It's a phrase you've probably heard hundreds of times, particularly if you play sports: "I'd rather be lucky than good."

Nowhere is this cliche more prevalent than at golf courses, where any kind of shot that takes a fortunate bounce seems to push the words from a player's lips.

I had never given the saying much thought -- it's an annoying cliche, after all -- until playing golf last week with a guy who said it at least three times. Maybe my ego's a little bigger than most, but I'd rather take credit for a good shot than write it off as luck.

Come to think of it, why would anyone want to be lucky instead of good?

Think about it. Lucky gets you the last seat on standby, good gets you your own plane. Lucky is finding a quarter on the ground outside Wal-Mart, good is having the foresight to buy Wal-Mart stock in the 1970s.

AP Photo/Bill Kostroun Get lucky and you might get a foul ball from Alex Rodriguez. Of course, if you're good, you might get his contract.

If you're lucky, you might land tickets to "The Odd Couple." Of course, if you're good, you'll have a spot up on stage. Lucky gets you out of a ticket when the cop catches you going 80 in a 55. Good lets you trade paint with Jeff Gordon at 200 mph. Lucky is catching Barry Bonds' 716th home run; good is being the one who hit it.

The way I see it, lucky is a fluke, something you can't rely on. Good is consistency that creates its own form of luck.

The way I see it, I'd rather be good than lucky.

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PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

The third round of the PGA Championship on Saturday, with all those great shots peppering the flags and the birdies rolling in bunches, was about as good as it gets in golf. OK, so maybe it wasn't the grind-it-out, par-is-a-good-score play you expect in a major, but it was exciting and suspenseful, keeping an easily distracted person like me parked on the couch, wondering what was going to happen next.

It reminded me of the way the Masters was before the course was lengthened, when the roars from birdies and eagles could be heard throughout the loblolly pines. Maybe that's the way to go for future majors -- give the players a chance instead of trying to embarrass them.

As for the tournament, could the CBS announcers have climbed any deeper into Tiger Woods' shorts? I too was impressed by the way Woods methodically rolled over the field, but the CBS crew acted like proud parents watching their only son. I haven't heard that much homerism in the booth since I covered high school football a decade ago.

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LOOSE BALLS

A New York Mets fan was arrested last week for impersonating a journalist after being caught with a fake NBC badge while trying to get into Shea Stadium. Guess I should watch out -- I've been impersonating a journalist for years. ...

Anyone else notice that no one seems to care about what's happening to Barry Bonds now that he's not hitting homers? ...

ESPN has will broadcast the rest of the Little League World Series on a 5-second delay after a 12-year-old from the Staten Island, N.Y. team was overhead playing the F-note in the dugout during a telecast. It's amazing the skills these kids are learning today. ...

A University of Mississippi study showed that fantasy sports players spend an average of 3.8 hours per week managing their teams. No wonder it takes so long to get my burger at the drive-thru.

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John Marshall is asap's sports writer, based in Denver.

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