UP & DOWN

The heat was on at the PGA, and so were Lefty, DL3 and Elk

UP

Phil Mickelson
Once might have been luck, but Lefty has now birdied the 72nd hole to win a major twice. His legacy as a big-time player is secure.

Phil's hat
With a sunburned scalp, would Phil go with a hat or his usual visor? Despite the heat Phil went hat and won. Is it a trend-starter?

Lower course
After Lee Janzen went eight under in '93, many felt Baltusrol could no longer provide a major challenge. Wrong. The course proved a great test, playing hard but fair.

17 and 18
The back-to-back par-5 finish provided plenty of drama, especially after two guys proved that the 652-yard 17th was not as unreachable as had been predicted.

Ben Curtis
Despite his blow-up on Sunday, Curtis made only his second cut in a major since winning the 2003 British Open and saw his name on the leader board for much of the week.

Steve Elkington, Davis Love III
Holy mid-'90s! Past champions Elk (1995) and DL3 ('97) shrugged off recent stretches of uninspired play to reprise their glory days and make impressive runs at the Wanamaker Trophy.

Club pros
Four of them made the cut, the most since 1994, led by Steve Schneiter, who finished 40th with a six-over 286.

 

DOWN

Tiger Woods
Despite what he's said, Tiger isn't better than he was in 2000. He didn't reach red numbers until the 71st hole and was never really in it.

Tiger's shirt
Everyone sweats, but so much was made of Tiger's drenched Nike togs, it was impossible not to think of them as a metaphor for his week: all wet.

Mother Nature
Despite temperatures near 100°, it wasn't the heat or the humidity (or the thunderstorms) that made things dicey but the massive branch that fell off an oak tree and injured three people.

John Daly
Big John reached 17 in two, but he blew off another champions dinner, and his putter broke on Saturday, forcing him to putt with a wedge, and he melted on Sunday, dropping to 74th.

Shaun Micheel
He finished in the money in four straight majors after shocking the golf world with his 2003 PGA win, but he was sent home before the weekend in all four of this year's majors.

Sean O'Hair, Luke Donald
Two of the Tour's bright young stars, of whom great things are expected, fell disconcertingly flat. O'Hair limped in at eight over in 59th, while Donald finished at nine over in 66th place.

PGA and CBS
Although afternoon storms had been forecast, they stuck with a 3 p.m. start for the leaders on Sunday, turning an exciting finish into an anticlimactic Monday wind-down.

KEY STAT

2

Times the PGA has been won by a shot with a birdie on the 72nd hole (Payne Stewart, '89).

THREE COLOR PHOTOS

ROBERT BECK (MICKELSON, DALY, DONALD)

TWO COLOR PHOTOS

FRED VUICH (CURTIS, LOVE)

COLOR PHOTO

CHUCK SOLOMON (WOODS)