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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods complained about a spectator using a camera phone that clicked at the middle of his backswing on the third hole as he attempted to play a chip shot. Although it was a difficult shot to pull off, Woods lamented the difficulties for all players. "We do that every week out here," Woods said. "Now the cameras are loud, people just don't put it on silent. Guys were backing off, they got Hunter [Mahan] a couple times today and Rickie [Fowler] once, I believe."

The PGA Tour allows cell phones at tournament sites but does not allow photography or video during tournament rounds, although it is nearly impossible to enforce.

Volunteers are constantly telling spectators to put away their phones or reminding them that they can't take photos or shoot video. Good luck with that.

"The bigger the galleries are, obviously the more people you have, and now where these people can use them ... we don't mind it, just put it on silent," Woods said. "It's not that hard. But they don't. It can cost guys tournaments, because a shot on Thursday is the same as a shot on Sunday. So it's one of the difficult things about it."

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Rory McIlroy begins the Players Championship as the No. 1-ranked player in the world, having moved passed Luke Donald into the top spot this week. And to think, not along ago, he was a bit overtaken by the prospect of meeting Tiger Woods.

"I think the first time I met Tiger, I was a little star struck," said McIlroy, who turned 23 last week. "I watched him on TV winning majors by 15 and 12 and doing things that no one else could.

"I was more nervous -- it's funny, I was talking about this last night. I was more nervous meeting Tiger than I was meeting Barack Obama."

McIlroy, who is from Northern Ireland, met Obama earlier this year at the White House as part of an Irish function. He said he met Woods at age 15 at a Scott Cameron putting studio and first watched Woods at the Dubai Dessert Classic as an amateur -- while playing in the event.

In two previous appearances at the Players, McIlroy has not made the cut. He tees off at 1:49 p.m. ET Thursday along with Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker.

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.

Seemingly just moments after Tiger Woods missed his eighth cut as a professional at the Wells Fargo Championship last week, there was a foreboding sense that he'll face more struggles at TPC Sawgrass.

Even if Tiger wasn't coming off a missed cut where he looked erratic (just six fairways hit Friday and six putts missed inside 10 feet for the week), he wouldn't be a smart pick at the Players Championship. Woods has never played well in this event, by his standards.

Tiger has played in only two different PGA Tour events at least 10 times and won just once or not at all. One is the Northern Trust Open, an event he hasn't won and hasn't finished since 2006; two of his 11 career starts in the event came when he was a teenager. The other is The Players Championship -- 14 career starts, four top-10 finishes, and more withdrawals (two) than victories (one).

We at Numbers Game, though, wanted to know why Woods hasn't succeeded at this event.

We examined the performances of the past eight winners of the Players Championship, looking for which key statistic was most indicative of winning this event in recent years. The numbers we looked at were fairways hit, greens in regulation, putts made distance, total putts and strokes gained -- putting.

(For stats, 2004 ended up being the furthest we could go back, since that was the first year "strokes gained -- putting" was measured at the event.)

Four of the past eight winners of the Players Championship have led or tied for the field lead in greens-in-regulation percentage. That's the highest such total among any of the five categories. Three of the eight champions were either first or tied for first in the field in fairways hit.

Only one led the field in "strokes gained -- putting." None led the field in either of the other two putting categories.

The average field rank for the winners yielded the same leader for our sample size. Players Championship winners since 2004 had an average GIR field rank of 8.1. Next-best among the group: strokes gained -- putting at 14.9, and fairways hit at 17.0.

If the numbers say that greens in regulation (GIR) is the most important number to follow at this event, how has Woods fared in the statistic? The answer -- not well.

Woods has finished the Players Championship five times since 2004 (he of course withdrew the past two years due to injury). Tiger never once finished in the top-15 in GIR any of those years. Only once did he even finish in the top-30 in GIR. So, in turn, it makes sense that he has just one top-10 finish in the event in that span (eighth in 2009).

Woods is currently ranked 19th on the PGA Tour in GIR percentage (68.8 percent). However, Tiger was T-51 at Augusta in GIR,and is hitting just 61.1 percent GIR over his past two starts.

