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Q: What major will be the toughest this year — The Masters or the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black?
A: That may depend upon how you're dressed.
Just ask Charles Howell III.
In 2002, when the U.S. Open was first played at Bethpage Black, a course as rugged and brutish as the devoted New Yorkers who are so passionate about their public golf course, Howell was heckled hard. In one round, he was wearing one of those cutting edge designs of Johan Lindeberg, a mostly white outfit with a pair of stripes down his pant legs. A couple fellows enjoying their beer too much kept letting Howell know that they thought he looked like a milkman or ice cream shop server. They kept shouting out orders for double scoops of their favorite ice cream and other obnoxious requests. This was also the venue where Sergio Garcia got so frustrated with the gallery counting his waggles that he barely cut short a one-finger salute to them from the middle of a fairway.
What major will be tougher? If you've got rabbit ears or thin skin, the combination of Bethpage Black's demanding shotmaking and the "outgoing" nature of the New York crowds makes the big golf course in Farmingdale the monster test this season. If you're judging purely on shot making, Augusta National's probably the choice, depending on how Masters' officials set up the course.
The Masters is becoming more and more like a U.S. Open, with every phase of a player's game supremely tested. Tiger Woods' 277 winning total at the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in '02 was 12 shots better than Zach Johnson's winning score at The Masters two years ago and three shots lower than Trevor Immelman's winning total last season. Whether The Masters has tampered too much with the magical risk-reward nature that has allowed so many memorable Sunday charges is an issue.
Q: Has Phil Mickelson's time passed him by?
A: Lefty still hasn't hit 40. He turns 39 this summer. But he looked a lot older last summer in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, when he absent-mindedly failed to put a driver in his bag before the first round.
OK, he did that on purpose.
Mickelson always has some surprises in store, and another major championship triumph might be his next big one. I wouldn't count him out because you know he was more disappointed in his inability to step up in Woods' absence the second half of last season than all his fans were. I expect he's ready to shake that onerous label as "Best Player Not to Have Won 4 Majors." He was 118th in putting on tour last year from between 10 and 15 feet and still finished second in scoring (69.17) and seventh in birdie average (3.78 per round). With Woods still out, Lefty's time is now.
Q: Last year Lorena Ochoa's strong start created a buzz around the LPGA, but then she faded. With Annika Sorenstam retired, is there anyone else to watch for on the tour?
A: Keep an eye on South Korea's Ji-Yai Shin, who won the season-ending ADT Championship at Trump International in West Palm Beach in November to claim the richest first-place check in women's golf ($1 million). It was Shin's 11th title worldwide in 2008. She also won the Women's British Open. Shin played limited LPGA events as a non-member last year but will join the tour full time as a rookie this season. She was just 20, but the ADT victory was her 26th victory as a pro. She's only 5-foot-1, but her peers marvel at her machine-like precision as a ball striker. Hall of Famer Karrie Webb says of all the gifted South Koreans in women's golf, Shin has the most potential to follow Se Ri Pak as her nation's next great player. American Paul Creamer keeps making great strides. She had four victories last season.
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