Monday Backspin: Els making it look easy; Couples dominant

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What a long and twisting road the last few years have been for Ernie Els. The three-year plan to catch Tiger Woods as the No. 1 player in the world. The knee injury while tubing in the Mediterranean. The coming forward with the news that his son, Ben, is autistic. The victory drought.

Before this season started, if I asked you to name the PGA TOUR player who would have four top-10s, including two wins, the first three months of the year, I'm guessing a lot of people would have said Phil Mickelson.

Instead, it's Els who is on top of the golfing world, at least figuratively, playing the best he has in a long time. Mickelson, meanwhile, has just one top-10.

Els had to wait an extra day to seal the deal at Bay Hill, but that probably wasn't a bad thing because he was leaking oil fast on Sunday. His once five-shot lead was down to two by the time they called it for the day.

The old Ernie might have continued to crumble the next day. Monday, he hit a couple of bad shots, but he made two huge par-saving putts on Nos. 15 and 17. And that, to me, is the biggest difference in Els.

Champion's Replay

Want to hear what Ernie Els said about his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational? Click here Shot Tracker Replay Els' final round MORE PLAYERS • Final-round highlights • Shot of the Day • Final wrap-up • Complete tourney coverage

The Big Easy has always been a good putter, but the stroke had gotten away from him the last couple of years. That created a trickle-down effect, which led Els to constantly tinker with his swing with Butch Harmon and landed him a regular spot on Bob Rotella's couch.

That all changed this year.

"I know a lot of guys basically have written me off," Els said. "I'm a different player. I'm a different person. My head is ticking a little bit differently than it's been. So I'm a little bit more comfortable.

"[In 2003] I was basically really in my, I don't want to say prime; I'm in my prime now."

Now Els will head to Houston, where he'll continue to fine-tune his game for the Masters.

"I just want to have a nice, easy week, play golf, and get ready for Augusta," Els said. "I want to make this a special year, especially after these two wins."

Stock up

Retief Goosen: It must be the year of South Africa. The World Cup. Els. Goosen. In six starts on TOUR this season, Goosen has finished outside of the top 6 just twice. It's easily the best start to a season he's ever had with 2002, the year he finished second at the Masters, being the closest with five top-15s in his first seven starts. FedExCup rank: 17 (21 last week) Kevin Na: At some point Na is going to win. He's been on TOUR a long time, but that's because he turned pro at 17. For now, though, it was just another top-10, his third of the season. A year ago, Na had nine top-10s and he's on a nearly-identical pace this season. FedExCup rank: 21 (51 last week) Jim Furyk: He won the Transitions Championship, ending a nearly two-year victory drought, and tied for 11th at Bay Hill, where one bad hole in the final round knocked him from contention. The bigger question, though, is whether this is the start of a run of top-10s/15s for Furyk, or just a couple of good weeks? I'll take the former. Remember, he's got four career top-10s at Augusta. FedExCup rank: 6 (7 last week)

Stock down

Phil Mickelson: I feel like I'm beating a dead horse with some of these Stock Down selections, but Mickelson hasn't been able to put it all together and the results have been as wild as some of his tee shots. He might just turn it on in Houston or Augusta, but the results are the results. FedExCup rank: 41 (39 last week) Rickie Fowler: The rookie is finding out not only how hard it is to win on TOUR, but how difficult it is to be consistent. There's no question Fowler will win and be very good some day, but right now he is wildly inconsistent. FedExCup rank: 22 (20 last week) Zach Johnson: The last four results for Johnson: T24, T37, T85, MC. That's the definition of Stock Down. The numbers don't lie, either, with Johnson breaking 70 just once in his last 11 rounds. Johnson gets more out of his game than maybe anybody, but right now he's not getting a whole lot out of it. FedExCup rank: 64 (53 last week)

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEEDS TO KNOW

1. Of course Ernie Els would like the course changes at Bay Hill given the fact he won the tournament, but to a man, there wasn't anything negative being said about Arnold Palmer's decision to rip the place up. You have to think word will spread and we'll see increasingly better fields at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, much the way we have at The Honda Classic.

2. What's more surprising, the Final Four teams (Duke, West Virginia, Butler and Michigan State), or the fact that Els has won twice in the first three months of the year? Maybe it's the former, but there was a time when it looked like Els might not win again on TOUR, unless he made some changes. He did, and he did.

