Backspin: Toms' comeback, stock up/down and Back 9

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You watch David Toms hit the ball the way he did for three rounds at Colonial Country Club, and the week before at TPC Sawgrass, and you think to yourself:

How did he go five years without winning on TOUR?

You look at the statistics -- third in driving accuracy, second in greens in regulation, seventh in strokes gained putting, third in scoring average -- and it gets even tougher to believe he went all those weeks without winning.

Then you look at what has happened to Toms the last few years. After being beset by injuries, he kept getting beat for one reason or another -- since 2009, Toms finished second five times.

And he never seemed to get a break in any of those situations.

Arjun Atwal hit it in the grandstands on the last hole in the 2010 Wyndham Championship but got up and down to win, Kenny Perry caught fire at the 2009 Travelers Championship. Ditto Brian Gay in the 2009 FedEx St. Jude Classic.

"You are like, is it ever going to happen?'" Toms said.

It finally did Sunday in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, where Toms showed a lot of veteran resolve bouncing back from that third-round 74 that would have sent a lot of players tumbling out of contention.

Not that nearly 20 years of experience, three Ryder Cups and three Presidents Cups completely wiped away the nerves, but it certainly helped.

So did the work Toms put in Saturday night. It was 8 p.m., Toms was on the putting green at Colonial, trying to move past what had just happened to him.

"It was more about just letting everything settle down," Toms said. "Let all of the people get out of here. And to get back to the mental state that I had the first two days and just kind of look at the surroundings and know that, hey, one of these days I'm going to do it here. That's what I was trying to do, just take it all in."

And it paid off in a big way Sunday.

Stock up

Zach Johnson: In his last three starts Johnson has finished in the top 12 and in two of those he was actually in the top six. Now, all three came courtesy of low final rounds by Johnson. But it's something. Prior to that, Johnson barely had three top-25s all season. FedExCup rank: 39 (62 last week). Hunter Mahan: Very quietly, Mahan picked up his seventh top-10 of the season and third in his last five starts at Colonial. He leads the TOUR in that category and in birdie average. The only thing missing? A win, of course. FedExCup rank: 15 (14 last week). Paul Goydos: Well if only three courses on TOUR fit Goydos' game, as he joked at THE PLAYERS Championship, he fared pretty well on them with top-10s on all of them: Harbour Town, TPC Sawgrass and Colonial Country Club. FedExCup rank: 47 (59 last week)

Stock down

Kenny Perry: Even on courses he shouldnt struggle with, Perry has (see: missed cut, Colonial). In eight TOUR events, Perry has missed four cuts and withdrawn from another event. On the Champions Tour? A totally different story with two top-5 finishes, including a tie for fifth in a major. FedExCup rank: 184 (183 last week). David Duval: Since his tie for ninth at the Northern Trust Open -- his only top-10 of 2011 -- it should be pointed out Duval has missed six of eight cuts, including his last four. Duval has said several times he feels good about what he's doing -- he just hasn't gotten much out of it. FedExCup rank: 128 (120 last week) Anthony Kim: The good news is Kim made the cut. The bad news is he tied for 56th with just one round under par. Kim has just one top-10 this season and in his last 14 rounds hes broken 70 just once. These are just baffling results for a guy who hits it as well as Kim does. FedExCup rank: 84 (83 last week)

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW:

1. Last week was like musical chairs for a handful of caddies with Martin Kaymer, Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas, Boo Weekley and Francesco Molinari all parting ways with their loopers. The most puzzling one, to me anyway, was the split between Scott and longtime caddie Tony Navarro. Scott maintains he simply needed a change -- though these last couple seasons have been Scott's best in recent years. "There were issues that had nothing to do with on the golf course or with us," Navarro, who lives in Moline, Ill., told the Quad City Times. "It's just a few things weren't going to work out. I told him I wouldn't quit, so he would have to fire me. It wouldn't have been any different had we won the Masters. It was an unavoidable circumstance in the middle of our relationship that we couldn't overcome." With ex-Villegas looper Mike Doran on the bag, Scott opened with a 66 at Colonial last week before finishing in a tie for 65th.

2. Love the decision by PLAYERS Championship winner K.J. Choi to donate $200,000 of his winnings to tornado relief efforts. Classy move by a classy guy. "While winning THE PLAYERS Championship was a defining point in my life, there were those who were going through their low point," Choi said. "I want the victims of the tornadoes to know that their misfortunes will not be ignored."

3. Bubba Watson was again asked last week about his recent comments about Tiger Woods in which he said he thought Woods is "going the wrong way" and that he was so "mental" with his swing. Watson has yet to talk to Woods about it but he has talked to Woods' swing coach Sean Foley and says there are no hard feelings. "It was just one of those things that the media just ran with it the way they wanted to," Watson said from media day at the Travelers Championship. "No hard feelings, we are friends, played many a practice rounds with him, I know his agent really well and just one of those things that came out the wrong way."

4. So much for the kids dominating. Toms became the fourth player in his 40s to win this season. Players in their 30s lead the way with nine wins, while players in their 20s have won seven times this year.

5. Speaking of Tiger, I'm less stunned that he ranked sixth on Forbes' list of the world's most powerful celebrities than I am that Lady Gaga is No. 1. But I guess that's what happens when you reportedly gross $170 million on 137 shows in 22 countries over the past 12 months and sell an estimated 15 million albums worldwide.

6. I know Ian Poulter lost early in the newly round-robin formatted World Match Play Championship, but his win over Luke Donald on Sunday was impressive. Poulter is quickly climbing the list of guys you don't want to see across the tee box in match play. He's got a few more big Ryder Cup performances in him, I think.

7. How about Jim Furyk's scorecard Sunday at Colonial? He eagled the first hole, made a hole-in-one on the eighth ... then proceeded to play Nos. 10 through 13 in 5 over with three bogeys and a double. Naturally, he bounced back with birdies on Nos. 16 and 18. Go figure. (See the scorecard)

8. About half the field is now set for the U.S. Open with 73 players exempt into the field next month at Congressional. Among them are David Toms, who moved into the top 10 on the money list with his victory at Colonial, and Ryo Ishikawa, who shot a final-round 64 before eventually losing in a playoff in Japan over the weekend.

9. Even though I put Kenny Perry in "Stock Down" this week, I absolutely think he'll be in contention at this week's Senior PGA Championship at Valhalla. It's a special place to him and he's has some history there -- he lost the 1996 PGA there and he was on a victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team there in 2008. He also should contend on a regular basis on the Champions Tour.

Forward Spin

The Texas two-step gets completed this week with the HP Byron Nelson Championship, where Metroplex resident Jason Day is the defending champion. Given how Day is playing this season -- five top-10s in 11 starts, including a runner-up -- it wouldnt exactly be a shock if he won there again. Remember, Day is still just 23 and he has a lot of good golf in front of him. Speaking of players with a lot of golf in front of them, Jordan Spieth is also in the field. The Texas teenager tied for 16th there a year ago.

Last week's Kodak Challenge hole

TOURNAMENT: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial HOLE: The par-3, 171-yard 13th at Colonial Country Club WHAT HAPPENED: Kodak Challenge leader Bill Lunde made a short birdie putt on the at Colonial to extend his lead to two shots in the $1 million competition. Kodak Challenge standings