CBSSports.com staffers Ross Devonport and Steve Elling take a scattershot look at three compelling and timely topics in the game.
| 1. Kenny Perry's decision to forgo a chance to qualify for next week's U.S. Open has been met with decidedly mixed reviews. Whatever his motivation, can either of you guys -- who hail from two different countries -- envision a scenario where as a top player you would skip your nation's open championship? | |
| Steve Elling | Ross Devonport |
 First of all, I can't envision a scenario where Ross would ever be confused with a top player, but I get the gist of the question. It's a crazy world when a guy believes in his gut that his best path to playing for his country is by skipping his national championship. I know Perry dislikes Torrey Pines, site of the U.S. Open, but it's not like he gave it much of a chance. He has played the South Course three times in competition. Personally, I would have bailed on the Stanford event in Memphis this week and tried to get through the sectional Open qualifier on Monday. He has missed his last four cuts in Memphis, so why not take this week off, K.P.? |  Perry is a veteran and he knows a trip to Torrey Pines next week would be a waste of his time. That's because three visits to a course are more than enough for a pro to realize he probably never has a shot winning an event there. The setup next week is apparently ridiculously tough, and Perry just doesn't have the length to compete on a 7,600-yard layout. I applaud him for wisely focusing on playing for his country, rather than himself, although he might be thinking twice when he's watching the Europeans douse themselves in champagne again after another 18½-9½ win in September. |
| 2. This is Week 2 for this question, but since developments keep happening, that doesn't make it any less meaningful. With Tiger Woods admitting this week he has yet to play a full 18 holes since he had knee surgery nearly two months ago, who do you like in the U.S. Open next week: Woods or world No. 2 Phil Mickelson? | |
| Steve Elling | Ross Devonport |
| The circumstances of the question surely have changed, but I will stick with my initial pick, the Left Coast Lefty. Sure, there are plenty of reasons to vacate the selection I made last week, including Mickelson's tepid performance at the Memorial Tournament, where his most notable achievement was browbeating some idiotic fan who was harassing Sergio Garcia. Mickelson hasn't won at Torrey Pines since the course was revised in 2002, either, and has four runner-up finishes in the national championship. So what? Woods is going to be rusty. Besides, Eldrick the Indomitable has not won a U.S. Open title since 2002, his longest streak at any major. Nobody seems to mention that notable fact. | I'm not wavering, either. As Pat Perez said -- according to your piece earlier this week, Steve -- Tiger could win with no legs. You know the PGA Tour would find some way for that to happen, too. Woods has had his heart set on returning this week, and he clearly isn't wasting precious rehab time watching hockey, as evidenced by this gem of a quote yesterday when asked who would win the Stanley Cup Finals -- "I don't really care. It's all about the Dodgers. I don't think anyone really watches hockey anymore." While plenty of hockey fans would like to slew-foot Woods in his injured knee for that remark, I think his injury will be plenty healed for him to handle F.I.G.J.A.M. (Google it if you don't know what it's about.) |
| 3. There was some sentiment last week that Jack Nicklaus' venerable Muirfield Village Golf Club looked an awful lot like a U.S. Open venue itself, which had a few fans wondering if the national championship might ever visit Columbus, Ohio. Is there any possibility it could happen? | |
| Steve Elling | Ross Devonport |
| Muirfield is one of the best venues on tour, but it has zero chance of hosting an Open unless we zip back in time about two decades. The Open has become a circus that requires not only a big-league venue but acres of extra open space for tents, hospitality areas, merchandise stores, parking and any manner of accoutrements. Just like famed Riviera Country Club in L.A. has become too cramped for a major (it hosted the PGA in '95), Muirfield, which once hosted a Ryder Cup, is too small by contemporary standards. A U.S. Amateur, that's another matter. By the way, Columbus did host a U.S. Open, way back in 1926, when amateur Bobby Jones birdied the last hole at Scioto CC to win by a shot. Astoundingly, he's the last man to birdie No. 72 to win by a stroke at the Open, which shows you how brutal the USGA courses have become. | I'll take your word on this one, Steve, as I've never been to the place. Instead of visiting golf tournaments all over the world like you, I'm stuck in a cubicle in Florida next to a bunch of pizza-eating Fantasy writers. Speaking of Florida, when the hell are we going to get a major championship again? The last one in the Sunshine State was back in 1987, when PGA National hosted the PGA Championship. I mean, we have more golf courses than any other state, a ton of retired folk with disposable income, and we already host the "fifth major," so why not give us the U.S. Open now and again, jeez? OK, so it's too bloody hot down here in June and the mosquitoes are a bitch, but once in 100-and-something years isn't too much to ask, is it? |
