Michael Rand: I'm back on Tiger's tale

And so it resumes.

Seven years after following Tiger Woods for six rounds of golf at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine -- two for practice and four for real -- I am set to do the same thing this week.

We were both younger back then, of course. I was 25 and Tiger was 26. He was trying to win his third Grand Slam event of the season and I was hustling around trying to document his every move while also attempting to not upset the folks in the gallery by crouching in front of them inside the ropes.

The task in 2002 was to follow him everywhere -- noting when he took bathroom breaks, when he ate a piece of fruit to refuel and how he was able to almost pull off another championship before falling to the previously unknown Rich Beem.

In some ways, the memories of that tournament are very fresh. And in some cases -- presumably for Woods, too -- 2002 seems like a lifetime ago.

Much has changed in our lives since then -- and I'm sure Tiger wouldn't mind that I speak of the two of us in the collective sense. We've both evolved professionally. Both of us married women of Swedish heritage (and those who know both Tiger and I agree we both did pretty well). He is ahead 2-0 on the children scoreboard, and everyone knows Tiger is extra-tough when he's leading.

Strictly in terms of Tiger, he completely remade his swing, silenced some doubters by coming back just as strong as ever, lost his father to cancer, won a memorable playoff on one leg against Rocco Mediate, sat out a large chunk of time with a bum knee and now faces a new round of questions about whether he can be as dominant as he once was.

What has not changed, though, is that Woods remains -- by a long stretch -- golf's focal point. And that's why the Tracking Tiger assignment is here once again.

There are plenty of other noteworthy people on the PGA Tour. But there will be no Stalking Stricker, Ogling Ogilvy or Phollowing Phil (sorry) this week. Retief will have relief that Tiger just won't have. It comes with the territory when you change the identity and popularity of an entire sport.

An entire news cycle was devoted recently to a question of whether it was Woods -- or someone else? -- who passed gas during the final round of the Buick Open. Tiger, of course, won that tournament.

A quick Wikipedia search will leave you howling when you read at the top of the page: "This article is about the golfer. For the showdog, see Tiger Woods (dog)." Yes, there is a Scottish deerhound named Tiger Woods that won Best in Breed at the 2008 Westminster Kennel Club show.

Now that's power.

How will this go-round at Hazeltine differ from the last one for Tiger?

It's hard to say.

On one hand, he seems slightly more mortal now, having succumbed to slump and injury like so many other athletes. On the other hand, Woods seems even larger than life now, having fought through so many things and remaining as popular and dangerous as ever.

The galleries will once again clamor for him. And Tiger will once again put on a show. He finished the 2002 tournament with four consecutive birdies. It would hardly shock anyone to see him continue his Hazeltine hot streak and win his first major of the year in Minnesota.

But you never know what to expect until the ball is teed up.

The estimate seven years ago was that walking Hazeltine each day -- including the space between holes and accounting for the fact that not every shot would be straight -- required covering a distance of roughly 5 miles. Multiplied by six days, the guess was that I had walked 30 miles with Tiger that week.

Will a pair of 30-somethings be up to the challenge now? Well, here's what I know: While Tiger rested and rehabbed his knee following ACL surgery during the second half of 2008, I trained for and completed my first marathon.

In other words, Tiger, I'm ready. Are you?

Michael Rand • mrand@startribune.com