Patriot Act

Because much of his F-16 work is classified information, Rooney can't say what he did in Iraq other than "close air support, protecting our guys on the ground who are in infinitely more danger than we are?and we drop bombs." One such F-16 bomb likely killed an al-Qaida leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. (That happened on June 7, 2006, two days before Brock Bucklin's funeral in Michigan.)

Rooney, now 34 years old, believes a lifetime of golf under pressure prepared him for the F-16. "You learn to perform when your heart is racing and your palms are sweating," he says. "Flying the F-16 is like facing a five-foot putt. It's a meld of mind and body. And just like there's never a perfect round, there's never a perfect F-16 flight."

He flies eight to 10 days a month. So this year he played only six rounds of golf before a U.S. Open qualifying round in Wichita. His 77 included five missed putts inside five feet, a failing that caused him to declare, with no audible trace of irony, "Those five-footers can be scarier than night missions over Iraq."

Wait. Stop right there.

Scarier: A five-footer? Or artillery fire?

I, for one, would prefer the little putt, thank you.

That night in Michigan, in United 664's seat 24A, seeing a coffin under a flag, seeing a child in the rain, Rooney decided to bring together war and those little putts in a way that served both.

At his club in Grand Haven, Dan Rooney planned The West Michigan Fallen Heroes Golf Tournament, proceeds to go to Michigan families who lost parents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then he pushed the envelope. To raise funds for all the children of soldiers killed in the war, he took the idea national.

He created Patriot Day. It's Sept. 1. On that Saturday, golfers around the nation will be asked to pay an extra $1 on their public-course green fee. That dollar will go to the Fallen Heroes Foundation. Private clubs will accept donations, and the foundation will solicit corporate contributions.

"The foundation's purpose is to help financially with education, counseling and the total caring for children of our fallen heroes," Rooney says. "In addition to financial aid, we want the families to know that their sacrifices are not forgotten. We want everyone to play golf one day, give one dollar, and remember men like Brock Bucklin."

Rooney is thinking millions of dollars, and why couldn't it be millions? He has promises of support from the PGA of America, the National Association of Golf Course Owners, the Golf Writers Association of America, Golf Digest, the universities of Tulsa and Oklahoma and CBS Sports.

CBS plans to do a Patriot Day feature before the PGA Championship in Tulsa. Rooney intends to fire up an F-16 to give a thrill ride to a member of the broadcast crew, David Feherty.

And the world's only F-16 pilot/golf pro says, "David's going to get a different perspective on Southern Hills."

How so?

"We'll definitely be upside-down over the course."

I, for one, would prefer a five-footer, downhill, sidehill, left to right, 12.4 on the Stimpmeter, past a rattlesnake.