'I guess I really am on the PGA Tour,' indeed

SAN DIEGO -- Unheralded, unknown and all but overlooked, rookie Kevin Streelman was rolling a few practice putts on the putting green Thursday when he reached into the hole to retrieve his ball.

Kevin Streelman entered this tournament ranked No. 1,114 in the world. Says Tiger Woods: 'I think it might be going up.' (AP)

As he stood up, some dude with a near-visible aura was standing over him. Streelman all but swallowed his tongue. It was Tiger Woods.

"I said, 'Wow, I guess I really am on the PGA Tour,'" Streelman said.

Too slack-jawed to say anything, Streelman kept his trap shut and didn't introduce himself.

"Too scared," he said.

He'd better get over it. Sure, it's a young season, but the 29-year-old rookie has become the tour's best potential Cinderella story since Jason Gore nearly stole the show at the U.S. Open three years ago.

Shortly after he saw Woods on the practice area, Streelman was added to the field as the third and final alternate and given five minutes to report to the first tee box as a fill-in for an ailing player who had withdrawn at the last second. Saturday, the longtime mini-tour veteran will play in the final group with the inestimably famous Woods himself.

"It's been a whirlwind beginning to my tour career," he said.

Now he's stepping into a hurricane. Streelman is one of those sports figures who, far too infrequently, steps out of absolute anonymity and into the glare of the world stage. To frame the weekend, consider that Woods has been ranked No. 1 in the world for most of his 12 years on tour.

Streelman entered the week ranked No. 1,114.

"Sounds about right," he said.

Streelman is 8 under at the halfway point at Torrey Pines Golf Course, four shots behind the front-running Woods, the three-time defending champion. David and Goliath doesn't begin to do it justice.

Not only was Streelman the last man added to the field, at the last second, he has been climbing uphill for years just to gain a toehold. He had to birdie four of the last five holes in the first stage of Qualifying School last fall just for the chance to advance. After seven tries, he made it through the finals, finishing in a tie for 14th. That might be one advantage he has over Woods, who has never had to fight to keep his head above water professionally or financially, as Streelman has done for seven years as a low-level, minor-league tour hopeful.