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Arnold Palmer is known to prefer a thorough test of golf.

As host of the invitational that bears his name, Palmer, like Jack Nicklaus at the Memorial, is the guiding influence over the course set up at Bay Hill and he wasn’t disappointed in giving players a fair dose of what the average hack sees on as regular basis.

No one in the last three groups broke par this weekend and the six players combined to finish 19-over.

Further evidence was provided by Martin Laird’s final round 75.

Martin Laird survived Bay Hill to collect second career victory. Photo Getty Images

It was the highest last-round score by a winner on the PGA Tour since Trevor Immelman also shot 75 to win the 2008 Masters. Laird went from three strokes up to three down Sunday before sinking a par for a one-stroke victory over Steve Marino.

… Phil Mickelson played his way out of contention at Bay Hill with a second-round 75 while Tiger Woods starting beating the ball around on the weekend, shooting 74, 72 to stall whatever momentum he’d built with his 68 on Friday.

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The side match that was Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at face value would seem to indicate a trend.

Woods bested Mickelson by a whopping 12 strokes this past weekend at Doral with Tiger’s final-round 66 accounting for most of the spread.

While Tiger was making at least a good impression of his former self and Nick Watney was capturing his third career victory, Phil was mostly looking forward to his earliest opportunity to split though that didn’t come until he was forced to sign for his 76.

So, the quick money would seem to move to Woods and away from Mickelson as the player most likely to win his next major title.

Up first on the tee is the Masters in April and Mickelson is the defending champion.

Mickelson’s T-55 at the just concluded WGC event is his worst this season and he has yet to win on the year. But in 2010, he was showing the same lack of consistency with just two top-10s before winning at Augusta.

This year, Mickelson’s best finish is a second in San Diego and a T-9 at Pebble Beach.

Phil Mickelson is looking to put it together. Photo Getty Images

Doral was his third event of the PGA Tour season and fourth overall; Woods also played in Dubai, where he posted a T-20.

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Anyone who plays golf for a living, needs to stop and give a quick thanks to Frank Chirkinian.

And the PGA Tour, and the golf manufacturers and even the sponsors who will pay big money to make even bigger money through exposure on golf telecasts.

Their sport is everywhere.

One can find a golf tournament on TV on any weekend across the calendar.

There is a cable channel that runs 24/7 covering nothing but the sport.

Players earn millions by simply hitting a golf ball.

And they can all thank Chirkinian, who made the game watchable.

Chirkinian died Saturday after a bout with lung cancer at age 84, but the mark he left on the game will be there forever.

Frank Chirkinian helped bring golf alive for TV. Photo Getty Images

Without Chirkinian there is no blimp cam, or mics on the teeboxes or roving reporters on the golf course.

All standard stuff now, but unheard of at a time when scores on TV were given as running totals and not in relation to par.

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Martin Kaymer scaled to the top of the world golf ranking, but Luke Donald’s win this weekend made it complete.

The Europeans are in charge.

Kaymer supplanted Lee Westwood in the No. 1 slot of the Official World Golf Ranking by getting to the final of the WGC Match Play event in Tucson.

Parlaying a victory to reach third was Donald, who vaulted from No. 9. Holding in the four-hole is Graeme McDowell.

For those repositioning the flags, the order would be: Germany, England, England and Northern Ireland.

In a free fall that shows no sign of gaining any lift is Tiger Woods, who checks in as the fifth-ranked ranked player just a few points ahead of fellow American Phil Mickelson.

Luke Donald won WGC Match Play and moved to No. 3. Photo Getty Images

Woods hasn’t been ranked this low since a week before he won his first Masters.

That was 1997.

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In the end, it wasn’t in the hole but it didn’t matter.

Carl Spackler finally put all that practice, swinging at chrysanthemums to use.

His putter did not turn into a garden hose.

McFiddish didn’t tell him to mow the practice green.

The caddie won.

Bill Murray negotiated 72 holes at the famed Monterey Peninsula in the tournament still wistfully called the Clambake and came out a winner as he and pro partner D.A. Points captured the pro-am portion of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Bill Murray and partner D. A. Points on the 7th tee at Pebble Beach. Photo Getty Images

Carl is certain to be quick with a tip.

As long as it’s not: “Cannonball comin’.”

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Tommy Gainey looks the part.

A billed lid sits atop his head with a sponsor’s logo prominently displayed.

His collared shirt reflects the same financial underwriter and his slacks and shoes allow him to blend and mingle in both the country club and touring pro sets.

But take a look at his hands and it will require a second glance, one for each glove.