3. I don't even know what to make of Davis Love III's week other than it was one of the strangest I've ever seen. He led the field at Bay Hill in birdies (25), was third in bogeys (18), third in double bogeys (3) and 75th in pars (25). It all added up to a tie for 14th, which unfortunately doesn't do much for Love's bid to get into the Masters. He'll need to win this week in Houston.

4. Shoot a course-record 62? Check. Win for the third straight time? Check. Completely dominate the Champions Tour in your first year? Check. Welcome to Fred Couples' world. It's scary how good Couples has been on the over-50 circuit. They may have to re-do the Charles Schwab Cup points system to account for the Freddie factor.

5. Two events into his mini-broadcasting career, Brad Faxon is still adjusting to life in the booth. He told me that, while each day behind the mic helps, learning the mechanics is as hard as anything he's ever done. "I know how to talk about golf pretty naturally," he said. "It's the other things; talking while a producer is talking in your ear, throwing to someone else, all the little things." Give him time, though, and he'll be fine.

6. Speaking of Faxon, he accidentally ran into Tiger Woods at Isleworth, where the two talked strictly golf and mostly putting. There was definitely some nervousness on both ends, but Faxon got him to crack a smile when he asked Woods if he needed a putting lesson. I'm thinking that's one of the few times Woods has been able to laugh of late. It might be different come next Monday when he faces the media, en masse, for the first time since his Nov. 27 accident. Faxon said Woods is extremely nervous about that, but he thinks once Woods puts the peg in the ground Thursday, he'll be fine.

7. The Tavistock Cup had about double the amount of media it normally gets thanks to you-know-who, and he wasn't even there. The bad thing was the media was asked to wear a red or blue shirt in the spirit of the two teams competing. Strange. The good thing was the event has raised more than $3.5 million over the years for charities like local Boys Clubs and area hospitals.

8. Whether I buy or don't buy Michelle Wie's reason/argument for the two-stroke penalty she was assessed in last week's LPGA event is irrelevant. The rules are the rules and Wie grounded her club in the hazard. It might not seem fair, but this isn't her first rules miff, either. She should know them by now, and she's also done a less-than-stellar job at handling the three or four situations like this she's been in.

9. A special thanks to colleague Ryan Smithson, who filled in for me in this space last week while I was on my annual Vegas vacation. I'm happy to be back, though, and so is my wallet.

FROM THE MAILBAG (Click here to submit your question)

How do you think Tiger Woods will fare at the Masters? Who do you think will win? -- Doug Davis

That was a popular question last week in Orlando. Most players I talked to thought he'd finish somewhere in the top 5. A few said they thought it would be more like the 10-20 range. Me? Probably somewhere in between, but this is as big a guess as there's ever been in Woods' career. As for who I think will win, you'll have to wait for the official prediction on PGATOUR.COM, but I think Ernie Els, Ian Poulter, Phil Mickelson and Edoardo Molinari are all guys to keep an eye on.

This week's Kodak Challenge hole

HOLE: The par-4, 488-yard 18th at Redstone Golf Club THIS WEEK: A challenging and dramatic finishing hole with a lake bordering the entire left side of the hole, the tee shot challenges the golfer to carry as much water as possible, while also avoiding the large sculptured bunker along the left of the fairway landing area. The approach leaves little margin for error, with water on the left and a sand bunker on the right. With the tournament on the line, attacking the left-back hole location is a gutsy proposition. Click here to tour the 16th | Current Kodak Challenge standings

The Forward Spin

The Shell Houston Open did a very smart thing when it moved into the slot the week before the Masters. It set up the course very similar to that of Augusta National. The result has been terrific fields and a perfect tune-up ever since. The biggest question going into this year's event, of course, is what will Phil Mickelson do? He's clearly off his game, even though he shot 58 in the California desert last week. Remember, in 2006 Mickelson won the BellSouth Classic then the Masters the following week. Obviously, he'd like to do the same thing this week. The biggest difference between then and now, though, is that his game is all over the map right now with driver issues, or putter issues, or both. Prior to that double-dip in '06, Mickelson had four top 10s. This year, he has one.