A friend makes it easier to get back in loop

STEVE STRICKER A birdie save

Out on the golf course in Sunday's final round of the Tour Championship, the ongoing story of human athletic skill was being provided by Tiger Woods.

Off to the side of the 18th green, however, human emotion was coming forth from Tom Mitchell.

Woods's tale you know all too well. It has been with us almost on a weekly basis for 11 years now and it seemingly grows more spectacular by the hour.

But Mitchell's story is less heralded, though it resonates with greater feeling. His is a story of faith, compassion, and determination. As the man who carries the golf bag for Steve Stricker, Mitchell can be viewed as merely a caddie, but that would be a careless dismissal of the invaluable presence of friendship in a sport where for so many large chunks of time you are often alone.

They are a pair of Wisconsin guys, which should give you an idea as to the character with which we're talking about because few spots are more down-to-earth than that part of our country. Mitchell's first gig as Stricker's caddie was the 2001 Accenture Match Play Championship and what a trip down under that was. Maybe the big names stayed home that year - Woods among them - but rolling through Padraig Harrington, Scott Verplank, and Justin Leonard wasn't like Stricker took on The Three Stooges. When Stricker followed with three more wins, he had himself a World Golf Championship title, his third PGA Tour win.

Who knew that things could slide away so quickly and for so long? From 30th on the money list in 2001, Stricker fell to 88th in 2002, then had seasons of 188th, 151st, and 162d. Between 2003-05, Stricker earned $989,136, which is pretty much what players are making in one year.

"Times," said Mitchell, "were pretty tough."

So tough that to help supplement his finances, Mitchell opened a business as a personal trainer. He just never closed out his friendship with Stricker. Though Stricker had lost full exempt status, he plugged away, mostly on sponsor's exemptions and the past winner's category. That meant that Mitchell plugged along, too.

"He never quit. We hung in there together," said Mitchell. "I told him that good things would happen. I totally believed in him."

As much as he believed in Stricker, what elicits the emotion in Mitchell is the fairness with which the player treated his caddie when things were not so good.

"A lot of guys would have fired their caddies," said Mitchell.

That might be the nature of the business, but it is not what defines Stricker, arguably the nicest soul you'll meet within the PGA Tour world. He had lost his golf game, yes; he had not lost his sense of dignity. Mitchell was a trusted friend and that meant everything to Stricker, so out of the depths of poor golf they rose together and the caddie has his own turning point.

It was the opening tournament of 2006, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and Stricker needed to birdie the par-5 last hole at Poppy Hills to make the cut. He reached the green in two, but had a long, devilish putt up over a big slope. "If he doesn't get it up over the hill, it comes back at him and he misses the cut," said Mitchell.

The ball made it to the crest and remarkably did not roll back. Stricker then converted a slick second putt for birdie, made the cut on the number, and when he was one of just six to break 70 on a windy final day at Pebble Beach (he had a 4-under 68), he roared into a tie for 14th.

"He may not remember that [putt], but I do," said Mitchell.

Three tournaments later, Stricker was third at the Shell Houston Open. Then he was sixth at Winged Foot in the US Open and tied for second at the Booz Allen. Four successive top-10 finishes came late in the season, including a joint seventh at the Deutsche Bank Championship, and Stricker wound up 34th on the money list.

When the good roll continued into 2007 and Stricker consistently put himself into contention, no one felt better for him than Mitchell. Their embrace on the 72d hole of Westchester CC following Stricker's win at the Barclays in late August - his first since 2001 - was arguably the most touching PGA Tour scene of 2007, but just as telling about their relationship were the words they shared on the final green of the Tour Championship.

Having slipped home a 22-foot putt for birdie that gave him a 67 and a tie for 17th, Stricker turned to shake hands with Mitchell.

"I told him, 'Steve, I'm very proud of you,' " said Mitchell, who fought back the tears. "He told me, 'Tom, I really think this is just the start of things to come.' "

Calling them out

What is it about international team competitions that bring out the sloppiness in American golf broadcasters?

During the Ryder Cup in Ireland in 2006, it was NBC's Johnny Miller whose sarcastic criticisms of the US team were picked up by "live" microphones and heard in the American locker room. Fast-forward a year and Dottie Pepper made a similar error while working for the Golf Channel's broadcast of the Solheim Cup in Sweden last weekend.

While watching three straight American pairings falter and lose the 18th hole to provide the Europeans with much-needed momentum heading into Saturday afternoon's four-ball, Pepper became agitated, which is no surprise to those who consider her the most fiery LPGA Tour player of her generation.

"Chokin' freakin' dogs," is the expression Pepper used in conversation with her colleagues. The only thing is, there wasn't a break in the television coverage, as she thought. Instead, the words went out over the airwaves.

Yes, the media had a field day. For sure, the American players heard about it. What made it all the more uncomfortable is the fact Pepper represented the United States in the first six Solheim Cups and five times she had this year's US captain, Betsy King, as a teammate. Her passion for the event is unquestioned, which perhaps helps explain why there hasn't been a rush of player backlash.

King did address the controversy, but not until after her team had had an impressive march in singles to win the competition, and even then she tried to be diplomatic. "I am retired [like Pepper] and usually you retire when you can't play any more," said King. "That's why you are commentating, because you are past your prime. It's that old thing - the older you get, the better you used to be."

