Quick 18: Long putter wins again; Couples makes news

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Simpson is the latest player to win a tournament using a long putter.

1. It was so Fred. His left hip was seriously stiff. He was still talking Tiger Woods, Presidents Cup and blood spinning in Germany. And, oh, he had a lot of fun playing with old buddy John Cook -- final round, plus three playoff holes. Like you expected something else when Fred Couples pulled a season 180 and won his first senior major? No one is more laid back, no one is cooler. And when he's feeling relatively healthy -- it's all relative when you're past 50 -- no one's better.

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2. Freddie had everyone talking last week -- and not just about the impressive golf. First, he underwent Orthokine therapy -- proteins from a patient's blood are spun out and injected into the inflamed area -- in Dusseldorf, Germany. Then, in true Fred stream-of-consciousness, after saying he would make Tiger a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup, he strongly hinted that he wanted to see Tiger play more. He and Tiger talk all the time, so it's all between them anyway.

3. Another week, two more wins for that new-old long putter. Webb Simpson gets a home-state win at the Wyndham Championship, while Freddie gets a major. And more players test drive it on putting greens. Q-18 hasn't really been a fan of the broomstick pendulum -- we value persimmon, too -- but it's in the bags until something new comes along. We just have one question. Is Peter Senior's long putter taller than Kristen Chenoweth?

4. Q-18 never passes up a chance to visit with Jackie Burke -- and learn something. Last week's lesson? You don't hit a putt. You roll it. Seriously. More folks might want to listen up.

5. If you are still wondering how much it means to make the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, stop. Now. Padraig Harrington and family gave up a Bahamas vacation -- "We only had to tell the 7-year-old we were changing plans. The 3-year-old -- one swimming pool is the same as the next one to him'' -- so dad could play his way in and he did. Justin Leonard went down to the final hole, bogeyed and missed by one spot. Ernie Els said it was almost like Q-School. He should know. A year ago, he headed into the Playoffs at the No. 1 spot. Last week he played his way from 126th at the start of the week to 118. And the brutally tough luck nod goes to Matt Jones, who finished 127th for the second time. He's also finished 126th. Ouch.

6. Want some serious Playoffs mental lint? Steve Stricker is the only player to play every round of every FedExCup event.

7. Gotta love the Wanamaker Trophy's grand picture tour. Is Keegan Bradley soaking up that PGA win or what? Bradley has a snapshot trail of the last week -- via Twitter of course -- of everything from the Wanamaker being snapped in the car on the way to visit instructor Jim McLean to a photo op with Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez to a few sippy moments and, of course, the Wanamaker topped with a Red Sox cap. What will the Wanamaker do next? Stay tuned.

8. Bradley is -- hands down -- the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, but his name is also being tossed around in conversations about Player of the Year. Yes, it's a bit early since there are four Playoffs weeks to go, but, like we said ... a conversation. So how did he ease into the first week of the Playoffs? By swinging by to see his buddies at St. Johns's on the way to The Barclays.

9. Q-18 snaps to Juli Inkster who keeps proving 50 is the new 40. She'll not only be playing on her ninth Solheim Cup team, she'll also be an assistant captain. Her record? Try 15-10-6 overall and 6-1-1 in singles. And, snaps to captain Rosie Jones for reaching out and taking spunky Ryann O'Toole as a captain's pick -- just seven events into her LPGA career. "I'm ready to kick Europe's butt," the 24-year-old O'Toole said. Spunk to go with fiery Christina Kim? Interesting.

10. The Auburn football team wasn't about to let Jason Dufner get too down about his playoff loss to Bradley at the PGA. When Dufner dropped by practice, the War Eagles gave him an ovation. Wonder if anyone asked him about those long waggles? But hey, they work.

11.This week's tweet of the week? Well, Steve Elkington has been going back and forth with his tweeps over old school/new school things and here's one that made Q-18 chuckle: @elkpga retweeted son Sam's thoughts: @Sam_Elkington2 old school- loudmouth dude at the bar.. new school- loudmouth pants at the bar.

12. Golf Channel's Rex Hoggard reports that former Nationwide player Robert Floyd -- Raymond's son -- will be on Robert Allenby's bag for the Playoffs. Floyd, who was away from the game after his second DUI charge in June, will be wearing an alcohol monitoring anklet. According to Hoggard, he wants to play again and this is the first step back.

13. Luke Donald got a little one-on-one major talk time with Jack Nicklaus last week according to Chicagobusiness.com. Donald is still searching for his first major and Nicklaus pointed out, "I don't think he has to do a whole lot. He said he goes into the majors with a different mindset. You shouldn't go in with a different mindset. He's too good a player to have to do that.'' And when Nicklaus asked Donald to name the weakest part of his game, Donald said driving. So they talked about it. "Luke wants to learn and be better,'' Jack said. "I think he's got several majors in him, but he's got to get the first one. He's ready to win. He should win."

14. Erin Hills, the USGA's new midwest darling, makes its big-stage debut this week -- all 7,760 yards of it -- when it hosts the star-studded U.S. Amateur. It did host the 2008 Women's Amateur Public Links. Defending champ Peter Uihlein, Nationwide winners Russell Henley and Harris English, John Peterson, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Speith headline a field that will give us a semi-preview of how the course might play. It can but likely won't go a scary 8,000 from the tips -- when it hosts the 2017 U.S. Open.

15. Speaking of setups, Kiawah Island will host next year's PGA Championship and, according to The State, officials set the course up to kinda-sorta-2012-conditions. Then they opened the competition to any and all comers and it wasn't pretty. The low score, according to the paper, was a 6-over 78 by an unnamed scratch golfer. "He's the only one who broke 80," tournament director Brett Sterba said. "Out of about 1,000 who tried, 155 turned in a scorecard and the average score was 98."

16. Donald Trump turned down his invitation to the Kim Kardashian-Chris Humphries over-the-top wedding last weekend to attend a golf tournament at --- where else? -- Trump National. According to Access Hollywood, Ellen DeGeneres got into the field, er, event when Trump pulled out.

17. UCLA coach and Bel Air CC member Rick Neuheisel played Augusta National. Twice. Which he told ESPN's Page 2 was the thrill of a lifetime. "I shot 77 the first time I ever played there and was even par on Amen Corner. Promptly doubled 14, but came back with a birdie on 15."

18. Paying it back . . . finally. German teacher Sebastian Steinzen spent almost six years, more than £1,000 and travelled 880 miles to try and repay a bet. Steinzen lost a bet with a British man named Patrick that he would put a 130-yard approach shot within 6 feet of the pin during a round in Majorca in 2005. He wasn't able to pay off the debt -- buying Patrick a pint -- during the holiday, then he lost Patrick's contact information. Finally, he went to Portishead, North Sommerset earlier this month with a picture of Patrick to try and find him. He didn't. But The Daily Telegraph picked up the story and Patrick Burns, a retired executive, reached out. The debt will be repaid next month at The Black Horse, Burns' local pub.

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.