Quick 18: Poulter's clothes, new tweeters, q-school preview

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Ian Poulter's attire in Dubai was very un-Poulter-like.

1. It figures, right? We're expecting a showdown between Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell at the Dubai World Championship and we got ... Robert Karlsson edging a fumbling Ian Poulter in a playoff. Still, Poulter moves to eighth in the world; the 6-foot-5 Karlsson to 16th. Is Poulter headed for a major? Wouldn't surprise Quick 18 in the least.

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2. Another week, another strange twist from the Rules of Golf. This time, it was Poulter fumbling his golf ball. Think tiddlywinks. Since it hit his ball marker on the green and moved it, he was penalized. Not fair? Some headlines think so, but please. Holding onto your golf ball ... This one was on Poults and no need to remind him.

3. Quick 18 was scanning the list of scores from Dubai and one thing popped out -- 13th place. The eight-way tie included the major trio of Kaymer, McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen. Honest. We don't make these things up.

4. Not to be outdone by the former world No. 1 and, of course, all his European Tour mates, Lee Westwood has taken the Twitter plunge. In his well-played debut -- he's got a great sense of humor, so he's perfect for the 140-character world -- he took on Rory McIlroy's hair, caddie Billy Foster, Tiger Woods' red shirts and tweets, countryman and cricket star Freddie Flintoff and, of course, Poulter. @WestwoodLee Poults looking very bland in black and White ! More penguin than peacock! And . . . wait for it . . . Sparrow legs poulter is on a 16 hour flight to LA so a bit out of range at the mo. peace for us all ! Yep, he's having fun. Whooooooooo!!!!!! It's a whole new world!

Waldman

4. The boldface names may be gathering in California this week for Tiger's Chevron World Challenge, but Orlando is the place to be when it comes to the best storylines. The six-ground grind known simply as q-school starts Wednesday at Orange County National and the field is filled with compelling stories. One of the best is caddie Brett Waldman, who totes for Camilo Villegas. Eight years ago, Waldman failed to get through the second stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying at Orange County and went to work as a caddie. Now, he's got a shot at the big time.

5. Other stories Quick 18 suggests you follow as the Q-School drama unfolds? Double heart transplant Eric Compton; veteran Omar Uresti; one-time-can't-miss-kid Ty Tryon, who got burned out, started a family and is back and Peter Lonard, who is working his way back after a mindboggling number of injuries and back problems.

6. Meanwhile, the LPGA season comes to a close about a dozen miles away at Grand Cypress Golf Club. Up for grabs? All the major awards, including player of the year. Six players, in fact, have a chance at No. 1 -- Jiyai Shin, Suzann Pettersen, Cristie Kerr, Yani Tseng, Na Yeon Choi and Ai Miyazato -- and five players can win Player of the Year.

7. And this nugget from AP golf writer Doug Ferguson: @dougferguson405: Asked Tiger whose season he'd rather have. Was expecting tossup between Kaymer and McDowell. Got this instead: "Just about anyone else's."

Uresti

8. Want to feel old? Tiger turns 35 in December. Want to feel younger? Quick 18 interviewed Uresti, now 42, when he won the 8-and-under division of a tournament in Austin.

9. One small step for the U.S. . . .one giant headstart for Texas club pro Tim Thelen. The American was medalist at the European Senior Tour Qualifying. Thelen, just 49, will be eligible to play on the tour when he turns 50 in June. A piece of mental lint for you? Thelen, who has won the South Texas PGA Championship eight times, played college golf at Houston Baptist with Colin Montgomerie.

10. She's hurt both wrists, sprained an ankle and is now rehabbing her back (bulging disk), but Michelle Wie hasn't lost her sense of humor. "A lot of my injuries were not caused by practicing too much,'' she told the Desert Sun. "My wrist was that I fell. The one time I sprained my ankle, I fell. And this time it was a freak accident as well. It's just weird. I guess I'm just accident prone. My friends all make fun of me. They bubble-wrapped my room one time. I just run into everything. I run into doors. I'm not very aware of how big I am." She hopes to be healthy enough to tee it up in the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters in a few weeks.

11 When Padraig Harrington showed up in Dubai, he had a full beard. He shaved it last Tuesday night. Why? It wasn't the look. "It was annoying me," he said.

12. Harrington, who started the great European push to the top of the standings with his three major championships, will be on Twitter, soon. So what's all this about? "It's all part of marketing," he told irishgolfdesk.com. "I think like all professional golfers we have an ego that we think we're worth listening to. It's an interesting phenomenon -- and at the end of the day, fans of mine want me to be on Twitter." Stay tuned.

13. It has been a tough season for Jerry Kelly, who struggled with a back injury and club issues. He hopes that's all behind him. "I went through 12 sets of clubs,'' he said, "Before I finally found some with a month and a half left in the season."

14. The silence is . . . well, deafening. Paul Casey maintains he and Montgomerie are still friends, despite Monty not choosing him for the Ryder Cup team. But, they haven't spoken since. They share a manager and, according to the Daily Mail, they both attended a pro-am dinner in China. But nothing. " I hear there's a voicemail somewhere and Monty sent me a text at the pro-am dinner but when I looked round he was gone," Casey said. "We were friends and still are friends but..." Could the Christmas card be in the mail?

15. Jhonattan Vegas, who'll be the first Venezuelan player on the PGA TOUR in 2011, thinks he might be able to change some things in his home country if he can have a good year. He told AP that Venezuela "hasn't done anything at all to create a system in which any kid off the street can come and hit golf balls. Maybe we'll see if we change that paradigm from now on." A smart guy -- how many athletes, let alone people in your office, can use the word paradigm correctly -- Vegas graduated from UT Austin in 2008 with a degree in kinesiology. His brother Julio could help his big brother out. He's a sophomore at UT and eyeing a TOUR career too. (For more on Vegas, check out last week's Nationwide Tour insider).

16. Sir Bob Charles, the best left-handed golfer until the current crop came along, is the first inductee into the new New Zealand Golf Hall of Fame over the weekend. The second? Try 2005 U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell.

17. Champion griller Stewart Cink used grilling tongs to trim his Christmas tree. Really. Not kidding. Smart idea. You're welcome.

18. And finally, one more Top Gun, er, @WestwoodLee tweet, this one about today's puddle-jumper ride to Sun City. Jeez, it's like being on a 30 minute roller coaster! It like being on that plane in Madagascar with the penguins! Admit it. You chuckled.

Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM and can be reached at melaniehauser@gmail.com. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.