Looking for a Winner? Apply Big-Bang Theory

Out here past Jimmy Carter Boulevard, you turn on Bobby Jones Drive and you’re at Atlanta Athletic Club, where everyone has the same goal--making a name for himself at the PGA Championship.

As it always does in odd-numbered years, the PGA serves as not only the fourth and final major of the year, it is also the backdrop for the upcoming Ryder Cup and represents the last chance for U.S. players to make the team that will play Europe in six weeks.

But there’s much more to the PGA that begins today at one of the favorite playgrounds of golfing legend Jones. In fact, story lines are as plentiful around here as red clay.

Let’s stick with the short list:

* Can Tiger Woods pull himself out of his semi-funk or whatever it is and win his third consecutive PGA?

* Now that he has won the British Open, is David Duval really Mr. Momentum and a real threat to win his second major in five weeks?

* Is Phil Mickelson a threat to win his first major, period?

* How badly are the pros going to beat up Atlanta Athletic Club, which is long but playable?

* How many players are going to wear out their drivers?

No one has won three consecutive PGA Championships since Walter Hagen stuffed his tie inside his starched white shirt and won four in a row from 1924-27, so Woods has his history lesson cut out for him . . . if that’s what motivates him.

It has been two months since Woods won his last tournament, the Memorial, which was his fourth victory in 2001 (fifth if you count the European Tour’s Deutsche Bank/SAP Open). But his best result in four tournaments since then was a tie for 12th at the U.S. Open, an inelegant stretch that prompted Woods to take drastic measures.

He put his sticks away for awhile and fished and watched television. Besides, Woods insists his game is never really that far off.

“It’s not like I have played so bad that I’ve gone off the map,” he said. “I was just a little bit off this summer. I really wasn’t swinging quite as well.

“I’ve chipped and putted great. I just haven’t got to the green soon enough. If I can do that, I’ll be all right.”

If Woods is looking for a positive sign, he probably found it as soon as he set foot on Atlanta Athletic Club, which is so friendly to guys like Woods that it practically rolls over on its back and asks you to scratch its belly. The 7,213-yard layout is being hailed as a straightforward challenge that invites players to hit their drivers and take aim at generous fairways and large, receptive greens.

Greg Norman says the course is ready for someone to overpower it.

“There’s not a whole lot of mystery to this golf course,” he said. “Hit a driver on the fairway, aim anywhere from the flag to the middle of the green and you’re going to do OK out here.”

In Retief Goosen’s opinion, there is one player who may do more OK than the rest.

“The course is actually the perfect setup for Tiger,” Goosen said.

In that case, the timing couldn’t be better for Woods, who obviously needs it.

Curtis Strange has followed Woods closely this summer, keeping an eye on Woods’ game with the notion that the Ryder Cup is coming up and he wants Woods to be operating at peak efficiency. Strange isn’t sure why Woods hasn’t played as well as he did last summer, but he has an opinion.

“He just doesn’t look like he’s really been into it completely like we’ve seen him in the past, and why, I don’t know,” Strange said. “He seems probably a little bit tired, but I think he’s fine. It sounds like he’s ready to go this week.

“I don’t think we ought to be too quick to judge that he’s in a major slump again or not doing real well. I think he’ll pop out of it in a hurry.”

Duval has already popped out onto the major scene and says he is ready to try for two in a row. Playing a course that favors long hitters and takes most short to medium hitters out of the running before they even tee it up makes it even more interesting to Duval.

“I’m there, I’m ready to go, I’m ready to work and get after it,” Duval said.

Now that Duval has graduated, Mickelson is alone on the stage in the spotlight that shines on the player who is judged the best around who hasn’t won a major. The way he is handling that responsibility or honor or criticism (whatever you might call it) is simply to accept the fact and push ahead.

At the same time, it is logical to assume that Mickelson should do well here, given that he hits the ball a mile and his short game is peerless, as long as there is no hangover from carrying the no-major tag.

Davis Love III, another big hitter, says he feels for Mickelson. Until winning the 1997 PGA Championship at Winged Foot, Love had the distinction that Mickelson now has.

Based on his own experience, Love said it probably isn’t easy for Mickelson to deal with the issue.

“It’s never any fun for people to bring up negatives,” he said. “We go through our lives trying to be positive and then you come in off the golf course and people are saying ‘Well, you’ve never done this, why not?’ and throwing negatives at you.

“They turn your career into a failure because you have not won one particular golf tournament. It’s just annoying to listen to.”

In the meantime, that familiar sound of metal plowing into golf ball will be ringing through the pine trees. Chances are that ball will be going a long way, at least for the players who have a chance to win Sunday.

If you don’t hit it big here, you aren’t going to make a name for yourself, not this week.

Atlanta Athletic Club probably is going to prove to be just the way Stuart Appleby sees it.

“It’s definitely a long hitters’ course,” he said. “It’s for the big boys.”