By RON KROICHICK, San Francisco Chronicle

XWe're not sure if Detroit Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez follows golf or even knows the Presidents Cup is coming to San Francisco. But Ordonez's rocky 2009 season seems like an apt analogy in the wake of Adam Scott's preposterous appointment to the International team.

Stick with us on this for a moment.

Y. E. Yang once dreamed of becoming a bodybuilder and owning a gym. He first swung a golf club at age 19, when a friend took him to a small driving range in Korea, where Yang smacked balls off a mat and into a net. He broke par for the first time at 22.

Not exactly the anticipated profile of a future Tiger slayer, eh?

If Tiger Woods does not win next week's PGA Championship, he will finish 2009 without a major title. And his season, even with four victories and counting, will practically be an abject failure.

Anthony Kim and Hunter Mahan were major golf revelations on the international stage at last year's Ryder Cup. Kim and Mahan offered such fresh energy and clutch shots that U.S. captain Paul Azinger sent them out first and second, respectively, in singles play on the final day.

The last time the U.S. Open came to Bethpage Black, a sprawling public course on Long Island, the fans roared for Phil Mickelson, tormented Sergio Garcia and wedged themselves into the story line alongside Tiger Woods, who capped an otherworldly stretch by winning his seventh major in less than three years.

Wednesday's news made it official: The Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club will join the rotation for next year's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

One of my enduring memories from Phil Mickelson's electrifying final round in this year's Masters was hiking up the steep hill to the No. 9 green. Mickelson soon would save par to complete his record-tying, front-nine 30, before a throng of people eager to catch a glimpse of him and Tiger Woods.

Three notable players handled disappointment last Sunday at the Masters in different ways -- and, consequently, we learned something about each of them.
-- Kenny Perry is candid and accountable.

Parting thoughts after a Masters with more intriguing twists and turns than the last three editions combined:

Two years running, the Masters has lurched to an unsatisfying conclusion. In 2007 and again last year, the final round offered few birdies, little excitement, champions with no major pedigree and none of the enduring images Augusta National so often produces -- Tiger Woods chipping, Phil Mickelson exulting, Greg Norman collapsing.