to be a monster year for the TOUR's Hulk Hogan look-alike.

In four starts this season, Hoffman has finished no worse than a tie for 19th -- and that came in his first start at the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, an event he won in 2007.

Since then, Hoffman has rattled off a runner-up finish in a playoff at the FBR Open, a tie for seventh at the Buick Invitational and a tie for 14th at Pebble Beach.

Hoffman grew up out West, so perhaps his hot start shouldn't be too surprising. We'll see what happens when the TOUR moves east, but for now, you might want to think about penciling in Hoffman as a name to mention as a contender for the majors. -- T.J. Auclair

CAROLINA MEMORIES: I watched with great interest as Mike Goodes won the Allianz Championship on Sunday. He and Walter Hall had been part of a talented group of mid-ams competing in North Carolina while I covered golf for the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record. When he turned 50, Hall turned pro and took advantage of the ultimate mulligan, having earned just under $7 million on the Champions Tour. Goodes, with his first win Sunday, appears poised to follow in his footsteps.

The GOLF CHANNEL telecast was followed by a re-airing of "Uneven Fairways," which I had not yet seen. It was a fascinating program that brought to life a cruel part of the history of this grand game. I can remember once talking with Charlie Sifford about the death threats he received when he played in the 1961 Greater Greensboro Open. More than 20 years later, his face was grim and his hands gripped the arms of the chair he was sitting in tightly as he spoke. Those memories clearly will always be with him, and we should never forget, either. -- Helen Ross

TIGER OR BILL?: A San Francisco Chronicle columnist tried to make the argument over the weekend why, if forced to choose, he would rather have Bill Murray than Tiger Woods playing at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

No doubt Murray brings smiles to plenty of faces at Pebble Beach, and seeing him in action, he appears to have as much fun as the fans he's entertaining. As I noted a few days ago, in his own way, Murray helps bring interest to golf.

But at the end of the day, Pebble Beach is still about competition, not celebrities. That's why the amateurs who made the cut were "excused" Sunday, as tournament officials sought to reduce the field in hopes of playing that day. It's why those officials went the extra mile navigating the ridiculously fierce weather conditions just to try to get in all 72 holes.

Murray is one funny dude. But Tiger's a living legend. I'll take Tiger.

Besides, if I want to watch Murray, I can always rent "Caddyshack". -- Mike McAllister

Stock up

Bob Estes: His two best scores of the week -- a 67 and a 68 -- came on the harder courses in the rotation, Spyglass Hill and Poppy Hills, respectively. After a 2008 that included just two top 10s and his lowest finish on the money list since 1996, Estes has played well in two of his first three starts this season. Kevin Chappell: This former UCLA standout led the Bruins to a national championship last year after losing his 24-year-old brother to heart failure in 2007. Chappell certainly made the most of his sponsor invite at Pebble Beach with rounds of 68-72-68 to finish T6. How can you not pull for this kid with all he's been through? Mark Calcavecchia: The soon-to-be 49-year-old had his 2008 season cut short by knee surgery, plus he'd played at Pebble Beach just four times in the last decade -- most recently in 2004 -- prior to this year. But that didn't stop Calc from a T4 finish that included an opening-round 67 at Poppy Hills, the lowest score of the round on that course.

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Phil Mickelson: It took a birdie on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach on Saturday for Lefty to make the cut on the number, but he wouldn't have been in that position if he hadn't nuked his tee shot on the par-3 12th out of bounds and erased his three-birdie start in the process. The Mickelson watch is on with just eight weeks until the Masters. Vijay Singh: There's a little rust on the big Fijian's game after sitting out a month due to knee surgery. Singh missed the cut and missed a lot of putts -- he took 34 putts per round -- at Pebble Beach, where he's finished in the top 10 six times since 2000 but couldn't break par this week. Singh turns 46 this month, and it takes a little longer to recover. Aron Price: After making just three bogeys in his first two rounds, Price made five of them in his third round en route to a 3-over 75 at Spyglass Hill. As a result, the rookie from Australia tumbled out of contention and down the leaderboard, dropping from a tie for seventh to a tie for 33rd after three rounds.

