T.J's Take: Who will rise up?

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It's safe to say there has never been a better opportunity for a player to win a major championship than the upcoming British Open and PGA Championship.

Who will take advantage?

T.J. Auclair

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Let's give the rest of the golfing world credit for a second -- Tiger Woods doesn't win every time he tees it up. He wins almost every time, but not every time. And, though he was pushed to the absolute limit plus an additional 19 holes the next day, we learned that he basically won the U.S. Open on one leg.

However, along with the absence of Tiger in golf will likely be the absence of an intimidation factor. Try as I might, it's so difficult to imagine that there will be at least two major championships contested without Tiger Woods.

Not one time for the rest of 2008 will we see the name "WOODS" pop up on the bottom of the first page of the leaderboard, only to see it surge up to the top in a matter of a few holes.

Surely, his absence is welcomed to his fellow competitors. It's got to be, whether they admit it or not. Nobody wants to see Tiger hurt, but they've all got to be walking around with their chests puffed out a little further than usual. In particular, three names come to mind -- Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia. Which is to say, that the next two majors -- without Tiger in the mix -- might not be quite as wide open as we all suspect.

Els and Mickelson each have three major championships to their name, while Garcia counts his win earlier this season at THE PLAYERS to be just as good as a major (you've got to wonder if that thought might be tweaked if he's lucky enough to raise the Claret Jug at Birkdale).

Anyway, those three guys have been bitten by Tiger so many times in big events it almost isn't fair. Consider this: In Tiger's 14 major wins, Mickelson, Els and Garcia have combined for 16 top-10 finishes, including three runner-up runs.

So who has the upper hand? It would seem as though Els and Garcia have to be the favorites at the British Open. Els has six top-three finishes at the British Open in his last eight starts, including a win at Muirfield in 2002, while Garcia has six top-10 finishes in his last seven starts, including a playoff loss to Padraig Harrington at Carnoustie last summer.

The British Open has been the most difficult of the four majors to figure out for Mickelson. His lone top-10 was a solo third-place finish in 2004.

Looking ahead to the PGA Championship, it's a coin toss between Els and Mickelson. Els has racked up four top-16 finishes in his last four starts at the season's final major (he missed the PGA Championship in 2005 due to injury), including a career-best third-place finish at Southern Hills last August.

Mickelson, on the other hand, has seven career top-10s in the PGA Championship, highlighted by his win at Baltusrol in 2004.

The bottom line is that there's never been a better chance for Els, Mickelson, or Garcia to be the bride instead of the bridesmaid. Intimidation won't be a factor like it's been too many times for this outstanding trio.

With that in mind, you have to wonder -- does that put more pressure on these three?

Fortunately, we won't have to wait long to find out with both majors right around the corner. Unfortunately, from a fan's perspective, both majors lack the buzz that's rightfully theirs with Tiger riding the pine.

Regardless of who claims major championship glory -- one of these three, or someone else -- there's no truth to the rumor that there will be a footnote on the Claret Jug or the Wanamaker that reads: Tiger Woods was unable to compete.

But, we'll all know it and wish that didn't have to be the case.