FBR Open is just opening act in party-central Arizona
It’s probably a safe bet drunk tanks around Scottsdale will be filled to capacity this weekend.
Oh, to be a sports fan in the desert right about now. Not only does party central come to Scottsdale in the form of the rowdy FBR Open – golf’s very own spring break – but those loveable losers, the Arizona Cardinals, one of the most pathetic sports franchises in all of sports, will play for their first Super Bowl in Tampa.
Just what Arizona golf fans need. Another round.
But first things first: the FBR. After all, given past trends, many football fans will miss the big ball game, instead sleeping it off, either in their bed, someone else’s, a car or in cells.
There’s nothing quite like the FBR on the PGA Tour. It’s Mardi Gras in plaid pants.
The infamous par-3 16th, the rowdiest hole in golf, is where anything goes. Hit the green, you’ll hear the cheers. Miss and anyone else on the golf course – heck, anyone north of the Mexican border– will know it. On 16, bogeys are as popular as closing time. They don’t check the pairing sheets or leaderboards in between groups; they see how many beer bongs they can squeeze in.
Anything goes on the hole: high-pitched screams, stripteases, underwear tosses and public flashing. And that’s just the guys. No telling what the girls will do.
This year, organizers decided to host a bigger bash on 16, putting up a grandstand where more than 20,000 drunks are expected to squeeze in. Oh, to be the lucky girls serving beer in that area, huh?
In Scottsdale, it’s all about the party, it’s all about excess. Etiquette is an expletive. If you’re not loud, obnoxious and, most of all, staggering, you’re out of place. Their idea of sobering up is cramming a couple of fingers down the throat.
It’s a spectacle, which is why it is one of the most popular stop among players. You just never know what you are going to see.
And this year, the party should be a little louder. This time around, the FBR is the warmup act. The headliners take centre stage on the other side of the country later in the day.
A few of them may even stay awake long enough to see it.
Colin Montgomerie right Ryder Cup choice – love him or hate him
It’s hardly a surprise Colin Montgomerie is going to captain a European Ryder Cup ship. The shock is it’s going to be four years before anyone expected.
The worst-kept secret in golf, at least over the past couple of weeks, was rubber-stamped Wednesday when Monty was named the European captain for the 2010 Ryder Cup in a giddy, raise-your-glass announcement in Dubai.
And they got it right.
Oh sure, in this very space last week I suggested a hint of a conspiracy, or at least some backroom shenanigans, to get Monty fitted with the captain’s cap for Wales. Jose Maria Olazabal would have been the sexier pick, but that isn’t what the Europeans need after the disaster at Valhalla with Nick Faldo in the big boy’s chair.
They needed the right pick, not the sexy one. And Colin Montgomerie gives Europe the best chance to avenge the butt-kicking in Kentucky.
Most figured Monty was the obvious choice to get the nod in 2014, when the Ryder Cup is held on his Scottish home soil. Seeing how popular Monty is the good old US of A – where fans like to rib him on his rather obvious feminine assets or his perceived resemblance to Mrs. Doubtfire – you knew he wouldn’t be leading the Euros in 2012 when they made the trip to Illinois.
Three weeks ago, Montgomerie was a 50-1 longshot to win the post. Most figured Olazabal was the shoo-in, if he accepted, while Sandy Lyle would get some consideration simply because Montgomerie himself endorsed Lyle just days ago, even if Lyle was about as popular a choice as a root canal among the 15-member European Ryder Cup committee.
Now that the announcement has been made with all the drama of a Sunday afternoon bridge game, let’s get two things clear: of course, politics played some sort of role in the decision and, more importantly, the Euros got the right guy for the job.
Olazabal can now focus on making the team as a player, a luxury Monty probably wasn’t going to be afforded.
Monty’s Ryder Cup record is sterling, with 20 wins, nine losses and seven halved matches, the second best career record in European Ryder Cup history.
Perhaps Olazabal waited too long before saying he wanted the job. Perhaps Montgomerie played Lyle for a pawn with his endorsement.
No matter.
In the end, the committee got the guy they should have wanted all along.
Catriona Matthew: Epidural? Who needs it?
Gentlemen, we’re screwed. Catriona Matthew just sent a message to couch potatoes everywhere, and it wasn’t exactly subtle.
Next time we moan about being too tired to mow the lawn, paint the fence or do anything else requiring us to drag our carcass off the couch, click off the tube and put the beer down, take note.
