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Sports Bog's Dan Steinberg is covering the AT & T National this week and the Washington Post "nominated" (his word, not mine) him to interview Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who was at the tournament Saturday.

After easing into the Q & A (Do you have a policy about mulligans at all?), Steinberg asked some tough questions. Namely, Rice's take on the PGA Tour's news drug-testing program ("... I don't have time to follow such things, but I do think it's important that these sports find a way to be clean..."), her thoughts on Augusta National being a male-only club ("I'm not going to comment on that. It's a private club. I'm not going to comment on it..."), and the President's promise to not play golf as long as the United States is at war, and if Cabinet secretaries have their own policies (Paraphrasing Rice, "to each their own").

But perhaps the most revealing part of the interview was Rice's answer to the question, "Do you have a favorite golfer?"

Well, everybody loves Tiger Woods, and I know him a little bit from Stanford, so he's terrific. But I've got a lot of golfers that I really love watching. Phil Mickelson I love watching, and Fred Funk, who's out here. And a couple years ago I met Stewart Cink. I've met now a number of golfers. Brad Faxon is somebody I love to watch putt.

Forget Tiger or Phil -- that's pretty much everybody's answer to such questions, I just want to point out that Brad Faxon has a fan (which certainly explains this). I'm kidding -- and if anything, it shows Rice knows a little something about golf. Faxon is known for one reason: the flatstick. He's never been particularly consistent with any of the other 13 clubs in his bag, and although he has eight PGA Tour victories, his last was in 2005 (and before that, 2001).

If anything, though, it just goes to show how far a good putter will take you. Faxon annually ranks near the bottom of the tour in driving distance, but he's always one of the best once he's on the green. Mr. Faxon, I salute you, sir.