Waste Management Saturday
Saturday's Waste Management Open drew an announced crowd of 121,221 despite the presence of a manually-operated 18th hole leaderboard and reasonably-priced admission tickets. (Yes, I'm still pouting about the PGA Tour eliminating the Northern Trust Open's 18th hole manual board and their non-sensible pricing. If I'm moaning about this in April, then you know it's become an unhealthy obsession.)**
;)
Manual leaderboard on No. 18 Thursday...the horror of it all! (Click to enlarge)Saturday's 16th hole party is revealing in that you find out which players have a little personality and sense of their role as entertainers. You also see who ought to stay home because they can't take a joke.
Only Andres Romero looked spooked by the scene, backing off a tee shot and then chunking it well short of the green. Among the players embracing the scene while I was there bouncing between 16 and 17 tees: Y.E. Yang (threw glove and balls into crowd), Phil (more thumbs ups than normal), Kevin Streelman (brought gifts for the crowd by the tee), Ian Poulter (lots of playful banter with crowd), Rich Beem (full post-birdie putt dance), Matthew Goggin (impersonated playing partner Tom Lehman's signature birdie putt celebration), Lehman (applauded the crowd), and Rickie Fowler (jovial until his missed birdie putt).
On the sourpuss side, Robert Allenby and Zach Johnson gave scornful head shakes after the crowd boo'd a Greg Chalmers missed putt, even though the crowd was booing (in a tough love way) anything but birdie putts made!
A few images from Saturday:
;)
Ky Laffoon's pro-am win with Barry Goldwater is noted on the tournament winner's memorial (click to enlarge)
;)
Waste Management's "Solar compactors" hold 5x as much trash as a typical waste container, is powered by the sun and reduces fuel and greenhouse gases by 80%. Just one of the cool touches at the Waste Management Phoenix Open (click to enlarge)
;)
Phil Mickelson tees off the 17th Saturday, He posted a 1-over-par 72 and sits at 5-under par (click to enlarge image)
;)
The 17th tee and 16th hole grandstand hasn't deterred a newborn bunny (lower right) (Click to enlarge);)
The bunny up close, noshing on a light bed of dormant bermuda grass (click to enlarge)
;)
The 16th hole arena viewed from No. 17 (click to enlarge)
**For the aspiring PGA Tour VP's reading this, it's $25, including parking, free admission for 17 and under, and all military, police and fire get in free with a guest!
Saturday, February 27, 2010 at 04:12 PM
Reader Comments (14)
It really has been an awful year for golf's image and self-esteem.
God help us all that we have come to this.
Secondly, did Bones smack you down for taking that photo of Phil on the 17th tee at the top of his backswing? Does your camera shutter not make noise or was it simply drowned out by the crowd at 16? Stevie Williams would probably come to your house and destroy your camera if he even saw that photo somewhere.
Thirdly, it's a shame Ky Lafoon's pro-am streak record got destroyed by No Tournament.
...he caved too.
More importantly you crossed isle, Ky. That's given me faith that golf can cure all wounds.
Maybe if Tiger stays away, a few of these "new age" types might disappear too? ... or is that just wishful thinking?
I stand by what I said, but I should clarify that my major objection is to the beaming into my living room of a celebration / glorification of public drunkenness, which the GC did for 3 days. Today was much better as they concentrated on the golf, with, I think I detected, a reduction in the number of promos to about 10 an hour. The ads I know we have to live with.
As for the ad hominem attacks - 1) I am not a sourpuss and I like a drink with my friends as much as the next guy: I just don't get drunk and I don't expect the TV public (or my fellow spectators) to be subjected to my alcohol-fueled ravings, sparklingly witty and brilliantly epigrammatic though I'm assured they are; 2) I am not an elitist - I grew up playing public park courses in the West of Scotland and I reckon I'd played fewer than 10 rounds on private courses before I reached my mid-fifties. I then joined one but left after a few years to switch to "membership" of another, public, course, where the initiation fee and annual sub are in effect discounted green fees for a year, paid in advance. My playing partners over the last two weekends have included two active cab drivers, a retired pool attendant, a trainee insurance clerk, and an MD, none of whom I had met before we played. We were of assorted ethnic backgrounds. I think they all beat me.
I do plead guilty to being a traditionalist. I do believe there are certain standards of public behavior that must be upheld; in particular that one's own "enjoyment" of an event should not interfere with anyone else's.
I applaud the money raised for charities, but one mustn't be naive and believe anything other than that the players, and the PGA Tour officials, are in it for the money they make for themselves and that the sponsors use profits they would otherwise pay taxes on to further their PR objectives - in effect a tax avoidance scheme. Nor should one fail to recognize that a most significant component of those funds that are eventually routed to charities is, when you examine the cash flows in detail, the monetization of the free labour provided at the tournaments by volunteers.
So nice to see Ian Poulter give the crowd the finger on 16... pity a few others don't react to the boorish behavior.