Backspin: In a year filled with playoffs, this topped them all

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SAN MARTIN, Calif. -- This is the time of year when the golf season is supposed to be winding down, save for players fighting for a spot in the top 125 on the money list.

But this has been a year unlike any other in so many ways, so why would this past week be any different?

There was the longest playoff of the season in a season with the most playoffs ever.

There was Briny Baird coming closer than he ever has to ending a career that's now 0-for-348.

And, oh yeah, Tiger Woods playing in his first ever Fall Series event and putting together three straight rounds in the 60s for the first time all season.

In the end, it added up to an awful lot of drama on Sunday, capped with one of the few former four-time All-Americans on the PGA TOUR, Bryce Molder, ending his own victory drought at 131.

"It's such a strange dynamic, a playoff, because it's just the two of you now, and you've had nerves all day long, and there's only so long that your body can be nervous," said Molder, a former standout at Georgia Tech who also once shot 60 playing with former President Bill Clinton. "You still have the adrenaline and that's why a lot of times you see some great golf in playoffs."

Say what you want about one missed putt after another during the playoff, but there were some great shots tucked into the extra holes -- whether it was Molder extending his chances by saving par from a hazard, or Baird making a testy six-footer on 17 to keep himself alive.

The playoff was so tight that on the final hole, PGA TOUR rules official Mark Russell had to use the flagstick -- twice -- to determine who was away. It was Baird, who stepped up and made his par putt. But it wasn't enough.

"It was crazy," Molder said. "I kept thinking let's just get done; we don't need to come back tomorrow. I'm sure everybody else was thinking that as well."

Amen.

Stock up

Bud Cauley: With no status and out of options after playing in seven tournaments this year, not only did Cauley play his way into this week's McGladrey Classic by finishing in the top 10, his solo third moved him one very big step closer to bypassing q-school and going right to the TOUR. The last guy to do that was Ryan Moore in 2005, and Tiger Woods in 1996 before that. Billy Horschel: Better late than never. As Horschel told me Sunday, he doesn't care when he secures his TOUR card, just that he does. He's finished in the top 30 in each of his last four starts, including a season-best tie for seventh at the Frys.com Open. With just over $489,000 in earnings, he still has some work to do. Last year, you might remember that Horschel snuck into the top 25 at q-school off a bogey late by Will Strickler in the final round. Tiger Woods: Say what you want about Woods, but he is getting better, even if it's at an inch-by-inch pace. He showed a lot of good signs at the Frys.com Open and he even started making some of the putts we're accustomed to seeing him make. He had 17 birdies through the final three rounds and even managed to briefly sneak into contention, getting within three at one point.

Stock down

D.J. Trahan: Bad time to miss his sixth cut in the last seven starts. Trahan dropped to 130th on the money list as a result following rounds of 72-73 at CordeValle. In his last 15 rounds, he's broken 70 just four times. This is not the time of year you want to see those numbers. Steve Flesch: Speaking of guys on the outside looking in, Flesch is the odd man out at 126th on the money list after finishing 65th at the Frys.com Open. In his last four starts he's finished inside the top 50 just once -- 49th to be exact -- and missed a cut and withdrawn from another event. David Duval: In his last 13 starts, Duval has missed the cut 10 times. He's even missed two cuts on the Nationwide Tour this year. It's just such a strange sight to see for a player who was once on top of the game not all that long ago.

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. It seemed Sunday night everyone felt bad for Briny Baird except for Briny Baird. Yes, he was upset he blew a three-shot lead going into the final round. But he tried to take some positives from it, most notably the fact that he made three birdies in the playoff and had an opportunity to win. For all the business about 347 starts without a victory, Baird has really only come close to winning a couple of times. This one got away from him, but not by much. "Today I felt like I was out there to win the tournament," Baird said Sunday. "I hit some shots when I really needed to hit some shots. For me that's a big deal. There's a hurdle that I overcame today that I'm not scared to talk about it." For more on Baird, click here.

2. And here's the upside for Baird: He earned enough cash to lock up his TOUR card for next season, meaning he'll have a full year's worth of opportunities to end that streak.

3. What are we to make of Tiger Woods' week at the Frys.com Open? It's simple. "I got better every day," said Woods, who shot three straight 68s to finish his week. Call it a cliché if you want but he's right. There was an improvement in this performance from his last when he missed the cut at the PGA Championship. Slowly he's finding his groove and his swing. At some point he's going to win again and that point is closer than it was last week or last month or last year. Whether he'll be the dominant player he once was, that I'm not so sure of. But he's going in the right direction.

4. Woods said he will not play in either of the last two Fall Series events this year due to sponsor and family obligations. But it doesn't sound like this will be his last Frys.com Open. He hung with John Fry a lot last week and said, "absolutely" when asked if he could see himself playing the event again. And make no mistake, John Fry has big plans for the event. "What John Fry has done, what Duke (Butler, Frys.com Open president) has done with this event has been fantastic," Woods said.

5. Interesting interview with Woods' agent Mark Steinberg on ThomasBonk.com last week. Among the things Steinberg said that stood out was that Woods has a lot left in his tank and that he thinks he's a young 36. I'm not sure about that last part, but Steinberg is right that Woods has been injured for several years and that's contributed to his swing issues. "I've heard it. Go back to your old swing. Go back to your old coach. Go back to Butch or Hank," Steinberg told Bonk. "Well, nobody has said go back to Hank. He just needs to find the proper swing and repeat it."

6. Bud Cauley might have been the best story for someone who didn't win the tournament. The list of players who have bypassed q-school and gone straight to the pros from college is short. Cauley left Alabama a year early and turned pro in June. "I knew I could compete," Cauley said. "Obviously getting starts out here and playing is really the most difficult thing. So I really didn't think about that, just trying to give myself as many opportunities as I could." And he's taken advantage of those opportunities.

7. Stat of the Week: 21. That's how many starts it took Ernie Els to get his first top-10 of the season. Clearly the belly putter is working for him, too.

8. Although Rickie Fowler's first win as a professional came on the OneAsia Tour and not the PGA TOUR, it came against a pretty good field at the Korean Open. Fowler led by four going into Sunday and was paired with Y.E. Yang. That was probably the last player anyone trying to win, much less for the first time, would want to be paired with because Yang, who play in next month's Presidnets Cup, is as tough as they come. Yang shot 75, though, and Fowler cruised to the win while Rory McIlroy finished second. That's the future of the game right there.

9. One of the really good guys in the game won over the weekend when Brad Faxon captured the Champion Tour's Insperity Championship. Good for him. He's been around a long time and is one of the best putters in the history of the game.

Forward Spin

The McGladrey Classic represents the penultimate opportunity for players trying to move inside the top 125 on the money list. In just its second year on the schedule, the event is already proving to be a popular one (just check out the field list). There are 15 major champions teeing it up this week, including Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh. And why not? Sea Island in October is one of the best places to be in the country.

Kodak Challenge

LAST WEEK: Frys.com Open NEXT UP: The Kodak Challenge continues this week with the medium par-4 13th at Sea Island. Bill Lunde's lead stands at two shots with two holes remaining in the $1 million challenge. Tour of holes | Full Kodak Challenge Standings