Picture the NFL kicking off its 2008 season with open dates for both the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts the first three weeks.

Imagine the NBA, even with its mammoth schedule, letting LeBron James and Kobe Bryant ease into the season belatedly.

Yet that approximates what we could have — again — when the PGA opens its season three weeks from now with the Mercedes-Benz Championship on Maui. No Tiger Woods. And, quite possibly, no Phil Mickelson either. The two biggest name stand-out no-shows at the tipoff of the pro golfing calendar.

Woods told the Associated Press yesterday he doesn't plan to play a PGA Tour event until the Buick Invitational (Jan. 25 to 28), and Mickelson, who hasn't played the Mercedes in six years, hasn't said if he'll be back yet. The betting is that he won't return.

This isn't new of course. But regularity doesn't make it any more palatable. It just underlines how golf misses out on an opportunity to put its best foot forward at the first tee.

The all-champion Mercedes field has never managed to lasso all 32 winners and you understand the difficulty what with injuries, births, etc. But the loss of a Padraig Harrington once in a while is one thing. The consistent absence of your two marquee names is something else.

For Hawai'i — and the PGA — the loss is compounded. Since the first two events of the season, the Mercedes and Sony Open in Hawai'i, are both here, when Woods and Mickelson skip Mercedes they are kissing off two events. One of the ideas behind starting the year here with back-to-back tournaments instead of a single event was that more players would be likely to make the trip. Unfortunately, it is turning out the other way.

Maybe what the PGA Tour needs is to borrow from what the LPGA already has, a rule requiring its players to play each stop a minimum of once in four years. That way Kapalua would be assured of seeing Woods or Mickelson once in a while.

PGA spokesman Ty Votaw, a former LPGA commissioner, tried to put a smiley face on the situation, telling AP: "Last year you had people like Will MacKenzie make an impact at Mercedes, and this year there will be someone like that emerge."

Swell. Can hardly wait. But wasn't MacKenzie something like the No. 73rd-ranked golfer for 2007?

Can you imagine the NFL opening without the Patriots and Colts but with the breathless invitation to come out and see who will emerge as the new Arizona Cardinals?

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.

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