PHIL MICKELSON IS SKIPPING THE UPCOMING U.S. OPEN Nope. He won't be there.
And you know what? It’s going to be okay. Shame on you for bad-mouthing Phil Mickelson for choosing, what I’m sure was not a snap decision, to skip the upcoming U.S. Open at Erin Hills to attend his daughter’s high school commencement. It’s not just any old commencement, either. She’s presenting a speech to her fellow graduates. He’s supposed to miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for … ANOTHER golf tournament? I know. I can hear you, lunatic golf fans. “BUT IT’S A MAJOR!” “HE’S NEVER WON A U.S. OPEN!” “DOES HE EVEN CARE?” Apparently, not as much as you do. He even told the Golf Channel it "wasn't a hard decision". "I love the (U.S.) Open, but this is a special moment for us," Mickelson said. "I mean, my daughter's speaking, she's giving the speech there at graduation. It's just one of those things, you need to be there. So it wasn't a hard decision at all." Some dopes out there had the audacity to start at online petition to get Phil’s daughter’s school to change the date and time of the commencement ceremonies so they (selfishly) could watch Lefty hit a few 7-irons around Erin Hills. He’s played in two-decades worth of U.S. Opens. You can’t give him one year off? Yes, I love watching Phil, too. He’s one of the game’s most iconic characters, recognizable faces and easy-to-cheer-for players. But, come on… Let the man be with his family. It’s the right decision, by the way. Photo courtesy: Getty Images
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See you later Coach T. I wish you well in Oregon. The Ducks are getting a GREAT man and GREAT coach. I have heard you pundits out there today on your keyboards'...
Image: golfweek.com Tiger is coming back.
(Maybe.) Let me take a moment to celebrate, properly. YESSSSSSSS!!!!! {Insert fist pump here, along with streamers, glitter, confetti and those fancy little cupcakes you can eat in one bite.} Just the hint that Tiger MAY be back on the course soon elicits that reaction from most golf fans, both die hard and casual. On Wednesday, when Mr. Woods announced his intentions to return to competitive golf later this year, it was like winning the golfing lottery. And that is actually the problem with golf. Without Tiger, golf doesn’t have the same buzz. It doesn’t have the same wide-reaching appeal. And as great as Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and the rest of the game’s young guns are, they aren’t now and never will be as popular and polarizing as Tiger. Golf needs Tiger Woods way more than Tiger Woods needs golf. TW has gotten every drop out of golf that was available to be squeezed from of the game: 14 majors, 79 wins, 10-time PGA player of the year. It’s an unapproachable resume, unless your name is Jack. The game still wants to wring out every last magical ounce of Tiger-mania even if that well has long run dry. It’s very possible that Tiger will come back and struggle to make cuts. He’s 40 with an ailing back and surgery scars all over his body. He may not, and probably won’t ever, be even an average PGA Tour player again. He can’t bomb it like he used to. He could get hurt again. He doesn’t intimidate those aforementioned young guns anymore. We’re all hoping he’s Superman. In reality, he may be more like Clark Kent. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with Clark Kent but when you get accustomed to seeing Superman wearing red on Sundays for nearly two decades, Clark Kent is a bespectacled letdown. If/When Tiger tees it up at the Safeway Open in Napa Valley on October 13-16 it will be a tornado of golf excitement. He simply said he “hopes” to play. I hope he does, too. I also hope there is another Tiger-like talent coming along that can carry the sport for a new generation of fans because Tiger-mania, as we've seen, won't be around much longer. Congratulations, Jimmy Walker.
And Dally Willet, Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson. You are all newly minted major champions. Boy, I don’t like the sound of that. With all due respect to the players, who are all FANTASTIC golfers and, from what I hear and read, great guys, too, having four first-time major winners in a calendar year is not good for the game of golf. It’s just not. I’m all for guys on Tour making their money and having success and winning during the year. But the majors? I want to the brand names to win those. I read all about Jimmy Walker’s story. How he and his caddy met at Baltusrol as college rivals. They won the PGA Championship yesterday at the very spot where their relationship first began. That’s a cool story! Danny Willet wasn’t even sure he’d PLAY in the Masters. His wife was pregnant and due right around the time of the opening tee shot. Luckily, the baby came early and all was well. He went on to win the Green Jacket. That’s very cool! Henrik Stenson? Oh, he’s just the 40-something that had never gotten it done in a major squaring off on Sunday at the Open Championship against a man who had won five major titles (and finished second ten times). All he did was shoot a near-flawless Sunday 63 to edge the equally near-flawless Phil Mickelson for three shots. So cool. What about Dustin Johnson? He came into the U.S. Open with some serious scar tissue from the 18th green in 2015’s edition of the summer classic. He had the ’15 Open WON and 3-putted the bumpy greens at Chamber’s Bay to lose to Jordan Spieth by a stroke. He then returned to the U.S. Open in 2016 and promptly pounded the field into submission with a dominant victory amid a sketchy rules situation that hovered over his shoulders all back-9 on Sunday. That is redemption-ly cool. However, I don’t want those storylines in majors. I want Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy, Spieth, Mickelson, Jason Day (who, coincidently, won his first major in last year’s PGA) or Rickie Fowler winning the majors. Why? It sounds so ridiculous. The storylines from this year’s majors were great. The endings were great. The drama was great. But we only know that because we’re golf fans. Casual sports fans don’t want four hours of golf on a Saturday afternoon. They sure as heck don’t tune in at 7:30 a.m. on Thursdays. Joe Public wants something familiar when he turns on the TV and the best way to build interest in the sport is to give the public big, brand names. That’s how you turn casual fans into hard-core fans. When the majors are on, and the TV is turned on to golf more than it typically would be in the average home, McIlroy moves the needle. Fowler builds anticipation. Bubba brings the smiles. I think Johnson winning the U.S. Open is the best major storyline from this year. He’s a guy that has played his way into the brand-name group. I’m happy for all four of the new major winners. I hope they do well in the Olympic and Ryder Cup. But, when the Masters returns in the spring I’d much rather see Fowler, Spieth or Day slipping on the Green Jacket than another newbie. Phil or Tiger?
