Shotgun Start: Weir all up for a southpaw debate
CBSSports.com staffers Ross Devonport and Steve Elling take a scattershot look at three compelling and timely topics in the game.
| 1. Mike Weir was the 54-hole leader at the Mercedes-Benz Championship last week and continues to show signs he's reclaiming the form that made him a top 10 caliber player. Is he the best lefty in golf right now? | |
| Steve Elling | Ross Devonport |
 Weir won a Fall Series event last year to snap a 3½-year drought on the PGA Tour and has four top-12 finishes in as many global starts. Weir has been retooling his swing for months, moving to the so-called Stack and Tilt method, and his makeover has been at least as impressive as the one crafted in 2007 by another famous port-sider who moved to swing guru Butch Harmon. Given that Weir had fallen to around 50th in the rankings at one point, he might not be the best lefty in the world, but he's surely the one on the quickest ascent. |  Well, I'm going to say it's a tie at the moment for the best left-hander in the world. Phil Mickelson's disgraceful missed cut at the Fry's Electronics Open in October, the last time he played on U.S. soil, eliminates him from contention for now. I think Weir and Steve Flesch, a two-time winner late last season, are the hottest southpaws at the moment. OK, so Flesch didn't have a round in the 60s last week at the Mercedes and his two victories in 2007 were against pretty weak fields, but at least he's actually playing! As for Weir, his results of late speak for themselves. |
| 2. Speaking of prominent portsiders Phil Mickelson announced on his website he will be skipping the Bob Hope event, where he was the lone player in the field ranked in the world top 10 last year. Can that flagging event, once a springtime staple, be fixed? | |
| Steve Elling | Ross Devonport |
| A case can be made that the Hope has become the weakest event on the Hawaiian and West Coast portions of the schedule -- and not just because the stars have started staying home. The last of the 90-hole events, the pro-am and celebrity elements of the tournament and four-course rotation wears on some players, but the courses themselves play a part. After years of playing on shortish, antiquated Palm Springs layouts, the Classic Course debuted as the home track last year and it was mostly viewed as a disaster, with nearly unplayable winds making a mockery of the final round. You can bet Mickelson noticed. Another new course, Silver Rock, is set to join the Hope rotation this year, so maybe that will help. The venerable, late namesake of the event, who helped bring golf to the American masses, deserves better. | As you correctly point out Steve, who the hell would want to spend five straight days playing with amateurs? Most tour guys hate playing in pro-ams and only do so because they're required to. Plus, it really comes at an awkward point in the schedule. Guys that go all the way out to Hawaii don't want to have to jump right back into playing a five-rounder, while guys who wait until the tour comes back to the continent to start their seasons would much rather begin their season at the Buick Invitational -- especially this year with Torrey Pines also hosting the U.S. Open. Unfortunately, I don't see the tour moving the Hope any time soon, so I think it will just remain where it is for now with the celebrity factor being enough to keep television viewers hooked. |
| 3. Last week Rory Sabbatini said he is boycotting the media, presumably because of the bad pub emanating from his controversial withdrawal from the Tiger Woods charity event in mid-December. How long do you suppose it will last? | |
| Steve Elling | Ross Devonport |
| I set the over/under date on Sabbatini caving in and filling up his first notebook of the year as Feb. 1. Any takers? The way I see it, he has always liked to express his opinion, and he needs the media more than it needs him. Moreover, if Sabbatini is miffed after being ripped for bailing on the Woods event, he should look at his peers, not just the inkslingers. Several players took shots at him, including major winners Mark Calcavecchia and Fred Couples. It's curious that the guy has his own website and it hasn't been updated with any personal content or insight in a while, outside of noting that he signed a new endorsement deal with Adams Golf. Sabo is a boisterous guy, so this blackout can't last long, or we will all be the poorer for it. Because, as noted here before, what he said about Tiger last spring was not incorrect. Not at the time, anyway. | As much as the little (insert derogatory adjective here) loves to hear himself talk, I think Sabbatini will only open his big mouth when he wins again on tour. He said he wants to let his clubs do the talking, so if he speaks before lifting a trophy, he will just make himself look like even more of an idiot than he has already done. God help us if he somehow manages to beat Tiger head-to-head in an event -- we'll never hear the end of it. All the reporters could leave the press conference, the chairs would be cleared away, and Rory would still be there, yelling at the poor janitor -- to hurry up of course. And his highly annoying wife would be right by Rory's side -- with an anti-Tiger T-shirt on. |
