Sips of Maginnes: Els' caddies; Steinberg quiet about Tiger

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Ernie Els defeated fellow South African Charl Schwartzel in the final round Sunday.

Players and media alike grade venues on several critical criteria. For the players, the golf course is first, followed closely by convenience and purse. Doral has all three. TPC Blue Monster lived up to its new moniker this week even though Ernie Els went a little nuts with his flat stick. He took home $1.53 million with his win. Also, most of the players stay right on site, which makes for a very pleasant week. For the media, the food is most important. Player and media dining are both exceptional at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. The lunch buffet in the media center has everything from delicate fish to osso bucco.

Unfortunately there were several players, caddies and members of the media who weren't able to enjoy the delicacies. There was a little stomach bug going around the TOUR this week. Steve Stricker was what my grandmother would call "puny" early in the week, but rebounded to have another solid performance. Even the PGA TOUR is susceptible to cold and flu season.

• Mark Steinberg was on the range early in the week, but he wasn't giving away any information on when his No. 1 client would make his return. Tiger's agent was shaking hands with tournament directors, players and members of the media. Later in the week rumors surfaced that Tiger had retained the services of Ari Fleischer, former aide to George W. Bush, to help facilitate his return to golf. Obviously there are plenty of rumors and reports from "unnamed sources" speculating on when Tiger will return. At this point all we have is speculation. My guess has been Bay Hill all along, but I don't know anything.

• At one of the many CA Championship functions on Wednesday night Retief Goosen stopped by to say hello and enjoy some of his own vintage. Adding to Retief's many talents, he is more-than-casually involved in the development of his wine label. Although I am hardly a sommelier, the reports from those with more delicate pallets were very favorable. Don't look for The Goose Wines at your local store just yet; they have not been released in the United States at this point.

• Els, his caddie Ricci Roberts and others were spotted at an Argentine steak house a short drive from the gates of TPC Blue Monster on Thursday night. At the table next to Els was Angel Cabrera's clan. Beyond them was a table of youngsters being hosted by Rory McIlroy. The food was incredible and the atmosphere quaint. Not to say that golfers are superstitious but after the opening round Ernie said he was going back again. No word on whether he ate there every night, but I wouldn't be surprised.

• If you didn't watch the CA Championship on Sunday, and merely read the results afterward, then you only got a small sampling of the story. Charl Schwartzel and Ernie Els put on the best final-round show of the year. Through 10 holes they were both 4 under on the day and had eliminated everyone else from competition. When Ernie made a bomb for par on 14 and his young countryman bogeyed the 15th, Els opened up a two-shot lead. From there the Big Easy cruised to victory. Ernie's 66 on Sunday was quite simply the best round of the year on the PGA TOUR.

• The caddie merry-go-round continues on TOUR. As you probably know, Roberts and Danny Quinn have been splitting time on Ernie's bag. Aside from the obvious speculation about what will happen now that Ernie has found his way back into the winner's circle, another question has arrived. One caddie, who I won't mention by name, explained to me that the trend seems to be when players have caddies who split time, they also split pay. In other words, if you have two caddies in your stable the caddies share the spoils. Only Ernie, Ricci and Danny know the details of their arrangement but one thing is certain: however the pie gets divided there is a lot to go around these days and it looks like plenty more to come.

• Quote of the week at the CA Championship came from Butch Harmon, who was onsite working with Nick Watney, Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson. When asked about his relationship with Phil, Butch spoke glowingly about Phil as a human being. But until working with Phil, Butch had another take on the No. 3-ranked player in the world. "I always thought Phil was lazy because he didn't keep himself in the same physical condition some of the other guys do but boy was I wrong. Phil works harder on his game than most of the guys on TOUR."

• One final note on Butch and the other celebrity instructors. I suggested to Butch that it would be fun to have him, Jim McLean, David Leadbetter and a host of other high-profile instructors compete in a Big Break-style competition. Butch liked the idea, thought that it would be fun. He did say that McLean would probably "kick all our butts" but that he would do it if the others were in. What do you think GOLF Channel?

Former PGA TOUR player John Maginnes is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.