just doesn't sit right

I just heard on the Golf Channel that Phil Mickelson opted out of the amateurs portion of the Hope Classic. He did reequest it months ago (not last minute thing) but I dont beleive that shouldn't have been allowed. Opinions?????

Unless Phil has a very good explanation, I cannot imagine the PGA tour allowing one of its stars to take a pass on the pro-am component of the tournament. These folks pay a lot of money to rub shoulders with the pros. The Tour's lustre can tarnish quickly if the fans feel that they've been snubbed. Can anyone imagine Arnie, Jack, Gary or Tom treating fans this way? Not a chance, Had they done so, today's players would be playing for pennies on a dog track.

I heard this on the golf channel that he didnt paly with the amateurs. I would have not let him play. This tourny has been like this for 60 years.:bigcheek

Mickelson is not as nice a person as the media generally portrays him to be...I keep thinking about that tournament that he hooked a ball into the bush and freaked out at the people trying to err...help him find it. He really came across as a tempermental bully. Thats just my opinion though...never liked him anyway.:rolleyes

What I heard was that he didn't want to be placed with "amateur celebrities. Like your Joe Pesci, your Randy Johnsons etc. I guess he got his wish. I don't think it was the right one though. .

Any way you look at it, it WAS wrong. The player shouldn't have that much to say on who he is paired with.
The Hope is a special tournament for the PGA and the celebreties and corporate execs. It was not set up for the players only. Never was and never will be.
I remember watching Bill Murry and it was a blast as a viewer. I would love to play with him as a partner for the Pro-Am part of it. Of course I wouldnt expect to the in the money but an experience like that once or twice a year???? You bet ! :D

Just my opinion here.:bigcheek

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Andy4Par
I keep thinking about that tournament that he hooked a ball into the bush and freaked out at the people trying to err...help him find it. He really came across as a tempermental bully.

The reason Mickelson came across this way is he specifically asked them NOT to look for the ball, because if found it becomes unplayble instead of a lost ball. In my opinion he was right to be pissed at those idiots. He won the tournament anyway thanks to Frank Lickleter.

Mickelson is one of the most talented players in the world but there's no way in the world he should be able to opt out of playing with amateurs.
However, this is the fault of the tour, not Mickelson. All he did was ask, and if the tour doesn't have the kahuna's to tell him no, then bad on them, not Mickelson.

I have heard other players have given him the nickname of MIGJAM -
Man I'm Good - Just Ask Me :P

Mickelson should not have even asked the officials is he could opt out. The way I see it, is the Bob Hope has always been known as more of a Pro-Am tournament than not. I would think it is an honour and privledge not to mention fun to play with all star amateurs. This is the way Bob Hope wanted the tounament played and I think anyone who doesn't want to play should stay at home. If Mickelson plays x number of tournaments per year, he could omit the Bob Hope and play another date somewhere else.

What is the big deal anyways? Granted he opted out of playing with the amateurs after having opted in last year, but other than a scheduling conflict for the organizers, what is the real harm? :shakehead

I can appreciate that many of the pro's who want to remain in contention could/would have difficulty keeping their concentration while playing with the likes of ourselves :lol2 (amateurs that is). Even when playing with pro's they have trouble. I truly believe that Haas had trouble dealing with Lumpy's quad on 16 yesterday and that cost him his focus and the tournament.

BTW since there were 128 pros and 384 amateurs......I assume that every pro had to play with 3 amateurs...unless my calculator is broken. :confused

Does any one have an offical schedule to verify that?

As for the "Pro-Am" component, since there is no offical "Pro-Am" day at the Hope, what else is he supposed to do, not play the tournament? The first 4 days is really a "Pro-Am" as opposed to the regular tour stops where the Wednesday is the official Pro-Am, which I am sure Mickelson is happy to play.

My guess is that he just did not want to play with the Bill Murrays of the world so that he could focus on golf, which he obviously did on Sunday to jump from 33rd to a tie for 8th, equalling Mr. Weir's winning score of 67 on the day. :director (WAY TO GO MIKE!!!)

I like lefty, even though he is a righty (we both love the flop shot), and as they say, that's just my 2¢....:chicken

G.

Andy4Par
I remember that tournament and recall why he was upset and agree he should be upset about them finding his ball. I would be too.

Also agree that it was a decision that was made by the PGA Tour to allow it BUT should he have even asked?:confused

GarthM
The majority portion of the Bob Hope is the PRO-AM. Without it,
it would be just another tour stop. The players are paired with three amateurs for the first four days. These are easy courses (by tour standards - all par 72's) so your expected to go low. This tournament is scheduled early while everyone is still getting back into form and working on their games. Go out and play, have fun, and do the best you can to keep you contention for sunday. :D

Like Andy4Par said...... the PGA Tour should have made the rule NOT to let him get prefered pairings. Thats all.:bigcheek

Phil Mickelson did play with amateur partners. Everyone has to at the Hope. However, he did opt out of playing in a celebrity group, as a number of the players do. According to one of the annalists on the Golf Channel, playing in a group with celebrities like Bill Murray or Charles Barkley is like playing in a circus. The crowd following those groups tend to be celebrity watchers and not golf fans and are noisy and disruptive. He felt that you can easily add 4 or 5 strokes to your total score over 5 days. You will never see Tiger playing with those type of amateur partners. The Fred Couples, Peter Jacobsens and Jerry Kelly’s on the tour may not mind the distractions and more power to them. But they are probably not going to win either. When Phil and Tiger tee it up, they play to win.

I think that Weir has a distinct edge up on fellow competitors in regards to Pro-Ams...Weir has played in many skins and pro-am tournaments in his career, and done well. That experience could help keep focus on his game even with the distractions of star celebs, clowns and the like. What I am not sure of and I hope someone can explain is are the pro golfers randomly paired with the amatuers or is it a money talks kind of thing. Regardless, that is the beauty of a pro-am. With all the distractions, playing partners, weather, etc...the winner is that much more special, he faced all that and beat the field.:)

The tournament Mickelson was angry with the fans finding his ball was during a playoff with Frank Lickliter I believe. Both had driven their balls into OB, and Phil's provisional was sitting nicely in the fairway. I think Frank's provisional was not in as good a position, I can't remember. Phil had asked everyone to get out of the woods and stop looking for his ball. After a couple of minutes, someone found it. Because his ball was found, Phil had to abandon the provisional, go back to the tee and re-hit the original ball as it was OB, or wherever it was. He was none too pleased, and stated that he had told them to stop looking, but it was too late.

Phil's next shot off the tee was not very good, and if not for Lickliter 3 putting to lose, Phil would have lost that tournament.

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