The Sad Walk of the Also-Rans

One by one, they made the long walk along the narrow, winding, sandy trail that led up the steep hill at the back of the 18th green at Whistling Straits.

None of them was whistling while they walked.

This was nothing but work. Each step must have seemed longer than the one before until they finally reached the top of the hill, took a sharp left turn and disappeared into the gray trailer where they signed their scorecards.

That was the place they took one final look at the numbers that just didn’t add up.

There were more than 40,000 who bunched together Sunday in the gallery for the final day of the PGA Championship and the place was packed, all of them watching each walker as he trudged up that hill.

But for the ones who made the journey, they surely must have felt alone.

Here’s to the losers. Here’s to the players who walked the walk, then walked away.

You know who they were.

Ernie Els passed by, his head down. Maybe he was thinking about his three-putt bogey at the 18th, the one that cost him a chance to get into the playoff where Vijay Singh finally squeezed out a victory.

It probably would have been revealing to know what was on Els’ mind, but he didn’t feel like sharing his thoughts. It could have been the walk up the hill, or it could have been that he missed out again on winning another major, but he said nothing.

Second at the Masters, a near miss at the U.S. Open, second again at the British Open and now fourth in the last major of the year, that’s a career for most players.

But Els plays for major championships and this one was just another that slipped out of his hands.

So he reached for something else. Els grabbed the hand of his wife, Liezl, who was waiting outside the scoring trailer, and they left quickly.

Chris Riley came by too. He was now part of the club. Riley joined when he made a bogey at the 18th that spoiled his day, ruined his round and missed joining the playoff by one shot.

Riley is 30, looks 20 and felt 60 after he three-putted the last hole. Then he climbed the hill.

One of the best putters on the PGA Tour, Riley deserved better. Sure, his tie for fourth with Els earned him a berth on the Ryder Cup team, so that’s some consolation, but it didn’t amount to a major championship.

Up the hill came Phil Mickelson, a smile across his face, as usual. He shot a 74, bogeyed the last hole when he needed to birdie it and started the climb.

He signed his scorecard and searched the crowd for his wife, Amy. His agent, Steve Loy, was dressed in black, which seemed appropriate for the occasion.

There was a distinct sense of loss here and there was more than enough to go around.

Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard felt it too. Moments before, they missed putts at the 18th that would have put them into a playoff together and kept Singh out of it.

DiMarco left his birdie putt at the last hole short. Leonard missed the green at the 18th, chipped short and missed his putt for par that cost him his advantage over Singh and DiMarco.

First DiMarco and then Leonard made his trip up the hill.

They would make that same long climb once more, not long afterward, at the end of a three-hole playoff that Singh won by one shot.

It is a cruel feature of golf that there can be just one winner and all others are lumped together as losers. They deserve better, especially after enduring four long days on a demanding course in punishing conditions, where a single errant shot or missed putt or bad break changes everything, including reputations, careers and the course of major championship history.

The wise philosopher, Tiger Woods, had it right when he said it’s tough to win these things, majors. Every one of the guys who made the walk up that incline at the back of the 18th green Sunday knew exactly what he meant.

Maybe, if their luck turns and their drives stay on the fairway and their putts fall, it will be different next time. It could be their turn to win a major. They all know it won’t be easy, that there will be another hill to climb.