Quick 18: The new No. 1 and a new life for Pinehurst No. 2

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

How good was Luke Donald at Dove Mountain? He never played the 18th hole in winning six matches.

1. What made bigger news this week? The Buff or No. 1? Since it was pretty much a given that Martin Kaymer was going to be No. 1 sooner rather than later, Q-18 goes for the incredible fuss about his neckwear. It was cold, he needed something on his neck and, hey, it looked great. Queue the golf fashion police who found out it retails for $23 and is also used by skiers and fishermen for sun protection. Black Fly Outfitters owner Vaughn Cochran wasted no time in taking advantage of the moment on his website.

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2. The smile. The maturity. The style. The pulse rate so low you wonder if you could find it if you tried. The all-round game. That's what we know about Kaymer. What don't we know? How influential Fanny Sunesson was in his career. Fanny, best known as Nick Faldo's former caddie, has been working with the German national team, got Kaymer's attention when she was talking course management and strategy.

"We've talked a lot since about why you win, why you screw up and how to find solutions,'' Kaymer said. "At the end of the day I found the solutions for myself but only through talking to her."

3. Kaymer's stay at No. 1 -- this one anyway -- could be short. With world No. 2 Lee Westwood teeing it up at the Honda Classic this week, Westy could grab it back. No matter what, as golf heads into the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship and then on to the Masters, there could be week-to-week changes. Yes, right now it's that wide open.

4. Most relevant factoid from last week: winner Luke Donald never played the 18th hole at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play. That's dominance. That's a heck of a way to announce you're tired of finishing second -- he has 10 of those -- and you're ready to contend at majors. Donald's precision off the tee makes him an ideal U.S. Open candidate, but he did share third at the 2005 Masters and 2006 PGA, was T5 at the 2009 British Open. We think going back to that old swing is a looking pretty good right now. He leap-frogged Graeme McDowell and Tiger Woods to No. 3, didn't he?

5. Who's the best American player right now? Good question, isn't it? Lots of ways to look at that one.

6. Everyone's talking about ... Bubba Watson's Richard Mille watch. It's a custom -- and Bubba's quick to mention he has a deal with the company, so he didn't buy his -- but if you want one of your own? It's the RM 038 Bubba Watson and it retails in the, oh, $525,000 range. Makes Q-18's two-toned Seiko seem pretty bland.

7. All-you-need-to-know quite of the week comes from Kaymer: "I think about what Roger Federer said. It's nice to be important, but it's important to be nice." Not what you'd expect from a No. 1? Maybe what we should expect.

8. Wonder if "Morning Drive" could book Colin Firth. The Oscar winner commands an audience no matter what he's talking about. Don't know if he can play the game, but Q-18 bets he can talk about Westy, Donald, Ian Poulter. Sir Nick Faldo and Ryder Cup.

9. Pictures of the week? The golf ball buried in the cactus was nice, but Q-18 is going with Faldo standing next to the snowman Sunday morning. Snow? Hail? What's next? A freeze warning at the Honda?

10. Mental lint: The last time Europeans held the top four spots in the world rankings was March 15, 1992. Ian Woosnam was No.1 followed by Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal and Seve Ballesteros.

11. Only NBC's Johnny Miller could compare Tiger to Mike Tyson and Humpty Dumpty in the same breath.

12. While we're on Tiger, who made a quick first-round exit, best observation last week came from Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee, who gave it a little Texas flavor: 'He looks like a hunting dog with a bad nose out there."

12. Got an extra £5.1 million laying around? If you do, consider putting in an offer for Scotland's most expensive golf view. The Hamilton Grand, which sits just behind the first tee/18th green at St. Andrews, will put a four-bedroom apartment on the market for £5.1 million Sunday according to Scotland. Want something a little cheaper? There's another penthouse suite, which looks out on the town and the coast for a mere £4.8 million. In all, there will be 26 apartments, starting at £1.35 million. Go ahead. Grab two.

13. Keep an eye on ... Spencer Levin. The once can't-miss kid is turning it on. He shared fourth at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, was T12 at the Northern Trust and closed with a 65 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic to force a playoff with Johnson Wagner. Wagner won -- his first win since the 2008 Shell Houston Open -- but Levin caught our eye.

14. High school senior Jordan Speith has been given a sponsors exemption to the HP Byron Nelson Classic. Speith, who is headed for Texas next fall, finished T16 at last year's Nelson.

15. Just so you know ... Pinehurst No. 2 is back in play. Bill Coore, who grew up loving the course, and Ben Crenshaw did the facelift, which restores the course to its Donald Ross roots. Wanna take a look? Those proud Pinehurst folks are happy to oblige, compolere.

16. Yani Tseng's streak is over. She made a run at winning her fifth tournament of the year, but settled for third at the HSBC Women's Champions, finishing three shots behind Karrie Webb. Still, the women's No. 1 has won seven times in the last 11 months, including two women's majors.

17. In case you missed it, Lexi Thompson, who'll play a limited LPGA schedule through exemptions, won a professional event against the men at her home course -- TPC Eagle Trace. The 16-year-old needed a two-hole playoff and took home $1,100.

18. Padraig Harrington has joined the jet set. According to several published reports, he bought a Gulfstream G3 for about $2 million. That meant he was home in Dublin a mere 12 hours after losing to Geoff Ogilvy in the first round of the Accenture.

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. Follow her on Twitter @melaniehauser.