Backspin: Unpredictability reigns; Haney speaks; more

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The first two months of the season are now in the books and here's what we know: The PGA TOUR is as wide open as ever.

Think about it. We're 10 events into the year and there have been nine different winners. The guy with the most wins on TOUR this season? Mark Wilson with two. Raise your hand if you saw that coming.

Rory Sabbatini is a fine player, and he was coming off a tie for fifth in Mexico the week before, but the last time he won on TOUR before Sunday's victory at The Honda Classic was in 2009.

But this is the unpredictability in golf, especially early in the season when players are coming off their winter break.

Now, though, the TOUR heads to TPC Blue Monster at Doral for the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, where the field is of course stout.

"Doral was one of those events for all of those in the Northeast when snow was on the ground that you always looked forward to," Eddie Carbone, the tournament's executive director, told me recently.

Along those lines, it should be time for Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and others to do their part. Martin Kaymer certainly has. So have Graeme McDowell and Bubba Watson.

Is this the year we finally get Tiger vs. Phil? Or will it continue to be a European dominated season?

We should find out in the weeks ahead. There's only a month until the Masters.

Stock up

Graeme McDowell: His stock just keeps rising. That's what happens when you do things like shoot final-round 64s to tie the course record and jump 26 spots on the leaderboard. In three starts on TOUR this year, the reigning U.S. Open champion has yet to finish outside the top 10. And here's what I really like about McDowell: He gets it done in the final round. Granted he wasn't exactly contending on either occasion, but a 62 (at Kapalua) and a 64 (at PGA National) are only going to add to his growing confidence. Stuart Appleby: He never mounted a charge Sunday, shooting a 1-under 69, but Appleby has been solid all year -- and not just in the wind. In seven starts this season, the Aussie has four finishes in the top 15, including in each of the last three weeks. One reason why: He's been good with his irons and has avoided three-putts. Luke Donald: You have to give Donald a lot of credit. A lot of players would have disappeared after a career victory the week before. Not Donald. He was bogey-free on Sunday, shooting a 66 to tie for 10th at PGA National. Just a hunch, but I think he'll contend in a major this year. Maybe the Masters or PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.

Stock down

Mike Weir: As if things weren't bad enough for Weir, he shot a career-worst 85 Friday to miss the cut at The Honda Classic. Weir had five starts to fulfill his Major Medical Extension and failed to do so, missing the cut in four of them. That means he'll be without full status on TOUR -- though he does have a couple of career exemptions he could cash in, along with some likely sponsor exemptions. Still, at age 40 Weir seems to be at a crossroad right now. Adam Scott: Scott joined Weir near the bottom of the leaderboard last week after posting an 82 of his own in the second round. I know Scott had some good late-season performances last year, but he hasn't exactly carried that momentum to this year. In four starts on TOUR, he has two missed cuts, a first-round exit from the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and a tie for 21st in the limited field Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Boo Weekley: In his last four starts, Weekley has broken 70 just once and missed the cut three times, including last week at The Honda Classic, where he finished at 8 over. Weekley hasn't won since the 2008 Verizon Heritage and it's starting to look like it might be a while before he does again -- if he does again. The strange thing is that, at least by the numbers, Weekley isn't having an awful year statistically. He's just not scoring right now.

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Last week, a lot of folks were wondering why Rory Sabbatini was wearing a wide-brimmed hat. Simple: He got skin cancer and had a nickel sized patch taken off his head. Sabbatini was approached by a representative of a sun-block company that he now represents on TOUR with a special sun-block shirt and the big hat that provides more protection for his face. "I've got to be very cautious out there," Sabbatini told the New York Times. "And we're looking at maybe setting up a foundation that helps people that are underprivileged and come across skin cancer, so it's something that we are looking at." As someone who lost a parent to skin cancer and have seen others battle the disease, I'm glad to hear Sabbatini is thinking of getting involved. He's always had a sort of bold reputation, to put it one way, but the amount of charitable works the fiery South African has done can't be questioned.

2. The Honda Classic hasn't exactly been kind to American players, at least not lately. Sabbatini became the sixth international winner of the event since 2005, joining Padraig Harrington (2005), Luke Donald (2006), Ernie Els (2008), Y.E. Yang (2009) and Camilo Villegas (2010). The only American winner during that time? Mark Wilson in 2007.

3. I had no idea it was legal to use a camera, or any piece of technology, to identify a ball. But that's what Jerry Kelly did Saturday after hitting his second shot into the upper reaches of a palm tree on the sixth hole at PGA National. Thanks to a photographer, Kelly avoided costing himself probably $100,000 or so by being able to take an unplayable and drop next to the tree, rather than having to return to where he hit the shot from.

4. I wasn't around when golf wasn't on television, or even before Frank Chirkinian's time, so I don't know golf on TV without his influence. But his impact was obviously enormous. I have no idea what televised golf would be today if it weren't for him, and I'm glad.

5. There's more of this in the Tweets of the Week, but Hank Haney, who stepped down as Tiger Woods' swing coach two years ago, has been awfully vocal of late, saying via Twitter that under Butch Harmon, the most events in a row that Tiger finished out of the top 10 was five and that with him that streak was never more than two in a row for six years. I'm not sure where Haney is going with all this, but he did add that while he thinks Jack Nicklaus is the greatest of all time because of his major record, no one has played better golf than Woods. Now it's just a matter of when (or if) Woods can get back to that level.

6. While Jack Nicklaus thinks Tiger can still break his record, a point he made last week, Greg Norman apparently does not. In an interview with Golfweek's Jeff Rude, Norman basically broke it down to three things: Woods' swing, his age and the numbers game of still needing four more to catch Nicklaus.

7. Interesting Idea of the Week: J.J. Henry, when asked in Sports Illustrated's PGA TOUR Confidential what he would do if he were commissioner, said, "The Super Bowl moves around every year. Why can't the FedExCup playoffs move around? Why couldn't, say, Hartford and the BMW Championship switch spots on the calendar for a year?" Interesting concept, and it would provide a way to get some guys to play venues they don't normally play without implementing a designated tournaments rule.

8. Getting into the Masters, which Rory Sabbatini did with his win on Sunday, certainly made the South African happy. But he has a different goal every year. "My goal every year is to get to Maui, because if you get to Maui, you've had a good year," Sabbatini said. "I don't care if you win once, win twice, whatever. As long as you get to Maui, it's a rewarding year. I love being there, I love playing Kapalua. I think it's a fantastic spot. I'm just looking forward to being able to go there and relax and have an enjoyable week again."

9. The new mobile policy debuted at The Honda Classic, allowing fans to bring their cell phones on site provided they're in silent mode and calls are made in designated areas. The Cadillac Championship steps up this week with a Social Media Zone adjacent to the clubhouse, exclusive for fans of the tournament on Facebook and Twitter . If you're on site, "check in" to the tournament from your phone for more goodies from the tournament.

Forward Spin

The Florida Swing continues with the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, which has a new title sponsor this year but the same strong field that it always boasts with the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking slated to play. That, of course, includes the No. 1 player in the world, Martin Kaymer. Lee Westwood had a chance to re-claim that spot last week, but he failed to finish in the top 3 at The Honda Classic. Obviously Westwood will have another opportunity this week. It also marks the first start for Tiger Woods since his first-round exit in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. The last time Woods played in this event, in 2009, he tied for ninth. The year before that, he tied for fifth. And in 2007, he won it. Ernie Els is the defending champion, but he's struggled of late, tying for 70th at The Honda Classic last week and getting knocked out in the second round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play the week before. For those who didn't qualify for the WGC-Cadillac Championship there is the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com, which has also undergone a title sponsor change that will be in place through the 2012 season. Last year, the event provided rookie Derek Lamely, who shot a final-round 66, his first career win with Kris Blanks, who closed with a 63, finishing second on Monday after weather plagued the event early in the week. This year, there shouldn't be any such problems on the 7,500-yard Trump International course. While there's a 30 percent chance of showers early in the week, the weather looks good for most of the tournament.

Next Kodak Challenge hole

TOURNAMENT: World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship HOLE: The par-5, 560-yard 8th at TPC Blue Monster at Doral ABOUT THE HOLE: On this par 5, the lake is very much in play for longer hitters. Numerous palm trees beyond the bunker on the right punish any bailout to that side. Many players go for the green in two, but to do so requires a long, accurate drive usually into the winter wind from the southwest. Kodak Challenge standings