Do Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia stand a chance at 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage?

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- A lot can happen in seven years. So as we reconvene here at Bethpage Black for the United States Open, there is no reason to expect the same players who played well in 2002 to do so again in 2009.

Except Tiger Woods, of course. Like Jack Nicklaus, Woods has become the exception to pretty much any rule. He is a better, more well-rounded player now than he was in '02, although his Butch Harmon-coached swing then looked more repeatable than his flatter Hank Haney-coached method now. Coming off his Memorial win, and that exclamation point of a 7-iron that he stuffed to a couple of inches on the 72nd hole, Woods looks ready to resume his pursuit of Jack's once-untouchable record of 18 professional major championships.

So how about the supporting cast from '02 as they return for the sequel? Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia were Tiger's most serious pursuers then, but they aren't exactly peaking now.

Unlucky charms

Harrington, the popular Irishman, was the breakout star of 2008 when he repeated at the British Open and won the PGA Championship. This year has been a different story. Whatever the cause -- a letdown, too much swing tinkering? -- he is clearly suffering. His only top-15 finish in a PGA Tour event was a tie for 15th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He missed the cut in three of his last four events, wasn't in the top 30 at the Masters and wasn't in the top 40 at the Players.

He certainly doesn't look poised to contend again at Bethpage, where he was second after 36 holes in '02. Paired with Tiger on Saturday, he shot 73, and he fell back to eighth place with a closing 75. Harrington knows his game isn't quite where he wants and expects it to be yet, but he still exudes some confidence.

"I was No. 3 in the world," Harrington said Tuesday. "I wanted to get better, and the way to get better is to improve and change things, and if that means I step back a bit, that's OK in the short term. ... I understand the process that would bring me back to form. It's just a question of managing it and being patient and waiting for it to turn around."

Harrington is paired with Woods and Angel Cabrera, the Masters champion, for the first two rounds, a cute pairing that brings together the winners of the last four major championships.

"Obviously, I have to manage a bigger gallery than normal," Harrington said. "There will be a bit more of a buzz, and that can be a positive and a little bit of a negative."

Of course, Harrington didn't seem like much of a threat at last year's British Open, either, when a bad back prevented him from playing more than a couple of practice holes early in the week. Can you seriously ever count this man out? During the Tiger Era, he's won three majors, the same number as Mickelson and Vijay Singh.