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.
Elkington seems to be one of the few who understands that few if any people would ever attend a golf tournament to simply observe the striking of a ball. He realizes that just as with football, basketball and any of the other pro sports, people pay to be entertained.
Ferguson posts his opinion using the trials and tribulations of players like Chad Campbell and Wes Short Jr. (who???) to “Prove” his point.
Even Furyk chimed in. (A few years ago, I spent about 45 minutes on the driving range at Kaanapali hitting between his dad and him, and he never uttered a word… Now that’s a guy who understands where his paycheck comes from. [I never speak to a celebrity first a a gesture of respect for their privacy])
I hate to burst the bubble of Furyk, Short, (who???) Campbell and Ferguson, but those particular “entertainers” do very little if anything to bring in the dollars that drive the tour.
People come in droves to see Phil Mickelson whether the also-rans want to recognize this fact or not.
Due to the opinions of a few whiny stick in the mud players and a whiny sports writer, I doubt if many of the golfing public would have been appeased to find out that Mickelson was not going to entertain them when they had made plans to go to the tournament because of him.
Sorry Jim, second in the world or not, I’m afraid that your incredibly entertaining personality would not have caused much of a stir if you were not allowed to play after missing a pro-am…
I think it is about time for athletes in all sports to realize that they are entertainers…nothing more…nothing less. People do not contribute to their huge paychecks to see them whine or mope around. They pay to see them do exceptional things with a flair.
Some don’t nor ever will have that flair. That’s OK too. However they should realize that much of the reason they are paid so handsomely for what they do is because of the Mickelson type of characters out there.
We the public…LOVE to be entertained by those who get it and give us a fun show…The others? They are a necessary evil in the business of competitive entertainment.
My hat’s off to Elkington for understanding this and understanding the exception for Phil had nothing to do with the players…It had only to do with the public who would have been VERY angry had he been banned due to a PGA rule that was certainly designed with the public in mind.
Alas, as in most sectors of society, the masses have no idea why exceptions to rules are sometimes VERY important to apease those whom the rules were made for.