Golf badly needs a showdown in San Diego this weekend

SAN DIEGO - Is it just me, or is golf flatter than a putter face?

Tiger's got a bum knee, Annika is retiring; the Lorena Slam died last week, and the 2008 Masters was won by ... some guy in a golf shirt, right?

Golf courses in Minnesota, plagued by a bad economy and worse weather, are hurting, and the next generation of plutonium-faced drivers arrives about as often as the mail, making the game's once-stunning techological advances seem as overstated as your average weight-loss infomercial.

The game needs the kind of jolt Tiger Woods provided as a kid when he said, "Hello, world." With the U.S. Open beginning today at beautiful Torrey Pines in San Diego, the game needs the kind of jolt that only can occur when Tiger reaches the first tee and says, "Hello, Phil."

Golf needs that to happen, oh, four times this week.

The USGA, in its infinite ignorance, actually got this part of its typically medieval U.S. Open setup right, pairing Tiger, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott in the first two rounds. The best script would have Scott playing the role of Alfred the butler to Woods' Batman and Mickelson's Joker.

Woods and Mickelson have never played in the final group of a major together, which, for golf's best interests, is like having the Lakers and Celtics never meet in the NBA Finals.

Tiger is the world's favorite golfer, the only personality in the game with mass crossover appeal, and his popularity is at its apex in Southern California, where he grew up, and at Torrey Pines, where he typically dominates.

Coming off knee surgery, with no competitive rounds since the Masters in early April, Woods is nevertheless the favorite, getting 9-to-5 odds. This is like, say, a horse being favored in the Belmont despite a bad hoof. "I feel very good about going out there," Woods said.

Mickelson is a San Diego boy who spent his afternoons after school paying twilight rates and playing until dark, a player desperate to win a U.S. Open and eager to win at home.

"I've come close to winning this championship four times now -- I've had four second places," he said. "This is a tournament I believe I can win, and I think this golf course gives me the best opportunity to do that.

"Winning this tournament would be something that would help define my career."

Woods and Mickelson will play together this morning and Friday afternoon. Golf -- meaning everything from television ratings to the popularity of the sport to equipment sales and impulse rounds -- would benefit if they play together in the last group on Saturday and Sunday, as well.

Imagine that -- Woods' dead-eye stare and Mickelson's shrimp-eating grin on the same tee box, in the same camera frame, for about 20 hours over four days, each bringing his own monogrammed baggage to the tournament.

For all of Woods' success, he hasn't chased down anyone in the final round of a major, and hasn't won a U.S. Open since 2002 at Bethpage Black -- which was the only time Woods and Mickelson have finished 1-2 in a major.

Mickelson has never won a U.S. Open, and he might be the only three-time major winner defined by a quote such as, "I am such an idiot," which he uttered after blowing the 2006 Open down the stretch at Winged Foot.

Their stature makes them rivals, but golf rarely rewards us with renewable rivalries the way other sports do. The Yankees and Red Sox have no choice but to play 19 times over six months. Tiger and Phil have waged only a few captivating stretch runs, in which they're dueling side by side or at least eyeing each other's names on the scoreboard.

The U.S. Open tends to reward robot golf -- hit it short down the middle, hit it anywhere on the green, hope to two-putt, grab your defibrillator and move to the next tee. The past two winning scores have been 5 over par. If golf were a video game, four days of Woods and Mickelson side by side could take the U.S. Open from "Pong" to "Halo."

The longest course in U.S. Open history is also a course dear to the game's two best players, who, with four edgy days together, could reinvigorate golf itself.

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