Quick 18: Watney, Levet cap big weeks, Tseng eyes slam

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Bo Van Pelt has five straight top-15 finishes and has been the U.S.A.'s best performer in majors this year.

1. You saw it coming. At least you should have. Nick Watney may have that wide-eyed look, but he's got closing instincts too. The new best American player closed it out just down the pike from Philly on the day before Independence Day. Nice confluence of events for U.S. golf, which needed a little something extra to smile about. Nicer yet for Watney, who picked up win No. 2 of the year and the inside track in the FedExCup race.

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2. Love that, after missing the cut at the U.S. Open, Watney put in some time on the range and told Butch Harmon he was going to win one of the next two events he played. Done. And, oh, he had four rounds in the 60s at Travelers Championship -- and a T13 -- in the other one. He's got a World Golf Championships win -- the Cadillac Championship -- and he's been on Q-18's radar for the last two years. Next up ... if he can keep putting the way he is ... a major?

3. Think a multi-vision screen this week. Some players are headed to the John Deere Classic to warm up for the British Open at Royal St. George's, while others are up in Northern Scotland at the new Castle Stuart links in Inverness for the Barclays Scottish Open. Castle Stuart -- in the shadow of the castle by the same name and you know how Q-18 loves castles -- allows players adjust to Open conditions much better than the old Loch Lomond. Among those U.S. players in the Northern Lights -- think almost 20 hours of daylight -- field? Phil Mickelson, Ryan Palmer, Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker and Gary Woodland.

4. On this side of the pond, Steve Stricker -- yes, he of last year's 60 -- will be going for a three-peat at the Deere. No one plays this course better. Even Paul Goydos who tossed out a 59 last year. Interesting player to watch? Jason Day, who has two runner-up finishes in the last two majors. The guy is coming into his own. And, yes, they'll be going low there -- don't they always? More on that in Tuesday's column.

5. Just in case you don't know ... if Yani Tseng can play the way she did two weeks ago, we might just have a women's slam -- at 22 -- by week's end. Tseng has never played well in the U.S. Women's Open, but no one is playing better. Not only did she buy Annika Sorenstam's old house, she's also picked Annika's brain on how to do this major thing. And Annika didn't win the first of her 10 until she was ... 24. So far, Tseng has a pair of LPGA Championships, a Kraft Nabisco and a Women's British Open. Just one missing, but she might have to go through Stacy Lewis and defending champ Paula Creamer to get it. Tseng and Creamer are paired with U.S. Women's Am champ Danielle Kang.

6. Snaps to Thomas Levet, who has one foot inside the broadcast booth, for winning his national open -- the Alstom Open de France. It took him 25 years to win the event and when he did ... well, the gregarious 42-year-old Frenchman got carried off on players shoulders and got sprayed with champagne during his post-round interview. He embraced it as if it were a major. And it was to him. After all, this is the same guy who picked up Ernie Els -- who's six inches taller and way heavier -- after Els won the 2002 British Open in a playoff against Levet, Steve Elkington and Stuart Appleby -- at Muirfield.

7. Wonder why Q-18 is a Palmer -- as in Ryan because aren't we all Arnie-philes? -- fan? It's not just his Texas wind game. Or the Texas thing. It's the way he embraces what's in front of him. He, his caddie and their wives hit Paris on the way to the Scottish Open and just took it all in. Next Randy Smith student to make noise? We're think so.

8. Another player to keep an eye on? Mr. Bo Van Pelt. He finished T8 at the Masters; T14 at the U.S. Open -- best overall by an American this year. But that's not all. He hasn't finished out of the top 14 in his last five events, which tells Q-18 something big just might be around the corner.

9. Wondering why talented Rickie Fowler hasn't broken through? Look at his final rounds. He's had just two sub-70 closing rounds this year, which, on the TOUR, is like standing still.

10. Harrison Frazar and Charles Howell III make the field for Royal St. George's. This'll be Frazar's first British Open and, yes, he's fired up. As for Mr. Three-Sticks? Slowly but surely, form is coming around

11. If imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery, the Golf Boys should be grinning. Four Ladies European Tour players -- Sophie Guquel, Sophie Sandolo, Jade Shaeffer and Cassandra Kirkland -- have their own video out. They're the Golf Girls and the song is . . "Ah, Ah, Ah." Yes, there's a Ben Crane outfit in there. Click to watch..

12. It wasn't as much who was in the Royal Box at Wimbledon last week. It was who wasn't -- Colin Montgomerie. Rory McIlroy was the standout -- pink tie one day, blue another -- as he chatted up everyone from John McEnroe to Piers Morgan to ... well, we can only imagine. Others in the box? Greg Norman, Ernie Els, Gary Player, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter. And during the men's final? Only Rors made the Royal cut.

13. Latest odds on Royal St. George's? Ladbrokes has Rory at 6/1, Lee Westwood at 10/1. We're seriously doubtful that Tiger Woods will be there, but -- a sign of respect? -- he's 20/1. Really. Not kidding here.

14. A sign of the times? U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links champ Brianna Do's dream foursome? Adam Scott, Rory and Blake Shelton. And, oh, Rory was on the list BEFORE the U.S. Open. Just saying.

15. Loving this one from Erik Compton: "Everybody knows I'm the guy with two hearts. That outspeaks the golf; always will. It's a crazy, crazy story. I'm comfortable with it."

16. The latest in driving ranges? Try Top Golf with microchips embedded in golf balls, targets, touch screens, waiters to deliver food, sofas to relax on and six players up at once. Think "a cross between the ambience of a 1950's bowling alley and an episode of 'The Jetsons' '' said New York Times' blogger Bill Pennington. Pennington notes the new ranges cost about $10 million to open, which is why there are only four up and running -- two in the Dallas area, one in Arlington, Va., and one outside of Chicago. Click to take a tour.

17. Sad to note the passing of long-time News Limited golf writer Tom Ramsey, who battled cancer for a decade. Described as "a stubborn Northern Irishman", he was a delightful and devilish man who didn't mind going toe-to-toe with anyone, including Greg Norman.

18. And finally, we leave you with this from Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiam creator Larry David, who penned it in the New Yorker: "Finally, after years of pain and struggle, I had accepted the fact that I would never be a good golfer. No matter how many hours I practiced, no matter how many instructors I saw, how many books and magazines I read, or how many teaching aids I tried. Then it hit me. According to Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' book On Death and Dying, Acceptance was the final stage of grief that terminal patients experience before dying, the others being Anger, Denial, Bargaining, and Depression. I was in the final stage! When I started thinking about it, I realized that I'd gone through every one of those stages, but not as a terminal patient ... as a golfer."

Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM and can be reached at melaniehauser@gmail.com. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR. Follow her on Twitter @melaniehauser.