Category: Sports

The Not So Open United States Open Golf Championship

Not “Open” for Joe Q. Public Photo courtesy of USGA.com

The USGA has decided to host the 120th United States Open at Winged Foot Golf Club from September 17-20, 2020.

Today, they announced their exemption categories with some interesting changes to include one that will qualify certain players who otherwise would have not qualified.  Phil Mickelson comes to mind, who is currently #66 in the World Golf Rankings and is not qualified to play the tournament. 

The USGA knows better, so they changed the exemption from the usual top 60 to 70.  I believe this was done to bring back Phil Mickelson to Winged Foot where he lost the opportunity at the 2006 U.S. Open title to eventual winner Geoff Ogilvy.

Is this fair?  Not by a long shot.  This is typical USGA money grubbing market value garbage.

What makes the United States Open Championship an “Open” championship is that is supposed to be opened for qualification to anyone who wishes to qualify if they meet the minimum requirements.  Otherwise is nothing more than a tournament full of professionals and elite amateur players. 

This was the rationale given by the USGA, which is poppycock. 

“The decision to cancel local and final qualifying for this year’s U.S. Open was deeply disappointing, but we are pleased to still provide the world’s best professional and amateur players the opportunity to compete for this historic and coveted championship,” said John Bodenhamer, senior managing director, Championships”.

“The exemption categories for this year’s championship at Winged Foot Golf Club were carefully developed to mirror a representative U.S. Open field, and we are excited that players will still have an opportunity to earn a place in the field through a variety of categories.”

“A representative U.S. Open field”; is he kidding?  This is nothing more than a PGA Tour event on steroids.  A U.S. Open without local qualifiers is not an “Open Championship”.  This is garbage and should be called out for exactly that.

Let us go back to the Phil Mickelson conundrum.  Mickelson is currently #66 in the official World Golf Rankings as of the cutoff date of March 15, 2020.  The USGA did not have to change this exemption category, but they did, in my opinion, to accommodate a player who would not have qualified otherwise.  Were they afraid Mickelson would not accept a special exemption invitation?  What if he didn’t?  He did not earn the spot, is that simple.

Therefore, I am not a member of the USGA and will never be.  I refuse to give my money to an organization who claims to care about the game, but instead is all about the money.

The USGA should have done the right thing and cancel the tournament until that time in which “Joe Q. Public” could locally qualify for the tournament.  This is the spirit of an “Open Championship”.

The Open Championship, a.k.a. The British Open, understood this and the Royal & Ancient made the right decision by cancelling the tournament.

Once again, the USGA has made a bogey when they could have made an Ace.

https://www.usopen.com/content/us-open/2020/articles/exemptions-for-2020-u-s–open.html

The PGA Tour wanted to be the First

Golf Professional Nick Watney Photo courtesy of Titleist.com

It was bound to happen, and it happened without fans.  The first PGA Tour professional to test positive for the Wuhan Corona Virus.

Golf Professional Nick Watney tested positive on Friday for the Wuhan Corona Virus and had to withdraw from the tournament.  Thankfully, he is feeling relatively well and has self-quarantined in accordance with “CDC Guidelines”.

Having said all that, I do not get how he tested positive on Friday after testing negative upon arrival to Harbor Town.  The virus has a 14-day incubation period which means Watney was either already positive, and the test was faulty, or the Tour dropped the ball royally and now are trying to cover their tracks. 

If I am going by the science, I will have to say the Tour screwed up.  Otherwise, there is no way Watney could test positive in just a couple of days.  I will leave that to the so-called experts, but it should be mentioned these testing kits are not 100% accurate.

I am also curious as to why the Tour disclosed the identity of the player and if this is in violation of HIPAA Privacy Rules.

https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/index.html

For months the PGA Tour, and their television and radio pundits, have been bragging about been the first ones to come back to action after the interruption caused by the Wuhan Corona Virus.  Well, they got their wish.  Not only they were the first professional tour to come back but got the first positive.

All along the Tour and Commissioner Jay Monahan were reassuring the public, but some things cannot be controlled, and this is one of them.  It was bound to happen, and it will happen again and again.  The virus will run its course and that is that.

What is next?  The Tour has a couple of choices.  Either continue the season knowing that it will happen again or cancel the season.  I think they should continue the season and they should allow fans back in.  Without tracing chips and with tons of common-sense practices.

The Wuhan Corona Virus may become a part of our lives, like the seasonal flu, and that is something the Tour is going to have to grapple with and decide. 

Congratulations PGA Tour, you won this Championship.

Nick Watney is first on PGA Tour to test positive for coronavirus
Staradvertiser.com

PGA Tour Return: A Quadruple Bogey with an Out of Bounds

PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan. Kneeling instead of Leading. Photo courtesy of golfergalore.com

The PGA Tour returned this week to Colonial Country Club and the Charles Schwab Challenge, after almost 3 months of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of course, no fans were allowed.  Massive testing and precautions were taken to ensure players, caddies, and staff were properly taken care of.  I guess it was better to err on the side of caution, although I think it was an overkill based on the information available.

Unfortunately, for the tournament, the country has been in a tailspin after the tragic death of a black man named George Floyd in the city of Minneapolis while in police custody.

The PGA Tour and Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan wasted no time to turn that tragedy into a publicity stunt by saving the 8:46 a.m. tee time to honor Mr. Floyd every day with a moment of silence.

