Beem is more than just a third

The first round of the PGA Championship featured one must-see group. At 8:35 a.m. Thursday, the greatest player who ever lived, the champion of the last PGA played at Hazeltine, and the winner of three of the past nine majors teed off on the 10th hole.

Tiger Woods is golf's Superman.

Rich Beem is this tournament's Everyman.

Padraig Harrington, in his adorable brogue, likes to tell himself "I t'ink I can."

In keeping with their personalities, Woods grabbed the tournament by the throat, Harrington hung tough and Beem received lots of offers for free drinks.

"I was having just a nice, quiet, three-ball day out there -- with about 30,000 people screaming their heads off," Beem said. "It was a blast."

A double bogey on the third hole, the group's 12th of the day, pockmarked an otherwise smooth round for Beem, who shot a 71. Woods took the lead with a 67, and Harrington shot a 68.

The threesome displayed mostly brilliant golf on the longest course in major championship history, and after the round someone asked Beem what it was like playing with Woods and Harrington. "I thought," he said with a grin, "they were playing with me."

We could have expected them to toy with Beem, but he survived the immense galleries and incessant jostling that always surround Tiger.

When he won in 2002, Beem survived a Tiger charge on Sunday, but he didn't have to play in the same group. When Beem saw the pairings for the first two rounds, he wasn't sure whether to feel honored or ask for a mulligan.

"I think when you first see it, you're like, 'OK,' then you're like, 'Oh, no,' then you're like, 'OK,' then you're like 'Oh, no,'" Beem said. "I think at the end of the day you just know you have to bring your 'A' game. You know you're going to have 30,000 people out there, and you don't want to embarrass yourself."

Tiger elicited roars; Harrington and Beem settled for affection. One fan yelled, "Beemer, will you please sign my helmet?" Beem laughed and waved.

Beem was 2 under when he came to the third hole, his 12th of the day. That's where he demonstrated why he is a man of the people, and a man of the people without a victory since 2002.

As Woods and Harrington strode down the fairway, Beem suddenly veered 30 yards right, leaned over the ropes and hugged a man wearing a visor. Then Beem made a double bogey on the par-5 that kept him from the top of the leaderboard.

"He's a good guy, a good pal," said Del Cochran, the man in the visor. "I'm from Grayhawk Golf Club, in Scottsdale. We used to play together there. We have a little tournament, and he's come over and played it a lot.

"We met, oh, 15 years ago. The golf world is a really small world. In Arizona, if you play golf, you run into everybody. He came out to Grayhawk and we became friends, and he lived there for a little while. I knew him before he got to be Richie Beem, the guy who won the PGA."

After his double bogey, Beem played his last six holes in 1 under. When he pushed his drive on No. 9, he stared after the ball and muttered, "Ah, you rat bastard," just like he used to at El Paso Country Club.

Beem will play with Woods and Harrington again today. Thursday, though, he had plans. He wanted to visit Rich Beem Village at Hazeltine.

"I'm telling you, baby, I'm going to go back there, get a little back rub, a little massage, let them feed me a few grapes, kind of like back in the good ol' days," Beem said, wiggling like he did on the 72nd hole in '02.

Could Beem reprise his victory dance this weekend? "Absolutely," he said. "I mean, I love the golf course. And playing with those two guys, you know they're going to play well, and usually when guys around you play well, they drag you with them."

Ah, but this is Hazeltine, where for five consecutive rounds Beem has proved to be more than just the other guy in the group.

Jim Souhan can be heard Sundays from 10 a.m.-noon on AM-1500 KSTP. jsouhan@startribune.com