Can new rivalries put golf on an upswing?

Let's see if we've got this straight: Tiger and Phil dislike one another, nobody likes Vijay, and everybody likes Ernie.

If those names and attendant soap operas cause bafflement, you must lack a bunker mentality. For golf fans, the searing rivalries among Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, and Ernie Els will come into sharp relief this week at Augusta National Golf Club, where the 69th Masters tees off Thursday.

The golf world is staking a lot on these newfound rivalries, which have morphed into a compelling story line during the past year. If the Big Four can sustain the enthusiasm around the PGA Tour, it could help reverse a 25 percent dip in TV ratings since 2001.

The Masters, known for its jaw-dropping dogwoods and gushing azaleas, as well as an organizing committee obsessed with traditions, provides the biggest stage yet for the unfolding rivalry. The event also heralds the start of golf's major championship season. (The three other majors are the US Open, British Open, and the PGA Championship.)

As recently as 2002, Woods, a three-time Masters winner, was considered almost unbeatable and experts suggested no one could offer the young superstar legitimate competition. In 1997, at age 21, Woods became the youngest Masters champion in history and set a tournament record with a gaudy 12-shot victory margin.

And now? He's fighting to recapture his former glory. Despite two tournament wins this season, Woods has failed to win any of the last 10 major championships - an unthinkable drought by his lofty standards. Singh, who won an incredible nine PGA Tour events in 2004, now holds the No. 1 ranking, which once seemed Woods's birthright.

As for Mickelson, he has won three tournaments this year, including the BellSouth Classic on Monday. Mickelson captured his first major championship, after a dozen years of futility, at last year's Masters, where he birdied five of the last seven holes, including the dramatic clincher, an 18-foot birdie putt on the 72nd and final hole of play.

The victim of Mickelson's clutch putt was none other than Els, the lone Big Four member without a coveted green jacket, the award bestowed upon all Masters champions. Els's résumé includes two US Open titles and a British Open crown.

"I like Ernie Els [to win] right off the bat," says Lanny Wadkins, who played in the Masters for two decades and now serves as lead golf analyst on CBS. "His game seems to be hitting on all cylinders. If he drives it straight, I think he's going to be a force."

The laid-back Els is a favorite with both players and fans, something none of the other top guns can boast. Singh, the 2000 Masters champ, has backers in the locker room, but his chilly, caustic demeanor does little to curry public favor. The ebullient, what-me-worry Mickelson is a gallery favorite, but at least a portion of his competitors consider him a press-happy phony. Woods, a vicious complainer and competitor alike, is thought to be aloof by many fellow players, though he retains rock-star status among golf fans.

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