Monday Qualifier

It wasn't a reunion per se for the class of 2001, however class is defined, but its two most prominent members butted headlines on Sunday morning and gave us pause to reflect.

Luke Donald, a Northwestern graduate whose major -- art theory and practice -- suggests that it's a good thing he can play golf, and Bryce Molder, a Georgia Tech graduate, were the class of college and amateur golf when they chose to forgo the '01 U.S. Amateur, instead opting to turn pro on the same day and in the same tournament, the Reno-Tahoe Open nearly nine years ago.

They were as heralded a duo as any in recent memory. Donald earned first-team All-America honors three times, was the college player of the year in 1999, and twice was a member of the Great Britain-Ireland Walker Cup team. Molder was one of only four to have earned first-team All-America honors four consecutive years (Gary Hallberg, Phil Mickelson and David Duval were the others), was the college player of the year in 2001 and also was twice a member of the U.S. Walker Cup team.

Who was going to have a more productive professional career? Flip a coin. Donald's precision with his irons was going to adequately offset his lack of length from the tee, while Molder's short game was going to deliver him from the ranks of the mediocre.

In Tahoe, Molder moved to the fore, threatening to win in his professional debut, before faltering and finishing third. Donald missed the cut.

Stardom has not yet materialized for either, though Donald has come closer. His victory in the Madrid Masters on Sunday, his first win since 2006, elevated him to No. 9 in the World Ranking. In 2007, he was ranked seventh.

It might seem odd to suggest that one of the 10 best players in the world has not fulfilled his promise, but at the elite level success is measured with victories. Donald has won only five times -- twice on the PGA Tour, three times on the European Tour.

Molder's career has been marked by its inconsistency, which continued on Sunday. Like Donald at Madrid, Molder was tied for the lead through three rounds of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. The only player in the top 10 to fail to break 70 on Sunday (he shot 70), Molder slipped to a tie for fifth, five back of winner Zach Johnson.

Only once in his three full seasons on the PGA Tour has Molder retained his playing privileges, in 2010, after finishing 63rd on the money list the year before. He has not won on the PGA Tour and has a single victory on the Nationwide Tour, in 2006. But he's gaining on it. The 79th ranked player in the world, Molder has five top 10s this year, nearly doubling his career total.

The most likely to succeed from the class of 2001, Donald and Molder are completing their first decades as professionals in a manner that portends this: The best is yet to come.

NO ENGLISH MAJORS

England now boasts four of the top 10-ranked players in the world -- Lee Westwood (No. 3), Ian Poulter (No. 7), Paul Casey (No. 8) and Donald, whose victory on Sunday bumped Anthony Kim from the top 10. (The U.S. still features four of the top five players -- Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk.)

Yet the four Englishmen have yet to win a major championship among them. The last Englishman to win a major was Nick Faldo, in 1996.

MICKELSON: HE'S UP, HE'S DOWN

Mickelson missed the cut for the first time in more than a year, since the Shell Houston Open in April of 2009. What does it mean with the U.S. Open on the horizon? Nothing. Inconsistency is his calling card. Mickelson wasn't playing well prior to winning the Masters, tying for 35th at Houston and tying for 30th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational the week before that.

FREDDIE, WHAT HAPPENED?

Who knows? "It's pretty disappointing," Couples said, this his only statement afterward as he went straight to a waiting car and left the premises.

We could have figured that out for ourselves. Couples, whose back-to-back eagles at 15 and 16 on Sunday gave him a share of the lead at the Senior PGA Championship, missed an eight-foot birdie putt at 18 to win, then hit his drive on the first playoff hole into a shrub, requiring a drop that essentially ended his bid.

Disappointing, yes, but isn't the runner-up in a major championship obligated at least to answer a few questions, particularly on a tour starved for attention in a crowded sports world and ostensibly dedicated to better PR?

The winner, incidentally, was Tom Lehman, this his first individual victory since joining the Champions Tour last year.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Remember Richard Lee? Didn't think so. A Vancouver native, Lee was the boy who lost to Philip Francis in the final of the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2006. He was 15 at the time and then, in an ill-advised move, decided to turn professional.

Lee's career hasn't gained traction since. He's played in three Nationwide Tour events in the ensuing years, missing the cut in two of them. He qualified for the U.S. Open in 2007, but withdrew after an opening round of 79.

Last week, he resurfaced as the medalist of the Canadian Tour qualifying tournament.

"This (Canadian Tour) is going to be great for my development," Lee told the Canadian Press. Junior golf and college golf, suffice it to say, might have been better for his development.

'WORLD'S WORST JUDGMENT'

When an athlete is called "a great guy" and it qualifies as headline news, it's safe to assume that he's probably not generally perceived as such.

Last week, Natalie Gulbis was in the Pittsburgh area and opted out of a practice round at Oakmont Country Club, site of the U.S. Women's Open, in favor of a round at Laurel Valley Country Club with Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Gulbis apparently dated Roethlisberger at one time.

Queried about it after their round, Gulbis said, "He's a great guy."

It must be heartening for Roethlisberger to know that the prevailing opinion of him isn't unanimous.

Gulbis' endorsement, meanwhile, did nothing to help his image, nor did it help her own. One blog said this in a headline: "Natalie Gulbis shows the world's worst judgment."