A Quick 18

Front Nine Back Nine It wouldn't be fair to tag one swing as the cause of Phil Mickelson's recent struggles, but Brandel Chamblee did a nice job of breaking down Lefty's 5-iron on the par-3 12th Saturday when he hit it OB. On the replay you could see Mickelson was extremely shallow on his takeaway and overly steep on the downswing. That's going to lead to a lot of inconsistency. According to his fellow celebrity golfer Michael Bolton, Kenny G will invite TOUR pros over for dinner, then videotape their swings with a camera he has set up at his house. With instructional tape like that, no wonder Kenny G's a scratch golfer. In these economic times nothing is guaranteed in terms of sponsorship dollars, so the TOUR was more than happy to see Travelers become the first title sponsor to renew with a four-year extension that will keep the tournament in Connecticut through 2014. Six events are now under contract through at least 2014 with a dozen others locked up through 2012. Pro surfer -- and celebrity golfer -- Kelly Slater recently received a golf tip from Brad Faxon. Surprisingly, it wasn't a putting tip, even though Faxon's one of the best on TOUR. "He gave me a little chipping tip that has really worked," Slater said. Speaking of deals, GOLF CHANNEL last week inked a 10-year deal to be the exclusive carrier of LPGA coverage. That means that, starting in 2010, GOLF CHANNEL will be the exclusive home for all the major golf tours. In related news, Michelle Wie made her debut as a member of the LPGA Tour last week. A net-bogey rule was put in place at Pebble Beach this year in hopes of speeding up play. Did it work? "No, I don't think it had much effect," said Mark Russell, PGA TOUR VP of Rules and Competition. "It's just a numbers game." Numbers as in 360 players (half of them amateurs) on three courses. Speaking of Wie, she squandered a three-stroke lead in the final round of the SBS Open, shooting a 73 on Sunday to lose by three to Angela Stanford. No question Wie is supremely talented, but she hasn't won anywhere since claiming the 2003 USGA Women's Amateur Public Links Championship. Of the three courses in the AT&T Pebble Beach rotation, the tournament has contracts through 2014 to use Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. But Poppy Hills may be out. TOUR officials visited two courses, Bayonet and Black Horse, in nearby Seaside to check their potential as a venue. Thanks to a new fitness regimen, Retief Goosen (who turned 40 on Feb. 3) is 16 pounds lighter. He's also wearing prescription sunglasses and using a belly putter. Said Goosen: "I needed to try and turn everything around again and get a bit more motivated." Why might Poppy Hills be out? One reason is that it's never been overly popular with the players, in part because it usually plays the toughest of the three courses (not to mention is the least picturesque) and has a lot of doglegs on it. Last year's Ginn sur Mer Classic winner, Ryan Palmer, had offseason surgery on his right shoulder to have a bone spur removed. He was back on the driving range a month later, but said last week that it still gets sore and he has to go through a lot more of a pre-round routine to get it loose. Another player battling a sore shoulder: John Rollins. With Sunday's action at Pebble Beach wiped out because of winds in the 40-50 mph range, CBS' Gary McCord and Ian Baker-Finch decided to have a little fun and tee it up on Nos. 7, 8 and 9 for a little on-air talent competition. By doing so, they also showed just how bad the wind really was. If you're looking for the TOUR's next long-ball hitter, keep an eye on rookie Gary Woodland. He's already made an impression on another player who has the ability to take it deep off the tee, Robert Garrigus. "He launches it," Garrigus said. Often times the charity message of the PGA TOUR doesn't make many headlines, but there was an announcement last week that's worth noting: A record $124 million was raised for charity by the TOUR and its tournaments during 2008. Not bad given the state of the economy. Speaking of Garrigus, it's a little odd that such a big hitter would use a short 28-inch putter. Garrigus once used a more conventional 34-inch model, but "was all cramped up and felt so uncomfortable." Once he switched, he made the Nationwide Tour and hasn't looked back. A few readers e-mailed in wanting to know what the process and cost is for amateurs to play in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Basically, it's the job of tournament organizers to recruit titans of the entertainment, sports and business worlds. The waiting list is in the hundreds and most of the amateurs pay $14,500 to play in the event. The R9 driver may be the hot new club from TaylorMade (Pat Perez used it in winning the 50th Bob Hope Classic), but for now, Bob Estes is sticking with the R7. Said Estes: "I'm probably getting another 10 to 15 yards off the tee." A quick story about the greatest golf movie ever made, "Caddyshack", which was on AMC Sunday evening. Though the movie was inspired by writer/co-star Brian Doyle Murray's memories of caddying at Indian Hill GC in Wiinnetka, Ill., the golf scenes were actually shot at now-private Grande Oaks (known then as Rolling Hills) in Davie, Fla. Why was it filmed there? Among other reasons, there was a plethora of oak trees on the course, many of which are huge today.

The Forward Spin

The Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club down the coast in L.A. is a tournament that Phil Mickelson absolutely loves -- he won there last year and was runner-up in 2007. Mickelson has 11 career victories in the state of California, but this season the West Coast Swing has been more like the Less Coast Swing for Mickelson. With that in mind, it'll be worth watching Lefty (it always is, anyway) to see where his head and his game are.