Backspin: Vegas' win huge for burgeoning Latin market

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How good is golf right now? And spare me the rhetoric about where guys choose to play.

The game has always been global and this recent explosion of international talent can only help increase the attention here and abroad, and that's a good thing.

Jhonattan Vegas is the latest example of that. His story could only be written in Hollywood -- except it's being played out here. He came from very little in Venezuela, having learned the game hitting rocks with a broomstick. Now he's a winner on the PGA TOUR, where he'll be for (at least) the next two years, and he is headed to the Masters.

That means a lot to Vegas, of course, but it also means plenty to South America, and especially Venezuela.

"It's hard to describe the emotions right now," said Vegas. "It means everything for me right now. Just to think about winning on the PGA TOUR, that's something. But just to make it happen is something else. And it's a crazy feeling.

"To my country, I hope this means a lot. I really hope it means change. I hope it means people changing about the sport. And some people get a little different idea of the sport."

What Vegas is touching on is that golf was considered a "bourgeois sport," as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez once called it, in his native country. I wonder what Chavez's thoughts are this morning?

Vegas's win might mean continued growth in South America and Latin America. That's good for any TOUR and it is, at least in part, the reason you'll see some sort of expansion into the Latin American and South American region by the TOUR in the not-too-distant future.

All you have to do is look at the Official World Golf Ranking this morning to see the impact of this latest global explosion. Lee Westwood is No. 1, and now Martin Kaymer is No. 2 after his victory at the Abu Dhabi Championship. Six of the top 10 and 14 of the top 20 players in the world are from outside the U.S.

What's it mean?

Some pretty compelling Presidents Cups and Ryder Cups, potentially, and plenty of eyeballs from all over the world on the game, and that is never a bad thing.

Stock up

Matt Kuchar: A year ago, Kuchar led the TOUR with 11 top-10 finishes. At this rate, he's going to obliterate that number. Three starts, three top-10s. That's what Kuchar has had this year with all but two of his 13 rounds in the 60s. Martin Kaymer: How good is Kaymer right now? Hes won five times since last January, including the PGA Championship and on Sunday he won by eight shots. That's the kind of stuff Tiger Woods would do to fields. Kaymer might not be No. 1 in the OWGR, but hes sure playing like he's the best in the world right now. Bill Haas: Winning can do a lot, and in the case of Haas it gave him the confidence that he could get the job done. He certainly had his chances to Sunday and didnt win, but Haas is going to contend in other tournaments. He's a much improved and more mature player than he was early in his career.

Stock down

Mike Weir: I know The Bob Hope Classic was his first tournament of the year, but Weir has been in a downward spiral for a while now. His last top-10 came in his first start of last year (also the Bob Hope Classic) and his last win was back in 2007. Those are some tough numbers to swallow. Bubba Watson: It's early, but you wonder if Watson cant help but have a letdown from last year, when he won for the first time and made the Ryder Cup team in what was a dream season as well as an emotional one. In two starts this year, Watson has broken 70 only once. Jamie Lovemark: The Nationwide Tour's leading money-winner from a year ago is finding out what a lot of rookies have: It's not so easy on the TOUR. Lovemark has failed to make the cut in either of his first two starts and hes broken 70 just once in six rounds.

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. You can't undersell the story of Jhonattan Vegas. It's the epitome of the American dream with Vegas arriving in the U.S. as a teenager unable to speak a word of English before he matriculated at the University of Texas and eventually bulled his way to the PGA TOUR. He's a big, strong kid who, by all accounts even prior to his win at the Bob Hope Classic, has plenty of game and a personality that resonates beyond the ropes. The win, as mentioned, is also enormous in terms of what it will do for golf in South America and Latin America. Vegas is the first Venezuelan to play on the PGA TOUR much less win, but he won't be the last player to come out of that region. You're looking at golf's next mini-boom.

2. One more point on the game's international growth: Last week, Esteban Toledo conducted the world's largest golf lesson with more than 1,000 people taking part in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. That's the trickle down effect right there.

