The possibilities are endless as 2009 cranks up

text size

Kinnaird/Getty Images

Will Greg Norman (left) and Padraig Harrington face off again when the British Open takes place at Turnberry?

It's one of those damp, gray winter days when the temperature outside is hovering in the low 40s and even when sitting inside there's a chill in your bones.

Two days ago, it was a flip-flops-and-shorts 83 degrees. Today, you want to curl up under a warm throw. Not think about anything. Not even golf.

Getty Images

When will Tiger Woods return? Only he knows that answer.

Yet that's part of the job. The first tee shot of the 2009 PGA TOUR season, after all, is just two days away.

Golf went into hibernation for, what, a week?

Even then we didn't really get away.

President-elect Barack Obama showed off his swing in Hawaii and it's being scrutinized as closely as his just-proposed stimulus plan. John Daly announced he would be playing mostly in Europe while he serves a six-month suspension from the PGA TOUR.

Greg Norman's thinking about the Masters -- son Gregory will be his caddie -- and that has us thinking about the possibility. Even if he will be 54.

The British Medical Journal says those thin-faced titanium drivers could lead to hearing problems. We're not making this up. The man whose hearing deteriorated said, when the ball came off the face, the sound was more of a sonic boom than a loud college baseball-bat ping.

And Tiger Woods -- the stats tell us -- will likely become the sport's first billionaire in the coming months. Like that's a surprise.

Everyone's predicting this or that. Another major for Padraig Harrington. An epiphany for Daly. A major moment for Anthony Kim or Camilo Villegas. An end to Sergio Garcia's frustration. Could the same someone win the FedExCup and the Race to Dubai?

A crack. A thud. The breeze has snapped another limb off a tree previously pruned by Hurricane Ike.

The wind's blowing now, so we think about Norman and Harrington battling the gusts at Birkdale. Could we have an encore at Turnberry?

Yes, that's how my mind is working on this chilly afternoon. It's a day to just go with the flow.

We think about pressing pause. Just for a minute. One more deep breath would be nice.

We're still waiting for Tiger's knee to heal and his second born to bow in. We're wondering if Obama could someday trim his soon-to-be-presidential handicap to a single digit and how the new schedule will affect playing schedules.

Now, ready or not, the 2009 season is here.

The Road to Dubai is underway and the folks who tweaked the FedExCup points system are hoping the third version will be the charm. We're wondering who came to the Mercedes-Benz Championship ready to make us take note.

Stuart Appleby was a surprise here. Once. He's owned the tournament of late, but not this year. He didn't make the field.

With Tiger still on the sidelines and Phil Mickelson playing homebody on the West Coast, this one could be fun. Oh, sure, Vijay Singh, Geoff Ogilvy, Davis Love III and Ernie Els are there, but so are some of those faces you may get to know. A Cameron Beckman. Or Ryan Palmer. Or Will MacKenzie.

Could less mean more? Yes, we're talking the Masters now. Here's hoping that a few nips and tucks there will give us back something resembling the old Augusta. Those birdie and eagle roars echo across the course and electrify the field. Add those capricious winds and . . . that's the Augusta we love.

Tiger will be back when he's ready. It doesn't matter what our best guess is. It's what he thinks that counts. And, yes, he'll pick up where he left off.

And Phil? He's an E-ticket ride every time he tees it up whether it's with five wedges, two drivers or no driver.

Some of the best things about each new season are what you can't predict. Tiger and Rocco Mediate at the U.S. Open. Norman's run at Birkdale. Harrington's second and third majors. Kenny Perry's streak and Ryder Cup quest. Johnson Wagner and the rest of the new kids on the block. Kim's leap to the short list. Zach Johnson's comeback. And a gallop or two from Boo Weekley.

All this has brought a few 2009 possibilities to mind, things we'd like to see, but . . . we'll keep them to ourselves. For the moment.

The temperature has dropped another few degrees. More rain is on the way. It's time to curl up one last time. Press pause one last time. Take that deep breath.

The forecast for Thursday? We're expecting sun, 72 degrees and focus. But we'll still need that comfy throw -- this time to tune in for the opening round at Kapalua, the lush green fairways, the beaches and those first surprises of the 2009 season.