USATODAY.com - Singh, Woods, Els, Mickelson create Fab Four era

Tom Spousta is another sports writer who sounds very happy that so many top-flight golfers are hitting their stride at the same time.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — They've jockeyed on the money list and world rankings, creating rivalries and causing flashbacks to golf's Sans-A-Belt days of the 1970s, if not the game's storied battles of the '50s and '60s.

Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson — the Big Four, in order, according to this week's Official World Golf Ranking — meet for the second time this season in The Players Championship, the so-called fifth major that offers the PGA Tour's highest purse ($8 million) and largest winner's check ($1.44 million)...

Of course, Mr. Spousta's headline writer is pushing his luck with some people, I'm sure, by using 'Fab Four'. There are some folks who just might have thought that designation was already taken.

Mr. Spousta, it should be noted, calls them the Big Four in his article.

(Note to Mr. Spousta. I wrote for a newspaper for about ten years. Believe me, I know how much fun it can be to live down headlines cooked up by the editors. My condolences.)

Just to be clear, other sports writers I've read lately don't seem as inclined to make a sharp cut at the top four, not with so many other guys nipping at their heels. This is one wild year in golf.