The Tour was nowhere to be found when it came to honoring the memory of the many police officers who were injured or killed during the riots. The Tour missed a huge opportunity at been a vehicle for unity.

Let’s talk about the tournament for a moment.  For me, it was a big snoozer.  I didn’t realize until this week, the importance of those annoying “in the hole” or “baba booey” screams from the galleries.  The fans are such an important part of the game, even players acknowledged how “weird” it felt.  I agree 100% and I hope the Tour takes a second look at this.

I have to say, the most entertaining part for me was listening to Sir Nick Faldo and his “one liner” analysis.  The golf itself was pretty good, but I could not watch for more than twenty minutes.  I can only take so much of Jim Nantz and the golf silence was deafening.  It was like watching a long televise practice round and it was utterly boring.

Back to the social aspect of the broadcast.  I want to give huge kudos to Harold Varner III.  Varner III, one of the few black golfers on the professional tour, didn’t fall for the obvious race baiting coming from the media circus.  He did not brush away what happened, but he refused to engage in a social tit for tat with the media, instead choosing to talk about his game.

On the other hand, Tony Finau, who’s not Black, but from American Samoa, went on a social tirade on social media.  Short of saying all white people were racists, Finau went on to say he was with Black Lives Matter.  I am sure Mr. Finau has no clue what Black Lives Matter is all about, but like most athletes, he thought he sounded pretty good propping an organization who calls for white people to be eliminated from the face of the earth. 

When it comes to honoring Mr. Floyd, the Tour should have done better research when it decided to honor Mr. Floyd with a moment of silence by leaving the 8:46 a.m. tee time open. 

They should have known that on September 11, 2001, at 8:46 a.m., American Airlines, Flight 11, hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center killing all passengers onboard. This time is reserved every year, by every television network, to honor the memory of the victims of that tragic event. How the Tour didn’t know this is beyond me.

In my opinion, this was a mistake of major proportions that went mostly unnoticed by the golf media and golf pundits. 

They also missed a big opportunity in promoting unity by not acknowledging the many good police officers who do a great job.  Many of these police officers provide security during tour events and are avid golfers and fans of the game.  For this, the Tour scored a quadrupled bogey, with an out of bounds.

The PGA Tour decided to kneel instead of lead, and for that they’ll never get a social mulligan.

PGA Tour scorecard?  Way, way over par.

This is How I Fight the Coronavirus; One Birdie at a Time!

Living the American Way!

I love playing golf and spending time outdoors, so what a better way to defeat this virus than being outdoors on a beautiful day.

This is my definition of “The American Way”. The freedom to do as I please without some bureaucrat, sitting on a fancy leather chair, telling me how to live my life. Here I am, playing my first round of golf of the season and enjoying every second of it. Luckily for me, my local government had enough common sense to understand golf is an outside sport that can be played individually and with minimal close contact, if any.

Thank God, I don’t have to be stuck at home watching television with its commercials trying to convince me every second of “new normals”. I also don’t need to watch news briefings telling me something I already know. Living with good old common sense goes a long way.

I know many people will not agree with me, and that’s fine, but this is my America and I’m going to live it and enjoy it as an American!

PGA Tour Radio Golf Clowns: Pat Perez & Michael Collins

Professional golfer Pat Perez and former caddie/stand up comedian Michael Collins have to be the biggest clowns on PGA Tour radio.

Perez is a mullet wearing, 43 years old PGA Tour professional who seems to have a foot fetish with Michael Jordan and Collins is a former comedian who claimed he found his calling when Fuzzy Zoeller made a fool of himself when talking about Tiger Woods. Yeah, and he also probably believe rapper Flavor Flav it is actually a musician who deserves to be in the Rock & Roll HOF.

Listening to these two is torture, but I have to listen in order to write about them. I’ll take one for the team because is necessary. It is a bad radio show with two individuals who think they are better than you and me, and above all, immature. The two, who are way beyond puberty, behave like little kids and sound completely ridiculous.

They belittle golf fans left and right throughout the whole show. They are critical of everything they don’t agree with, and they make fun of people over stupid nonsensical issues. To be fair, at least Collins is a former comedian, so he can get away with some of the nonsense, but Perez is an all out buffoon. He thinks swearing, cursing, and acting like a wannabe gangster rapper on radio makes him a big dog, in reality he sounds like an overgrown child.

Perez is constantly crying about how professional golfers can’t live on an average $3.5 million dollar yearly salary. Tell that to those who work 12 hour shifts, and still save money to buy a ticket for a Tour event. I’m sure they are feeling very sorry for you Pat. What about living within your means Pat? Exactly! Don’t ask me to feel sorry Pat, you and your fellow pros live a nice pampered life, which I’m sure you have earned, despite of your constant whining.

Collins can be funny at times, but he can’t help himself and throws the race card on air every chance he gets. It gets old quick, therefore making him the best auto mute available.

Who cares if fans want to dress like Ricky Fowler? Who, by the way, is old enough and should stop dressing like a carrot. Nobody Michael! Who cares if fans wear golf shoes to professional golf events? Nobody Pat! These two clowns think they have the moral high ground to judge people and tell people how to spend their hard earned cash. These are few of the trivial things these two spend talking about.

Who in their right mind gave these two a contract on the flagship satellite radio station for the PGA Tour? He or she needs to be fired!

I could go on for pages about these two, but I think my point has been made. This show is a detriment to PGA Tour radio and the PGA Tour.

Out of Bounds? More like out of their minds! Grow up kids!