Who will the ageless wonder be at Oakland Hills?

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I heard a rumor that Centrum Silver and Geritol are in a bidding war to sponsor the majors and THE PLAYERS Championship next year. Actually, I can probably get in a lot of trouble for spreading such innuendo. That fabrication, like most you read here, is a product of my imagination. The rest are borrowed or stolen. But like most of them there is a definite correlation to what is really going on in the world of golf.

John Maginnes

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Most events in the game, if not predictable, are not wholly unexpected. This year a few choice veterans have managed to push the sun back up in the sky on the most high-profile weekends. As so many great young players have emerged, the odds of so many veterans challenging in the year's biggest events seems incalculable.

It all started when the 44-year-old Paul Goydos wouldn't go away at THE PLAYERS Championship. History will show that Sergio Garcia won the PGA TOUR's showcase event in a playoff. As more precious sand falls through the hourglass, Paul's heroics will fade in to the right rough of history only to be recounted at dinner parties in years to come. But Paul will be the first to tell you that the runner-up finish brought with it a higher profile than either of his PGA TOUR victories. And in addition to finishing second in the tournament he was in the top-10 Google searches that weekend.

While the Masters featured the last two Rookies of the Year in Sunday's final group and a first-time winner in 28-year-old Trevor Immelman, that tournament may end up being the anomaly among majors. In its current configuration, Augusta National is just too much course for the old-timers to compete against the kids.

It seemed likely Torrey Pines would be the same way. But ideal summer conditions allowed for an epic showdown between the world's No. 1 player and a guy named Rocco. Like Goydos, Rocco Mediate has never enjoyed, or endured depending on your perspective, more popularity than he has since his duel with Tiger at Torrey. He forced Tiger to birdie the final hole on Sunday to get into an 18-hole playoff. Then in what promised to be a one-sided affair, Rocco held steady and came from three shots down on the back nine to take a one-shot lead into the final hole again. Tiger, of course, was up to the task and made the birdie to force sudden death -- but not before Rocco had a putt to win it all. You know the rest. Tiger won on the 19th hole but Rocco dared us to believe that week. He challenged not only our imagination but our spirit and the game is better for it.

Then in perhaps the most unlikely near miss of the year, there was a shark sighting in England at the 137th Open Championship. Golf fans of a certain era knew that it was too good to be true. We knew that the dream would end in cold sweats and screams in the dark. A Greg Norman victory, though, would have somehow been poetic justice for a World Golf Hall of Fame career that could have been so much more. What made this action even more compelling was that this particular career seemingly ended more than a decade ago in 1997 when Norman played the minimum 15 events for the last time. He hadn't even played a major in three years. As it happened, Padraig Harrington prevailed for the second straight year, but Greg gave us hope. When he politely declined the special exemption offered for this week's PGA Championship, Greg left the door open for yet another veteran challenger in a major.

Since a victory in the PGA comes with a lifetime exemption there is a greater chance that grey hair and laugh lines will be in prominence at Oakland Hills. Jay Haas is the reigning Senior PGA champion and at Oakland Hills he will compete on a golf course that is very similar in design and name to the one that he won on earlier this year. With nine PGA TOUR victories and more Champions Tour crystal than his trophy room can hold, we would be remiss to discount the man who has made more cuts than anyone in the history of the TOUR.

Tom Lehman may be on the cusp of the Champions Tour but he certainly has the game and more than enough of the physical tools remaining to be a challenger at Oakland Hills at 49 years old. Not to mention, a rejuvenated and seemingly healthy Fred Couples, one year Lehman's junior, is playing with the confidence of youth and can still be a factor every week. Freddy is the sentimental favorite from the salt and pepper gang. The fact that Freddy has but one major championship to his credit seems as audacious as the passage of time itself. And there are other fortysomethings like Corey Pavin, Bob Tway and Ryder Cup Captain Paul Azinger hoping to add to their major championship resumes.

Perhaps this is the week where age overcomes youth. Oakland Hills is even more venerable than any of the challengers, though. It has been kind to those who revere its history and tradition and boasts some of the greatest names the game has ever seen as its champions. The PGA Championship has been called "Glory's last shot" because it is the final major of the year. Considering what we have seen this year and what we are likely to see this week that phrase could take on a much deeper connotation.