Whichever way one looks at the information -- historically or from recent weeks -- it doesn't look promising for Woods at TPC Sawgrass.

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We've got something new, something old(er) and the man atop the FedExCup points list in the Players Championship edition of Three on the Tee. The Numbers Game starter calls:

Rickie Fowler: The man in orange broke through with his first career PGA Tour victory Sunday, largely thanks to his stellar ballstriking.

Consider this: Six times in 2011, Fowler was T-7 or better entering the final round in a PGA Tour event. In those final rounds, he hit just 51.2 percent of his fairways and just 56.5 percent of his greens in regulation. On Sunday, he entered the day tied for sixth -- his best position through 36 holes this year. Fowler hit 11 of 14 fairways (78.6 percent) and 14 of 18 greens (77.8 percent).

Phil Mickelson: As premature as it might seem to honor the career of a player currently ranked 10th in the Official World Golf Ranking, the World Golf Hall of Fame did so this week with Lefty.

Mickelson is one of just four American players since 1955 to have at least four major championships and 40 or more career PGA Tour victories. The other three on that list? Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer. Mickelson picked up career win No. 40 earlier this year at Pebble Beach.

Mickelson makes his 19th career start this week at the Players Championship. He won the event in 2007, but the event has largely been a tough one for Mickelson -- he has just three career top-10s and 11 finishes outside the top-25.

Hunter Mahan: The only man to win multiple times on tour this year had his best career finish at this event in 2011, finishing tied for sixth. He's currently fifth on the circuit in GIR percentage -- and we shared earlier how important that number is at Sawgrass.

Mahan has also been better this year when he plays consistently. Over his past six starts, he has two wins and a T-12 finish (at Augusta) when he played the week before on tour. In the other three events in that span, when he hadn't played the previous week, he failed to finish better than 24th.

Justin Ray is a senior researcher with ESPN Stats & Information. He has contributed to ESPN's golf coverage since joining the network out of college in 2008. He is based in Austin, Texas, with the Longhorn Network. Send comments and suggestions to Justin.Ray@espn.com.

In its decade of existence, the currently named Wells Fargo Championship has blossomed into a premier event on the PGA Tour.

Hence, an elite field is in Charlotte this week, featuring 18 different major winners. Among them, defending champion Lucas Glover, reigning PGA champ Keegan Bradley, and each of our superstars in tow for this week's Three on the Tee. The Numbers Game starter calls:

Rory McIlroy: Another week, another switch atop the Official World Golf Ranking. And we could very well have another switch this Sunday, depending on how well McIlroy finishes at Quail Hollow. As the sophisticated readers of Numbers Game know, he posted a smoldering 62 to win here in 2010, so there's a birdie-barrage history here for the current world No. 2.

McIlroy won that year after making the cut right on the number two days prior. He became the first player since Chris Couch at the 2006 Zurich Classic of New Orleans to do that in a PGA Tour event. McIlroy's closing 62 was the lowest final-round score by a PGA Tour winner since Brad Faxon fired 61 at the 2005 Buick Championship. Of course, later in 2010, Stuart Appleby shattered McIlroy's mark with his 59 to win the Greenbrier Classic.

McIlroy missed the cut at the Wells Fargo last year, but it was shortly thereafter that he began the dominant stretch he's seemingly been on ever since. In fact, it's the last time he missed any cut worldwide. Since this event last year, McIlroy has made 22 worldwide starts, finishing in the top-five in a staggering 14 of those, and winning four times.

Tiger Woods: After a disappointing showing at Augusta, Woods also returns to the scene of his most recent PGA Tour missed cut (well, in a non-major at least). Woods shot a second-round 79 at this event in 2010, his highest career second-round score on the PGA Tour as a professional. That's not to say he's always had issues here -- quite the contrary.

Woods won this event back in 2007, breaking par in all four rounds. His other three career starts: T-3, fourth and T-11. When he won the event in '07, he putted phenomenally well, leading the field in distance of putts made, and finishing third in the field in strokes-gained putting. In 2004, he led the field in strokes-gained putting, and was fourth in the category in 2005.

