Quick 18: Tiger still Tiger, Ryder Cup rookies and more

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Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell had plenty to smile about Monday afternoon.

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. Still questioning Graeme McDowell's U.S. Open win? If you are, Quick 18 would politely suggest you take a moment. G-Mac slammed the door on what could have been the second biggest comeback in U.S. Ryder Cup history. The guy is a star. Get used to it.

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2. Just when it looked as though Lee Westwood would jump up and grab the No. 1 spot -- he's been playing like it, no question -- Tiger turns back into Tiger. Goes 9-under through 15, wins 4 up. Smiles more than he has all year. Game back on.

3. One of these days, the U.S. will learn to play Ryder Cup Four-balls. A better Sunday afternoon and . . . .well, we'll never know. American iron shots not crisp, putts justthisfaroffline or short. U.S. goes 0-3-1 in four balls, 0-2 in foursomes in Session 3. Bottom line, that made the difference. Serious bottom line: Great singles, but close doesn't feel very good.

4. After watching Luke Donald go 3-1-0 -- he's 8-2-1 in the Ryder Cup overall -- Quick 18 is baffled and wondering when he'll translate that serious grit into wins on the PGA TOUR and European Tour. He's got five wins total -- two on the PGA TOUR; three across the pond. Perhaps this -- and his second place finish at THE TOUR Championship -- will be a springboard. Amazing shot out of the hazard if you missed it.

5. This just in . . . Euro rookie Rory McIlroy says -- with a wide grin -- he will never again refer to the Ryder Cup as an exhibition. He now understands this Ryder Cup thing. Ya think? His up-and-down at 18 was huge. So was countryman G-Mac's mentoring. Another rookie that grew up? Rickie Fowler. He birdies the last four holes -- and wins four of last six -- to halve his match.

6. Until further notice, Tiger and Steve Stricker are the team to beat -- no matter what Cup. They go 2-1-0 as a duo, then both win singles for 3-1-0 records. Loss to Donald-Westwood? A point the U.S. needed. Heavyweight match that should have been closer. No question. Still shaking head over that one.

7. Quick 18 loved Stewart Cink's PB&J moment -- in lavender, no less. Serious veteran move. Strolls down the fairway munching on peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Takes his time, hands it to caddie Frank Williams to finish. Takes a swig of water, then takes time reading the putt. Boom, it's in. Anyone not think he's in line for a captaincy?

8. World Golf Hall of Fame has one more inductee to announce. Could it be Monty? Got Quick 18's ballot vote for Ryder Cup history (undefeated in singles and much more) and eight Orders of Merit -- seven of those in a row. Guess we'll wait and see.

9. Welsh isn't the easiest language to read, speak or understand. Heck, a majority of the country (80 percent) doesn't speak it. Johnny Miller's thought? "I don't know where they came up with that language. Probably in a pub at 4 a.m."

10. You want to understand the passion at a Ryder Cup? Look no farther than Seve Ballesteros' thoughts via phone to the European team: "Go get them so hard that they'll all be caddies in the future."

Foley

11. Sean Foley believes. He told the the New York Times it's a done deal. Tiger will break Jack Nicklaus records. And then he upped the ante. "It's not a function of if he will break Jack's records, it's a matter of when. Tiger is only 34. He's got basically 12 more years, and that's 48 more majors to win four (to tie Nicklaus). I don't know how many majors he will win, but it's definitely more than 18. . . . I'll go with 22 or 23."

12. In case you missed it, Bill Haas picked up win No. 2 of the season at the Viking Classic and moved to 26th on the money list. If he can stay in the top 30, he's back at the Masters in 2011.

13. Haven't talked Freddie Couples in a while. It's time. Our favorite run-on-sentence took a closing 61 from Gary Hallberg to beat him Sunday and, well, any other year, Freddie would have the inside track to Champions Player of the Year. He's won three times, finished second four times, third once and there was that sixth at the Masters. Great year, but right now second fiddle to Bernhard Langer who has five wins, two of them 50-plus majors.

14. No TAKS test worries for students and teachers in UK. Students in the Newport schools have a seven-week Ryder Cup curriculum for second through eighth graders. The students have designed golf courses, learned what it takes to be a caddie, done Ryder Cup-themed math, worked on organization through tournament eyes and translated golf's handicap system into how to compete against people with different skill levels. Quick 18 thinks it makes entirely too much sense.

Beem

15. To answer several questions . . . Rich Beem's original comeback target from neck surgery was the Viking Classic, but he decided he needed a bit more time to get his strength back. He'll be back at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open and the Children's Miracle Network Classic.

16. Want to own piece of British Open lore? The tea hut that sits behind the 10th hole at Carnoustie is for sale. It's a small -- 16 ft x 8 ft -- is for sale. The walls of the green hut are decorated with bag tags from golfers who stopped by for a cup 'o tea. Why sell it? The course has to upgrade facilities or risk falling out of the Open rota. Winning bidder has to haul it off by Oct. 22.

17. Former PGA champ Mark Brooks, Lee Elder and Hall of Famer Carol Mann are among those in the Texas Golf Hall of Fame's 2010 class. It's the first class for the reconstituted HOF since 1996.

18. And finally . . . John Malkovich isn't really a golfer, so it wasn't a reach when he had to hit bad shots for his role as trainer Lucien Laurin in "Secretariat." The crazy part? He actually hit it too well in some takes for director Randall Wallace. "Randall kept saying the shots looked too good, so I fixed him up with some bad shots. I did one shot that was fantastic. I put out five balls on the tee and was able to hit one, which ricocheted and did another ricochet and hit the cameraman. Spectacular shot. I was like, "Take that!"

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