Quick 18: Laying up, Goggin's new irons, Prugh's hot start

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Phil Mickelson is mired in 43rd in the FedExCup standings.

Editor's note: PGATOUR.COM's Melanie Hauser will be shaking out the mental lint and pulling together the "Quick 18" on Mondays this year.

1. Hunter Mahan grabbed the win Sunday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open -- and an inside track to the Ryder Cup team -- but it's rookie Rickie Fowler who grabbed our attention. Two chances to win -- he wound up second Sunday and tied for fifth at the Farmers Insurance Open -- and more than $875,000 in the bank before March? Enough said.

2. To go for it or not to go for it. That's been the question this season. This week it was Fowler at TPC Scottsdale's 15th. Michael Sim laid up with a chance at the Farmers Insurance Championship and Tim Clark chose to lay up down the stretch at the Bob Hope Classic. The trio did what they thought was best at the time and were honest when questioned about their choices. But think about it. Would Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson or a ton of other guys have laid up?

3. John Rollins was one of those at Mahan's dinner celebration Sunday night. The restaurant brought out a desert plate with "Congratulations 2010 champ" written in, we think, chocolate.

4. Ian Poulter arrives home at Lake Nona to a banner that congratulates him for winning the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Of course, he tweeted a picture.

5. Maybe we're expecting too much, but we keep waiting for Phil Mickelson to break out in 2010. He finished with a share of 24th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and still seemed to be knocking off the rust. Next microscope? The World Golf Championships-CA Championship, where he's defending champ.

6. Fun shot of the week? Camilo Villegas flying high once again. He hopped in a Red Bull plane a few weeks and had a blast, so when he had the chance to do it again during Waste Management Phoenix Open week, he took it. He gave the thumbs up to the camera during the flight and was all smiles when he landed. "Three and five footers on the green are going to seem easy this week,'' he grinned.

7. Villegas will be a busy man this week. He's flying to his native Columbia to help kick off the Nationwide Tour's Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open Presented by Samsung in Bogota. His brother Manuel will tee it up in that field, while Camilo will zip back to Florida after getting the event moving to play in The Honda Classic.

8. How costly was Brandt Snedeker's four-putt at last year's BMW Championship? It cost him a spot in the TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola and has him scrambling to get to the Masters. Snedeker started the season fast, but everything stalled Sunday with a closing 78.

9. What do South African Ernie Els and Tasmanian Mathew Goggin have in common? Their clubs. Sort of. Goggin was struggling with his new Callaway irons, so the company sent him a spare set of Els' clubs last week. "When I got Ernie's clubs, they were one inch too long, so I had them reshafted on Monday and put them straight in the bag," he said. The result? Goggin finished tied for fourth -- his best finish since sharing fifth at last year's British Open.

10. Don't be surprised if, one of these days, Mark Calcavecchia wins his fourth event in Scottsdale. He faded Sunday with a closing 74, but he was still in the mix there -- isn't he always? -- at the age of 49.

11. Calc stood out in his group Sunday -- for his, shall we say, subdued look. He was dressed very 40-something while Fowler pulled out his signature Sunday Oklahoma State orange and Villegas went with pink and white.

12. Golf lost one of the good guys Saturday night when Greg Rita, who caddied for Curtis Strange, Mark O'Meara and John Daly, among others, lost his long battle with brain cancer. He'll be missed by everyone who knew him.

13. Interesting stat? Rookie Alex Prugh shot 53 under total in his first five events. He's had three top 10s and he's 23rd on the money list. Not bad.

14. It doesn't matter how you get into the field, just that you get in. Point-in-fact: last year, Y.E. Yang was the sixth alternate Tor the Honda Classic. He won the event and went on to beat Tiger for the 2009 PGA Championship. He comes into the week on a roll following a closing 65 in Scottsdale.

15. Luke List had a little help from his sister Bekah at the Panama Claro Championship. Not only did she caddie for him, but she also served as a translator. She's fluent in Spanish.

16. The Detroit Tigers' first injury of spring training? Manager Jim Leyland was playing golf when third-base coach Gene Lamont ran over Leyland's right little toe with a golf cart.

17. Interesting name on the Nationwide leaderboard Sunday: Paul Stankowski. Stanko, who has struggled to make his way back following 2007 shoulder surgery, finished tied for 16th.

18. Snaps to Ai Miyazato, who became the first LPGA player in 44 years to win the first two events of the season. Only four other players have ever done that -- Marilynn Smith (1966), Mickey Wright (1963), Louise Suggs (1952) and Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1951). The last time it happened on the PGA TOUR? Els did it in 2003, winning the Mercedes Championships and Sony Open in Hawaii.

Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.