It's difficult to imagine Woods not in the mix over the weekend. Of course, many purported experts on the sport said the same thing about the Masters, and they were all proven very, very wrong.

Phil Mickelson: In eight career starts at this event, Lefty has just one finish outside the top-12. His six career top-10s are the most in tournament history. Sixteen of his past 20 rounds at Quail Hollow have been better than par. He's finished top-four in four of his past six PGA Tour starts. The superlative factoids supporting success for Phil Mickelson at this week's Wells Fargo Championship go on and on.

But maybe the best statistic regarding Lefty entering this week? He's putting better than he has in years. Mickelson is currently third on the PGA Tour in strokes gained-putting. In each of the previous three years, he hasn't ranked any higher than 130th. Correspondingly, Mickelson is right near the top in a myriad of other putting stats, ranking in the top five in one-putt percentage, putts per round and birdie-or-better conversion percentage.

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One stretch of holes you're sure to hear a ton about this weekend during the tournament broadcast is the closing three, dubbed "The Green Mile." The trio of holes has routinely played, on average, about a stroke above par. Five times in nine years, they combined to play more than a stroke above par.

Last year, the number was plus-0.78 for the three holes, the lowest such number in the nine-year history of the event. Even then, the stretch played more difficult than the final three holes at the Masters, U.S. Open or Open Championship.

The closing hole at Quail Hollow is especially tough. The 478-yard par-4 ranked as the fourth-toughest finishing hole on the PGA Tour in 2011 (second-toughest among the non-majors). It has ranked among the top-five most difficult 18th holes on the circuit each of the past five years.

Winners at this event haven't conquered The Green Mile -- more like they've survived it. Since 2005, no winner at Quail Hollow has broken par over the final three holes for the week. The past five winners have played them in a combined 9-over, with Tiger Woods winning the event in 2007 despite playing them in 4-over.

Justin Ray is a senior researcher with ESPN Stats & Information. He has contributed to ESPN's golf coverage since joining the network out of college in 2008. He is based in Austin, Texas, with the Longhorn Network. Send comments and suggestions to Justin.Ray@espn.com.

ORLANDO -- Tiger Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday. It was his first official PGA Tour win since the 2009 BMW Championship and his seventh victory at Bay Hill. The victory ends a 28-month winless streak on the PGA Tour, the longest of his 16-year professional career.

Starting his final round with a 1-shot lead over Graeme McDowell, the 36-year-old former Stanford star had a 3-under-par 33 on his front nine to make the turn with a 4-shot lead over McDowell. Looking slightly less assured, Woods shot a 1-over-par 37 on the back nine. But McDowell never mounted a real charge.

Woods' final-round 2-under-par 70 and 13-under total was good enough for a 5-shot win over McDowell, who had a disappointing 2-over-par 74 on Sunday.

Inside the scorecards: When it looked like Woods might pull away from the field, McDowell made a 51-foot eagle putt at the par-5 6th hole to stay within 2 shots of Woods, who made a birdie at the par-5. But at the 12th hole, McDowell sealed his fate with a bogey at the easy par-5 to fall 4 shots back of Tiger with six holes to play.

As Tiger's only real pursuer during the final round, McDowell couldn't put any real pressure on the 14-time major winner. The Northern Irishman missed a very makeable 10-foot birdie putt at the 13th hole that would have gotten him to within 3 shots of Tiger.

At the 15th hole, when it looked like McDowell might cut into the lead, Tiger made a 13-footer to save par after hitting his drive into a fairway bunker. After Tiger missed his birdie putt at the 16th hole, McDowell missed a 9-foot birdie.

That was the last chance the 32-year-old former University of Alabama-Birmingham player had to put any real pressure on Tiger. In the end, McDowell couldn't make some key putts down the stretch that would have made for a more compelling final round.

Key stats: Woods birdied two of the four par-5s on Sunday and birdied 12 of 16 of those holes for the week. It was also the first time since the 2010 Masters that he shot under par in all four rounds of an official PGA Tour event. Woods hit his first 10 greens of the day and tied for second in greens in regulation for the tournament. He led the field with 20 birdies.

