Quick 18: Woodland, The King and e-golf struggles

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A little off the top... After his first non-Top-10 finish of 2011, Nick Watney and caddie Chad Reynolds will get haircuts.

1. A former college basketball player, who transferred to play collegiate golf at Kansas, wins during March Madness. Makes perfect sense in Q-18 land. And, oh, Gary Woodland just happens to the latest great athletic type to grab our attention -- think Dustin Johnson -- and the ninth player out of the top 100 to win this year. Hello Augusta.

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2. The latest chance to wonder if Tiger Woods will find the magic comes this week at Bay Hill. He's only won there six times which means if it comes down to one final putt ... where will your money be? Good question, isn't it?

3. The King. No one has -- or will have -- more fun with golf than that man. From those old hitch-up-his-pants-and-wink days to his majors to his retirement from competition, Arnold Palmer always found a way to smile because he simply loves the game. This week he's the congenial host of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard -- one that's hard to say no to -- and he'll take center stage. Autographs. Photos. His thoughts on anyone and everything. He's the smiling calm in that swirl.

4. Can you say playing your way to Augusta? That's what defending champ Phil Mickelson is doing. Again. This week it's Bay Hill, next week the Shell Houston Open. Then on to Augusta. Worked pretty well last year, didn't it? He turned two 30-something ties in the prelims into another Green Jacket.

5. An email to Q-18 from longtime Japanese journalist Duke Ishikawa, who was not in the affected earthquake/tsunami area, offers many thanks to the players who have donated to the tsunami victims. A touch of class on both counts.

6. So, Tiger's best score at Augusta on the new video game is 71. His best on the course, period, is 65. Does this mean virtual Augusta is tougher? Or he's adjusting to electronic swing changes too? Just asking.

7. The latest player to go to the long putter? According to Golf World/Golf Channel nugget-meister Tim Rosaforte, defending British Open champ Louis Oosthuizen picked up a long putter during a trip to Augusta National and he'll try it out in Spain at the Open de Andalucia de Golf this week. Another young guy working the longer look? Adam Scott who turned in his best finish in of the year -- T6 at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship -- with one.

8. Lest you think Woodland came out of nowhere to win, think again. He came into the week with three top-six finishes, was 11th in putting and lost a playoff to Jhonattan Vegas at the Bob Hope Classic. In case you're wondering, he works with Royal Oaks' Randy Smith and, yes, he's pulling for Kansas.

9. Yes, Sergio Garcia got our attention with that opening 68-66 at Copperhead. But just when we thought his 2011 PGA TOUR debut might be a turning point ... he started missing short putts and faded into a share of 15th with a 72-71 weekend. It was his best finish on U.S. soil since last year's World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play (fourth), but ... here's the kicker. Serge has only two wins since 2005. Really? Of course, one was THE PLAYERS ...

10. Will the Masters field top 100? Another good question. With two tournaments to go -- and two potential winners that could be added and a top-50 deadline this Sunday -- the field sits at 99. Last time the field topped 100 was 1966 when 103 players teed it up.

11. Tiger calls him the best non-PGA TOUR player he's seen. So how good is John Smoltz? The former Atlanta Braves pitcher, who is on a collision course with the Baseball Hall of Fame, plays to a 1.5, turned pro last year and, next month, he'll tee it up in the Nationwide Tour's South Georgia Classic Presented by First State Bank and Trust Company. Turns out he tells a pretty good story too ... Seems he was supposed to meet Tiger at a private airport one day to fly to Augusta for a round. The start to the day? Like a Seinfeld episode, he said. "I got in the car and was running late. The gas tank's empty, the light's on. I don't care. I'm going full-bore. I go through tolls and I call him three times to tell him not to leave me." They get there and their first swings are on the first tee. "I hit it down the middle, he hits in the bunker. I think ok, this could be something neat." Smoltz takes a 6; Tiger pars. Seriously set the tone.

12. Nick Watney finishes T13, which means ... he and caddie Chad Reynolds are headed for the barbershop to get haircuts. Deal was no trims until he finished outside the top 10. By the way, looking for a non-Tiger-Phil-Lee Westwood-type shot at Augusta? Watney.

13. Justin Rose is now 1-for-7 after sitting on at least a share of the 54-hole lead. Just thought you'd want to know.

14. Tweet of the week goes to @paulgoydospga: The only thing worse than my golf game is my NCAA bracket. Seriously doubt he's alone. And the runner up? @stewartcink: I did 3 brackets this year. The one on ESPN was ranked 5,500,000 (20th percentile) on day one. Is there a cut? I need to work on my game.

15. U.S. Amateur champ and Oklahoma State junior Peter Uihlein, the top-ranked amateur, still says he'll finish his four years at OSU, but he's making progress toward his graduate degree, better known as the PGA TOUR. Uihlein made his first TOUR cut and finished T39th at the Transitions Championship and he'll be paired with Mickelson at the Masters.

16. Twitter is starting to have days that make Q-18's head hurt. One tweet turns into an all-day -- or maybe even longer -- snarky dust-up. Entertaining? Maybe in an Ann Coulter vs. James Carville kind of way. Give us a good Bubba Watson-Rickie Fowler twitvid challenge any day.

17. Yes, Q-18 does keep an eye on how many rounds the Golfer-in-Chief plays, but only because it's a bit lighter fare than everything else going on at White House and on Capitol Hill. And we're glad the President has something to do in his spare time. Which brings us to his latest supporter -- former VP and golfer Dan Quayle, who likes Barack Obama's golf outings. " I think Presidents deserve down time, and believe me, he's in constant communication with what's going on,'' he said, adding, "I mean, what do you want him to do, stay in his house and be on the phone with the ambassador to Japan all the time?" Good point.

18. And finally ... An Irish St. Paddy's Day tale courtesy of Charlotte Observer columnist Ron Green, Jr., Seems John O'Malley, who gets together with his buddies every year to play a little golf and watch a little March Madness, teed it up at Ballantyne CC in Charlotte on March 17 and walked away with not one, but two aces in the same round. The 13-handicapper hit a 6-iron into the cup on the 149-yard 12th hole, then, after realizing he didn't have his wedge at the 17th, choked down on a 9-iron at the 100-yard par-3 and spun the ball back into the hole for ace No. 2. The odds, as reported by Golf Digest, for two aces in a round are 1 in 9,222,500. O'Malley, of course, took care of the bar tab. "My friend Bill said my wife wasn't going to believe it," O'Malley said, "but she will when she sees the bar bill."

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.