Mickelson may be due, but Woods still the man

Tiger Woods — the oddsmaker's favorite — will be trying to become just the third player in the history of the Masters to win back-to-back titles. Associated Press

By Bill Kwon

A lot of good golfers have not won a major. But when you think about it, every truly great golfer has won one. With that in mind, let's hope that Phil Mickelson will finally win a major this year, though maybe not the Masters this weekend. I'll explain later.

Phil Mickelson is still chasing his elusive first major championship. Associated Press

Still, unless he can cut down on those dreadful four- and five-putt exhibitions we've seen recently, Mickelson will continue to be labeled as the Best Golfer Who Has Never Won a Major. It's a mantle he shared with David Duval until last year when Duval won the British Open.

Every week, the world's leading golfers play for money. Four times a year — at the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship — they play for history.

Of the four majors, the Masters is the tournament that every golfer wants to win. One major reason is that Augusta National is the course most golfers say they want to play. And, there is a sense of familiarity for the golfer and golf fan alike because it is the only major played at the same site year after year. Also, as the first major on the golf calendar, it certainly is an attention grabber.

"The Masters is something special," says Jack Nicklaus, winner of a record six green jackets.

It is special, even if Nicklaus isn't playing this year because of a bad back, forcing him to miss the Masters for only the second time in 44 years.

Look for this year's edition of the Masters to be something special, especially come Sunday.

There is no cheering in the press box, or in the case of golf tournaments, the media center. But I am rooting for Tiger Woods — the Las Vegas odds have him as a 2-to-1 favorite — to win. Ernie Els is 10-1, Mickelson 12-1 and Sergio Garcia 15-1. The best long shot? Jerry Kelly, the Sony Open in Hawai'i winner, who is a 65-1 pick.

Tiger can become only the third golfer in Masters' history to win back-to-back titles. Nicklaus did it in 1965-66 and Nick Faldo in 1989-90.

If Tiger wins again, he can put on his own green jacket as Nicklaus did in 1966.

Three in a row at Augusta National? Never been done. Knowing Tiger, he is well aware of making even more golf history next year, if he wins this weekend.

Besides, Hawai'i fans have a selfish reason for wanting Tiger to win.

It will mean his return to the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at the Po'ipu Bay Resort on Kaua'i in November and a chance to win that event for a remarkable fifth year in a row.

He has already assured himself of a return to the Mercedes Championships at the Kapalua Bay Resort in January as one of 14 different winners so far on the 2002 PGA Tour. The Hawai'i Tourism Authority should send him a good-luck card or something.

And forget all that talk about "Tiger Proofing" Augusta. The Masters people might have toughened the course and lengthened it by an additional 285 yards, but it only means that it will be tougher and longer for the other golfers as well.

Notice, too, that in his meal request at the Champions Dinner, Tiger requested porterhouse steak instead of the cheeseburgers and milkshakes he ordered when he defended his title in 1998. He is beefing up for the Tiger hunt.

Tiger's appetite is further proof that he is maturing. He also noted the passing of years by saying that the alterations to Augusta National weren't specifically meant for him.

"They're for the kids that are coming up in the future," Woods said in a teleconference recently.

"You know, I'm not that long anymore. I kind of dink it around. There are a lot of kids out there now in college golf and high school golf that hit the ball further than I do. They're getting bigger and stronger, and the new technology is helping out. So I guess they went ahead and took a step to prevent the players in the future."

Interestingly, that echoed his words after he won the PGA Grand Slam two years ago:

"Some day, that day will come, when some new little punk will be about 6-6, 230, and just bombing it by me. I'll be one of those old guys saying, 'I remember when I used to be the long guy, now I'm just dinking it around here.' "

That day is here. But when someone in the gallery yells, "You The Man," you know they only could mean Tiger Woods.

New terrific twosome

The six-stroke victory by David Ishii and Kevin Hayashi in the Aloha Section PGA Pro-Pro Championship Tuesday at the Ko Olina Golf Club could be the first of many for the two in local best-ball competition.

It is the first time Ishii and Hayashi, two dominant players on the local golf scene, have teamed up as partners. With a month break on the Japan tour, Ishii finds himself at home for the first time in April in years, enabling him to compete in the event. Also, now that Hayashi is the head golf professional at the Pearl Country Club where Ishii is director of golf, it was a match made in heaven, or at least the "pearly gates."

"Kevin won this event a couple of times, once with Rodney (Acia) and once with Lance (Taketa). He told me, if we didn't win, I'm the weakest link," said Ishii, who missed the cut in the first two events of the Japan tour.

Ishii leaves for Japan next week, forcing him to miss the Mid-Pacific Open. Ishii, who won the Mid-Pac Open twice in the late 1980s, had hoped to play in the event for the first time in years.

NOTES: It is good to see Cindy Flom back as the Waikoloa Resort's LPGA touring professional for the 2002 season. A 16-year LPGA veteran and winner of five tournaments, Flom was a member of the University of Hawai'i golf team ... Waikoloa Beach Course is site of the LPGA Takefuji Classic ... The Hawai'i State Golf Association has changed the local sectional qualifying dates for both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Senior Open: The U.S. Open will be May 6 at Waialae Country Club; the U.S. Senior Open will be June 6 at the Honolulu Country Club ... The 2002 Mercedes Championships at Kapalua's Plantation Course donated $251,000 to Maui charities, bringing to a total of $870,000 since the PGA Tour's winners-only event moved to the Valley Island in 1999.

Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.