"A lot of players are not happy"

Robert Allenby, on the Tour not DQ'ing Mickelson for missing the Nelson pro-am:

"A lot of players are not happy," world No 19 Allenby said after the first round.

"I like Phil, but when the tour set a precedent, they've got to stick with it," said Allenby. "He [Mickelson] checked into the hotel here when I checked in on Monday. 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."

Pampling Speaks!

At least one more player besides Stuart Appleby was willing to go on the record about Phil's missed pro-am.

"He could have still made it here," [Rod] Pampling told reporters after carding an opening-round 68 on Thursday.

"The (PGA Tour) rules say you have to play in the pro-am to play in the (main) tournament so in my opinion he shouldn't have been allowed to play."

What Will Phil Get Away With Next?

From an unbylined wire service story:

Phil Mickelson will compete in the EDS Byron Nelson Championship today despite missing yesterday's pre-tournament pro-am.

PGA Tour rules state that a player missing a pro-am is automatically disqualified from the tournament, except for "extenuating circumstances".

Mickelson had planned to fly into town in his private jet late Tuesday night from nearby Little Rock, Arkansas, roughly a one-hour flight, in time for his 7am pro-am tee time, but the Dallas Love Field airport was closed due to severe thunderstorms.

Instead, he spent the night in Little Rock, arriving here at TPC Four Seasons resort shortly after 11am yesterday. Mickelson, it seems, was happy to play an afternoon pro-am, but the tour decided not to rearrange the tee times. Instead, he had lunch with the amateurs he was supposed to have played with.

"Phil was prepared to play in the afternoon. It wasn't his decision not to play," said Mickelson spokesman TR Reinman.

The PGA Tour's decision to allow Mickelson to play in the tournament was greeted with cynicism by some fellow players, who accused the tour of having a double standard, recalling that Retief Goosen was disqualified from the 2005 Nissan Open for missing his pro-am tee time, after oversleeping.

But the tour issued a statement defending its decision.

"Phil did everything physically possible to get here Tuesday night, but was grounded in Little Rock due to circumstances completely beyond his control," said tour executive vice president Henry Hughes.

Eight-time PGA Tour winner Stuart Appleby said the appropriate question was whether Mickelson had made every effort to get into town in time for the pro-am.

"I'm sure a lot of players think it's a very dodgy decision," said Appleby, who was curious to know whether Mickelson could have arrived at the crack of dawn in time to play.

"Each situation has to be looked at independently. If a player makes a reasonable effort, he gets a pass. If he doesn't, he should be disqualified. I don't care who you are.

And Stuart, do you think he made a reasonable attempt?

"If the (Dallas) airport was open in the early hours this morning, what I would say to my pilot is 'I've got to be in Dallas at 5.30am. If it's open, call me and wake me up."

That's a no.

I did go back and try to dig up the stories on Goosen's 2005 DQ at Riviera and after oversleeping, he did make it to the property just after his tee time.

I say it's all Rick Smith's fault.

"The field was so weak that more world ranking points were awarded to the winner of the BMW Asian Open."

Doug Ferguson in his weekly notes column, writing about the Viking Classic's (don't ask) disappointment at not getting their winner in the 2008 Masters:

Even so, fall tournaments must have been wondering about Nick Watney's victory in New Orleans last week. That was a full FedEx Cup event, but the field was so weak that more world ranking points were awarded to the winner of the BMW Asian Open. Watney earned 28 points, only four more points than the winner of Mississippi tournament last year.

TPC Las Colinas Greens

Jimmy Burch explains why they might not look so hot this week. Assuming you watch.

"He hit a lot of 'stingers'"

Michael Dudurich talks to Oakmont's Bob Ford about Tiger's practice round.

This item would seem to be bad news for anyone hoping to watch him spray that lovely Nike driver all over the lot:

For the most part, Woods hit 5- and 3-woods off the tees.

"There aren't too many driver holes for him out there," Ford said. "He hit a lot of 'stingers' with both of those clubs. He's a very strategic person, no doubt about it."

If It All Ended Today...

...I don't believe anyone else has noticed this, but if the FedEx Cup playoffs started this week, Parker McLachlin would be on the outside looking in.

Just thought you'd want to know. That 144 number is going to be one cruel cut-off point.

"Or that Tiger Woods will ever play tournament golf again in Texas?"

The Star-Telegram's Gil Lebreton realizes that if Tiger isn't coming to the Nelson this year, he probably won't be coming back ever again.

