The Best (And Worst) Of The PGA Tour's West Coast Swing

Photo By: AP
Best four-round performance: Jordan Spieth
Spieth didn't take long to show golf fans he's intent on making 2016 as good as 2015 with an eight-shot romp at Kapalua to kick off the year.
Best one-round performance: Brandt Snedeker
A final-round 67 at Torrey Pines is always impressive, but when it comes in the midst of rain and high winds, it takes on the stuff of legend. Snedeker wound up posting the best score by three shots on what became a two-day final to erase a six-shot deficit and pick up his eighth PGA Tour title.
Toughest loss: Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler looked like he was headed to a second win in three weeks (the other came on the European Tour in Abu Dhabi) until he pulled driver on TPC Scottsdale's short par-4 17th and found the water. In a playoff, he did the same thing, which led to Hideki Matsuyama's win and an emotional press conference from Fowler, who had hoped to win for the first time in front of his father and grandfather. On the bright side, with the way he's been playing, there should be plenty more chances.
Most Painful Miss: Phil Mickelson
Mickelson appeared headed to a playoff with a chance to win for the fifth time at Pebble Beach, but this lipped out five-footer on the 72nd hole kept him winless since the 2013 British Open. On a more positive note. . .
Best player who didn't win: Phil Mickelson
At 45, Mickelson appears poised for a turn-back-the-clock campaign. After a T-3 in Palm Springs to start his year, Mickelson finished T-11 in Phoenix before adding his runner-up at Pebble Beach. There's still a lot of life left in everyone's favorite lefty.
Biggest surprise: Vaughn Taylor
The 477th-ranked player in the world began the week at Pebble Beach as an alternate. But after a final-round 65, Taylor won his first PGA Tour title in more than a decade and produced a truly heart-warming moment on Valentine's Day with his family. Even if Clint Eastwood seems to have no clue who he is.
Photo By: AP
Biggest surprise (who shouldn't be a surprise): Fabian Gomez
The Argentinian captured the Sony Open a week after finishing T-6 at Kapalua. It also gave Gomez his second PGA Tour win in 14 starts. At 37, he may be a bit of a late bloomer, but his presence on leader boards shouldn't be a surprise anymore.
Best ball-striker: Hideki Matsuyama
Through the early portion of the season, the Japanese star leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained/tee to green -- and it's not even close. His brilliant ball-striking led to a second tour title at TPC Scottsdale, where he led the field in greens in regulation and proximity to the hole on approach shots.
Best shot: Jason Dufner
This "Escape from Alcatraz" as NBC's Dan Hicks called it gave Dufner an unlikely par (he actually got robbed of a birdie when his chip clanged off the flagstick) on the penultimate hole of the CareerBuilder Challenge and kept his slim lead. Another par on the final hole gave him his first victory since the the 2013 PGA Championship.
Craziest week: Bubba Watson
Watson wrapped up the West Coast Swing with a win at the Northern Trust Open that was anything but boring. His activities for the week included hanging with Justin Bieber, filming a cameo for "Girl Meets World," sitting courtside at the Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State Warriors game, and passing a kidney stone.
Craziest facial hair: Boo Weekley
There's not much more to say. . .
Craziest facial hair (other than Boo Weekley): Justin Leonard
The usually clean-cut Leonard showed off a more grizzled look at Riviera -- and it worked. Leonard finished T-16 to end a string of consecutive missed cuts. Fear the beard. We guess.