Quick 18: Tiger gets picked; Calcavecchia breaks through

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Captain Couples announced this week that Tiger Woods, who was unbeaten at the 2009 Presidents Cup, will be selected for the 2011 team.

1. What a week. And we're not talking about the golf. Earthquake Tuesday, Hurricane Irene over the weekend. Not sure there's ever been a week with two natural disasters impacting one event. Anyone who quibbled with the decision to cut The Barclays to 54 holes a) probably hasn't ridden out a hurricane/cleaned up after one and b) should take a look at the golf course post-Irene. You don't mess with Mother Nature. The sun might be shining, but the course is waterlogged and anything but playable.

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2. Pulling together. According to Golf Channel's Tim Rosaforte, the New England TPC network is jumping in to help clean up the course for this week's Deutsche Bank Championship. There was apparently no major damage, but, even with a tropical storm, there's a lot of debris cleanup. And finishing touches -- that weren't added because of Irene -- to finish off the setup.

3. The other rumbling last week? Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples announcing Tiger Woods was on his 2011 team. Surprised? Don't be. And don't think that's the only interesting choice that's ever been made. In 2009, Greg Norman chose a struggling Adam Scott and that wound up boosting his confidence and, in 2005, Gary Player took a young kid named Trevor Immelman. The Woods pick means the race tightens for the ninth and 10th spots -- yes, Rickie Fowler and Jim Furyk are listening. Couples likes Keegan Bradley, too, so the race may be for 9th and 10th place.

4. Just when Q-18 thought it might be a so-so, get-adjusted-to-life-with-Joe-LaCava-on-the-bag season for Dustin Johnson, the bomber steps up and wins The Barclays. Rain-shortened or not, it's hard to argue with a guy who had 21 birdies, 2 bogeys, shot a collective 17-under on the front nine (and 19-under overall) and listened big-time to the new voice in his ear. He's the sixth player to win two playoff events. Cleared for take-off -- again? It could be interesting.

5. While we're on bad weather, before it all blew in, Golf Channel/CBS analyst David Feherty related his favorite bad weather story. One year at Royal Dublin, he said, the wind was blowing so hard that Bill Longmuir's nines were 28-52. You can guess which way the wind was blowing.

6. Finally. It's been coming. Just slower than Mark Calcavecchia wanted. It took Calc 31 tries, but he won his first Champions event Sunday. It was also his first win in four years. Keep an eye on him.

7. Hello World. Yes, it's the anniversary of Tiger bowing in as a pro. Seems like longer than 15 years ago, doesn't it? TW, by the way, is set to tee it up Wednesday in buddy Notah Begay's NB3 Challenge, which supports ending obesity and childhood diabetes in the Native American community. Others in the field include Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Natalie Gulbis and Annika Sorenstam.

8. Bouncing back, part II. Last week Q-18 was talking about Couples' trip to Germany for the blood spinning Orthokine treatments. Now Vijay Singh is putting eyes on the process. After a hit or miss season, Veej has two top four finishes.

8. Gotta love that love that a) William McGirt wore out his iPhone battery hitting refresh to find out if he was in the playoffs, period and b) his wife Sarah was signaling his standing Saturday down the stretch. He made it and they were off to Boston for the Deutsche Bank and a Red Sox game.

9. Defending Deutsche Bank champ Charley Hoffman rang the opening bell on Wall Street Monday morning and Bradley is warming up to throw out the first pitch at Fenway Tuesday. It's mostly about the golf this week -- and moving on to round three -- but there's room for a little fun, too.

10. Tweet of the week was also the innovation of the week. What do you do when Irene knocks out power? Just ask @markwilsongolf: So when Hurricane Irene knocks power out mid cycle, how do you get front load washer door unlocked? Car cigarette lighter... fb.me/YeTUwq49

11. A Q-18 head shaker. Still trying to figure out how NCAA champion -- and runner-up to Harris English at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational -- John Peterson doesn't make the Walker Cup team. Peterson, who is seventh in the amateur rankings, decided to stay an Am to make the Walker Cup team. Instead, Auburn's Blayne Barber, ranked 55th, gets picked over Peterson.

12. A couple more pieces of Am more mental lint: Amateur champ Kelly Kraft was Aaron Stewart's -- Payne's son -- roommate at SMU and he plans to stay amateur and finish his degree . . . Two other Mustangs have won the Amateur -- Colt Knost in 2007 and Hank Kuehne in 1998.

13. Don't look now, but Matt Kuchar is making a run at Luke Donald for the consistency award this year. Donald has one win and 10 top 10s this season; Kuchar doesn't have a win, but he has 9 top 10s.

14. No smoking on the course? Nicotine on the banned list? It seems that the World Anti-Doping Association -- WADA -- is looking into nicotine as a stimulant that might enhance performance and director Olivier Rabin is recommending it go on the list. The Guardian reported that the European Tour would have to go with any decision that's made, but that would definitely impact serious smokers Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn, to name two. Bjorn, who is the European Tour's player's chairman told the paper, "I don't think nicotine is performance-enhancing. It's a habit. But I suppose I'd have to give up and just eat more."

15. It's never just a Facebook post. Just ask the 14 Bethany College golfers who'll miss a tournament this year for posing sans pants -- with golf bags in front of them -- for an unofficial team picture they posted. The Salina Journal reports the punishment was reduced from three tournaments to one.

16. DJ isn't the only bomber with a new caddie and a recent win. Brittany Lincicome -- Bam Bam -- won the Canadian Women's Open with former LPGA player A.J. Eathorne on her bag. And, Q-18 must point out, the top five finishers were all Americans. And to extrapolate-- the U.S. had a dozen players in the top 23.

17. Just so you know, snarky Simon Cowell told GQ Magazine he isn't a fan of golf clubs or social outings with his boss. "My worst nightmare in the world would have been if I'd had to join a golf club and have miserable suck-up evenings with the boss. I actually would rather throw myself off a bridge than have that."

18. And, before we go ... It's so official. Rory McIlroy confirmed that he is indeed dating Caroline Wozniacki, the world's top-ranked female tennis player. Not that he needed to, mind you, since he was snapped -- in a Yale football jersey and with the Yale football team surrounding him and Sweet Caroline playing in the background -- kissing Wozniacki after she won a semifinal match in New Haven. "Why it's going so well is that we have so much in common," McIlroy told AP. "Obviously, different sports, but we're pretty much in the same position at a young age and we can talk about things that probably a lot of 21, 22-year olds can't talk about. It's nice to have someone that sort of understands what you're going through"

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.