Dustin Johnson is back and other takeaways from the WGC Cadillac Championship

The WGC Cadillac Championship is that first event of the year when you start extrapolating what it all could mean for the Masters. The field was as loaded as ever for a WGC title, and three of the game's big guns -- who will also be favored at the season's first major -- had varying degrees of success on a Doral layout that was brutally tough.

DJ Back

Last summer, Dustin Johnson was set to make the United States Ryder Cup team and he was going to be one of the team's best assets.. He was coming off strong finishes at both the U.S. Open and the Open Championship. But then he announced that he needed to take a leave of absence from the Tour for "personal challenges."

As we've discussed on numerous occasions, the reasons for Johnson's leave are the subject of several rumors and one Golf.com report that said he was actually going to be suspended for a positive cocaine test. I'm done talking about those rumors and the reason for his six-month hiatus. The fact is Johnson appears to have his life in order. During his leave, he became a dad and got engaged. It's also evident he did plenty of work on his golf game.

If you look at the Doral leaderboard, Johnson was the only top 10 player who shot in the 60s on Sunday. And what's more impressive, he came from five shots back to cement his comeback to the Tour.

With an apparent stable family life and new commitment to the game, the wins could pile up quickly for America's most talented player. He has now won a PGA Tour event in eight straight seasons, which is the longest active streak on Tour. He will be a factor at Augusta in a month.

Bubba in position to go back-to-back at Augusta

Speaking of Augusta, Bubba Watson looks like he'll be tough to beat in 2015.

If you ask for an opinion about Bubba Watson on "Golf Twitter," you will get a variety of responses. Most are not positive. One thing's for sure though -- Watson is playing the best golf of his career and he should be considered the favorite at the Masters.

His length off the tee gives him a leg up against most of the field and his scrambling ability should put him in a good position to win his third green jacket. And there's that recent phenomenon that Augusta tends to favor lefties who can shape those cut shots. No one does that better from that side of the tee box than Bubba.

Bubba's all around stats this year support the contention that the No. 2 player in the world is at the top of his game. He ranks first on Tour in strokes gained, eagles and scoring average. He ranks third in scrambling. Given the nature of Augusta National, getting up and down is imperative. It looks like Bubba has the market cornered in that department and will be tough to beat on a course where he seems to have a distinct advantage. His form this weekend against an elite field only reinforces that he'll be bringing it again at the Masters.

Rory has another average week

Fresh off a missed cut at the Honda Classic, the world No. 1 entered the Cadillac Championship with a few questions about his game. Was the Honda just a blip? For someone who was so dominant to end 2014, and then opened 2015 with a win and second-place finish over on the Euro Tour, it was a bit odd to see McIlroy struggle again in South Florida. But maybe he found something on Sunday at Doral.

Save for a final hole double bogey that featured two water balls, a mock-club toss towards a lake and a chip-in that left him incredulous, Rory was in position to post a solid score, given the conditions.

He is still a little loose with his irons, but that is something that he can lock down in the next month. His driver will continue to be a weapon. He ranked in the top 10 in driving distance and ranked 11th for accuracy. Those are numbers that will do well anywhere, including Augusta.

If Rory wants to finish off the career grand slam this year, he has to tighten up his approach shots and get a few to go in up on the greens. It would be the main thing holding Rory back from his first career green jacket.

We will probably see Rory one more time before the Masters. He's set to tee it up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational later this month at Bay Hill. If he is able to play the type of golf we are used to in a few weeks, then we can get back on board with Rory steamrolling to the season's first major. These last two weeks on the Florida swing have been a bump for that momentum.