FanHouse JackNicklaus

SAN FRANCISCO -- Anything with the name Presidents Cup sounds like it is ripe for a Golf Czar appointment.

Are you qualified to rule over this week's PGA Tour team matches between the United States and an International squad of non-Europeans that tees off Thursday at Harding Park Golf Club?

Take this test and decide for yourself.

Shortly after Tiger Woods missed the cut at the British Open, it began. The talk that Hank Haney, Woods' swing coach since 2004, needed to go. It happens almost every time Woods doesn't win, even though Tiger's major championship winning percentage is slightly higher with Haney (.300) than Butch Harmon (.286).

But that's part of the deal when working with the world's best golfer: instant celebrity at the expense of klieg-light scrutiny. Yesterday, as Woods prepared for a three-tournament stretch in as many weeks (culminating in the PGA Championship), Haney spoke about the expectations that come with being a part of Team Tiger. Via ESPN.com's Bob Harig:

Tom Watson nearly won the British Open nine days ago. A uncooperative putter -- one that has plagued him for most of his career -- proved his undoing, and the 59-year-old would have to settle for second place and the Greg Norman Treatment.

Last year, Norman, then 53, made a run at the Claret Jug, faded late, eventually tied for third, and spent the next 12 months accepting congratulatory wishes for the moral victory. There are worse ways to transition to the old-timer's circuit.

Amid all the back-slapping we've been treated to any number of explanations for Watson's success, despite his advanced age: a golf landscape devoid of talented young players, Watson's Open Championship experience (particularly at Turnberry), his shiny new hip, so and and so forth.

For 71-and-a-half holes, 59-year-old Tom Watson was Turnberry's best golfer. A two-putt bogey and four forgettable playoff holes later, Watson was a 59-year-old British Open runner-up. Stewart Cink, 23 years Watson's junior, had played flawlessly down the stretch and finally captured his first major.

In the aftermath of what almost was, Watson has been hailed as a hero, his performance a reminder that age, if just for a week, can be a state of mind. God forbid we leave it at that. The fact that someone who has been on this earth for almost six decades came within one shot of winning one of the toughest tests in golf can only mean one thing: it's not a sport.

At least that's the tired, cliche-riddled arguments you'll get from certain media folk every time an old-timer has a good showing. Because, you know, it happens almost weekly.*

Englishman Ross Fisher has a lot on his mind this morning. His wife is expecting their first child back in Surrey, England, and Fisher has vowed that as soon as she goes into labor, he's walking oft the course to be by her side. In the meantime, he began the final round at the British Open in second place, one shot behind 59-year-old Tom Watson, a five-time Open Champion.

Watson has been the story of the week, even with Tiger Woods missing the cut. As players half his age succumb to the course and the elements, Watson trudges along, improbable birdie putt and improbable birdie putt. But three holes into his final round, Watson suddenly looks his age. He bogeyed the par-4, 1st after his second shot found the sand, and carded another five on No. 3.

UPDATE (10:25 AM ET): So much for that. After bogeying No. 3, Fisher scribbled a snowman on his scorecard at the par-5, 4th hole. He's now even par for the week, good for 7th place. And Watson, at 2-under, is back atop the leaderboard with Chris Wood. For the time being, anyway.

Sure, Augusta National and the Masters has always carried that Par Three Tournament jinx, where no player has ever gone on to win the big tournament after taking the little crown. The Memorial has no jinx, so Tiger Woods decided to compete today in a little Skins Game match with Jack Nicklaus, Kenny Perry and Stewart Cink.

Tiger needed to make this lengthy birdie putt on the 18th hole to deny Perry four skins and the win, hitting the dead center of the cup. With five skins now on the line, all four players had a chip-off to see who would leave with the most cash to donate to charity. It wasn't an easy chip, from some rough just off the 18th green. Guess what Tiger did ...

Each Wednesday during the golf season, FanHouse will list the top five names in golf and why they're important. Did Barack play 18 with Tiger? Did a certain player do something controversial off the course? Or was just playing golf enough to get the pot stirring? Join us for a new weekly ranking feature we call Making the Cut.

5. Michelle Wie -- Thinking back a year ago, it's almost like Michelle Wie has become a different person. In 2008, at the very tournament she will tee up at on Thursday, Wie forgot to sign her scorecard after rounds of 67-65, landing a disqualification that could be listed as her lowest of lows (which is saying a lot). Now, with a tour card and a fresh outlook, Wie is back at the LPGA State Farm Classic with two top-3 finishes this season and seemingly getting close to her first career victory. Even if she doesn't win, Wie has to be hoping that someone will remind her to put her autograph on the only piece of paper that matters.

Tiger Woods will make his seventh start of the season tomorrow when he tees it up at Memorial -- Jack Nicklaus' annual event in Dublin, Ohio. In his six previous tournaments this year, Woods has a win and four top-10 finishes to go along with his second-round loss at the WGC-Accenture Match Play.

For anybody else those are remarkable numbers, and the media would use it as proof that we had found someone -- anyone -- to challenge Tiger. Instead we get the typical sky-is-falling fare that prevails anytime Woods struggles.

But here's the thing: Tiger's game might not be where he wants it, but he's still managing to salvage rounds, stay in contention, and through it all, put up some pretty impressive numbers. I know, it doesn't seem possible. It is.

Here is something interesting you can ponder while browsing through this story -- Tiger Woods has never won a U.S. Open when arriving at the championship with less than two previous wins that year. Ever.

He has three U.S. Open titles, and his first, in 2000, came on the heels of four wins prior to the USGA event. In 2002 he already had two wins to his credit. Last year, during that gutsy victory at Torrey Pines, Tiger had already accumulated three wins before heading out to San Diego.

The argument has been tossed around since Tiger Woods fist-pumped his way to a 12-shot victory at Augusta National in 1997. Who is the best golfer to ever play the game, Tiger or Jack Nicklaus?

We aren't necessarily going to get the answer this Wednesday at Muirfield Village, but we will get to see Tiger and Jack compete against each other for just the second time ever in the same group. Woods agreed to compete in the Wednesday Skins Game at the Memorial Tournament with Jack, Stewart Cink and Kenny Perry. The other skins group will include Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Camilo Villegas and Padraig Harrington.