By Bob Markus

The PGA championship is the Rodney Dangerfield among golf's four major championships. It gets little respect. The Masters, U. S. Open, and British Open all seem to have more cache than the PGA, which begins its 91st championship Thursday at Hazeltine. The Masters has magnolias and the ghost of Bobby Jones. The U.S. Open has rough as high as an aardvark's eye and, as its name suggests, is open to anyone good enough to qualify for it. The British Open has tradition and links golf. And the PGA has. . . .what? Well, it used to have match play, which made it distinct among the majors. But that was before television came and pointed out that televising a 36-hole final would provide more dead air than a mausoleum. So now the PGA has. . . .what? Only "the best field we play against," according to Tiger Woods. "Usually 99 out of the top 100 in the world are here. You win this championship and you've beaten the best field in the world of golf." Win this championship, and your name is not Tiger Woods, you've beaten the best player in the history of golf.

I think it's time to say that now. It's always been a given that some day Tiger might claim that distinction. But there was Jack Nicklaus to consider, along with my personal favorite, Ben Hogan. But at age 33, with 70 PGA tour titles in his pocket, Woods has already passed Hogan and needs just three more to catch Nicklaus, who was 40 when he won No. 70. That would leave only Sam Snead, the alltime tour leader with 82 wins, ahead of him. And the way he's playing now Tiger will catch Snead by the end of next season or early in 2011.

Also on his agenda is surpassing Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships. That will take a little longer, unless Tiger, who enters the PGA with 14, comes up with a grand slam next year. "Those numbers are mind-boggling," Woods said, speaking at a press conference after his practice round Tuesday. "I don't think about them unless you guys ask me. It doesn't happen in the course of a single year. To get to 18 and beyond is going to take a full career." But, "I've got a lot of years left," he concluded.

Woods was asked to compare his game today with the one with which he so dominated the field in 2000. That was the year in which he won nine events, including the last three majors of the season and was named Male Athlete of the Year. His U. S. Open win at Pebble Beach was by a mind-blowing 15 strokes. So, if you were to play head-to-head against the Tiger Woods of 2000, he was asked, who would win? "I would," he replied. "I know how to manage my game much better now. I have so many different shots to get me around the golf course now." Despite not winning any of the first three majors this year, even failing to make the cut in the British Open, Woods has to be the heavy favorite to win this week-end. He has won the last two weeks, even though he feels his game is just now rounding into shape after his knee surgery in June of last year. "At first, I was relying on other parts of my game, my pitching and putting," he said, "but now my ball striking is getting better."

A year ago," he recalled, "I was just coming off crutches and trying to learn how to walk. It usually takes awhile to come back. I'm happy with how consistent I've played." Yet, Woods has struggled at times while winning the Buick Open and Bridgestone Invitational in consecutive weeks. In the Buick he had trouble finding the fairways over the last two rounds, but played several brilliant recovery shots to save the day. He fell far behind over the first two rounds at Firestone this past week-end, then posted back-to-back 65s to win by four strokes. Not that it was as easy as that sounds. He started the final round three shots behind Padraig Harrington, but was two shots ahead by the time the final pairing made the turn. When Tiger Woods seizes the lead in the final round he hangs onto it with the ferocity of a rottweiler defending a meaty bone. But, to his credit, Harrington snatched the bone away--borrowed it temporarily--and went back ahead by a stroke going onto the 16th tee. The view from there does not include the green, which is 667 yards away. That's when time would not stand still. As the two contenders were preparing to drive, a PGA official warned them that they were on the clock, being timed because of slow play. Neither player hit a good drive or a good second shot, for that matter. Then Woods hit what might have been the shot of his life, cranking an eight iron to within tap-in range for a birdie four. Harrington went in the opposite direction, hitting his third shot over the green, then pitching it back into the water, resulting in a triple bogey eight.

Woods was glad to have the win, but unhappy with the way he got it. He was critical of PGA official John Paramor for ordering the hurry-up. "He (Harrington) was in control of the event," Woods said. "When we were put on the clock it changed everything. The thing I don't understand is we were the only two players in contention. The winner was not going to come from any of the groups ahead of us. We were having a great battle and we weren't that far behind. If Paddy doesn't hit the ball in the water we're right behind the group ahead of us." There were reports that Woods was fined for his remarks, but Tiger said, "I've heard from the tour and there is no fine. That was an erroneous report."

Harrington, who preceded Woods on the press room podium, said he had not read anything about the contretemps so he couldn't comment, but later, when a reporter filled him in, he remarked: "We were having a great battle. I was enjoying it and I think he was enjoying it. I reacted poorly to the situation. Having won the tournament he (Woods) can take the moral high ground. I lost the tournament so I"m going to sit back and take it on the chin."

Ironically, Woods and Harrington will be paired again for the first two rounds of the PGA. They will be joined by Rich Beem, the winner in 2002 when the tournament was last played at Hazeltine. In a sense they all three are defending champions. Beem, because he won on the same venue, Woods, because he won the last two before missing last year's PGA after his surgery, and Harrington because he won last year's event in Woods' absence. It's Tiger's last chance to win a major this year, but his game is sharp and he's taking Wednesday off "to spark up my game" even further. That's bad news for the rest of the field. It's Tiger vs. the Tiger-proclaimed
"best field we play against." Take the Tiger.