What it means: With his 72nd victory, Woods moves to sixth in the world ranking. He is now just one win short of matching Jack Nicklaus' 73 for second all-time on the PGA Tour wins list and 10 shy of Sam Snead's mark of 82 wins.

All four of Tiger's Masters wins have come after he won a PGA Tour event in the same calendar year. Two of those Masters wins came after victories at Bay Hill.

This win also marks his first with the new golf swing engineered by instructor Sean Foley, who Woods began working with at the 2010 PGA Championship. It was also his first win with Joe LaCava, who he hired away from Dustin Johnson last September.

Bay Hill is only a few miles from Woods' former home in Windermere, Fla., where on Thanksgiving night 2009 a chain of events was started that led to embarrassing revelations of his extramarital affairs. This was also his first official post-scandal win.

Ernie Els' Masters chase: After a T-4 finish at Bay Hill, the 42-year-old South African and three-time major champion failed to get into top 50 in the official world ranking, which would have earned him a spot in the Masters in two weeks. Els needed an estimated solo third-place finish or better to jump inside the top 50. Late on Sunday, he still had a chance until the par-3 17th, where he made a bogey after hitting his tee shot inside the hazard.

Els shot a 3-over 75 on Sunday.

Farrell Evans covers golf for ESPN and can be contacted at evans.espn@gmail.com.

Arnold Palmer Invitational week and thinking about the upcoming Masters Tournament seem to go together like iced tea and lemonade. At least here at Numbers Game, they do.

Every winner at Bay Hill since 2000 has gone on to finish in the top 20 at that year's Masters except two -- Kenny Perry (2005) and Chad Campbell (2004). But is success at Bay Hill the best harbinger of Augusta success in the "Florida Swing"?

The current stretch of Florida tournaments on the PGA Tour -- The Honda Classic, WGC-Cadillac Championships, Transitions Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational -- has been a before-April staple since 2007. During that stretch, the winner at Bay Hill has finished in the top 20 at the Masters each year.

During that same span, winners of the WGC-Cadillac Championship are 3-for-5 finishing in the top 20 at Augusta. Transitions winners are 2-for-5, while champions at the Honda Classic are 0-for-5.

This week's edition of "Three on the Tee" starts off with a player who is still just hoping to earn a spot in the Masters next month:

Ernie Els: His meltdown at Nos. 17 and 18 Sunday at the Transitions Championship wasn't the most painful to witness on the PGA Tour in 2012 (see: Stanley, Kyle) but should Els not make the field at Augusta this year, it might end up being the most notorious.

Els, who has been in the Masters field every year since 1994, led by one stroke with two holes to play at Innisbrook. He finished bogey-bogey to miss the four-man playoff by a single stroke, missing a putt of 4 feet, 2 inches on the 18th green for par.

If you've paid attention to The Big Easy over the past few years, you know that he's struggled with shorter putts. Els now ranks 158th in putting inside 10 feet on the PGA Tour this year, and 146th on putts between 4-8 feet. Last year, he was even worse -- 180th inside 10 feet, and 183rd from 4-8 feet.

In 2010, when he won twice on the Florida Swing, his ranks were 20th and 28th in those categories.

But what better place for Els to redeem last week's squandered opportunity than the site of his last PGA Tour victory? He will try to not only earn his spot in the Masters this week with a win, but join Tiger Woods as the only player to win the event three times or more.

Speaking of Tiger ...

Tiger Woods: We can't be completely certain about the health of Woods this week at Bay Hill, but we can be certain about the fantastic history he has in this event.

Tiger has won this tournament six times. As said earlier, nobody else has won it more than twice. In fact, the only players in PGA Tour history to win any event more than Woods' six wins here are Sam Snead at the Greater Greensboro Open (eight) and Tiger himself at the WGC-Bridgestone (seven).