It seems ridiculous to ask whose career is better. I actually heard this topic raised on a national radio show this week just a few days after Phil lost the Open Championship to Henrik Stenson by three shots despite firing a bogey-free 65 on Sunday. This score would have won him the Claret Jug in 141 of the 145 Open Championships. He made Royal Troon his personal playground. He was an 1/8 of an inch away from shooting the only 62 in major championship history on Thursday. He is amazing! But, come on, to compare Phil to Tiger is absurd. Phil’s resume is great: 5 major titles, 11 runners-up in majors (tied for second behind Jack’s 19), 42 career PGA Tour wins and ten Ryder Cup appearances. But, come on, next to Tiger’s his just doesn’t compare. Tiger will go down as the best, or at worst, second best, golfer in the history of the sport. You can certainly argue he’s the most influential golfer ever. Not even Jack boosted the popularity of golf to the heights that Tiger did when he became a household name in the 1990s. Tiger brought droves of new players to the game. He was intense. He was passionate. He impacted the drama, the purse and even the television product with his determination and competitive drive. Look at the career earnings for some of the average players on Tour. They owe all of their millions to Tiger’s popularity. Everyone had to see him. When he had on that red Nike polo on Sundays, he was must-see TV. Tiger may be finished. He may return. Who knows. His back is balky and his confidence is shaky. Even if he never hits another competitive 9-iron in his life, his tombstone will read 79 career wins, nearly twice Phil’s total. He has won 14 majors, second only to Jack’s 18. He has only lost one 54-hole lead in a major and finished the job 15 times. Tiger is in another stratosphere. Phil is a T-bone. Tiger is a filet. Phil is a Jaguar. Tiger is a Rolls Royce. Phil is incredible. Tiger is iconic. Believe me, going down as a Top-10 golfer of all time is nothing to sneeze at and Phil is in that conversation with some of the greatest names to ever swing a club: Palmer, Player, Trevino, Jones, Varner, Hogan, Ouimet and others. But, come on, Tiger is on the top of that list. It’s hard to beat No. 1. If you’re Phil, do you feel like a failure?
It’d be hard to feel like you let yourself down after firing a 17-under par score in a major. He turned in a nearly flawless performance at the Open Championship. He was an unkind roll away from the first 62 in major history on Thursday. He maintained his lead on Friday. He braved tough conditions on Saturday and was bogey-free on Sunday. I mean, he went 63-69-70-65!!! In a major! It was the lowest Sunday score in the field outside of one man. Yet, he still lost to that man, another seemingly ageless 40-something in Henrik Stenson. Do you feel like a failure, Phil? If you do, you shouldn’t. Long after many had dismissed you as still good, but, really, just the loveable old guy who just can’t quite bomb it far enough to keep up with these ‘young guns’ like Rickie and Jason, or Rory and Jordan. You proved us wrong again. He’s won five majors for a reason. Phil showed the kind of savvy that we hadn’t seen out of him in a while in this pursuit of the 2016 Claret Jug. He almost had it. Of the 145 Opens in history, his -17 score would have earned him the trophy in 141 of them. He was incredible. Just not incredible enough. “I played a bogey-free round of 65 on the final round of a major,” Mickelson told reporters. “Usually that’s enough to do it, and I got beat. I got beat by 10 birdies. It’s not like other guys were out there doing the same thing. It was a challenging day.” In a career that has included 11 runners-up finishes in majors, tied with Arnie for second-most behind Jack’s 19, does this one hurt the most? He’s a gem in the sport. He’s a no-doubt Hall of Famer. He’s a living legend that came up JUST SHORT… again. This time, Phil, don’t be sad. You gave it your all and showed those ‘young guns’ that you’ve still got it. |
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