Howell is slowly moving toward the elite

They call themselves Howell's Herd but they're undersized for a herd. All right, they're no herd. They're a trio -- three students from Green Bay, Wis., who latched onto Charles Howell III during the Greater Milwaukee Open last month. Maybe it was Howell's long-ball prowess that attracted them. Maybe it was his retro clothes, provided by the same folks who help eccentric Swede Jesper Parnevik dress like a Studebaker at a disco; on Sunday, for example, Howell's belt buckle was a 1-iron clubhead. Or maybe it was the underdog syndrome, the urge to root for someone besides the planet's most famous golfer.

Anyway, the Herd piled into a minivan and made the five-hour drive to Minneapolis' western suburbs to cheer their designated hero at the 84th PGA Championship, wearing orange T-shirts with "Howell's Herd" in black lettering (the colors of Howell's alma mater, Oklahoma State) and a longhorn steer logo. Herd leaders Jacob Phillips, who'll be a manager for the Indiana basketball team this fall, and Anthony Ellis, a senior at Green Bay's Notre Dame High School, handed out extra shirts to Howell's wife, Heather, and dad, Charles. "It's cool to follow somebody who's not Tiger," said Herd member Ryan Meisinger. "But we're not jumping on his bandwagon. He hasn't won anything yet." Yes, make a note: They got in on the ground floor.

MAILBAG I'll add one more future achievement for Tiger Woods to set his sights on. How about winning every event on the PGA Tour at least once during his career? This might get a little tricky, since events come and go. Jack Nicklaus was pretty close but he never won either the Los Angeles Open or the Canadian Open despite many attempts at both. Anybody else come close to this one? Tiger also hasn't won in Australia yet, to my knowledge. He should win the Australian Open, to keep pace with Nicklaus and Gary Player, who each won it several times. —Frank Dixon, Kingston, Ontario A more realistic goal would be for Tiger to play every PGA Tour event at least once. I'd say even that one is doubtful. Why did you omit Byron Nelson's record for 113 consecutive cuts made? —John Jenkins, Fullerton, Calif. I don't know, JJ. Maybe on account of ... I forgot about it. Most conversations about Jack Nicklaus' major wins also include a comment about the number of times he finished second. Now we're hearing about how Tiger either wins or finishes out of the running. At Tiger's current pace of winning majors, is it possible that he's just better at converting those potential second-place finishes into wins? —John Sutton, Annapolis, Md. Tiger is just better, period, in all facets of the game than his peers. Take out the gale that blew up just as he teed of in the third round of the British Open and take Rich Beem out of the PGA field and Tiger would have the calendar-year Grand Slam. Without Beem's career performance, Tiger would have won the PGA going away by four strokes. I think the most important individual events are the four majors, the three individual World Golf Championship tournaments, the Players Championship and the Tour Championship. Tiger just needs a World Match Play victory to complete that sweep (nobody else is even close). But what to call that amazing accomplishment? How about the Whole Nine Yards? —Roger Scott Lumsden, Regina, Saskatchewan Not so fast, you big Lummy. First, he's got to pull off the coveted Midwest Quadrilateral: the Western Open, Greater Milwaukee Open, John Deere Classic and Buick Open. There's also the Greater Slam -- the Greater Hartford Open, Greater Greensboro Open and Greater Milwaukee Open. Which, if he did it, would naturally be greater. A couple of things you left off your Tiger to-do list: 1. Give a few interviews that reveal something about who you are. You're the most recognizable athlete on the planet, but we don't know anything about you. You're more programmed than a politician. Let a reporter go with you on a fishing trip to find out what you're like off the course. What do you watch on television? Favorite movies and CDs? What do you suck at? Tell Barbara Walters what you like in a woman. 2. Interact with fans a little more, especially the kids who idolize you. You don't have to be Lee Trevino, but acknowledge that we exist beyond the cursory wave when you make a putt. I know your incredible focus has helped make you who you are, but when fans say, "Good luck, Tiger," look their way and say, "Hey, thanks." —Pat McGuckin, Sherman, Ill. You might as well ask him to give blood, Gucko.

This is the paradox (most likely temporary) of Charles Howell. He has been labeled golf's next big thing, virtually knighted as the Next Tiger by media desperate to find and/or create another Tiger Woods. Yet, as the Herd correctly thundered, Howell hasn't won anything yet. In a world whose collective attention span is no longer than a Nike commercial, it doesn't matter that Howell is only 23, that he left college a year early to turn professional, that this is his second full season on the PGA Tour, that he's just beginning the long learning curve of a tour player or that just about everyone thinks he is a future superstar. What matters is that he hasn't won yet -- he lost a playoff to Shigeki Maruyama last year in Milwaukee -- and lately has faded from view. His game is impressive but his recent results aren't. He hasn't finished better than 16th since mid-February, although he is 41st on the money list and 61st in the World Ranking. "If Charles played in Europe, I guarantee he would've won by now," said his teacher, David Leadbetter, who was in Howell's gallery for most of the first two rounds. "He just needs to learn how to win, and when he wins the first one, it'll elevate him to such a different level, he'll have the confidence to go on and win plenty after that."

