Chris Berman at the Masters? Boomer in Butler Cabin? The Swami amid the azaleas?

Traditionalists were all but saying prayers in Amen Corner as ESPN prepared to televise the Masters for the first time last year.

False alarm. ESPN used Mike Tirico, not Berman, to host, a role Tirico also filled this April.

The network said then and Berman reiterated last week that the decision primarily was schedule-driven, because he was preparing to host the NFL draft. He said it is a perennial conflict, which is why he never covered the Masters even before ESPN secured rights to televise it.

Still, the notion he did not belong there even in ESPN's very limited hosting role at the Masters stung, because he considers himself a knowledgeable, passionate golf announcer, fan and player.

Thursday and Friday, he will call the first two rounds of the U.S. Open for the seventh year (with the blessing of the USGA). He has covered the event since Shinnecock in 1986, when he was the lone ESPN reporter, and has attended it since he sneaked into all four rounds of the '74 Open at Winged Foot.

"Anyone who says I was told not to do it, no, it was never even a factor,'' Berman said of the Masters. "To me, whatever they say doesn't matter.''

"They'' are the detractors who have turned Berman into a shtick figure and a popular target for criticism, even as he remains the Bristol Stompers' most prominent on-air personality.

Berman only occasionally does interviews, during which he often is put on the defensive. But he seemed eager in a 30-minute phone interview to put his golf credentials into perspective.

"I can't advertise for the other 51 weeks, 'Hey, by the way, you know I do the U.S. Open?' '' he said. "But I've done it for now over 20 years.

"My passion is there. I follow the tour closely. I have friends on the tour. I'm dialed in. I'm just not dialed in where you'd see me do 10 PGA events each year. Anyone who has paid attention wouldn't bring it up; those who maybe haven't paid attention for 20 years might.''

Berman acknowledged golf is less conducive to jocularity than some sports, but he added, "When I see golf on TV, at times it's a little too reverential.''

So nothing wrong with lightening the mood, right? "But that doesn't mean it's 'Caddyshack' or even 'Tin Cup,' which is a great film. Everything is treated with respect. It's within the moment of golf.''

Yes, there will be nicknames, from Ground Control to David Toms to Roger Chocolate Maltbie. But he will pick his spots.

"It's in the spirit of what I've done in my career for 30 years,'' he said. "Nothing has changed.''

Earlier, he had said, "Constructive criticism is great, but to say I have an 'act' would be missing the point.''

Berman, 54, a 17-handicap, played Bethpage Black in May and shot 100.

"Demoralizing,'' he said. "Once you're putting for a 25-foot bogey on every hole, one of which I made, it's demoralizing. There's no letup there.''

Berman was there in '02, of course, and likened the famously energetic gallery to a baseball crowd - enthusiastic, yes, but not quite as bloodthirsty as a football or hockey audience.

"It was a little different crowd," he said. "It reminded me of a baseball crowd, a murmur rather than silence. Not a 'kill-the-quarterback' yelling, not that, but a respectful baseball crowd. It was funny."

Did someone say "funny?'' Is that allowed in golf?