John Holmes's blog

The Masters begins four weeks from today! One of the many cool things about the season's first major is the relatively new trend in which some of the big clubmakers provide their players with special Masters-themed bags. In the last few days, we've gotten our first looks at a couple of them.

The one on the left in the photo above is Callaway's creation, obviously, while the one on the right is from TaylorMade.

The second season of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica got under way today at the first round of the Mexico Open.

The South of the Border circuit played 11 events in 2012, but has 15 on the docket this season. The campaign is broken into two halves, with eight tournaments between March and June in Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, followed by the seven final events between October and December in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina.

You know how winning sports teams get their championship rings the season after their big victories? The same thing happens in golf sometimes, too.

At Doral last week, Titleist made a special presentation to Webb Simpson to commemorate his victory in the 2012 U.S. Open. Titleist Tour rep Mac Fritz presented Simpson with a gift box containing, among other things, a golden Pro V1x ball. It's a little difficult to see in this photo, but the ball is the shiny object in the left side of the box.

So we're sitting here watching Tiger at Doral and occasionally flipping over to the NASCAR race in Las Vegas. Tiger was ahead by five at the turn at Doral and in Vegas the field was all strung out, so there wasn't much drama at either venue.

NASCAR, as it so often does when things get boring, threw a caution for ''debris on the track.'' This allowed the safety crew to corral that oh-so-dangerous hot dog wrapper or whatever. But more important, it also bunched up the field and got a lot of popular drivers who were way behind back into contention.

After a couple decades as a caddie for such high-profile players as Nick Faldo and Henrik Stenson, Fanny Sunesson retired last fall to focus on coaching and mentoring golfers. This spring, she'll take on a new job – host of her own golf tournament in her native Sweden.

One of the things golfers like most about long putters is that they're heavier than standard-length models, and that extra weight tends to make them more stable during the stroke. The future of long putters might be in doubt, but that stability is a trait golfers will seek no matter the length of the shaft.

For years, we've talked about the Tiger Effect. Over the last few years, though, I've seen many more examples of the Rickie Fowler Effect -- little kids decked out in flat-brimmed caps and brightly colored shirts.

But I have to say, the kid pictured in the photo above is a first for me. I'm pretty sure he (or she) is a big Rickie Fowler fan. But what I really want to know is how that hat is balanced on his (or her) head.

The PGA Tour rolls into Orlando for the Arnold Palmer Invitational the week after next, but Bubba Watson plans to arrive sooner. He won’t be there for an early peek at Bay Hill, though – he and his family are relocating to Orlando and looking to move in next week. And, he revealed Friday, their new house just happens to be Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren's old house at Isleworth.

TaylorMade-adidas Golf has been the biggest success story in golf – and I would argue one of the most notable success stories in all of business – in recent years.

The latest proof of that came Thursday, when TaylorMade announced that it achieved record sales in 2012, bringing in more than $1.7 billion. With sales of golf clubs, balls, footwear, apparel and accessories up 20 percent on a currency-neutral basis, the company said, last year was its best ever.

Last week at the Honda Classic, several PGA Tour players test-drove some Ferraris around Palm Beach International Speedway. On Wednesday, those golfers with the need for speed took a quick trip from Doral down to Homestead-Miami Speedway to check out some high-velocity Cadillacs.