Weekly PGA Recap: The Next Big Thing

One day in the not too distant future, we may look back at the 2015 Phoenix Open as a seminal moment in golf.

Soon after Tiger Woods trunk-slammed with the worst round of his career on Friday, and Phil Mickelson joined him in the parking lot, Brooks Koepka began a weekend charge to his first PGA Tour victory and became the latest in a cavalcade of young star golfers.

Koepka, forecast by many golf observers to be the Next Big Thing, edged another 20-something, Hideki Matsuyama, by one stroke. Meanwhile, a half a world away, the leader of this new generation, Rory McIlroy, cemented his status as the heir apparent to Woods by winning the Dubai Desert Challenge.

But clearly, the key developments from the weekend center around Woods and, after him, Koepka. Talk about out with the old and in with the new. Woods, 39, shot a second-round 82, finished second-to-last in the field and fell from the top 50 in the world, while the 24-year-old Floridian shot 64-66 on the weekend to emerge with a win that vaulted him to No. 19 in the OWGR.

Of course, as bad and as embarrassing as that 82 was for Woods, his bigger and career-altering problem may be a case of the chipping yips. Depending on which golf expert you believe, Woods' short-game trouble can either be corrected in a day or, if it's the yips, cannot be corrected at all.

At this point, you've got to think it's closer to the latter. We'll know a lot more in a few days, when Woods heads to Torrey Pines, where has won eight times, more than anywhere.

Koepka is scheduled to be there, too. He's now playing full-time on the PGA Tour after making a name for himself overseas. He played on Europe's secondary tour (like the Web.com Tour) before graduating to the main Euro tour. He was the 2014 Rookie of the Year there, and captured a huge tournament, the Turkish Airlines Open, late in the year. Koepka will now be in all the majors and WGCs.

He already had qualified for some of them previously thanks to his tie for fourth in last year's U.S. Open. This season, Koepka, has three starts and three top-10s. His key moment on Sunday came at the par-5 15th, where he reached the fringe in two, about 50 feet from the cup. Koepka putted that in for eagle, forging a tie for the lead. He parred out while overnight leader Martin Laird imploded.

Koepka, introduced on the first tee on Sunday as "Cupcake" or something close to that, went out and proved he is far from a cupcake.

He now joins McIlroy, Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler and Jason Day as the leaders of this generational change in golf. Koepka, Spieth, Reed and Fowler should be U.S. Ryder and Presidents Cup mainstays for years, perhaps along with Dustin Johnson, who returns to golf this week and still has a few months left before he turns 30.

You have to like the Americans' chances in international competition with those five guys on the team, whether or not Woods and Mickelson are there.

MONDAY TAKEAWAY

Tiger Woods

Woods has now fallen out of the top 50 in the world, meaning he may not qualify for the first WGC event of 2015, the Cadillac Championship at Doral in early March. He probably has only two starts before then, this week at Torrey Pines and the Honda Classic later this month. It's hard to come to grips with Woods' foibles around the green -- chunks, skulls, popups and decelerations -- and whether they were more shocking or sad. Anyone who drafted Woods surely paid heavily for him. Would you consider trading him while the return might still be decent?

Phil Mickelson

Mickelson's missed cut (69-76) took a backseat to Woods', but this has been one of his top events through the years, a three-time winner at the Phoenix tour stop. Finishing with a top-25 at the Humana a week before was an encouraging sign in Mickelson's first event of the season. But what happened at TPC Scottsdale furthers the argument that what took place last season -- no wins and only one top-10 -- could be the new norm for the second greatest player of the last quarter century. Like Woods and Koepka, Mickelson will be on hand at another one of his favorite tournaments, this week's Farmers Insurance Open. Don't set your expectations too high.

Hideki Matsuyama

The Japanese star is only 22, at least until later this month, but he is already in the top 20 in the world and rising. In seven starts this season, Matsuyama has Sunday's runner-up, two T3s, four top-10s, five top-25s and no missed cuts. The only thing missing is a win. Matsuyama certainly had his chances against Koepka, as he did when he was overtaken by Jimmy Walker at the Tournament of Champions. But it would be surprising to not see Matsuyama add to last year's playoff win at the Memorial sometime soon. He's also in the Torrey Pines field.

Martin Laird

The leader by three shots after 54 holes, the Scotsman still had a share of the lead with two holes to go. But he bogeyed the drivable par-4 17th, then rinsed his tee ball to double the par-4 18th, dropping to a tie for fifth. Laird has won three times on tour, most recently in 2013, so he knows how to close. But with four-25s already this season, Laird hopefully has made his owners very pleased, this late-round meltdown notwithstanding.

Jordan Spieth

Spieth, who is 21, tied for seventh, four strokes behind Koepka. While the finish in his first event of 2015 was surely good, Spieth never contended, closing with a 65 to run up the leaderboard. Spieth will be in the loaded field at Torrey Pines, and no doubt will want to answer Koepka. He finished T19 there last year.

Brandt Snedeker

Snedeker, another golfer who has fallen from the top 50 in the world, continues to show signs of improvement after a lost 2013-14 season. He tied for 10th at Phoenix, his third top-10 in five starts this season. Unlike Woods, Snedeker still hasn't qualified for the Masters, but he'll continue that quest this week in San Diego.

Francesco Molinari

The Italian is playing the U.S. tour this season, and his T22 at TPC Scottsdale was his second top-25 in three starts. His best round was a Saturday 64, but his tournament highlight came early Saturday, when he was finishing his second round and aced the raucous par-3 16th. Molinari is skipping San Diego this week, but as someone who has committed to playing a full slate on the PGA Tour, he is a potentially valuable fantasy piece.

Rory Sabbatini

As he approaches his 39th birthday, Sabbatini may be having a bit of a career renaissance. He's 31st in the point standings -- he hasn't finished a season that high since 2007, though he was 35th in 2011, when he got his last win. Sabbatini tied for 22nd at Phoenix, his fifth top-25 already this season. He's missed only one cut in seven starts and will tee it up again this week at Torrey Pines.

Sand Saves: A number of golfers have enjoyed year after year of strong play in Phoenix. Brendan Steele had three straight top-6 showings before tying for 26th. Ryan Moore had consecutive top-6s and this year tied for 17th. Pat Perez had top-25s four of the past five years -- the aberration being a DQ -- and just missed adding to that with a T26.