Phil Mickelson has had quite a year already — one PGA Tour win, blowing another one on the 18th hole, replacing swing coaches. But none of that compared to the firestorm that Philly Mick provoked last week when he got a pass from the PGA Tour brass on playing in the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament Pro-Am because bad weather prevented him from flying into Dallas the night before the Pro-Am. Normally, missing a Pro-Am — which is considered a necessary nuisance by most PGA Tour players — means that the offending Tour player is not allowed to play in the tournament. However, an exception was made in Mickelson’s case, even though it is pretty clear than Mickelson could have made his tee time if he had been willing to get up early enough and fly into Dallas on the morning of the Pro-Am. PGA Tour member Robert Allenby spoke for the vast majority of players:

“He came here, was on site and he elected to go somewhere else, knowing the weather was going to be crappy. He took the risk. Take the risk and you pay the penalty.”

And Doug Ferguson chimes in with this piece about the Tour’s double-standard with regard to playing in Pro-Am’s:

In 2005, Chad Campbell wanted to play the 84 Lumber Classic ñ the tournament even had his wife sing at one of its functions ñ but he asked out of the pro-am Wednesday to attend his grandmotherís funeral. The Tour made him choose between the pro-am and the funeral, and Campbell withdrew from the tournament. [. . .]
Wes Short Jr. wanted to skip out on a pro-am because his father was about to have quadruple bypass surgery, but he had to choose between the pro-am and spending time with his father.

But leave it to a Houstonian — the always entertaining Steve Elkington — to bring a sense of perspective to the situation:

“They’ve opened themselves up to a dangerous precedent,” Elkington said of the tour. “Next time it’s raining in Houston, I might call and say I can’t get there.”
“That being said, this tournament needs Phil Mickelson. Look at the crowds. You’ve got to give the guys who carry the tour a bit of slack. That’s always been there. We’re in the business of entertaining people.”
As Elkington spoke, thousands of spectators swarmed along the 18th hole, trying to catch a glimpse of Mickelson, . . .

By the way, Geoff Shackleford — the best golf blogger around in my book — has put together an entire category of blog posts attempting to keep up with Philly Mick.

In this column, the Chronicle’s chief golf writer has seen the Tiger Chasm that is gobbling up Texas’ PGA Tour events and he does not like what he sees:

If the first half of the season is any indication, the gap between the marquee events and all the others is getting wider than ever. For every WGC event that has dibs on the top 64 players, there’s a Bob Hope making do with only one player ranked in the top 10 when the season began. For every Nissan Open landing every top-10 not named Woods, there’s a New Orleans event without any star power.
Look for the summer events to suffer a talent drain, because the top players will be bracing themselves for a season-ending, four-week playoff run.
Maybe the season will build to a crescendo as the playoffs draw closer, but that isn’t helping Tampa, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, New Orleans or Memphis much.
A show of hands from all of those captivated by whether Kenny Perry can hold on to his one-point lead over Steve Lowery for the 144th ó and final ó playoff spot. The white coats will be along shortly with the straightjackets.
Yes, 144 players will make the first round of players. In other words, 19 players who aren’t good enough to finish in the top 125 ó the threshold for keeping a tour card ó will make it to the playoffs. Even the NCAA knows better than to water down its basketball tournament that much. . . .
Make no mistake: The new system should produce a season with a better flow. The season has some sort of ending instead of fizzling out in the fall. Clearly, though, there is too much disconnect between the marquee events and the mundane.

Campbell goes on to wonder whether the Texas PGA Tour events have seen the last of Tiger Woods:

Has Tiger Woods played a PGA Tour event in Texas for the last time?
Woods skipped the only Texas tournament in his regular schedule, the Byron Nelson, for the second consecutive year. With Nelson no longer around to answer, don’t be surprised if Woods forsakes that event unless it lands a date more suitable to his schedule.
Woods’ only appearance at the Texas Open in San Antonio was in 1996, when he was trying to earn his PGA Tour card. He played Colonial in 1997, tying for fourth, and hasn’t been back since. Though Woods has never played the Shell Houston Open, he has teed it up in Houston four times. Woods played the Tour Championship at Champions Golf Club in 1997 (12th), 1999 (won), 2001 (13th) and 2003 (26th). With Atlanta’s East Lake established as the home of the Tour Championship for the foreseeable future, it’s highly unlikely Woods will make another competitive appearance in Houston.