The message this time, though, seems unmistakable. If the tributes planned for Byron weren’t enough to lure Woods back this year, what makes anyone think that he’ll come back next April? Or the year after?

Or that Tiger Woods will ever play tournament golf again in Texas?

His first and last appearance at Colonial came in 1997. A disappointing final round left Woods steamed and tied for fourth place, and he has never returned.

He played in the Texas Open, a fall tour event in San Antonio, in 1996 and came in third. He has never returned.

Woods has never played in the Shell Houston Open.

The Nelson, however, was supposed to be Woods’ tournament. The tournament where Fergie, the Duchess of York, once came to see Tiger play. From 1997 to 2004, Woods played in the Nelson Championship seven times, shooting a combined 77 under par.

"Players... [choose events] for golf courses that they like and golf courses that are in good shape"

The Byron Nelson has lured a field nearly as weak as New Orleans, and Jimmy Burch of the Star-Telegram looks at the reasons why:

Another wrinkle this year is the April date, which broke up a Dallas-Fort Worth tradition of playing in back-to-back weeks with the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (May 24-27). Some players cited the move as a logistical problem.

Todd Hamilton, a Westlake resident who will compete at the Nelson, said the biggest challenge Nelson officials face in attracting players is the TPC Las Colinas course, which will get an off-season face-lift.

"Players... [choose events] for golf courses that they like and golf courses that are in good shape," Hamilton said. "And I don't think that particular course is as good as it could be for an event like that."

Bag Abuse=Character?

David Feherty, interviewing Boo Weekley after chipping in on the last two holes to win the Heritage, noted that Weekley is not the typical Tour drone because of his "bag abuse" and that it was "great to see some character out here."

Is that really a sign of great character? 

Congressional Vote Looks Good...

...Praise the Lord, Len Shapiro reports that Congressional appears to have approved the AT&T National for the next two years. I was worried we wouldn't get to study all of that architectural nuance.

Nothing A Full Field Can't Fix

SI.com's golf.com's Gary Van Sickle is the latest to weigh in on the sad state of the World Golf Championship events. As it relates to the recent debate over the AT&T National, Van Sickle notes that the WGC's have often been plagued by run-away wins, something easily curable by larger fields:

In a full field, half a dozen players shoot lights-out every day. In a half-field, only two or three do. Golf leaderboards are exciting because they're bunched, and that's a function of the numbers. With a full field, it's going to be more like the Tour de France — no one usually breaks away from the pack without taking a half-dozen pursuers with him. In a half field, well, Tiger or Darren Clarke or someone else can break away from the field and win in a runaway.

"The future of the tournament, and the way a new generation is introduced to the game...rests in Payne's hands."

Michael Bamberger on new Masters chairman Billy Payne:

It's a tricky thing, what Payne wants to pull off. Frank Chirkinian, the famously innovative former producer of the Masters telecast for CBS, has described the tournament as great theater on the world's most beautiful stage, with amazing characters and an unknown outcome. For years it has been delicious. Too many lay-up shots out of the rough could kill the delicate balance of brawn and touch that made the thing so special in the first place. Too much exposure could too. The Internet is many things, but grand it's not. The future of the tournament, and the way a new generation is introduced to the game, to some significant degree rests in Payne's hands. He says that making good decisions is all about having a vision, listening well and "surrounding yourself with a good team." Clifford Roberts would never have said it that way, but he would have thought it. The new guy has the same mandate that Roberts did. Billy Payne's not trying to sell a thing-except a great game, a spring golf tournament and the club that hosts it.

Tour Preserves Integrity Of 4.5 Hour Round By Making AT&T National An Invitational

Rex Hoggard reports that the Tiger Woods-hosted AT&T National will be an invitational field, meaning we won't be subjected to those deadly 5-hour rounds. Oh, and there's just one more week of rankings security for the world's top 50. They need it!

Mickelson Reaffirms Support For Rick Smith By Working With Butch Harmon

From Tod Leonard in today's San Diego Union Tribune:

Mickelson reportedly played 27 holes at Augusta one day last week, shooting 65 for 18 holes and 31 for his other nine.

The San Diegan caused another minor stir Sunday when he briefly worked with instructor Butch Harmon before his final round of 69 in the CA Championship. The two were seen working together at the Accenture Match Play, but Mickelson downplayed it then, and he insists Smith remains his foremost swing instructor.