Mortal Woods makes it a wide-open Open

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — The gallery this week surely will be filled with finery, the idle rich and fabulously famous, with all the bright lights and dim bulbs from the New York social register.

Yet at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, located on the East End of Long Island in the heart of the wildly well-to-do Hamptons, Tiger Woods nonetheless trumps Donald Trump, the Hilton sisters or Billy Joel.

At least he does during the 104th U.S. Open.

“I’m just a golfer, man,” Woods said, laughing. “I chase a little white ball around and work on my farmer’s tan. That’s it.”

This week, in the land of the well-off, Woods’ game has been, well, off. As a result, the tournament’s cast of contenders is as rich as it has been at a major championship in years, with Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia breathing down Woods’ mock turtleneck in unison.

Each of the four has made a sustained run at Woods in the past but fallen back, eventually enduring a winless tour season. Never before has he faced such a stiff simultaneous challenge from such a high-powered assortment of talent.

Woods might qualify as a celebrity, but in terms of his misfiring game, he has become a cause celebre. As a result, instead of gauging by how much Woods will whip the field, the conversation centers on whether he can keep pace with his multiplying rivals.

“Golf is getting exactly what everybody wants it to be now,” veteran Nick Price said Tuesday. “We’ve got Sergio just coming into the fray, Ernie is having a great year, Vijay is playing phenomenally.

“And Tiger is not that far off — just one little swing change here and there.”

Woods’ four pursuers definitely have distanced themselves from the rank-and-file tour players this year. The 2004 season marks the first time that all five, including Woods, have recorded a victory in the same season.

In fact, Singh, Mickelson, Els and Garcia already have won at least twice on the PGA Tour this year, sweetening the potential pot in terms of plotlines. Woods, finally showing signs of mortality, has one victory this year.

“We’re still trying to get to that level where we can compete with him when he’s playing his best, and I think we all appreciate that he’s sharing the wealth and letting us win a few tournaments,” Mickelson cracked.

Singh, Garcia and Mickelson have made a habit of hanging around Open leaderboards of late, too. Beginning in 2002, each has played in one of the last two groups in the Open’s final round.

Garcia has won twice in the past month, while Els is at the end of an uninterrupted six-week string of worldwide events, which includes a victory at the Memorial two weeks ago. Two months back, Els — who won the 1994 and ‘97 Opens — finished second by a stroke to Mickelson at the Masters.

“There’s no reason to think I shouldn’t be in contention this week,” said Els, and nobody disagreed.

Woods no longer is impervious off the course, either. Woods began the week as the 6-1 favorite, but those mark his worst odds since 1997, when he won his first major.

“It’s like having the greatest horses going for the Triple Crown,” Price said. “That’s what’s made golf so exciting. You think back two years ago, we were all talking about Tiger, Tiger, Tiger — it was eating away at Ernie, it was eating away at Vijay, it was eating away at Sergio.

“Now they’re coming on strong. I think they’ve caught up. Their fear factor is no longer a huge issue, and it’s going to be an interesting Open.”

Woods’ last major victory came on Long Island two years ago at a public course, Bethpage Black, which is located about 40 miles away. The level of scrutiny regarding his game since has become the stuff of unintentional network comedy, at least in his eyes.

“They watch one golf shot and they analyze — this is what I like, it’s pretty funny — they take a shot, like from me in 2000, and compare it to one I hit this year,” Woods said, laughing. “You don’t know whether I’m hitting a fade, hitting a draw, you don’t know whether I’m hitting it high or low.”

Hey, at times, neither does Woods.

His driver has been decidedly erratic, though Shinnecock measures only 6,996 yards and won’t necessarily require mettle with metal in hand. Good thing, since Woods ranks No. 147 in driving accuracy and 57th in hitting greens in regulation.

In his past three starts, Woods twice has finished one shot out of a playoff and was third in the other event. If he can wrestle the ball onto the greens — he ranks third for the season in putting — he could claim his third Open title and nobody would bat an eye.

“There are a lot of guys playing well this year, and I think we all know that when Tiger reaches his level of play, he is still almost unstoppable,” Mickelson said.