Got home early from bowling last night - about 10:30pm EST - and flipped on the tv while I was winding down. Seems I can’t ever just walk in the house and go directly to bed. Much to my surprise I stumbled across the delayed broadcast of the Chrysler Classic of Tucson on the USA cable channel. Don’t suppose I have to tell you that I stayed up way too late watching some of this, do I?
It reminded me of my first exposure to professional golf in 1979 when the PGA Tour moved the Kemper Open to Congressional CC near Washington, DC. You see, back then, only the top 60 money winners were exempt into every tour event. On Mondays at each tour stop, they held an 18-hole qualifying tournament for the other 60-80 spots in the field that week. So I went out there and followed these “nobodies” around all day. To give you an idea of who these guys were, one of them was Jim Dent, the longest hitter on Tour. At the end of the day there was a 6-way playoff for the remaining 2 spots in the field. What an experience! I had no idea just how good these guys were. I came away from that with a new-found respect for golfers who aren’t necessarily household names. I told everybody I knew that the guys that “suck” are unbelievably good.
So this week, when the top 64 rated golfers are busy at the WGC Match Play, give the Tucson tourney a chance. The field is still full world-class golfers like Duffy Waldorf, David Duval, Jonathan Kaye, etc. You might just be amazed at how good THESE guys are too.
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