Imagine what the reaction would have been if Jack Nicklaus had hit a 5-iron approach on a par-5 to inches from the cup to set up a tap-in eagle in a Skins Game, just as Phil Mickelson did Saturday.

Or if Lee Trevino came out and hit three consecutive laser iron shots to set up makeable birdie putts on the first three holes, just as K.J. Choi did on the first three holes of Saturday's LG Skins Game.

Chances are fans would have been enthralled had players such as Nicklaus or Trevino or Arnold Palmer produced those kind of Skins Game shots in their prime. The perception these days is that fans aren't as enthralled with the big Skins Games moments, and television ratings next week will likely bear out that fewer people are watching the Skins Game this weekend than when Nicklaus and Trevino were playing.

The point here is that while there might be a perception that the Skins Game isn't as interesting as it once was, it's not for a lack of quality play or dramatic shots.

Some of the play Saturday was every bit as good as anything that Nicklaus or Tiger Woods or Payne Stewart or Trevino ever produced in the previous 25 Skins Game. OK, there wasn't a hole in one like Trevino made in 1987. But Mickelson's brush with a double-eagle was almost as good. So was his remarkable recovery from a horrible tee shot, hitting a blind lob wedge from 68 yards at the bottom of the Whitewater Wash to less than two feet on No. 8.

Good golf

In all, the Skins foursome produced 14 credited birdies (some birdies were credited without a putt being made when a hole was already halved) and Mickelson's eagle. That's pretty good golf for nine holes.

But for a lot of fans, that kind of play would be more entertaining if it came from Gary Player, Palmer and Tom Watson. Even Mickelson admitted this week that the iconic nature of the players in the first few Skins Games was impossible to ignore.

“I've had a chance to play with Palmer, Nicklaus, Watson, Player, those guys,” Mickelson said. “It's always a memorable experience. To have those guys together and be able to watch them compete and banter, I think that was very special.”

But there are potentially memorable moments at every turn in the Skins Game, even if the players hitting those shots aren't the holder of 18 major championship winners, aren't nicknamed The King or aren't the king of the PGA Tour one-liners.

This week's Skins Game field has combined for 49 career tour victories, though Mickelson's three major titles are the only ones in the foursome. It's still a field full of good golfers.

With $900,000 available today, and with the Skins Game format designed to produce dramatic shots, no one knows what memorable moment may be produced at the Indian Wells Golf Resort. Who knows, it might even be something as memorable as something that Nicklaus or Palmer could have done.

Larry Bohannan covers golf for the Desert Sun. His columns appear Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He can be reached at 778-4633.