Matthew just won an LPGA Tour event. Five months pregnant.
As we speak, the PGA Tour is touting Matthew’s offspring as the next Tiger Woods. Augusta is set to grant the kid an exemption into The Masters in 2024.
One would think Matthew’s obstetrician is pretty ticked at her right now for playing golf five months pregnant. Either that or writing to ask for an autographed photo.
Trust me, this is no small feat. In the past two years, I’ve been graced with two beautiful daughters and know first-hand the, uh, extra baggage that comes with pregnancy.
Morning sickness, junk food cravings and walking around with a gut the size of a basketball. But enough about me – if you think I had it bad, you should have seen what the better half had to go through.
Let’s just say my wife may not be able to win a golf tournament while pregnant, but she gets the upper hand in an argument. Make that plural.
But playing 36 holes of tournament golf, not to mention winning, with a bun in the ol’ oven for close to half a year? What’s next, Cat, bench pressing Paula Creamer? Running the Boston Marathon at full term?
One can imagine the conversation a few years down the road.
“You know, honey, when you were in Mommy’s tummy, Daddy, the wimp that he is, used to put his head to my belly and sing to you just so you would know his voice. Lame, isn’t it? Guess what Mommy did? Went out and shot 69-69 in Brazil.”
Something says Mrs. Matthew is going to have little trouble once she goes into labour. Hit approach. Two-putt. Sign scorecard. Get in car. Drive fast.
Oh, and they better have a putting green in the delivery room. Just to take the edge off.
Bob Hope Classic deserves better fate
Who cares if the only thing missing from this edition of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic – well, besides the late, great Bob Hope himself - was a windmill and clown’s mouth on the 18th green?
Nor does it matter that both the PGA Tour historian and statistician are probably searching the want ads this morning, given the scoring records that were destroyed this weekend past.
Irrelevant, again, is the best players on the planet decided to stay home or fly to the Middle East and chase a payday in Qatar.
Contrary to the theories making the rounds, the Hope is still PGA Tour-worthy, ridiculously low scores notwithstanding. Last I checked, most golf fans, albeit certainly not all, want to see the good old-fashioned shootout we saw over these past five days, anyhow.
Sure, after Saturday’s fourth round, Steve Stricker was 33-under, with a 67 being his worst round of the week. Well, then came Stricker’s Black Sunday.
Pat Perez opened the week 61-62, was 30-under and still trailed by three. Until Stricker’s ill-timed final round meltdown, it was looking plausible that the winning score would be pushing 40-under. Sounds more like a Winnipeg wind chill than a golf score, no?
The winds they weren’t a-blowing this week off the coast, as they usually are, and players had a pretty easy time chasing pins. This wasn’t last birdie wins. It was first par loses – or in Stricker’s case, first triple-quad.
Some would argue that the tournament is on life support, not only because the world’s best generally take a pass but because Chrysler could be on its last legs itself and probably can’t afford to be forking over millions for a tournament much longer.
Might help explain why the Hope is no longer known as the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic - at least not officially. In this its 50th year, the event was known as the Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer.
Some suggest the tournament will be stricken from the PGA Tour schedule and may find a home on the Champions Tour, which would be nothing but a shame.
There is no debating the star factor, even if it isn’t in the form of Tiger Woods or Sergio Garcia. There were plenty of celebrities in California, including Bo Jackson, ex-VP Dan Quayle, Kurt Russell, Evan Longoria – down boys, not Eva – Alice Cooper and Yogi Berra.
Bringing Arnie in gave the event a much-needed kick in the posterior. Arnie’s Army is still alive and kicking and there was a sentimental moment when The King took aside an ailing 15-year-old teen and gave him a one-on-one lesson.
There is still plenty of life left in this grand ol’ tournament, and here’s hoping the Hope can pick itself up off the mat. A little support from the PGA Tour’s elite might give it the bump it needs, but Palmer himself may breathe some life back into the 90-hole classic.
Arnie may end up saving this tournament after all - at least as a PGA Tour event.
We can only, um, Hope.
Stellar field in Qatar while in California they can only Hope
Taking a gaze down the leaderboards at the Bob Hope Classic and Qatar Masters, you get a sense of what exactly must be going through Tim Finchem’s mind.
We would repeat it, but the adjectives are not suitable for print, unless you can translate $!&$@*&$@#!
