Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, once opined that "finishing second in the Olympics gets you silver; finishing second in politics get you oblivion." Perhaps, but, in golf, maybe the albatross that used to accompany a second-place finish in a major championship is becoming something of a merit badge.

It all depends on how the player handles the defeat. Or, in some instances, the collapse.

The Masters has never witnessed a more pitiful meltdown than the one by Greg Norman in 1996, when he took a six-shot lead into the final round, shot 78 and was passed by his playing partner, Nick Faldo, who felt so bad on the 18th green that the usually stodgy Englishman hugged Norman as though he were a 4-year-old who had skinned his knee. Faldo merely was doing what everyone in the golf world wanted to do: Wrap their arms around the Shark and tell him it's going to be OK.

Three weeks ago, Norman returned, at age 54, to the Augusta National Golf Club, his first appearance in the Masters since 2002, and it was as though his return proved to be a cruel yet ironic bit of foreshadowing for what would happen on the final day to Kenny Perry. Or, Poor Kenny Perry, as he has been referred to on many occasions since Easter Sunday.

There weren't too many people at Augusta National whose spirit didn't plummet faster than a retirement account when Perry, holding a two-shot lead with two holes to play, bogeyed the final two holes of regulation, then lost on the second extra hole of a sudden-death playoff to Angel Cabrera with some of the ugliest shots the 13-time PGA Tour winner has ever manufactured.

The other day, Perry said he would like to have that chip shot over on No. 17, the one that was all but bladed across the green by a fidgety right hand that goes off -- his words -- when the 48-year-old Kentuckian gets under pressure.

Well, how about any of the approach shots on his final four holes that never touched the green, misses as bad as Yo-Yo Ma plucking the wrong cello string? How about the 12-foot par putt on the 72nd hole that never reached the cup, a gag that even Perry admitted was unpardonable with a major championship on the line?

Perry would have been the oldest player to win a major championship if he hadn't frittered his two-shot lead. Instead, he will be remembered as the player who blew not one, but two major championships.

But golf has a way of remembering lovable losers for the classy manner in which they handled their disappointing defeat. Norman in '96. Mike Donald, a playoff loser to Hale Irwin, in the 1990 U.S. Open. Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot.

So it is with Perry.

Move over, Shark. The Masters has another heartfelt memory that won't fade into oblivion.

Only two active players on the PGA Tour have won the Masters and U.S. Open. Tiger Woods is one. Who is the other? Answer at end.

Mike Van Sickle isn't the only Pine-Richland High School graduate who is having success in college.

Mitch Mercer, one of his scholastic teammates, has won five consecutive tournaments for Susquehanna University, a Division III school in Selinsgrove, Pa. The latest was Monday's Elmira College Spring Invitational in which Mercer took medalist honors among 50 players with a 3-over 75.

Mercer, a junior, began his streak April 9 with a two-shot victory in a field of 99 players in the Blue Jay Classic at Hershey (Pa.) Country Club. He then shot 72 and won the Bent Creek Invitational, shot 1-under 70 to win the Glemaura National College Invitational by four shots and posted a two-shot victory in the Susquehanna University Invitational (74) April 22.

The biggest reward is yet to come: An invitation to the NCAA Division III championship.

Arnold Palmer first met Curt Siegel when they each played on the PGA Tour in the late 1960s. Siegel, in fact, earned his playing card by being in the first graduating class of the PGA Tour qualifying school, which was instituted in the fall of 1965.

"Curt tried to play the tour and I didn't know him well; he was just one of the guys trying to play professional golf," Palmer said. "Then he came to Laurel Valley and I've known him pretty well ever since."

Siegel, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., came to Laurel Valley as an assistant professional in 1970, then replaced John Capebianco a year later as head professional. That's when he befriended Palmer, and the two have remained friends since.

Siegel, 68, died Monday of a heart attack, saddening Palmer and the many people at Laurel Valley who knew him from the 35 years he spent as head professional and director of golf at the exclusive Ligonier club. Siegel retired in 2006 and was named golf professional emeritus at Laurel Valley.

Siegel's death came less than three weeks before he was scheduled to receive the Adelphoi Humanitarian Award for his fundraising efforts for the Nellie Briles Fund at a May 17 dinner at Latrobe Country Club. Instead, Palmer will present the award to Siegel's wife of 35 years, Mary.

Angel Cabrera, who won the 73rd Masters last month, also won the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont.