Micheel's burden will get lighter when shoulder is fixed

Micheel next week will fly to Birmingham, Ala., where noted sports surgeon James Andrews will handle the procedure. Andrews has pieced back together so many shoulders of famous baseball players, it's hard to keep track of them all.

Micheel, winner of the 2003 PGA Championship, originally scheduled the surgery for last week, during the Memorial Tournament, but elected to postpone it. He lives in suburban Memphis, site of the Stanford event, so waiting one more week isn't going to kill him and it'll make the locals happy, too.

"It's a hometown thing for me," said Micheel, who has ties to the St. Jude's hospital.

The joint has gotten so loose, Micheel said it barely hurts anymore, but it sure as heck isn't doing much for his golf swing. He's 159th on the money list with $157,828 in 15 starts. As a result of the surgery, he will receive a major medical exemption to play next year.

That provision should provide him perhaps another dozen tournaments to reach the earnings total posted by the player who finishes No. 125 at the end of this season. On that front, there's some urgency, since Micheel needs to finish in the top 125 to retain his card. His five-year exemption for winning the 2003 PGA expires at the end of this season. As an indication of how crucial his 2009 starts will rank and how far he will have to climb, the player finishing at No. 125 earned $785,180 last year.

As though the sound of his shoulder popping in and out of joint wasn't enough of a distraction, it's also tough to get his left arm in the proper position during his backswing. That should be no surprise, since there's so much "play" in the loosened joint he can't find a consistent arm slot or predict how it will react.

"Sometimes, it catches on the way back," he said, flexing his arm.

Here's the definition of unpredictable: In his final round at the Memorial Tournament last weekend, Micheel was 2 under through 11 holes yet somehow stumbled in with a 79.

The 39-year-old said the shoulder really began to bother him earlier in the year, but like an annoying rattle under the hood, he somewhat ignored it and hoped it would go away.

"We golfers, we try to play through these things," he said. "I probably should have stopped and gotten it dealt with back then."