Catching Up

It's been a busy week and my microscopic corner of the interweb was unusually quiet. With that in mind, and not a lot of time it's important that note a few thoughts before coming back on the weekend with actual substance.

1. Daniel Chopra sucks. Yes it's true. Last year's Mercedes Champion and almost certain, "can't miss" rising star has lost it. He's withdrawn from this years Buick Invitational after posting a first round 76. This is coming off the heels of three missed cuts in four starts in 2009, and being cut in the last 6 of 7 events in 2008. Time for a swing change.

2. Phil Mickelson just doesn't give a fuck. He doesn't care what the safe play is. He doesn't care if driver off the deck is the wrong choice. He's going to hit it anyway. You know what, good for him.

3. Bring back Zinger! Nick Faldo is an idiot.

We'll talk more this weekend...

Big Names are Lackluster

On a weekend that saw one of the better Super Bowls of the past decade (so I hear) many of the big ticket names at the FBR were left to watch the game with the millions of others come Sunday.

Phil Mickelson who chose to make the FBR his first event of the season and was the odds-on favorite played like a complete hack on route to missing the cut emphatically. Mickelson looked completely out of sorts and struggled with his swing most of Thursday and Friday. Saying he thought he didn't hit the ball that badly made him seem all the more stupid. Just tell us how it is, you sucked.

Anthony Kim although not quite as bad, was still quite poor. One has to wonder if there is more to this shoulder thing than meets the eye, or if it was just one of those weeks. Kim seemed to spend more time looking for balls in the desert and seeking rules advice than he did making birdies. The next few events will tell us just how bad (or not) the shoulder is.

Camillo Villegas also spent Sunday hanging out and enjoying the eight hour Super Bowl pre-game shows. Villegas struggled most of Thursday and Friday, but managed to hold it together just enough to get to #18 Friday on the number. He then proceeded to vomit his way to a bogey thus missing the cut by one.

Defending champion J.B. Holmes came out of the gate strong and looked like he was poised to make a run at the title again. He came out on fire posting a five under 31 on his first nine. From there he played the last 27 holes in nine over on route to missing the cut. Great performance.

Other notables deciding not to show up included, Justin Leonard, Stephen Ames, Charles Howell, Brandt Snedeker, Ryuji Imada, Stewart Cink, Mike Weir, Stuart Appleby, Steve Stricker, Ken Duke and Steve Marino. Well, at least James Nitties, Scott Piercy and Charlie Hoffman had good weeks. Someone needs to tell Hoffman how much of a clown he looks like and do something about that mop. That's entirely why he lost the playoff, because his hair...is worthless.

Where did everyone go?

The Bob Hope Classic kicks off today and what used to be a can't miss stop on the PGA tour schedule is now struggling to attract big name talent. Sixteeth ranked Steve Stricker is now the top player in the field after Anthony Kim had to withdraw Tuesday due to a sore shoulder.

The Tournament itself still draws a ton of fans and has donated millions to charity over the past decade, but just isn't drawing top names anymore. Tiger Woods has never played in the five day event, and Phil Mickelson has been on and off again although he's won the event twice.

This year's event is being hosted by Hall of famer Arnold Palmer who mentioned he's more than a little disturbed by the lack of top-notch talent at the event. "It's been good for all of the players, the people who are out here playing, and I would just hope that they would understand that they need to support tournaments as much as they possibly can," is what Arnie quipped about the event." "I know that you can't play every week. But when I hear some of the reasons for not playing, it disturbs me a little. And they do need to get out and support the events. "I used to spread my tournament appearances so that I never missed a tournament more than two years in a row. Tournaments like the Hope, of course, I played every year because I just simply enjoyed being here."

I think Palmer, who has good intentions, is missing the boat on this one. The PGA tour schedule simply isn't what it used to be. There are so many huge events on the PGA Tour in conjunction with huge events on other Tours that make it really tough to always attract the talent you think you should have. It has nothing to do with them skipping the event because they don't believe it has value, it's simply a matter of priorities. For example, five of the top fifteen ranked players in the World are playing the Qatar Masters this week. Why? Because it's a huge event in the Race to Dubai which incidently is worth $10,000,000. There is so much choice, and so many events these days that unfortunately some middle-tier events are going to suffer.

It's too bad, as Bob Hope did so much for the game.