Phil "Opts Out" Of Pro-Am; Has To Sit Through Corporate Drone Dinner Instead

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Thanks to reader Mel for Rex Hoggard's post on Phil Mickelson's withdrawal from Thursday's Deutsche Bank Pro-Am.

Unlike Furyk, however, Mickelson’s withdrawal will not cost him a spot at the second playoff event because Lefty used a special option that allows top players to miss a pro-am. Instead the player must participate in an “alternative sponsor function.”

Translation: long dinner pretending to be interested.

Players who finished in the top 20 on the previous year’s money or FedEx Cup lists have two pro-am opt outs that are contingent on sponsor approval. Mickelson used his first opt out earlier this year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and instead had dinner with a handful of corporate clients.

According to Andy Pazder, the Tour’s senior vice president of tournament administration, this is the first year of the opt out provision and only about “a half dozen” players have used it.

“In a pro-am three or four amateurs are going to get five hours with Phil on the golf course, which is great, but maybe it’s better if you have a dinner with 20 executives and clients for two or three hours,” Pazder said. “Maybe that’s a better use of a player’s time.”

"does #1 really mean anything in golf?"

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Because I'm under doctor's orders to only watch 15 minutes from every hour of televised golf at courses with bunkers surrounded by rough and/or back-and-forth tree-lined routings featuring indecipherable holes, my exposure to this weekend's No. 1 world ranking talk was limited. However, I noticed quite a bit of tweeting about Phil Mickelson "choking" at the chance to pass Tiger Woods in the world rankings.

I'd sum up my feelings on this vital chase for No. 1 in the world, but reader Mr. BoJangles did the heavy typing for me:

a little off topic, but does #1 really mean anything in golf? Seriously. Why is it even discussed? It doesn't help you win majors. The only thing I can think of is the Match Play pairings, you get a one-seed. Being Ranked #1 is meaningless in every sport except college football. What was Shrek ranked? Or Graham?

Someone told me Greg Norman was ranked No. 1 for a lot weeks back in his prime. And I was like, who cares? He won 2 majors.

If Phil takes No. 1 over Tiger, what does that mean, really? Tiger's won 14 majors, Phil's won [four]. Who's going to have the better golf career when they're both retired? Anyway, that's just my rant on the golf rankings and every other ranking for that matter. I think rankings are retarded and while I'm at it, college football needs a playoff system. That will never happen.

"Mickelson let himself become one of those who would not be a factor at the 139th Open Championship simply due to a poor attitude."

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Tough love from Bob Harig after Phil Mickelson finished right before play was suspended.

Lefty's disposition did not become much better when he was talking to reporters after his round Friday and heard the announcement that play had been suspended due to high winds -- meaning those on the course were getting a break from the bad weather, or so it seemed.

"I'm happy for those guys," Mickelson said in full sarcasm mode. "That's great."

Weather is almost never a factor in suspending play at the Open due to the excellent drainage capabilities of sand-based links courses and a lack of thunderstorms.

But if golf balls cannot stay still on a green, there is no choice but to halt play

"While this scenario could cause consternation for many players, it will be the choices of a chosen few which are dissected and analyzed, celebrated and criticized."

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Jason Sobel makes a strong case against the PGA Tour's proposed "designated tournament" option to improve fields at events not drawing stars. Sobel's point? This is all really about Tiger and Phil and therefore, is a waste of time.

While this scenario could cause consternation for many players, it will be the choices of a chosen few which are dissected and analyzed, celebrated and criticized.

It is because of this that should such a law be enacted, it could hardly cause a ripple on the PGA Tour, save for one or two more events being played by one or two more superstar competitors.

"Everybody seems to refer to this as a Tiger and Phil issue; it's really not," said PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who intimated that details of the plan wouldn't be ironed out for a few months. "It's really about having a representative number of top players week in and week out."

That's some solid commish-speak, but the simple fact is, not many other guys can move the needle. Let's face it: Nobody is buying tickets to watch Scott Verplank. No one is clamoring for more Tim Clark. No offense to either player -- each of whom is ranked in the top 50 on both the OWGR and the FedEx points list -- but if this rule is being built to showcase the big names at more venues, it might as well be referred to as the Tiger-Phil Formula.

"Be polite."

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Steve Elling on a fun post-round scene today at TPC Sawgrass.

As ever, Phil Mickelson was signing autographs outside the scoring center at The Players Championship, having torn up the course with a 6-under 66 on Saturday to move into contention, and fans clamored three and four deep to get his signature.

Nothing new there. Then Tiger Woods walked past, having just completed another lackluster round.

A boy waiting in line for Mickelson to sign a souvenir, perhaps 7 or 8 years old, yelled out a biting comment to the reigning world numero uno.

"Say goodbye to No. 1, Tiger," the kid said. "Kiss it goodbye."

Double ouch. Not only has Mickelson unseated Woods as the game's most popular player, he's seemingly on the verge of dethroning him as the top dog in the world rankings.

Mickelson gave the kid a tsk-tsk. A less-classy player might have slipped the kid $100.

"Be polite," Mickelson said to the boy.