And if health is concern No. 1 for Woods, the putter is concern 1-A. Over Tiger's past nine PGA Tour stroke-play rounds that he completed (so not counting his withdrawal from the final round at Doral), three have been even-par or worse, and six have been below par.

In the three par-or-worse rounds, Woods has lost an average of 2.4 strokes per round on the green to the field, and missed 10 putts inside 10 feet. In the six rounds better than par during that span, Tiger has gained 1.8 strokes per round on the field while putting, and missed a combined total of just six putts inside 10 feet.

Doral was the week much of the golf world pegged for Tiger's return to the winner's circle, but of course it was not to be. So what about this week? Keep in mind, Tiger is currently second on the PGA Tour in scoring average at 68.53 (trailing only Rory McIlroy's 67.53), first in all-around ranking and first in total driving.

Of course, golf fans are more recently accustomed to seeing Woods hobble into a golf cart than winning. Since Thanksgiving 2009, Tiger has three more withdrawals (3) than victories (0) in official PGA Tour events.

Phil Mickelson: Maybe it's simply his busy early-season schedule in Arizona and California wearing him out a bit, but Phil doesn't have a stellar career history on the Florida Swing. One would have to argue though that his best play in the Sunshine State has come at The King's event.

Mickelson has four career top-10s at Bay Hill in 12 starts, including a victory way back in 1997. At the Honda Classic, Doral (WGC-Cadillac events held there + the old Ford Championship at Doral) and Transitions combined, Mickelson has just two top-10 finishes in 20 starts.

Mickelson isn't going to be the betting favorite this week, though. Since the beginning of 2010, Mickelson has made seven PGA Tour starts in the state of Florida. In that span, he has never finished in the top 10, and his lone top-20 finish came at The Players Championship in 2010.

Justin Ray is a senior researcher with ESPN Stats & Information. He has contributed to ESPN's golf coverage since joining the network out of college in 2008. He is based in Austin, Texas, with the Longhorn Network. Send comments and suggestions to Justin.Ray@espn.com.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- It has often been suggested that Tiger Woods change his schedule. Sprinkle a few new events here and there. Visit some places he hasn't been. Let others get an up-close look at the world's most famous golfer.

Woods will start his 2012 season by doing just that, but the announcement Thursday that he will play in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in the United Arab Emirates is nonetheless a shocker.

The tournament is scheduled for Jan. 26-29 -- the same dates as the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

Woods has won that tournament six of the 12 times he's played it. He also won the 2008 U.S. Open there, the last of his 14 major titles. Every year since 2006 that he's been healthy, Woods has opened his season at Torrey Pines.

But not this time.

"It was a tough decision,'' Woods said Thursday at the Presidents Cup. "But you know Abu Dhabi has been fantastic to our foundation. Been a partner of ours for a very long time. I played HSBC [in China] before it became a World Golf Championship [event] because of that. This is just an extension of that.''

It is also quite likely that Woods will be receiving a hefty appearance fee to play the European Tour event that is the first of three in the Middle East. Woods pocketed seven-figure fees for going to Dubai in recent years, and the purse of $2.7 million is about half of what most PGA Tour events pay.

Woods said the tournament would be his 2012 debut, but the only one he would be playing in the Middle East. He did not say where his U.S. schedule would start, but speculation will center on Pebble Beach, the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles and the Match Play Championship.

There will be no tears shed here for the Torrey Pines tournament, which has been fortunate to have Woods so many times over the years.

But it does seem a bit cold that the tournament director had to learn about it by watching TV. Woods is certainly not obligated to play the tournament -- or any tournament. And he's been hammered often about going to different places. But it would seem he or one of his representatives could have softened the blow in this case.

"When I heard the news I had a knot in my stomach,'' tournament director Peter Ripa told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Understandable. Woods played Torrey Pines with his dad as a kid, the first time he was allowed onto a championship-caliber course. He won the Junior World Amateur at Torrey Pines and all those pro titles. He was a lock to play the tournament.

Not anymore. This is a clear blow to the PGA Tour. The Farmers tournament has turned into a de facto starting point for the PGA Tour season, the week prior to the Super Bowl. The West Coast swing continues to take a beating as big money is offered in the Middle East, one of the strongest parts of the European Tour schedule.

