Master plan veers off course

When the curveball was served up, Phil Mickelson looked at it in wonderment. He just didn't know where the pitch came from.

"I hadn't realized that Atlanta asked for the change of date," said the lefthander, who for the last eight years has enjoyed a routine that got him primed for the Masters. As a lead-in to Augusta National, Mickelson played in the BellSouth Classic, just outside of Atlanta, and while many colleagues chose to rest, Mickelson loved the length of TPC Sugarloaf and its shaved-down areas in front of very fast greens.

Three times Mickelson has won at Sugarloaf, twice he has won at Augusta. In 2006, he won them back-to-back. The 16 combined starts he has made in these consecutive weeks since 1999? It has produced 15 top 10s, his one hiccup a missed cut at BellSouth in 2003. Rewarding? Well, there has been $7,044,583 in prize money for the 16 tournaments the last eight years, but the payoff has been the preparation for Augusta.

No wonder he said with a sigh, "I'll miss Atlanta," as he talked to reporters after his third round at the CA Championship in Miami Saturday.

It remains to be seen how deep a field BellSouth officials will get when the tournament is held May 17-20, but it's a virtual lock they'll have better weather than they've had in March, their primary reason to request the move. It's just that they never consulted Mickelson, who loved it right where it was.

And, no, it doesn't matter that tournament officials at this week's Shell Houston Open -- which inherits the week-before-the-Masters spot -- have shaved the slopes in front of the greens to emulate Augusta National. "Yeah, but they're still Bermuda greens," said Mickelson, who will take the week off before the Masters for the first time since 1998.

The lefthander isn't the only PGA Tour member whose timing has been thrown off by this shuffle of events.

Stuart Appleby, for instance, hasn't played the week before the Masters since 1999, but he is this year -- and for good reason. He's the defending champion in Houston, which makes it a special week. He also isn't against playing the week before a major.

"I don't have a theory or a formula," said the Aussie. "I've tried both [play before a major, rest before a major] ways and when it works one day, then that'll be what I do the rest of my life."

Others seemingly insist on playing the week before the Masters, because while Jose Maria Olazabal, Padraig Harrington, and David Toms were all BellSouth competitors in recent years, they've also joined the field in Houston.

Then again, there are those, such as Retief Goosen, who apparently share Mickelson's sentiments -- BellSouth was fine where it was. The quiet South African had used Atlanta to brush up for Augusta in six of the last seven seasons, but he's sitting out the Shell Houston.

Goydos doesn’t get the link

Having completed his second round at the CA Championship, Paul Goydos was basking in the less-stressful atmosphere of a World Golf Championship, which he was experiencing for the first time.

Goydos was there thanks to his win at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. It was his second career win on the PGA Tour, but talk soon rolled around to Doral's 18th hole and other finishing holes, such as the one at St. Andrews.

"I've never played St. Andrews," said Goydos.

Eyebrows were raised, and a reporter suggested that if Goydos's PGA Tour were secure by October, which it should be, then maybe he would entertain thoughts of playing at St. Andrews in the Dunhill Links Championship. He liked the thought of that. "It's their version of the Pebble Beach [Pro-Am]," said Goydos.

When told he could perhaps even get an appearance fee, Goydos shook his head.

"I'm not into that," he said. "If somebody's willing to pay me to have me in their field, then I've got to think there's something wrong with the tournament."

Winning percentage in his field of play

Some leftover tidbits regarding Tiger Woods's 56th PGA Tour win, which took place at the CA Championship last Sunday:

In full-field events, he has won 29 times, with a winning percentage of .201.

In limited-field events, he has won 27 times, at a .365 clip.

He became the fifth player in history to win the same event (the CA Championship) six times. The others: Harry Vardon, British Open; Jack Nicklaus, Masters; Sam Snead, Miami Open; Alex Ross, North & South Open. Only Snead (eight Greater Greensboro Opens) can best that.

Woods now has triumphed 13 times in a World Golf Championship event; only one other golfer, Darren Clarke, can claim more than one (Accenture Match Play Championship, Bridgestone Championship).

The five WGC stroke-play events Woods hasn't won? They've gone to Clarke, Ernie Els, Mike Weir, Craig Parry, and Stewart Cink.

His career earnings on the PGA Tour are $68,179,382, which is $6 million more than what the entire purse structure was in 1995, the last year they played these affairs without Woods.

Etc.

It's one of those debates we love to engage in, even though there's hardly any way to quantify it: Who is the more dominant athlete, Tiger Woods or Roger Federer?

