With warm and blustery weather having been present for the last two stops of the PGA Tour’s Florida swing, it was easy to get caught up in the leisurely walks in Orlando and Miami. Thus did the mind wander through a variety of thoughts. For instance . . .

After hearing all the talk about those bad greens at the Bay Hill Club, you wanted to remind the players that Arnold Palmer won all 62 of his PGA Tour tournaments — including those seven majors — on greens that were probably worse than what they were playing on that week.

Then again, that goes along with what Ed Dougherty once said about the fickle nature of professional golfers: “These guys would bitch about ice cream.”

It suddenly occurs to me: Did I miss the announcement about Sergio Garcia’s retirement from competition? Has anyone seen him lately?

There was Tiger Woods at a press conference leading into the World Golf Championships-CA Championship, answering a question about how many different shots he can hit with each of his clubs.

“Nine,” he said, and in seconds reporters were writing it down in awe. The fascination was lost on me, since most amateurs have 17 or so different shots they can hit with each club. They just have no idea which shot is coming at what time and in most instances, it’s totally the wrong shot that appears.

After watching the golf at each of the first three stops of the Florida swing and hearing how the courses are so much better and tougher than those on the West Coast swing, I had to laugh.

Those Florida courses — PGA National, Copperhead at the Innisbrook Resort, and Bay Hill — wear a “tough” label simply because they are par-72s turned into par-70s and 71s. For my money, four of the courses on the West Coast swing — Waialae, Pebble Beach, Torrey Pines, and Riviera — are better, both competitively and aesthetically.
    
Let me see if I have this right: Ten players who had to come back Monday morning to finish the $8 million CA Championship were then whisked off in limousines to the Miami airport where private jets took them to Orlando where helicopters then relayed them to Isleworth for a VIP corporate outing? Yeah, that sounds like the way Byron Nelson and Jug McSpaden made their way out of town after winning the Miami Four-ball March 11, 1945.

Then again, Nelson and McSpaden did have a few days to drive to North Carolina for the Charlotte Open.

And, lucky guys, they were only paying 21 cents a gallon for gas, not $3.25.

Sure, Geoff Ogilvy got the largest paycheck at the CA Championship, but you wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that Retief Goosen came out of there the biggest winner. It was great to see him in form again, as he hadn’t even been in the same area code of the top to any PGA Tour leaderboard since finishing joint second at last year’s Masters.

Now, can someone unravel the mystery surrounding Goosen’s countryman and good friend, Ernie Els? He wins the Honda Classic, but then misses the cut at the PODS Championship, withdraws from the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and plays better than just two of the 77 finishers at the CA Championship. It was a strange sequence of tournaments.

If you combine the world ranking points for Soren Hansen, Anders Hansen, and Peter Hanson, you could enter them as a team for 6.20 and they would be fifth. Unfortunately, even together they would be a whopping 15.67 points behind Tiger Woods.

Speaking of the world rankings, with Prayad Marksaeng now sitting at No. 90, it’s worth asking: Who is Prayad Marksaeng and why is he ranked 21 spots ahead of Lucas Glover?

I do, however, agree that he should be ranked ahead of Joost Luiten, who should need no introduction — at least to the rest of the Luitens.

This just in: John Daly tells reporters he’s OK with the split from Butch Harmon, that what he really needs is a woman in his life. We have it at 5-1 that he meets Mrs. Daly No. 5 at a Hooters, 7-1 that he meets her at a casino, 50-1 at a rehab, and 1,000-1 that they cross paths at a cotillion.

There are times while walking around PGA Tour tournaments when you have to wonder if you’re the only one without a golf cart. I mean, everyone seems to have one. You have to wonder what those people who pay $25 or $40 or $50 or even more for a ticket are thinking when they’re constantly being told, “Move over, cart coming through.”
    
It’s especially disconcerting when some 14-year old is behind the wheel, delivering cases of soda and acting like he’s at Billy Bob’s Go-Kart and Arcade.

When in a few weeks the entire golf world focuses in on the activity at Augusta National, the LPGA Tour will be strategically set up in Mexico. Brilliant plan.

Then again, the first eight weeks on the 2008 LPGA Tour schedule include two stops in Mexico, one in South Africa, one in Singapore, two in Hawaii, and only two in the continental U.S., so if you’re wondering about the burden of travel expenses, ask the women, not the men.
    
If you want to argue that the players are what the patrons come to see, it would be foolish to disagree. But there are times when I have to wonder if they’re really there to yell out encouragement and good cheer to one of their favorites, Roger Maltbie. Fans love him, and well they should.

Another question to Woods, this one about ball spin and he rewarded the inquiry with a lengthy response, which prompted many, many notes and seemingly great interest from my colleagues. My take: Woods understands ball spin, but we don’t need to read about it, which is why I’ll wait for the movie.