Berman! ESPN Opts Out Of Phil's Halftime Shot To Discuss What Will Ray Lewis Do Next?

I feel like I've lived my worst nightmare, turning on Monday Night Football to see Phil Mickelson's cool attempt to try a shot in front of 60,000 Chargers fans during halftime. And what does ESPN give us? Halftime highlights, notes and profound discussions anchored by Chris Berman. And once again, he wasn't as entertaining as this.

So there is no video (yet), just this photo from KPMG and a report on PGATour.com that Mickelson earned $50,000 for First Book.

Update on 2012-10-16 06:04 by Geoff

**From an unbylined AP story:

The crowd responded with a mixture of boos and cheers when Lefty's shot missed the circles.

"I must have had a little bit more adrenaline because the ball was a little bit long. I thought I hit a pretty good shot but it flew long," Mickelson said.

Still, he had a good time.

"I haven't had this experience. This is an amazing experience. In golf, we don't get this," he said. "The 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale has nothing on this. This was awesome, seeing the Jumbotron with my picture, as I'm looking up taking the shot, that was unique. That was something that was pretty cool."

Here is Phil on ESPN before the game talking about the Ryder Cup loss and dealing with a mess of a question from Steve Young.

And there's a neat shot of Mickelson at the top of his backswing with Jonathan Wall's Yahoo blog post.

Chubby: Turkey Final A Model For Others

Dermot Gilreese assesses the Turkey Final cash grab that so enriched the lives of eight men last week. The primary organizer explains how it could be a model for future events.

Meanwhile, the money flows. And given his success in attracting such leading names to last week's enterprise, Chubby Chandler of International Sports Management believes it could work in other countries as a promotional vehicle. Indeed as an early by-product, it is hoped that several of last week's octet will return to compete in the Turkish Open in 13 months. As Chandler put it: "I've already established that it's a free week for Tiger."

And Chandler explains how he insured that there were no last minute WD's:

Even with attractive figures being thrown around, it seems that good faith is crucial to the success of these ventures. Which explains why Chandler made sure that $150,000 -- half the minimum guaranteed prize money -- would be lodged to each player's bank account on September 1 of this year -- almost six weeks before the event. "As a gesture, I felt it appropriate to assure them that they were going to be paid," he said.

So much classier than a brown paper bag full of cash or chips to the casino!

Yet Another Reason Paul Azinger Won't Be Ryder Cup Captain Again: Tragicomic Twitter Tiff No. 1,032!

I'm not entirely sure what the context was or care but something to do with Sunday's jump from space by Felix Baumgartner

But I do think this could be just the kind of thing that makes a David Toms Captaincy appealing to the PGA of America.

This apparently has been patched up, but was precipitated by this ranting and raving. Such leadership!

Deadspin previously noted one of Azinger's raging stream of Tweets. And ESPN reprimanded him previously for a Tweet violating company policy.

Video: Mark Wiebe's Land-And-Run Ace

Judging by his reaction the Champions Tour's Mark Wiebe wasn't expecting this one to go in or, because it's the geezer tour, they just didn't see it. Either way, it's hard to believe this one went in when you see where it lands.

Wiebe is four back heading into the final round of the Greater Hickory Classic.

"Mini-golf may be the closest most of us get to really understanding Sisyphus."

Michael Tortorello files a New York Times Home and Garden section story on Bruce Stillman's 13-hole Big Stone Mini Golf Course and sculpture garden in Minnetrista, Minnesota.

The second hole, a stiff par 3, breaks a wobbly six feet from left to right. Mr. Stillman calls it “Banking on Mound.” If there’s any place in America left to pun, it’s a mini-golf course: Mound is the name of the nearby lakeside suburb, on the western edge of the Minneapolis metro, where Mr. Stillman banked his fate.

It’s a landscape of country clubs, hobby farms and marinas, with “some of the most expensive real estate in Minnesota,” said Heidi Hoy, a sculptor who has lived intermittently at Big Stone as Mr. Stillman’s companion.

When he first bought an old dairy farm here in 1991, he wanted to try his hand at landscape and environmental art: something in the spirit of the British site-sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. Another influence was a piece of popular American cinema called “Overboard,” in which reluctant lovers played by Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell create a Putt-Putt Seven Wonders of the World.

There is also a 25-image gallery accompanying the story online.

Bloomberg TV On Hanse, Rio

A Bloomberg TV feature on Gil Hanse following the awarding of the Olympic design contract for Rio 2016:

Meanwhile, the AP branch in Rio's Tales Azzoni continues his steadfast interest in the land dispute which will not hold up construction, says the IGF's Ty Votaw.

Votaw said the land dispute is “not a concern at this time,” and reiterated that the federation has been reassured by 2016 organizers that all issues are close to being resolved.

“There are some final discussions between the land owner and the organizing committee, and the mayor’s office that are just being finalized,” Votaw said. “We are working closely with Rio 2016 and the land owner to resolve the issues that need to be resolved so we could move forward.”

Votaw acknowledges there is a need to make planning changes for every day that goes by without construction starting, but said it doesn’t mean that current delays will affect the final project or the test events.

“There is some flexibility,” Votaw said. “We could be ready as early as March of 2015 or as late as August of 2015. You could have the test events in 2016 as well.”

The AP story ends by suggesting (yet again) that a different site may still be necessary for the 2016 course, even though a court has ruled that the construction can go ahead regardless of the ultimate decision on the land dispute that may be years away. We also know that from the AP's Azzoni.

The Real Best Field In Golf...

I'm always so impressed with the legends that are lured to play the PNC Father-Son Challenge, and the December 13-16 field announced Thursday remains the only event in golf that still lures The King and The Bear.

1. Steve Elkington/Sam Elkington (son)
2. Nick Faldo/Matthew Faldo (son)
3. Raymond Floyd/Robert Floyd (son)
4. Hale Irwin/Steve Irwin (son)
5. Lee Janzen/Connor Janzen (son)
6. Bernhard Langer/Christina Langer (daughter)
7. Davis Love III/Davis Love IV (Dru Love) (son)
8. Sandy Lyle/James Lyle (son)
9. Larry Nelson (Defending Champion)/John Nelson (son)
10. Jack Nicklaus/Gary Nicklaus (son)
11. Mark O'Meara/Shaun O'Meara (son)
12. Arnold Palmer/Will Wears (grandson)
13. Vijay Singh/Qass Singh (son)
14. Dave Stockton/David Stockton (son)
15. Curtis Strange/Tom Strange (son)
16. Lee Trevino/Daniel Trevino (son)
17. Lanny Wadkins/Tucker Wadkins (son)
18. Fuzzy Zoeller/Gretchen Zoeller (daughter)