Because they have become fast friends and were in each other's company last week while competing in southern Florida only made the debate more timely. For the record, Woods called his tennis friend "the most dominant athlete on the planet," so we know where he stands.

No disrespect, but one of Woods's PGA Tour colleagues disagreed.

"It's not even close, it's Tiger," said Arron Oberholser. "Federer has to beat one guy at a time and he's got to beat six guys to win a major. Tiger's got to beat 155 guys or 131 guys or 72 guys every time he tees it up."

Brad Faxon confirmed he's working with two instructors who've gained a bit of notoriety of late -- Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett. He got interested in them after watching Dean Wilson hit balls earlier this season. Impressed with the way the Hawaiian native was striking it, Faxon discovered Wilson was working with Plummer and Bennett, so he approached the instructors, who are based in Philadelphia. "They told me that they used me as a case study of what not to do," said Faxon. "I said, 'Well, thanks very much for that,' but they proceeded to show me how much I was moving my head." Faxon has made two cuts since working with Plummer and Bennett and "I can't say they've turned my season around, because it's only been two weeks, but they've got me in the right direction."

The CA Championship was moving along quite sleepily thanks to Woods's large lead when Mark Calcavecchia provided a bit of intrigue by hitting two balls into the water at the 18th -- one a shot from the fairway, the other a putt that rolled off the green. What he didn't provide were fireworks, because he took it rather well. "You know what? This is the best I've ever felt after an 8 in my life. I just checked the purse breakdown. It was only like a $12,000 dump for a quad. I'm ready to celebrate," said Calcavecchia, who finished tied for 32d, but would have been joint 23d had he made par at the 18th. Having hit his approach into the water, Calcavecchia was on the green in four shots when he rolled a putt -- from about 45 feet -- past the hole, down a slope, and back into the drink. Perhaps an hour later, Woods had a similar putt. Showing great touch, Woods knocked the putt to within 2 feet and tapped in for the win.

You can't leave Doral without serving up leftovers regarding that signature hole, the 18th. It played toughest (field average of 4.625), but you wouldn't know it by Carl Pettersson. The burly Swede is the only player who played it under par, with three pars and a birdie. Brett Wetterich made four pars, as did four others -- Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Allenby, Angel Cabrera, and Stephen Ames . . . On the flip side, Ernie Els (74 -- 285, T-11) struggled mightily, going bogey, bogey, double bogey, bogey, though no one coughed up more strokes on that hole than Colin Montgomerie (75 -- 296, T-55th), who went par, triple bogey, double bogey, bogey for 6 over.

When the Kraft Nabisco Championship tees off today, Annika Sorenstam will be trying to end her 2007 victory drought at two events. Sounds silly? Well, sure, except if she doesn't triumph it will be the first time since 1999 she hasn't won at least one of the first three events of the season. The dynamic Swede was tied for second in Mexico and joint eighth last week in Arizona. In 1999, it took her until her 14th event to win.

With players committed to hybrids, it was surprising to hear David Toms still carries the 5-wood with which he made a hole-in-one en route to his PGA Championship victory in 2001 at the Atlanta Athletic Club. "I guess it's like my little blankie," he said.

Last Saturday at Doral resembled Halloween, there were so many players wearing orange. For Chris DiMarco, it was to show off his school color -- his beloved Florida Gators were playing that day in the NCAA basketball tournament. But for others, it's simply a bright color preferred on the PGA Tour. "Luke Donald is calling me 'Palm Beach' these days," said Brett Quigley, who wore orange pants with a white shirt, a day after donning lime green pants. He likes the spice and gives credit to a new clothing contract with Vineyard Vines. "They've got a lot of great colors that are fun," said Quigley.

When Prom Meesawat, a rising star in Thailand junior golf circles, came to the United States in 2003, he was thinking of accepting a scholarship at Texas A&M. Through his endorsement deal with Singha, a beverage company in Thailand, he became friendly with Charlie Niyomkul, who owns and operates two hugely successful Thai restaurants in Atlanta -- Nan and Tamarind. Since the Niyomkuls are friendly with Vijay Singh that they prepared the Champions Dinner at the 2001 Masters, it was only natural Meesawat met the big man from Fiji. "He told me to forget college and turn pro," said Meesawat, so that's what the young man did. He's been forging ahead since and last week played in his first World Golf Championship event, finishing joint 68th at the CA Championship.

Jim McCabe can be reached at jmccabe@globe.com.