TIGER WOODS

The last time Woods arrived at the PGA Championship without having won a major, many people said he was in a slump. That was 2004, a year in which he won once, posted three runner-up finishes, three third places, and 14 top-10s, and banked well over $5 million. Some slump. Of course, a Tiger slump is defined somewhat differently to those of other players, and with “just” three wins until last week, some were saying 2007 looked similarly slump-ish. His win at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday halted that foolish talk — for a week at least. A major-less year for Woods would be unthinkable given his two-major, eight-win season in 2006 and the supreme level of ball-striking he has attained at various times this year. Too often his best swing and solid putting have failed to show up at the same event. They were both in evidence at Firestone, and if they make the journey to Oklahoma in tact this weekend, the rest of the field is playing for second.

PHIL MICKELSON

Who knows which Phil Mickelson will show up this week? In a bizarrely erratic year, even for him, Mickelson has shown patches of brilliance — AT&T, Players Championship, even the Nissan Open where he lost a playoff to Charles Howell — and somewhat longer periods of malfunction in which his play can be described as unsatisfactory by only the most charitable onlookers, and downright awful by everyone else. It all looked so good after switching teachers from Rick Smith to Butch Harmon at the end of April. Despite changes he was making to his long and occasionally incoherent swing, he recorded a tie for third at both the Byron Nelson and Wachovia Championships before winning at TPC Sawgrass in the middle of May. Then, while practicing for the U.S. Open at Oakmont, Mickelson damaged his left wrist and his season took a plunge. He withdrew from the Memorial, and then missed three cuts in a row (including those at the U.S. Open and Open Championship) before shooting 13 over par and finishing tied for 46th at Firestone last week. Lefty says his wrist is on the mend, though, and that he has been able to practice more in the last couple of weeks than he did in the previous three months. That could bode well, obviously, but this is Mickelson we’re talking about so, really, who knows?

STEWART CINK

If not for a disappointing final round 72, Cink might well have won the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills. Going into the final round tied for the lead with Retief Goosen at 5- under-par after impressive rounds of 69, 69, and 67, the then 28-year-old Cink, in his sixth year on Tour, was ready to claim his third Tour title and first major. But a disastrous three-putt from 15 feet on the final hole, which included a shocking miss from 18 inches, ended up losing him a spot in a playoff with Goosen and Mark Brooks. Cink insists the only emotion he felt afterward was embarrassment at having missed such a short putt, but it doesn’t take a psychologist to think that the “what ifs?” must have banged around inside his head for years. Cink is having a good year with five top-10 finishes and close to $2 million in earnings, but he hasn’t won since the WGC Bridgestone Invitational (then the NEC Invitational) in 2004. The return to Southern Hills might inspire something special out of him, or it might stir up a whole lot of bad memories.

KENNY PERRY

With nine tour wins and over $21 million in career earnings, it’s a mystery why Perry — long one of the best drivers and ball-strikers in the game — has yet to claim a major title. Perry, 47 tomorrow, started the year in the doldrums after bad habits had crept into his game following knee surgery in 2006. But after receiving a tip from Tommy Armour III on the practice ground at the Memorial, the Kentucky native has shown considerable improvement, finishing inside the top 15 at each of his last six events. Still averaging 300 yards off the tee, Perry ranks 13th in greens in regulation on the PGA Tour but putting, never his strong suit (and probably the answer to that no-majors mystery), is proving his Achilles heel once again. He will have to do better than the 1.797 putts per green that he is currently hitting. But if he gets on a streak like he did in the final round of the Memorial, when he shot 63 to finish third, then a Perry victory will come as no surprise.

CHIP SULLIVAN

The head pro at Ashley Plantation in Daleville, Va., and reigning PGA Professional National Champion, 42-year-old Sullivan played in the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, where he finished 31st at 1-underpar, and at Medinah last year when he missed the cut. Seven months ago he was diagnosed with diabetes and hemochromatosis (too much iron in the blood) and now injects insulin six times a day and has a pint of blood removed from his body every two to three months. The winner of more than 80 PGA-sanctioned events since turning pro in 1987, Sullivan tried the PGA Tour in 1997 without much success. He has the opportunity to relive his dream, as winning the National Championship at Sunriver in Oregon in June means he has six events after the PGA Championship in which to earn enough money to regain his tour card. Making the cut at Southern Hills would be a wonderful start.