Phil Chooses To Study Classic Club Course Changes From Safe Confines of Rancho Santa Fe

Larry Dorman reports:

Mickelson will be skipping the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, which starts Jan. 16, for the first time since 2001, and there is sure to be speculation that he is not happy with the change of courses at a tournament where he has won twice.

He has not played since winning the HSBC Champions in China in early November.

“Taking more than two months off sounds like a long time, but I’ll have to be fresh and ready to go when the 2008 season starts because I’ll play five in a row starting in San Diego,” Mickelson said on his Web site. "Plus, I just really, really hate the Classic Club."

Just wanted to make sure you were reading!

Larry Bohannan documents the changes to the Classic Club that Phil will not experience this year.

Someone Appreciates The Plantation Course!

Larry Dorman of the New York Times, writing about Daniel Chopra and his play through two rounds at Kapalua:

The winds on Maui’s northwest shore alternately howl and halt, testing a golfer’s ability to work the ball and control its trajectory. The imagination required to solve the nuances of the course created by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore is something Chopra possesses.

“I don’t think I hit a single shot all day long that was, except for maybe with a driver, that was a normal up-in-the-air shot,” Chopra said Thursday. “Every iron shot I hit I knocked down, took loft off of it, cut or drew it in there. I manufactured pretty much every single shot I had to hit today, other than my normal, standard stock which you just hit on the driving range.”

That comes as sweet music in an era of bomb and gouge, where many golfers simply blast the ball with their driver as far as possible without regard to rough or bunkers, then gouge it from the rough on to the green with square-grooved wedges. Young Daniel Chopra, who is working with the old-school instructor Butch Harmon, is attuned to the importance of creating shots.
 

Ames, Ogilvie Blast Commissioner's Absence

Doug Ferguson reports on the only exciting thing to happen during day one of the Mercedes Championship.

"It's the opening of the year, this is important," Stephen Ames of Calgary said after completing the first round of the year at 1-under 72. "I think he should be here.

"He's here at the end. Is this any different? It should be the same."

Is that any way for a former Players Champion to treat a Commissioner?

Finchem doesn't travel to every tournament, and he isn't always at Kapalua for the first event of the year. PGA Tour spokesman Bob Combs said the commissioner was at the Mercedes the last two years and "will be attending again."

"It was a combination of business commitments and trying to manage a very challenging travel schedule over the course of a full season," Combs said of his absence.

Well that makes sen...oh wait.

More troubling to Joe Ogilvie, a member of the PGA Tour policy board, was not seeing any member of the tour's executive staff at Kapalua for the first shot, the first round, the first tournament.

"I'm pretty disappointed there's no senior staff from the PGA Tour here on opening day," Ogilvie said before adding a heavy dose of sarcasm. "Of course, when you shut down your offices from the 21st of December to the second of January . . . I don't know of a $1-billion company that does that. It's puzzling."

Well, it is a non-profit, Joe.

"I think it does (send the wrong message) when you've got four of the top 10 not here at a marquee event," Ogilvie said. "It seems to be common sense to me.

"The tour tells the players, you have to be there for the first tournament, but there's no senior staff. If I was commissioner, I'd be here."

"I don't know what he does for the other 35 weeks a year. It's not like he can wander off and act like a normal human being and just go bowling."

Bill Nichols pens an interesting column on what you would assume is a tired subject: big names skipping Kapalua. But he touches on some key points...

Good thing the tour will set guidelines for its drug policy this season because evidence suggests widespread use of performance-reducing agents. Top players are having trouble getting off their couches.

Kidding aside, Woods' record makes it difficult to criticize his scheduling. Still, it has become a big problem for regular Tour events.

Chances of landing the world's No. 1 player are reduced with Woods booked for four majors, three World Golf Championships and four FedEx Cup events. He also plays Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament, Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Invitational, the Wachovia Championship, the AT&T National and usually two Buick events.

The Tour initially thought the FedEx Cup would entice marquee names to play more. It has had the opposite effect. With four playoffs, a WGC event and either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup at season's end, top players are searching for time off.

But at least the WGC's have...well, taken us to mediocre courses.  Supported the top 50-in-the-world cocoon and alienated the rest of the world by mostly only being played in America. Other than that...

Loved this from Calc, which I didn't see until Nichols printed it:

"He only plays 16 tournaments a year, or 17, and there's got to be a point where that's going to be too many, where he's just going to say, 'OK, I'm done,' " veteran Mark Calcavecchia told reporters at the Mercedes on Tuesday.

"I don't know what he does for the other 35 weeks a year. It's not like he can wander off and act like a normal human being and just go bowling."

"There's so much money in golf today, worldwide, that a ride in a private jet to a limited-field event just isn't worth the inconvenience."

Tough talk from Tim Rosaforte, reporting from Kapalua...

this wasn't the way Tim Finchem designed the FedEx Cup. And this was not what The Golf Channel, Mercedes-Benz or FedEx had in mind when they spent the money, or what the golf fan with a snowdrift outside his window deserves when he turns on the TV for prime-time golf from paradise.

And...

So would Woods, who hasn't been to Maui since 2005. That's the year the tour moved his Target World Challenge to two weeks before Christmas. Mickelson, who hasn't played here since 2001, can be thrown out of this discussion since his problem is not only family, but also 30 mph winds, grainy greens and uphill walks that are part of dealing with the Plantation Course. But Harrington, who is at home in Ireland, and Scott, who is resting up after the Australian circuit, just show that there's so much money in golf today, worldwide, that a ride in a private jet to a limited-field event just isn't worth the inconvenience.

