Shotgun Start: Full swing in Florida, Phoenix's rowdies, Tiger's doc

With the eyes of golf turned toward the Sunshine State, CBSSports.com senior writer Steve Elling and Augusta Chronicle columnist and golf writer Scott Michaux take stock of things as the Florida Swing, the unofficial beginning of the march to the Masters, begins.

You fellas are both in South Florida this week for the Honda Classic and the beginning of the month-long Florida Swing. In your minds, what point marks the beginning of golf season?

ELLING: Ah, a philosophical question, eh? The answer probably depends on whether you live in an igloo somewhere north of the Mason-Dixon Line and what sort of golf fan you are. The casual fans, especially those who are buried under a blanket of snow, traditionally have looked at the Masters as the annual coming-out party for spring, and there's certainly validity to that viewpoint, what with the riot of azaleas in Augusta. Traditionalists would assert that the season opener in Hawaii is the springboard, because it's the first tournament of the year, period. Some like the Sony Open in Hawaii, because it's the first full-field affair. Personally, and not just because I'm a resident, I like the beginning of the four-week Florida Swing, which is when the Europeans start coming over in droves, players get reacquainted with decent greens, and the sweaters and rain gear can usually be removed. The Masters is five weeks away. With golf back in the southeast, let the countdown begin. From here out, things really start to matter.

MICHAUX: From my Augusta-centric standpoint, I have to agree with you here. The golf seasons gets serious now as players' minds and games start honing in on the Masters. The field this week at PGA National is without a doubt the best of the season so far for a medal-play event -- a benefit of being wedged in between two WGC events that attract the international crowd. The West Coast has some sweet venues that are always worth paying attention to (Torrey Pines, Riviera, Pebble Beach), but they each suffer in field strength for various reasons, whether it's weather, format or the lure of the Middle East. There are no such problems on the Florida swing, where players can work the putting kinks out on quality courses that don't suffer from fickle poa annua. My colleague, David Westin, has been covering the Masters since 1979 and has been migrating to Florida for advance work so long that some players have referred to him as "the face of spring." Strong arguments have been made for flip-flopping the Florida and California swings, but it would alter the rhythm of the spring break toward the majors we've grown so accustomed to.

The stories out of Phoenix, as usual, contained a raft of features on the riotous 16th hole, where golf is clearly a participation sport. They added more seats this year, built a three-story skybox behind the tee and drew the expected rowdies. Haven't we about hit the redline on where they can go with crowd control and deportment?

ELLING: Oh, they probably reached that point five or six years ago. It was interesting to watch the facial expressions of players as they walked into the bull ring from the 15th tee, often to a rousing welcome from fans who actually do homework on the personal facts of players. Some guys looked like they were attending Tiger Woods’ apology -- it was funereal and they would have rather have been anywhere else. Others embraced the welcome and hammed it up for the rowdies. With the grandstands and sky boxes, the hole outdraws the home-game turnstile count of the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks, and while it’s terrific theater, there’s not much that can be done when cheers turn to taunts. Witness Englishman Ian Poulter, who playfully engaged the crowd all week and then missed a birdie putt on Sunday -- and was subjected to cheers of “USA, USA.” Poulter then made an obscene gesture -- he denied it -- and the crowd got even more obnoxious. It’s mostly been harmless fun, a few hurt feelings of players aside, but with 20,000 people out there, sometimes it feels like a lit kerosene lantern hanging on a rusty nail.

MICHAUX: Players who can't handle the 16th hole at Phoenix need to get over themselves. (This is not a lecture directed at Poulter, who frankly gets into the spirit of the hole better than most even if he spontaneously crossed the line a bit Sunday.) The crowds in the desert create the first real buzz all year. Almost as many people crowded around the 16th hole on Saturday as attended Riviera all week. After spectators numbered in the dozens at times for the Match Play, isn't the bustle of Phoenix a welcome thing? College kids learn how to handle the pressure of shooting free throws under constant visceral attack at places like Cameron Indoor Stadium. Surely seasoned professionals can figure out how to hit a long iron and size up a putt under similar circumstances four days a year. If you want to be taken seriously as athletes, quit the whining and the scowling and hit it already. The more seats, the merrier the atmosphere. Go for it, Thunderbirds. Turn the 16th hole into Bristol Motor Speedway and really rev it up.

Reports indicate that athletes tied to controversial Canadian doctor Anthony Galea have been subpoenaed by the FBI as the investigation into his drug case continues. Might this loom as the worst news yet for Tiger Woods, one of his clients?

ELLING: New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, another Galea client, has already been questioned by the feds and you can bet the other athletes' phones will soon be ringing. Woods' handlers strenuously denied that he had taken any performance-enhancing substances, and no evidence suggests that he did, but in this day and age, nobody gets much of a benefit of the doubt anymore. Besides, given the farcical and fictional persona that Woods used for years, his credibility is shot. Also recall that he insisted all year that his surgically repaired knee was fine, yet the New York Times said he was seeking treatment from Galea well into the fall -- and Woods had an active prescription for Vicodin. Is it such a leap of faith to believe that a guy who was a serial philanderer might also have fudged in another fashion? I personally have a difficult time believing that Woods would cross that line. But others out there have no trouble rationalizing that, if he could cheat on his wife, why could he not cheat in other forms and fashions? At this point, when it comes to Woods, most people assume the worst until otherwise proven wrong. Woods can refuse to answer all the questions he wants about the marital infidelity, but the Galea issue relates directly to competition itself. At minimum, he should explain why he elected to use a doctor with known ties to HGH in the first place. By remaining stubbornly silent, he is damaging his tainted image even more, if that's actually possible.

MICHAUX: He hasn't been entirely silent on this subject. During his recent monologue, Woods was unequivocal: "They said I used performance-enhancing drugs. This is completely and utterly false." While you may have doubts about the credibility of his word, there is zero evidence to dispute this. Even all the sources I've seen cited in this Galea story keep making that point that Woods is in no way under suspicion. People just want to throw fuel on the fire. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I don't really believe that outside elements will be all that "performance enhancing" in golf. And I don't care in the same way I care about it in baseball -- where time-honored statistical records have been tainted by unlevel playing fields. Golf is about winning, not stats. If beta blockers or a beer help a player control his nerves, so what? If a legal form of HGH therapy (and there are such things) can assist the recovery from knee surgery in the manner that chemotherapy can kill cancer, what's the difference? There is no drug in the world that can make any golfer play as well as Tiger Woods. None. Zilch. Period. Call me naive if you want, but when it comes to what happens between the ropes, Tiger is as real as it gets. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think this Galea link will change that at all.