At the Hope, where the legendary Arnold Palmer is hosting the 50th anniversary of the event, they are getting by with, at best, has to considered a 1B field. When Anthony Kim pulled the plug on the Hope with an injury earlier in the week, the field no longer boasted a player inside the top 15 in the world.
Meanwhile, at the Qatar Masers, there are six inside the top 15.
Granted, with Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh on the shelf recovering from surgery and Phil, well, just being Phil, you knew the Hope wouldn’t be mistaken for Augusta.
But look down the leaderboard at each event. Who has the more impressive field isn’t up for debate. It isn’t even close, and that must be giving Finchem something to think about.
Boo Weekley, the PGA Tour’s favorite redneck who is quickly becoming a huge draw in the States, took a pass on the Bob Hope to chase the Qatar crown. With a $20 million pot at the end of the European Tour rainbow in the form of the Race to Dubai, you can bet many more will head overseas in the coming weeks and months.
This not long after Finchem pleaded with his players to show a little more commitment to the PGA Tour or, namely, to events that are considered also-rans on the schedule.
Seems more than a few of them weren’t listening.
Golf may indeed be a global game, but one has to think the suits over at the European Tour aren’t about to join Finchem’s pity party. Once a licence to print money, the PGA Tour, led by Finchem, had no problems walking over lesser colleagues as the PGA Tour continued its vast ascent in recent years.
Now, with a U.S. economy in tatters and the threat of struggling sponsors bailing out en masse very real, Finchem is left holding the “help” sign while some of his own chase paydays on distant shores.
Palmer, for one, isn’t pleased.
“I would just hope that they (the players) would understand that they need to support tournaments as much as they possibly can,” he said. “I know that you can’t play every week, but when I hear some of the reasons for not playing it disturbs me a little.”
Rest assured Arnie isn’t alone. Here’s betting Finchem is quite disturbed as well.
Paul Goydos chooses being parent over golf
Lost in the utter pandemonium and love-in atmosphere in Washington these past few days, the story of Paul Goydos –heck, as well as every other story in the free world – took a back seat.
Just yesterday a headline came across the wire that Goydos is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the PGA Tour on hearing news of the passing of his ex-wife, Wendy.
It doesn’t even begin to tell the story.
You see, Paul Goydos is a single father to his two daughters. Has been for the past five years, when he was awarded full custody.
And now, he will continue to be a single dad, only this time it will be full-time. The PGA Tour, the money, can wait. Some things are more important.
Just last year, Goydos made it public that Wendy suffered from an addiction to painkillers. What wasn’t public knowledge is that she also suffered from severe migraines for years. It’s not difficult to put two and two together.
In fact, closing out the press release was the request that in lieu of flowers, a donation in the name of Wendy be made to the The National Headache Foundation.
Perhaps we are just giving Goydos too much credit for doing something most of us would do if it were financially possible. Very few of us would choose work over our kids, so Goydos seems to be like most of us. But it would seem all too easy to be swayed by the potential for million dollar paycheques for four days work a week, and surely Goydos, if he was so inclined, could arrange for high-priced caretakers for his daughters while he chased his third PGA Tour title.
But golf just isn’t important right now.
So Goydos is gone from the tour, and no one really knows for how long. For Goydos, that is not important right now. For a guy that has two wins in 393 starts over a 16-year-career, his return, like his departure, will be met with little fanfare. In fact, outside of his family and friends, most probably won’t even realize he is gone.
Paul Goydos is a father first, a pro golfer second. The former means so much more than the latter.
Goydos is ready to put his career on the line to prove it.
And minimum-wage worker or millionaire athlete, that is nothing short of admirable.
Who is going to challenge Tiger? How about no one…
What’s with all these rhetorical questions of who is going to challenge Tiger? Some people need to get with the program.
Um, just in case you aren’t paying attention, Tiger’s not here. It’s been a while.
Tiger’s taking time off, and doing things that people do when they take time off. You know, spending some quality time with the missus and, not coincidentally, awaiting the birth of his second child. Scratching Buick off the Christmas card list. Tearing his caddie a new one. Introducing the US Naval Glee Club – really - at presidential inauguration bashes.
So let’s review, who is going to challenge Tiger? How ‘bout no one?
Ten days ago it was Geoff Ogilvy. Now it might be Zach Johnson. Not sure who this week’s challenger is as of yet but I’ll let you know late Sunday afternoon.