No. 1 Luke Donald, No. 2 Rory McIlroy, Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and Aussie star Jason Day will also be at the Abu Dhabi tournament.

And yet, decrying appearance fees is being blind to the fact that they come in different forms on the PGA Tour. Yes, they are against the rules, but more than a handful of players have endorsements with title sponsors that work a tournament appearance into their contracts.

The PGA Tour's lucrative pension plan is another way to assure that its membership is supportive.

In Woods' case, he had to ask for a release from the tour in order to play in Abu Dhabi. And that release had to be granted. It was, so Woods is making a major change to his schedule.

Wonder what other differences we might see in 2012.

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- They have played together in each of the past two Cup competitions, so it would make sense for Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker to be partners during the Presidents Cup.

But it's not a given, at least not for all four matches.

Dustin Johnson could be part of the Tiger mix when U.S. captain Fred Couples announces his first-day pairings on Wednesday. Or maybe not. But it is clear that Woods has enjoyed playing with Stricker over the past two years; they've gone 6-1 as teammates at the 2009 Presidents Cup and 2010 Ryder Cup.

"Hopefully we'll get put out there together,'' Woods said at Royal Melbourne on Tuesday, when the entire U.S. team assembled for practice rounds. "I know that we feel very comfortable with one another, and we were talking about it today -- there's a certain comfort level about each other's games, and we know each other's games for the years that we have been on these Cups. And knowing how to read each other's putts. I think that helps, too.''

Stricker has not played since the Tour Championship in September; he has been dealing with a disc issue in his neck, for which he received a cortisone shot. There had been some concern that he would not be able to play, but Stricker said he feels fine and that his game is coming around.

"I never got too far away from it at home,'' he said. "... We had good weather all fall. It seemed like I played two or three times a week, just playing and going out with friends or something. Then I worked pretty hard the last 10 days at home, hitting a lot of balls. Then went out to Phoenix for a three-, four-day period just to play before coming over here.''

Woods could also be paired with the long-hitting Johnson, who acknowledged the possibility, but hedged.

"I don't know if we are supposed to be saying who we are playing with,'' he said.

Much of the pairings speculation has centered on whether Woods will face Australia's Adam Scott in any of the matches. Scott, of course, employs Woods' former caddie, Steve Williams, who has been the subject of considerable talk in recent weeks.

International team captain Greg Norman suggested such a matchup -- whether in the team formats or singles -- is almost inevitable, although the captains go back and forth pitting their players against the others, so it could be avoided.

Scott said he had no problem playing against Woods.

"If Greg thinks it's the right match to put out there, just go out there, like I said, and try to win a point,'' Scott said. "I don't think there's too much point worrying about it. I have to play four hard matches and none of them are going to be easy.''

Woods tried to downplay the possibility from the standpoint of his comments last week at the Australian Open; Woods said he and Williams had shaken hands in response to racially sensitive comments the caddie had made at an event in China.

"It's already done,'' Woods said. "I addressed it last week and I said life goes forward, not backwards.''

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.

Sunday's conclusion to the PGA Championship proved that you don't need big names on a Sunday leaderboard at a major championship to provide big entertainment.

Though television executives might cringe at the sight of a Jason Dufner--Keegan Bradley playoff, true golf fans were treated to a dramatic finish to regulation, followed by clutch shot-making in the three-hole playoff by the eventual champion -- PGA Tour rookie Bradley.

A few notes from the Numbers Game notebook on the season's final major:

•  Bradley, amazingly, won in his first career major appearance. Only two other players in modern major history have won in their first ever start at a major: Ben Curtis at the 2003 Open Championship and Francis Ouimet at the 1913 U.S. Open.

•  Talk of the "next young American to break through" has been a pervasive theme leading into major championships over the past several years. Though names like Nick Watney, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler are often thrown about, Keegan Bradley was the surprising member of the under-30 crowd to snap the American major drought.