3. Another week, another rules snafu, this time with Padraig Harrington getting disqualified from the Abu Dhabi Championship. You know my feelings on fans being able to call in rules violations, but that rule isn't going to change. What might, however, is the rule of a player getting disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard in a situation like this -- if the USGA and R&A can come to some sort of resolution. The game's two governing bodies are looking at the rule -- they look at the rules every couple of years and this has accelerated that -- and may look to change it. One of the best points made by several people is that it's too much of a leap to go from a two-stroke penalty, which is what would have been assessed had the infraction been discovered during the course of play, to a disqualification.

4. My take on the possible involvement of former President Bill Clinton with the Bob Hope Classic: It would be a win-win. The guy is popular with Republicans, Democrats and just about everyone in between. And while he doesn't have the cache of holding a seat in the current Oval Office, he's still a larger-than-life figure who would add a boost to the tournament. But the process is complicated. According to Jim Gray, anything involving Clinton's Global Initiative has to be vetted by the Secretary of State's Office and the U.S. Government.

5. What can you expect from Tiger Woods this week? His swing coach Sean Foley wasn't making any predictions, but he did say that Woods is hitting it even better than he was at the Chevron World Challenge, which is saying something. "He's not having to use his hands to generate speed, his swing is more in sequence," Foley said via cell phone. "His clubface is a lot squarer through impact and the club isn't pinned behind him. The difference between now and Chevron is that [the swing] is more natural. The driver is the best club in his bag right now."

6. Did anyone really think Phil Mickelson was going to be a vegetarian for that long? "I was a strict vegetarian for five months," Mickelson said last week. "That went OK. But ultimately, it was doomed to fail." Don't read too much into Mickelson's tie for 37th in Abu Dhabi, though -- he likes to play his way into game shape. That said, Mickelson has fallen outside the top five in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in nearly four years after a poor second half in 2010. In other words, it's go-time for Mickelson after a lot of work in the off-season.

7. Remember those "Bo knows" Nike ads? Well, he really does know golf, or at least how to absolutely smash the ball. Jackson was crushing it at the Bob Hope last week and that conjured up images of one of the most freakish athletes we've ever seen. I couldn't help but think back to him running over Brian Bozworth, or him hitting a home run while trying to call time out with the other hand. More Bo Jackson: Birdie at the Hope | Interview | Spotlight

8. From the good idea department, the Farmers Insurance Open will host what it's calling "University Day" on Saturday with players in the field wearing the colors of their alma mater. The player with the best score that day will earn $15,000 for his alma mater's golf team.

9. If you're an equipment junkie, there's no better place to be than the annual PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, which will take place later this week. I wouldn't say I'm a junkie, but the PGA Show is the Super Bowl of equipment and a place where hope springs eternal with every club hitting it farther, straighter and higher. I'll be there later this week to file some reports.

Forward Spin

Big boy golf. Thats what I like to call what this week's Farmers Insurance Open with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the field. It's the season debut for Woods and Mickelson's first start on TOUR this season after spending last week in Abu Dhabi. Torrey Pines is also one of the more venerable courses anywhere and Woods dominance there has been well-documented, but here it is in case you missed it: In 11 starts in the event, Woods has finished T3, W, T2, 4th, T5, W, T10, W, W, W, W. He's a combined 158 under and has just round over par in 43 rounds. Thats what's called a comfort zone.

Next Kodak Challenge hole

TOURNAMENT: Farmers Insurance Open HOLE: The par-5, 572-yard 18th at Torrey Pines South ABOUT THE HOLE: This long par-5 is reachable for most, but trouble abounds in front of and around the green. Some of the best finishes in recent PGA TOUR history have taken place here, including Tiger Woods' birdie to make a U.S. Open playoff in 2008 and John Daly's bunker up-and-down to win the Buick Invitational in 2004. Kodak Challenge standings

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