Yeah, we know the ones asking the question. We all know at least one. You know, the guy who lets out an ear-piercing, slurred “GET IN THE HOLE!!!” a millisecond after driver hits ball on the tee deck. On a par-5. Or the guy who is already checking out the FedEx Cup standings. Yep. That guy.
We’re into week two of the PGA season, week three if you actually consider the Mercedes Benz an a real tournament. For what it’s worth, Tiger won’t be back for at least a few months.
There are more pressing questions right now.
Like how long will Sergio wait before swooping in on Kate Hudson in the players’ lounge after Adam Scott heads to the loo? Will a photographer ever get an action shot of Padraig Harrington without a dorky look on his face? Ever? And what is Natalie Gulbis wearing and where can I get one? No, not a shirt – a Natalie.
No one is challenging Tiger and, right now, Tiger is challenging no one. Once he gets back, it won’t be all that hard to figure out. You’ll have your answer every week, if there is a guy more under par than Tiger after the final putt falls. If that same guy can do it a few weeks running, like Tiger will, let’s talk about challenges then. Until that time, it’s fantasy.
So let’s put it to rest, shall we?
You have to figure one of these days, some scribe is going to ask who that guy is going to be. Who is the heir apparent, the one to snatch Tiger’s crown? We’re betting Tiger doesn’t bite.
Tiger’s not a dumb guy. Pretty sure he’s got the media figured out by now. He’s heard the whispers, he knows there will be a big red ‘X’ on his back once he returns. But just like when someone sticks a microphone in his face and asks how he feels about seeing history’s first black U.S. president – which is a little more important than golf – Tiger holds serve. Not a peep. He isn’t about to say something stupid to create controversy.
That’s what he’s got Steve Williams for.
Fujikawa may knock Wie off perch, Tiger and the Prez and Monty could be new Ryder Cup skipper
The fact that midnight struck for teenager Tadd Fujikawa on Sunday is almost an afterthought. His performance Saturday at the Sony Open, when he turned on an entire island, gave golf fans a glimpse of what we may see from the kid in the future.
Hollywood couldn’t have scripted this one any better. An 18-year-old, still in high-school, posting a moving-day 62 in a PGA Tour event in his own backyard?
Something tells me Michelle Wie may not be Hawaii’s golf darling for much longer.
For those that don’t follow the Canadian Tour regularly, Fujikawa has a recent history with Southern Ontario. Tournament chair Elliott Kerr granted the then-16-year-old a sponsor’s exemption into the inaugural Jane Rogers Championship of Mississauga in 2007, where the pint-sized Fujikawa – who stands a towering 5’1 - missed the cut at Lakeview.
On Sunday, he flirted with becoming the youngest PGA Tour winner ever. Fujikawa didn’t close it out, but for a kid still in high school, there’s nothing to hang the head about.
Something tells me we’ll see Fujikawa hoist more than a few pieces of hardware in the coming years.
-We’ll be witnessing history over the next couple of days in Washington, and if you needed any more proof, see Exhibit A: Tiger Woods taking the podium at Barack Obama’s pre-inauguration celebrations.
Woods, who has been very careful not to get involved in the political scene – he once turned down an invitation from President Bill Clinton to come to the White House after winning the Masters – was one of the many celebrities to speak at the “We are One: Opening Inaugural Celebration” in D.C.
Obama is a pretty avid golfer, so one has to wonder how long it is before Tiger and the Prez hook up on the course. Tiger gives Obama, say, three strokes a hole? Oh, note to Steve Williams – don’t call those burly guys in suits around the President any names. They’re armed.
-Don’t be surprised if Colin Montgomerie is named European captain for the 2010 Ryder Cup at some point this week. Monty didn’t seem to be on the radar a few weeks back, but it looks like the job may now be his to lose.
Most figured this was Jose Maria Olazabal’s gig for the taking but that the Spaniard would take a pass on the offer and focus on making the 2010 team as a player. Now there are whispers that Monty may have been offered the job last week.
-The Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl? Hell has frozen over. What’s next…a green jacket for Sergio?
Is Colin Montgomerie doing Ryder Cup about-face?
Perhaps, much like his golf game, Colin Montgomerie’s math skills – not to mention his memory - have just gone straight into the toilet.
Maybe Monty can’t count to 50. Maybe he just can’t keep a secret. Maybe he is pushing his own agenda.
Whatever the case, it doesn’t bode well for Monty’s recent endorsement for Lyle to captain the European team at the 2010 Ryder Cup.