Bradley is the youngest American golfer to win a major since Tiger Woods was in the midst of his legendary "Tiger Slam" from 2000 to 2001, when he won four straight majors for the first and only time in golf history. In fact, Bradley, Woods and Ben Curtis have been the only three American major winners younger than 29 since the year 2000.

•  At 25 years, two months, Bradley became the third major champion this year under the age of 27. Three of the four major champions in 2011 were age 27 or younger (the other two: Charl Schwartzel at the Masters, Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open). The last time that three of the four major winners were age 27 or younger in a calendar year was 2000, when 24-year-old Tiger Woods won three on his own en route to the "Tiger Slam" he completed at the 2001 Masters.

•  Bradley snapped a streak of six straight major championships played without an American winning. That was easily the record in modern major history -- the prior mark was four straight, when non-American players won all four majors in 1994.

•  Bradley marked the seventh straight first-time major champion, and the 10th in the last 11 dating back to the 2009 U.S. Open won by Lucas Glover. The streak of seven straight first-time winners is the longest in modern major championship history.

•  From 2005 to 2008, eight different players won major championships. In just three years since (2009-11), 12 different men have won a major.

•  Bradley's triple-bogey on the 15th hole seemed like the effective end of the tournament, as Dufner's lead climbed to five shots for a brief period of time. But Bradley's resilience was truly historic. The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that the last player to win any PGA Tour event with a triple-bogey or worse in the final round happened eight years ago -- David Toms at the 2003 Wachovia Championship.

•  Since the inception of the Official World Golf Ranking in 1986, only seven players have been ranked 108th or lower and won a major championship. That's now happened in the last two majors -- Darren Clarke was 111th at Royal St. George's, and Keegan Bradley was 108th entering the PGA Championship.

•  With yet another playoff, we inch closer to the record for most playoffs in a PGA Tour season. The PGA Championship made it 14 times we've seen extra holes on Tour this year. That's just two shy of the record, set in both 1988 and 1991.

• Steve Stricker looked like he may have been on his way to his first career major championship -- and seizing complete control of the Player of the Year race after his opening-round 63 Thursday at the AAC. However, it was not to be, as has frequently been the case on Tour this year. A player has opened with a score of 63 or lower this year a total of 13 times, and only twice did that player go on to win the tournament -- Adam Scott (62) at the WGC-Bridgestone and David Toms (62) at the Crowne Plaza Invitational.

As far as majors go, it's just as rare for a player to go low Thursday and hang on to win. Stricker was the 25th player to shoot a 63 in a major in any round, and the seventh to do it in the first round. Only five times has a player shot 63 in any round of a major and gone on to win. Of the seven players to do it in the opening round, only two won -- Raymond Floyd at the 1982 PGA and Jack Nicklaus at the 1980 U.S. Open.

The Wyndham Championship

This weekend at the Wyndham Championship marks the last chance for players outside the top 125 in the points standings to potentially qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs, which begin in two weeks in New Jersey at The Barclays.

The most talked-about player outside the top 125 is 14-time major champion Tiger Woods, but there are several other huge names who will need to play well or see their 2011 season come to an end.

One of them is Ernie Els (126th), who won twice on Tour just a year ago. Els added Wyndham to his schedule at the last minute in an attempt to qualify for the postseason. Padraig Harrington (130th) is on the outside looking in, too, as is Angel Cabrera (150th). Last year's Open champion, Louis Oosthuizen, is skipping the Wyndham this week (like Woods), ending his Tour season.

Also currently on the outside are Paul Casey (147th) and Justin Leonard (142nd); in the past, both have been among the top 10 players in the world.

Some names on the other side of the bubble to watch include this week's defending champion Arjun Atwal (120th), Heath Slocum (121st) and Camilo Villegas (125th).

Justin Ray has been a studio researcher for ESPN since June 2008, and is the lead researcher for "The Scott Van Pelt Show." He is a 2007 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where he studied convergence media. Send comments and suggestions to Justin.Ray@espn.com.

A new caddie for Tiger Woods. Hmmm …

Guess it's just Bones and Lefty now. They're the only ones left for a big breakup.

