We're familiar with Tiger's tale, What about Phil?

Golf writers and analysts looking for someone to write or chat about as a follow-up to South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen surprise victory at the British Open Sunday have chosen the usual suspect: Tiger Woods. And they've been asking the same series of questions i.e. ... Why did Woods fall short again? Will he ever win another major title? Will he ever win another PGA Tour event? Will he ever return to the same level of greatness that he enjoyed before his sex-capades were disclosed last Thanksgiving?

Evidently, the sports world still hungers for any Tiger morsel they can get, despite the half-billion dollar man's fall from grace. But there's another intriguing golf story that's been neglected or ignored. And the questioning should begin with this: Why can't Phil Mickelson officially knock Woods from No. 1? He's had his chances.

Since winning the Masters last April, Mickelson's first crack at toppling Tiger came last May at the Colonial, in Fort Worth, TX. He missed the cut. Mickelson and Woods finished tied for fourth at the U.S. Open (won by Graeme McDowell) in Pebble Beach, CA., so he didn't gain any ground there. Two weeks ago, Mickelson missed the cut at the Scottish Open and on Sunday he finished 1-over par at the British Open while Woods finished 3-under.

In PGA Tour rankings released Sunday Woods remains at No. 1 with a 10.14 average point total. Mickelson is second (9.38) and Lee Westwood is third (9.15). Woods, with a game that once included an aura of shots designed by the golf gods, now plays an ordinary game. A new putter didn't help at the British Open and nothing else is likely to help as long as he plays with his soul trapped in purgatory. He thought for sure that he would have won a 15th major title by now.

"It just didn't happen, but we still have one more," Woods said.

With several events left, including the final major - PGA Championships in Kohler, Wisconsin Aug. 12-15 - Woods and Mickelson' s battle for No. 1 is still up for grabs. Expect another chorus of Tiger-can't-do-it-anymore reports if Woods goes 0 for 4 at the majors this year. And if Mickelson still doesn't rise to No. 1... maybe we'll read or hear something about that, too.

A Personal Note --- I drove roundtrip - from Washington, D.C. to Hampton, Va. - last Saturday to say farewell to a childhood friend, Ronald C. Perkins, Sr., at his gravesite services. Our fathers were among several African Americans who owned businesses in Hampton during the 1950s. His father, Andrew Perkins, Sr., owned a convenience store on Armistead Ave.; my father, Samuel R. Smith, Sr., owned the Blue Eagle Cafe, just around the corner on West Queen St.

I was three years older than Ronald, too much of an age difference for us to have become good buddies during our younger years. I knew him mainly as Andrew, Jr.'s younger brother, the kid who wasn't afraid of dead people. To no one's surprised, Ronald finished Virginia Union University in Richmond, Va. and then trained to become a mortician. In 1983 he became the owner and manager of Ronald C. Perkins Funeral Home, until his death July 13. During reflections, every speaker spoke of Ronald's integrity, sensitivity and good heart. One speaker told how Ronald once gave a homeless woman enough money to get food and a hotel room for a week.

I learned first-hand of Ronald's good heart when three of my brothers, Harvey, John and James, died in different years without insurance to cover the cost of their burials. Knowing that we couldn't handle the amount due, Ronald and his wife, Dianne, worked out payment plans with my sister, Geraldine Francis, and me, that were fair and reasonable. He oversaw each of my brothers' funerals, making sure that each of our loved ones received a decent, dignified burial. Thanks again, Ronald, for being you. I will forever be grateful.