So far, the only suggestion anyone has come up with this week is Steve Stricker's plea to move the event back a week or two (next year it starts January 8th). From John Strege:

"Personally, I think we start too early," Steve Stricker said Tuesday. "I talked to Gary Planos (Kapalua Resort's senior vice president resort operations) and he kind of feels the same way. It's holiday time. Don't get me wrong. I'm excited as hell to be here, but you still have family back home. You've got to take off on the 27th or 28th, right after Christmas, to get over here and make sure you're rested and ready. Personally, I'd like to see it start a week or two weeks later in the season, just to be home through Christmas and the first of the year and be able to spend some time with family and friends."

The merits of his argument notwithstanding, it doesn't seem likely to change, and absenteeism will continue to beleaguer an event that debuted on the PGA Tour in 1953 and probably deserves better.

"Shimabukuro has been called the 'Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele.'"

Set your TiVo's Thursday. From the PGA Tour:

Mark Rolfing of GOLF CHANNEL will emcee the Opening Drive Ceremony, which will take place on No. 1 tee approximately 20 minutes prior to the estimated 10:45 a.m. (HT) first tee time.  Four King’s Guard Drill Team members from the Iolani Palace will perform as representatives from Mercedes-Benz present the tournament trophy, and spectators and players will participate in a traditional Hawaiian blessing led by Kapalua Resort’s
Hawaiian cultural advisor Clifford Nae’ole.

Following a presentation of colors by the King’s Guard, the ceremony will continue with the playing of the “The Star-Spangled Banner” by award-winning recording artist Jake Shimabukuro.  A fifth-generation Japanese American, Shimabukuro has been called the “Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele.” He has performed at Wrigley Field and toured with Jimmy Buffett.

Torre, who won four World Series titles as manager of the New York Yankeesand who is a property owner at Kapalua, will serve as honorary starter and announce the Mercedes-Benz Championship’s first pairing.  Stephen Ames, winner of the last official event in 2007 – the Children’s Miracle Network Classic presented by Wal-Mart – will hit the first tee shot of the 2008 season.

"Perhaps Shimabukuro ought to be playing taps, because this event is drowning in a sea of indifference"

Steve Elling looks at the demise of the Mercedes Championship and comes to the conclusion that all of the things that should be great about it do no work in the current scheme of things. I particularly liked this point, which never seems to be fully understood in Ponte Vedra or with sponsors:

The low-key Hawaiian vibe, which once seemed to work in favor of the tournament because it felt so novel, has become a cultural setback. The Mercedes event draws a remarkably sparse crowd, which hardly engenders excitement across the viewing spectrum. Indifference among the top players and local residents hardly affirms that it's a top-tier event if you are a guy flipping channels.

"He better come on home with me, then. We've got a lot of changing to do."

Thanks to reader Steve for suggesting I read Boo Weekley's interview transcript from Kapalua (I know, I know...how could I ever pass up the chance?).

The bullets exchange was fun, but this is a nice one for the Monty files:

Q. You played good in China, though, I heard.
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah, we played good in China. We fed off each other, me and Heath. That was a plus. That was a great time over there. I mean, it was great to be able to go over and represent your country. We didn't know -- I knew how he was going to play but I didn't know how I was going to play. I knew he was going to play good because he's been playing and practicing and I had been up in a woods hunting.

Q. Up in a tree killing something is what Monty said, your new best friend?
BOO WEEKLEY: Yeah, I heard he kind of liked me.

Q. He did. He wants to be like you.
BOO WEEKLEY: (Laughing) he better come on home with me, then (laughter). We've got a lot of changing to do (laughter).

Boo Headed For Terrorist Watch List?

Thanks to reader Charlie for catching Doug Ferguson's summary of Boo Weekley's long trip to Kapalua.

Airport security found two bullets from his rifle in his carry-on bag.

“That was kind of like, right out of the gate started the whole week for me,” Weekley said Monday. “They put the red flags on me. I had the cops there. I thought I was going to jail.”

He used that bag during a hunting trip to Illinois and never saw them when he packed for Hawaii. But as Weekley soon discovered, those airport scanning machines don’t miss much.

“I just begged and pleaded,” he said. “I just sat there and shook my head like I was an idiot, you know? They confiscated the bullets and then broke down a bunch of stuff, got in everything and put a flag by me. They said they were going to red flag me.”

The Rookie Class

Steve Elling analyzes the potential of young players who won't get enough starts between now and Labor Day by looking at both the Q-School grads (with pictures!) and the Nationwide Tour grads.

Flash: Tiger To Play Dubai!

I was really hoping for a quote stating that since Sam is now old enough, he's going to play abroad more often so that he can make these trips to Dubai educational.

For those keeping score at home, the Dubai event is the same week as the PGA Tour's Scottsdale stop.

So there is still hope that he will consider playing at Pebble Beach and the opportunity to play six hour rounds on Softspike-dented greens. 

Fujikawa Looks To Extend Missed Cuts Streak With Sony Exemption

I know, I know, he warmed our hearts last year. But he was an amateur then. In January he'll return as a pro.