M-I-A

MIA -A.K.A. "Missing in Action"
See Adam Scott, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington in regards to this year's edition of the Memorial Tournament...or, the house that Jack built. VJ and Tiger are also MIA, but at least they have a legitimate excuse, which is injury.

Apparently, A. Scott, Ernie and Padraig believe that playing TPC Southwind is better prep for Torrey Pines than Muirfield Village. (Although at this time, Adam Scott has not officially committed - see the listing here: http://www.stanfordstjude.com/images/stories/2008/commitmentlist.pdf )

Other than Padraig, I think we have to question the process for some of these top guns from skipping Memorial and playing in Memphis. I mean, sure, Ernie has 3 majors, but only 1 since 1997, which puts him in the same company with Ben Curtis, Shaun Micheel and Mark Brooks. Ernie - in order to beat the best, you have the play against the best, even when Tiger is not in the field. Two words come to mind for Ernie these days "Mental Midget". We love Ernie and he keeps getting our hopes up by winning Honda and threatening on the back nine at the Players, but he doesn't seem totally committed to his so-called 3-Year Plan. "Big Easy...it's 18 months into the Plan and you have exactly 1 U.S. Win with no Tiger in the field."

Let's recap the last couple of weeks on Tour also. Now, Hot-Lanta here had Ryuji Imada here in my home area of Atlanta. Sure, it was a nice pick, but this tournament is on life support from what I hear. I have been in Atlanta for about 11-12 years now and I have gone to the tournament exactly zero times (although I have played TPC Sugarloaf's back nine once in a local amaeur tournament (75)). Why? Well, for one, the course is spread out amongst the mansions in the development, it's very hilly and you have to park miles away from the area and take a shuttle in. It's a lot to ask for a 2nd tier event. At least when it was before the Masters, Phil would show up.

Speaking of the mansions, did anyone catch the "5 questions" segment with Finchy at Stewart Cink's place? Wow, was that entry, kitchen and backyard impressive. But then again, when you win as much money as Stewey, you can live really large in Georgia. I was hoping Cink would actually compete in possibly the last AT&T but he ends up with a back-door top 15 finish or so.
4 career wins...and not counting.

But you can't say that the AT&T isn't an exciting finish with that crazy 18th hole. Some may say that Kenny Perry got a terrible break, but that 2nd shot in the playoff was really far off line and if there was no gallery, I would almost bet that ball would have been at least 50-60 yards from the green with little chance of actually hitting the green unless he had a great lie. Kenny should have birdied the 18th in regulation to win the thing in style. Instead, Imada gets redemption.

And by the way, if I'm Parker McLachlin, I am firing Peter Kostis immediately after the event. Kostis hammered (in my opinion, but then, isn't this a blog?) away at Parker's decision-making the last 5 holes of the coverage. Now I give Kostis and Baker-Finch for correctly identifying that Parker was speeding up his routine and was indecisive, but if I'm Parker and hear that from my coach on the broadcast, I would lose some trust. Having said that, Parker totally wussed out on the 18th hole by laying up with 226 yards to go DOWNHILL! But then again, I am now just piling on.

Let's talk Colonial friends! What a shot by Philly Mick on the 18th from the trees! Definitely one of the top 5 shots of the year I would say. While Rod Pampling starting working on his victory speech from 95-100 yards away in the fairway, Phil hits a shot under and over the trees, even hitting some leaves to about 8 feet and then draining the putt for an improbably birdie. Pampling, probably rattled by the turnabout, left his wedge about 35 feet short, a pathetic shot for a golf professional, although not quite as bad as his flare off #17 that led to a bogey, and could have been worse.

And what's this? We have a Tim Clark sighting! Clark nearly stole the tournament by playing a solid round of golf Sunday, but ultimately he too succummbed to nerves and left a 14-footer for birdie on #18 in the jaws, about a foot short of the hole. Clark has been atrocious in '08 winning less than $150K in events that require a cut, but on a course that doesn't demand distance, he gets himself a T-2. Eventually, on the right course, Clark has to get a W on Tour. But nothing is guaranteed in the Tiger era, just ask Charles Howell III. (I will leave any comments about Chucky's poor 4th round at AT&T for others...that would be just mean at this point.)

For the Memorial this week, Phil has to be the big favorite I would think with momentum and no Tiger, although Phil hasn't won here yet. I am curious to see how Sergio backs up his Players win also. Has he really found something with the flatstick or will he continue to win only when his ball-striking is unconscious? Look for Ogilvy this week also. He has elevated his play again and seems to be playing more consistently from week-to-week. I know Kenny Perry is also a fashionable pick this week but he has to be running out of gas after having played the last 4-5 weeks and being in contention for 2 weeks in a row.

Dark Horse: Steve Lowery
Pick: Phil Mickelson
Contender: Geoff Ogilvy
Contender #2: Sean O'Hair

Looking forward to a great week and the countdown to Torrey Pines.