Monday Qualifier

Professional golf took its leave last week, not of its senses, though the xenophobic among us might disagree. It took its leave of the country, American idle.

There was no professional golf in the United States, save for a Nationwide Tour event. The PGA Tour, meanwhile, was in Canada (the RBC Canadian Open), the LPGA in France (the Evian Masters) and the seniors in Scotland (the Senior British Open).

The story lines produced scant evidence of America's participation, as well. A Swede (Carl Pettersson) won in Canada, a South Korean (Jiyai Shin) in France and a German (Bernhard Langer) in Scotland. Six countries, none of them the U.S.

To further illustrate the game's global outreach program, a South Korean (Doris Chen) won one of the two important tournaments played within our borders, the U.S. Girls Junior, while an American of Chinese descent (Jim Liu) won the U.S. Junior Amateur.

On the eve of the British Open recently, Ian Poulter boldly declared the end of American dominance. It smacked of gamesmanship, but for one week, at least, in the wake of an odd confluence of schedules and outcomes, it smacked of the truth, too.

THE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

Pettersson, bless him, produced a victory on behalf of the hot-dog-at-the-turn crowd, then delivered an important lesson to all for whom the belt toils.

"I kept thinking, 'What am I going to do to get better,' and obviously I was a little overweight," he said Sunday. "I thought, 'Well, I'll get fit.' So I actually lost 30 pounds and my game completely left me. I guess the timing of the swing and everything was thrown out, and I really struggled in '09. I've played fairly well this year. I'd love to be fitter, but I'm not going to go down that road again."

Well said.

MORE ON GLOBALIZATION

When Dean Wilson was still leading the RBC Canadian Open on the back nine on Sunday, the two players in closest pursuit at one time were a Swede, Pettersson, and a South African, Tim Clark, who were college roommates at...North Carolina State. Go figure.

'HE'S ANOTHER TIGER'

The next Tiger Woods has been identified too often for the rest of us to be anything other than dismissive of such proclamations. But when John Anselmo draws a comparison it warrants attention.

Anselmo, now 89 and still teaching and playing, was Woods' second instructor (from ages 10 to 17, before he handed him off to Butch Harmon). He also is Jim Liu's teacher. Liu on Saturday became the youngest ever to win the U.S. Junior Amateur, a few weeks shy of his 15th birthday, or nearly seven months younger than Woods was when he won the Junior Amateur in 1991.

"He's quite something," Anselmo said from his home in Huntington Beach, Calif. "He's another Tiger, as far as I'm concerned -- his mannerism, how he devotes his life to what he's doing, like Tiger did. He told me he had eight birdies on the first 18 holes (of the 36-hole final with Justin Thomas). That's the way he is. He's like Tiger that way. He's got no fear. He's not going to back away.

"He might even be just a little bit ahead of Tiger (at a similar age). But not much."

Anselmo began working with Liu seven years ago, after the boy read his book, "A-Game Golf," and sought him out. Anselmso, drawing on the wisdom that one gains over a long lifetime, won't predict stardom for Liu, however. "No, I can't predict that," he said. "It's up to him. But he loves what he's doing."

THE END OF TIGER WOODS?

More than a handful in the media, in the aftermath of Woods' failure to contend at the British Open, advanced the argument that Woods' reign is over. A sampling:

• From Joe Posnanski at Sports Illustrated (headline: "Few people see it, but there are now plenty of reasons to write off Tiger Woods"): "Tiger Woods is not a machine. Tiger Woods is not a story. Tiger Woods is not a movie, and he's not a fairy tale. Tiger Woods is not even the young man who played golf at a higher level than any man in the history of the sport. No. Tiger Woods is a balding, 34-year-old man fighting his swing, his putter, his confidence, his past and his history. So many of us expect him to return to his previous dominance.

"But I wonder if that really says more about us than it does him.

• From Rafer Weigel at CNN.com (headline: Tiger Woods days of dominance, done): "[H]e will never dominate the sport like he did -- not with the competition being what it is now. He no longer instills fear in other golfers like he used to. His presence alone no longer intimidates the field. The psychological advantage he once enjoyed has given way to a psychological mess for him."

• From an un-bylined column in the Mobile (Ala.) Press-Register (headline: Stick a fork in Tiger Woods -- he is done): "It is official now: Stick a fork in Tiger Woods -- he is done&He doesn't have the mental game anymore&He is mentally burnt. He is done."

The reaction here? Unchanged. By many accounts, Woods' swing was better at St. Andrews than it has been in months, but his putting kept him in check. It's still more likely that his touch has taken a temporary leave rather than a permanent one.

Write him off at your own analytic peril, but it's a hard sell convincing anyone that Woods is done when less than a year ago he won three of seven tournaments and finished in the top two in six of seven to close his season.

There is this, too, which should never be discounted: He's Tiger Woods.

This conclusion, from Kevin Dunleavy of the Washington Examiner, seems more in line with reality: "When the PGA Championship tees off next month at Whistling Straits, the favorite will be the most talented and accomplished player in the field -- Tiger Woods."

JOHN DALY AND MDF

MDF stands for Made (the cut) Didn't Finish, which is the designation accorded those who make the 36-hole cut in a tournament, but don't survive a 54-hole cut enacted to keep the number of players in the final round at a manageable level to help ensure that tournaments conclude on Sunday.