Every caddie knows it in his heart. The bag is just temporary, no matter what good friends you are, no matter how many cuts you made together, no matter how much money you've made together. Not even the amount of dirt you have on one another -- the name that's embroidered on the bag on my shoulder is just temporary.

It's business, nothing personal.

The good news for Stevie Williams is that he already has a job, and it's not just a good one, it's what we in the caddie business call an ATM machine as opposed to a lottery ticket.

It's cashing checks every week instead of missing cuts hoping for that one BIG week. And the way it seems, Stevie and Adam Scott could have a long successful run together. They could be done tomorrow. I got fired on a Thursday after the first round! So Stevie is set.

What does Tiger need? That's the $100 million caddie question today.

Here's how I break I down the different types:

•The Yes-Man Caddie: Never questions what his player does, what club he hits or what line he chooses with a putt. Gets yelled at a bunch, and usually doesn't last more than a month on a guy's bag -- unless it's a relative. The good news is the clubs are always clean and there are a ton of caddies to choose from.

No good for Tiger.

•The Numbers Caddie: Knows every yardage from every blade of grass on the golf course. Knows the weather forecast for every 15-minute increment from an hour before tee time to two hours after (just in case of a delay!). Knows every break on every green, and even some greens on the course across the street. Weakness is helping in club selection and conversation on the golf course. Most numbers guys -- think fantasy baseball on a computer in Grandma's basement and little human contact other than the pizza delivery guy -- are not the most "fun" guys to hang out with. And that's what 80 percent of the job is, the time between shots.

No good for Tiger.

•The Party Caddie: You don't really think he'd go this route, do you?

•The Fun Caddie: This caddie is great to be on the course with. Ninety percent of the time he's keeping things light and fun. Always willing to talk about any subject at a moment's notice, and usually has some information on it that surprises you. Downside of the fun caddie is that when you're not playing well, he ain't the guy to help pull you out. He'll be the guy talking to women in the gallery and making plans for the weekend -- because you won't be playing.

No good for Tiger.

So what's Tiger to do?

Hunter Mahan's caddie, John Wood, told me the best comment I've heard yet.

"You have to ask yourself the question: Why do you wanna caddie? If the answer is for the money, then no, you aren't the guy. But if it's because you want the chance to be a part of history and the chase for major championship titles, then yeah, you take a shot."

Paul Tesori, who carries the bag for Webb Simpson, had an interesting take.

"Tiger has such a high golf IQ that he's not that difficult to work for on the golf course. There isn't much you're gonna have to do. He's so smart on the course I truly believe he could've won at least 13 of his majors with you on the bag. That's not to take anything away from Stevie, who is one of the best caddies in the world. Believe me, I know."

He would; he caddied for Vijay Singh when he was the world No. 1. He said the same thing about Vijay's golf IQ.

"All of their work is done before they get to the tournament. Once they're on the course, less is more as far as information goes."

Chad Reynolds, who caddies for Nick Watney, has the best idea, because I agree with it and this is my column: "It's gonna be a buddy."

Aaaahhhh!

•The Buddy Caddie: The guy you've known since college, high school or before. The guy who knows everything about you. Most importantly for Tiger, the guy who will respect your privacy, especially with the media crush that's initially gonna come with carrying the bag those first few weeks. (How long was it before the media heard boo from Stevie?)

Joe LaCava? Nope. He's with Dustin Johnson. John Wood? Nope, he's with Hunter Mahan. Chad Reynolds? Nope. He's with Nick Watney. Paul Tesori? Nope, He's with Webb Simpson.

Yes I know, those are all American caddies, but all the European caddies I called were still in pubs celebrating their world rankings. Caddie rankings, you ask? That's for another column.

I asked a few guys, who asked not to be named in this column, if there was a dollar figure that would get them to leave their current players. Only one said yes. The wife of a caddie whose husband said no said, "$1 million!" He still said no.

Tiger, I am available, but I don't think you can afford me. Just kidding, some $50s in envelopes and … never mind.

Of course, your boy Jerry Chang would be a good fit, too. And that may be the best thing.