Because Gainey wears not just the top hand glove, which is standard among players, but gloves his second hand as well.

Tommy Gainey is noted for wearing two golf gloves. Photo Getty Images

Word is, baseball came first for Gainey and once he migrated to golf, the two-glove habit was more than he could shake and it’s as much a part of his game as taking violent hacks with his driver.

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LA JOLLA, Calif. — It was the tournament Tiger Woods was supposed to win.

You might say it was expected.

Torrey Pines has been somewhat of a home course for Woods, whose victories here have nearly become routine.

Six times he teed it up under its former name, the Buick Invitational, and came away the winner. His last major title, the 2008 U.S. Open, was claimed on the South Course in a memorable 91-hole duel with Rocco Mediate.

As a teen, Woods picked up the habit of winning at Torrey Pines with a victory at the Junior World Championships.

Tiger Woods and caddie Stevie Williams look for answers. Photo Getty Images

So for a player, who everyone expects to turn his game around and put his career back on its historical course whenever he plays a competitive round, to fall flat is a surprise.

It’s a victory drought that now extends to the Australian Masters in November of 2009 with his last  PGA Tour title coming two months prior and Woods does not appear close to regaining his form.

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Golf’s offseason, the shortest in all of professional sports, is over.

Lasted about a month, give or take a week, and that’s relative to which events are deemed pertinent.

But since no one is playing for free, it’s fair to say golf breaks just long enough to trim a tree or light a candle or do whatever it is one does during the holidays.

With the Tournament of Champions on the horizon in Hawaii and 2011 tee times set for Thursday, whaddya say to a few look-ins to some dead-solid-perfect predictions for golf in the new year?

Well, they could happen …

Tiger will win.

Go ahead and groan, but did you really think anyone else can top this list? Here’s another question: Do you really think he won’t?

And this isn’t merely to say that Woods will win a tournament … at some point … eventually.

No, Tiger will win on the  PGA Tour in 2011 and more than once.

It’s hard to say if he’ll approach the six victories he posted in 2009, and likely he will not. But once he collects a check to end a drought that extends to the Australian Masters in November of  ‘09, that familiar feel will become addictive.

Tiger Woods will prevail in U.S. Open at Congressional. Photo Getty Images.

Woods’ schedule for the upcoming season remains unclear, but look for some usual suspects to get his season rolling.

The first will be San Diego at Torrey Pines, Jan. 27-30, where Tiger has won throughout his career and six times has kickstarted his season with a victory. Early favorites for a first-place finish also include the WGC Match Play, a month later, and Bay Hill, March 24-27.

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The golf season began and ended under the considerable canopy that is Tiger Woods.

But the question at the outset of the year was — will he play? — and concluded with — will he win again?

Woods answered the first query, when he teed it up at the Masters, but he will need at least one more golf season to tackle the second question.

The year of 2010 provided plenty of golf headlines. Here are the 10 that rose to the top, according to GolfLink’s esteemed panel.

1. Tiger Woods, On And Off The Course: It’s tough to knock Tiger from the top spot of any golf news category, but toss in some tabloid sizzle and it was virtually guaranteed that Woods’ name bubbled to the top.

His 2009 Thanksgiving weekend car accident unearthed sordid tales that Woods clearly wished would have remained firmly within the confines of his golf bag, but as the alleged mistresses began to queue up for their 15 minutes it was game over on many fronts.

Sponsors fled, Woods retreated to rehab and the golf world wondered and waited for his return. Ultimately that came at the Masters in April and despite an opening round 68 and eventual T-4 finish, he looked more like a talented rookie who couldn’t quite harness his game than a seasoned world champion.

Tiger Woods hits shot at 2010 U.S. Open, where he finished T-4. Photo copyright USGA/Mike Ehrmann

As the year progressed, Woods’ marriage to Elin Nordegren ended in divorce and his season ended without a victory. That was the first time as a professional that Woods did not cash the winner’s check at least once during the year.

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Forget what you may have heard about players of the year.

Jim Furyk is tops for both the PGA Tour and the PGA of America, not to mention the winner of the absurdly rich FedEx Cup bonus, but no.

The Official World Golf Ranking crunches its numbers each week and Lee Westwood has held the pole since Halloween, but don’t believe that with any conviction either.

Tiger Woods? Exactly. Just making sure you’re paying attention.

No, the best player in golf is Graeme McDowell.

Don’t buy it? Don’t argue.

Tiger Woods and Graeme McDowell at Sherwood CC. Photo Getty Images

The guy is staring down the best players and the toughest situations the game has to offer and is making the big putts.

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