Clearly, Howell is a player still waiting for his defining moment, as described by Kevin Costner's philosophical though intellectually bankrupt range pro in the pseudo-golf movie Tin Cup. "You define the moment," decreed Roy (Tin Cup) McAvoy, "or the moment defines you." Somehow, Howell managed to do both at Hazeltine National. For 2 1/2 rounds, he looked on the verge of a breakthrough week and determinedly stayed within a few shots of the lead. Then, on the last 10 holes of Saturday's windy third round, it turned into a breakdown week. He made three double bogeys: a four-putt green at the ninth, the last three from inside three feet, "like a knife in the back," Howell's father said; a poor drive pushed out of bounds by the wind at the 15th; and an unlucky shot at the par-3 17th that caromed off an overhanging tree branch, bounced across the green and into a pond. "It didn't feel like an 80 but it was every damn bit of it," a disappointed Howell said. "Shooting 80 was like putting a bullet in my foot ... although a bullet in my foot might've felt better. To finish like that is pathetic."

Howell's week was a mix of good, bad, ugly and weird. When storms caused a three-hour delay Thursday and pushed his 2 p.m. tee time back, his outlook was dimmer than Homer Simpson. He was 1-over par as he played the short, tree-lined 357-yard 14th hole under the auspices of a dwindling gallery that included his father, a pediatric surgeon in Augusta, Ga., and Leadbetter. "He drove this green in the practice round," his father said. Young Howell hit 4-iron off the tee this time, then hit his approach shot into the front bunker. "A foot short," said Dad, shaking his head. Howell missed his par putt, and before he could tap in for bogey a siren sounded, ending play for the day. Howell used his option to putt out but dropped to 2-over par. After a quick session on the practice range with Leadbetter before total darkness fell, the Howell entourage drove off in a courtesy car in search of a late-night dinner.

Near the Radisson Hotel, Howell spotted a Subway sandwich shop still open. As they pulled into the parking lot, they noticed that it was cordoned off and that police officers were inside. The store, they would learn, had just been the scene of an attempted robbery. One of the robbers was shot and killed by a plainclothed policeman. "Charles asked an officer if we could get something to eat there and the officer, a woman, said, 'No, you don't understand, the robbery and killing were inside Subway,'" said Dr. Howell. "So we said, 'OK, we'll just go next door to T.G.I. Friday's.' The officer said, 'No, that's closed, too. One of the robbery suspects ran in there, put on a waiter's shirt and we finally caught him in back by the Dumpster.'"

So the group returned to Howell's hotel room and ordered room service. "If we'd gotten there half an hour earlier, who knows what would've happened?" said Leadbetter. "We'd have been in the middle of it. I heard Justin Rose was eating at Friday's, where one of the robbers ran."

The rain-interrupted round was inconvenient but proved a bonus for Howell, who played 22 holes Friday in 5-under par and moved into the top 10. He birdied the last two holes of the delayed first round to finish his opening 18 at even par; a 90-foot birdie at the 18th that Howell said was the longest putt he's ever holed had "potential defining moment" written all over it. For starters, it touched a hot issue. Howell's putting stroke and short game have played key roles in why he hasn't been a bigger instant success. He ranked 142nd in putting, 191st in sand saves and 102nd in the tour's scrambling statistics before the PGA. Second, it highlighted what may prove to be a key to his future success. Howell hooked up with English caddie Brendan McCartain, whose résumé includes looping for José María Olazábal's Masters win in 1999. "A lot of things are in his reach," said McCartain, Howell's fourth different caddie this year. They got together at the John Deere Classic late last month, and the pairing may stick. "Brendan is a phenomenal green reader," said Howell. "He's helped me immensely. That 90-footer I made, he pointed to a spot my normal hard-headed self wouldn't have agreed with but I thought, What the heck. I rolled it right over his spot and it went in. That was big."

Ironically, it was Howell's short game, scrambling and putting that carried him the first two rounds at Hazeltine. He has reason for optimism. He has squared his blade on his putting stroke after several frustrating months of an inside-to-inside stroke path and gone back to the 2-Ball putter after weeks of experimenting with other models. "Anyone who thinks my putting is holding me back hasn't seen me putt lately," said Howell, who closed with a 69. "The last three or four weeks it's been the strongest part of my game. I've improved immensely. My problem this week was that I didn't hit enough fairways." Whether Howell, who hit 31 of 56 fairways, becomes a star or a superstar in the long run will depend on whether his putting approaches the level of his ballstriking.

"His putting technique is getting better," Leadbetter said. "He never really paid much attention to it, he just always liked to hit balls, like Nick Price. I wouldn't say Charles is mechanical, but he doesn't have quite the flair and feel of Sergio García or Ernie Els. He putted well here the first two days but you've got to do it every day. You can't just be an average putter. No matter how good a ballstriker you are, it'll wear you down eventually. You've got to putt. I think he can."

As Howell walked to the scoring trailer Sunday afternoon, he tossed his glove into a crowd of fans behind the 18th green. Howell's Herd was nearby, waiting to say goodbye. "That 80 yesterday was a killer," Phillips said. When asked what's next for the Herd, all three members had blank looks. Then Meisenger's face suddenly brightened. "The Masters next April," he said. "That would be cool."

Augusta native Charles Howell, who said he was nearly moved to tears when he teed off on the first hole in his first Masters this year, would agree. That would be very cool.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle writes for the magazine's Golf Plus section and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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