Dear Golf Digest, Pick Me!

Honesty was another popular tool for essayists. Hundreds admitted they had no shot of breaking 100, and we especially loved Jamie in Hollywood, Fla., who said she should be our choice because in June she'll be incredibly cute and eight months' pregnant. Never mind that she predicted an 18-hole score of 165. Randy in Norman, Okla., was among the thousands -- literally -- who pleaded with us. "I'm doing this for my Dad," wrote Randy. "We don't get along very well, and if I won this for him it might change our relationship." And you might say Michael in Louisville, Colo., was a little too honest: "I'm the prototypical slacker. I'll be 40 in April and live alone with my two huskies. No wife, no girlfriend, no prospects. What I lack in social life, I make up for in golf clubs -- hundreds of them (and books, videos, training aids, etc.), scattered all over my house. This contest could be the quest that leads me to a higher purpose."

For as many fun essays as we received, the majority were from serious golfers who are committed to playing well at Torrey Pines. The winner will face a ridiculous amount of pressure on the first tee (and who knows for how long?) on that fateful day. "Pressure?" asks Craig in Collierville, Tenn. "Pressure is staring at the back of an aircraft carrier on a pitch-black night after flying for two hours over Iraq knowing there's only enough fuel for one attempt to land or you're swimming in the Persian Gulf. Golf is the most wonderful game, but men who choke are still breathing afterward. Break 100? I'm thinking 82."

Kevin from Snoqualmie, Wash., remembers how Woods laughed at pressure during the '94 Pacific Northwest Amateur in Vancouver, Wash. An 11-and-10 rout in the 36-hole final punctuated Tiger's dominance that week, and Kevin remembers caddieing for Woods during one blowout match when Tiger said, "Dude, you could beat this guy." Kevin doubts he could have, but with a 10.4 Index today he's certain he could shoot 99 or better at Torrey Pines.