For her part, Pepper did not back down when asked about it on air the next day, but it remains to be seen what this does for her in the future.

Georgia on his mind

In three tournaments in Georgia this season, Zach Johnson won the Masters, won the AT&T Classic, and placed joint second at the Tour Championship. The earnings from those three events was $2,896,500, which by itself is enough to place him 14th on the money list. Woods took home just about everything that wasn't nailed down during the four-tournament playoff sweep - two trophies and $3,042,666.67 of $28 million in purse money. He did not, however, get a gold star for attendance, as he chose to skip the Barclays. Of the 30 players who made it to the Tour Championship, only 14 played all 288 playoff holes. Here are the playoff numbers for those 14:

To Top

par 10 Money

S. Stricker -48 3 $2,055,000

A. Baddeley -38 2 $1,208,235

R. Sabbatini -41 4 $1,094,650

M. Calcavecchia -8 2 $937,113

Z. Johnson -28 1 $734,716

G. Ogilvy -24 2 $687,773

S. Garcia -35 2 $685,768

C. Villegas -35 3 $684,000

A. Scott -28 1 $677,633

W. Austin -24 0 $387,481

J. Furyk -20 0 $355,780

H. Slocum -22 0 $346,700

B. Weekley -9 0 $204,925

J. Rollins -3 0 $170,758

PGA gets back to work

The first of seven PGA Tour Fall Series tournaments gets underway today in Verona, N.Y. The Turning Stone Resort Championship not only features a $6 million purse, but there's a casino on property, so look who'll tee it up: John Daly. Of those who played in all four playoff tournaments, only Robert Allenby and John Rollins will play at Turning Stone. Brandt Snedeker had intended to play, but he's had second thoughts. Apparently six straight tournaments are enough, so he's withdrawn. He has, however, accepted invitations to play in two tournaments down under, including the Australian Open. "The whole thought process is, 'This is the time to do it,' " said Snedeker, 26, alluding to the fact that he isn't married and doesn't have family obligations to consider . . . Before the wind kicked up and officials decided to really tuck the hole locations, things had been shockingly easy at East Lake GC in the Tour Championship. In six previous trips to East Lake, the lowest winning score in the Tour Championship was 263, by Bart Bryant in 2005. Woods smashed that by six.

A real team effort

The late Ted Kenerson would have been pleased by the stellar play in the member-guest tournament named in his memory at his beloved Brae Burn CC. Having played competitively for years and been at the heart of Brae Burn's support of amateur golf, Kenerson would have enjoyed the three-way playoff that was won by Travis Dewire and his guest, Victor Melfa of Mount Pleasant. Aram Hintlian and Stephen Kilcoyne (Oakley CC), and Ken Baer and Oliver Bennett (Point Judith CC, Rhode Island) were the other teams in the playoff after rounds of 70 . . . Paul Parajeckas of Pleasant Valley CC closed with the tournament's best score, a 3-under 69, and won the NEPGA TaylorMade Head Pro Championship at Framingham CC . . . Chip Johnson of Hatherly tuned up for that event by winning the Wellesley CC Pro-Member with a round of 3-over 74. Beth O'Kelly of Black Rock CC shot 75 to finish second . . . Mark Plummer (Augusta CC) shot a 2-under 68 yesterday at York (Maine) Golf & Tennis Club, the only person to break par in the first round of the New England Senior Championship . . . The annual Jett Golf Classic will be held Oct. 3 at Pinehills Golf Club in Plymouth. Proceeds will go toward the fight against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. For an entry form, go to jettfoundation.com/news.htm.

What a way to start

Kim Donovan had quite the experience to get her Duke University career off the ground - a trip to the White House to meet President Bush. Though she wasn't part of the team that won the 2006-07 NCAA championship, the freshman from Hopkinton got to take part in the celebration in Washington. In her collegiate debut, Donovan shot 72-77-74 to finish tied for 36th in the Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tenn. In that same tournament, Arizona's Alison Walshe, a senior from Westford, finished T-10 (68-75-73) . . . Harvard won the Dartmouth Women's Invitational, with the host club finishing third. Individually, Hayley Milbourn, a freshman from Amherst, shot 71-75 to win. Claire Sheldon of Milton, a sophomore, shot 76-76 to finish joint fourth for the Crimson . . . While Old Dominion took the team title in the Hartford Hawks Invitational at The International in Bolton, onetime Hopkinton standout Keegan Bradley, a senior at St. John's, rolled to medalist honors with trips of 68-73-71. Bradley's teammates again this year are George Zolotas of Peabody, Kevin Velardo of Wilmington, and Dan Mollicone of East Greenwich, R.I. Hartford's lineup features Nick Pokora of Agawam (second at the International), A.J. Oleksak of Feeding Hills, Zack Ungvarsky of Wilmington, and Nick MacDonald of Lebanon, N.H. . . . At the Mid-Pines Intercollegiate in Southern Pines, N.C., Harvard finished fourth, Boston College fifth. The Eagles got a solid performance from freshman Craig Kublin of Needham, who shot 71-69-76 - 216 to finish T-13 . . . Colgate finished sixth at the Bucknell Fall Invite. Freshman Neil Thompson of Sherborn shot 73-75-78 - 226 to finish tied for 21st.

Jim McCabe can be reached at jmccabe@globe.com. Material from interviews, wire services, and beat writers was used in this report.