Four days ago – not weeks, not months, DAYS - Monty went on the record to say that it would be “a shame” if Lyle didn’t get the nod for the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales.
Now, not so much.
“We found last time with Faldo’s situation that you do lose as a captain over 50 a sense of what’s happening with the youngsters, a feeling of what’s going on,” said Montgomerie this week.
So now Monty is pushing for Jose Maria Olazabal to man the European ship in 2010.
Not sure where it is coming from – Scotland, presumably – but take a whiff. Smell that? It’s the stench of bureaucracy.
Seems Olazabal is about to named captain and Monty has a tough time being subtle, or the Scot just figures the way his career is going, he may as well push for the position now because he sure as heck isn’t going to make the team as a player.
You see, conventional thinking said Monty was a no-brainer to take the helm in 2014, when the Cup is held just down the road from his family’s pad in Scotland.
Uh, coincidence perhaps, but Monty will be 50 then. Actually, 51. So now popular wagering – and yes, they do bet on this stuff overseas – is that Monty could very well be named the 2010 captain if Olazabal turns down the gig.
On the heels of a meek effort at Valhalla in which the only battle the Europeans waged was when it came to deciding who was picking up the tab for team meal, it should come as little surprise that the search for the next Ryder Cup captain is making front page news on the other side of the pond.
And if it isn’t Olazabal, the betting line is it will be Montgomerie. And what “a shame” that will be for Lyle.
We’ll find out soon enough.
ClubLink court case will change the way clubs serve patrons
No matter what comes out of the charges levied against ClubLink and 16 of its employees in the aftermath of a tragic crash that killed three young men last summer, one way or another, there is going to be a rather distinct line drawn in the sand.
This case, whenever it is held, will likely be the benchmark for other clubs in the future - and how they do business when it comes to serving alcohol. Golf clubs are not about to put their reputation, not to mention their business, in jeopardy.
Hyperbole? Not quite.
There isn’t a golf course in this country – at least one with a liquor licence – that won’t be watching what unfolds in a Bracebridge courtroom in the coming months. No one wants to be in the position the Lake Joseph Club, or ClubLink, is currently in.
One could argue bars in general will be paying close attention to this case. Fate just dictated that the youngsters stopped into Lake Joseph last July. Fact is, it could have been anywhere, any one, at any time.
And, it must be pointed out, these are allegations only. Nothing has been proven in court.
Remember the old adage “any press is good press?” Not exactly. There is no good press – absolutely none- that is going to come out of this scenario. Three young men are dead after allegedly drinking in their club.
Now the finger is being pointed directly at ClubLink and Lake Joseph. Nothing good can come out of that. Ever.
What is sure to come under intense scrutiny in the coming months is not only how close an eye waitresses and servers keep on their patrons, but who, if anyone, is keeping count of how many beers a golfer drinks during a round or a tournament. Beer cart girls – no matter if they are just working to get through college and have no experience in cutting off patrons – are going to have to make the call if a golfer has had one too many or find out who, if any, in the group are driving.
Unless there are course employees checking bags for alcohol on the way in and conducting spot checks on the way out, there is no perfect system.
Not at Lake Joseph. Not anywhere.
A round of golf with friends is, more often than not, capped off with a beer or two. Often, the drinking is excessive and starts early in the day. Too often that line is crossed, but it would be naïve to suggest golf clubs should be singled out when it comes to patrons pounding back one too many.
But when it comes to tragedies like the one near Minnett last summer, there is no second chances. Not for the three young men who lost their lives in that car. Not for Lake Joseph, if they are indeed found negligent.
In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter if the defendants - or even some of them -are found guilty or acquitted. ClubLink has already taken the hit in the press, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon – if at all.
There are 17 more lives changed for the worse as a result of that car plunging into Lake Joseph last summer.
But perhaps, as cliché as it sounds, something positive will come out of this. One thing is for certain – this case will cause change, and maybe that isn’t a bad thing at all.
Of course, to the parents of Tyler Mulcahy, Cory Mintz and Kourosh Totonchian, whatever comes out of the court case, there will be little solace. Their boys won’t be coming home. Ever.
And regardless of how the courts rule in this case, that isn’t going to change – and that remains the biggest tragedy of all.
Fairways Web Editor Marty Henwood spent more than six years as the Media Relations Director with the Canadian Tour and has been involved in sports journalism for more than a decade, including stints in newspaper, radio, new media and media relations. He will offer his unique take on the world of golf, with nothing and no one off limits.
