I know the PGA Tour season already is two weeks old, but I frankly can’t get excited about the three opening events. The Mercedes-Benz was ruined by The Golf Channel coverage. The Sony is an after thought. And I hate pro-ams, so the Hope off my list. The FBR is fun for the famous par 3 sixteenth, but it suffers from too much focus on the same.
For me, the PGA Tour season opens with the Buick Invitational. Then it takes a week off with the Crosby Clambake AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am before heading toward the two spring World Golf Championship events and the Masters.
And truth be told, it really begins with The Masters. Not coincidentally, that’s about the same time that the weather in Michigan permits golf on an everyday basis.
So when does the PGA Tour season begin for you? Leave a comment below:
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I would like to say back in November with the European Tour’s new year, but I really can’t wait until everyone goes to warm and sunny Hawaii in January. I can get a couple of weeks of warm and sunny Hawaii watching in before the Australian Open tennis tournament begins.
I’d have to go with the Masters.
I would say the Bob Hope Classic, but it’s more of a big social/charity event here in the desert.
A case for the FBR can be made, but I’d have to go with the Buick out of tradition.
The Mercedes and Bob Hope have an exhibition feel to them (limited field, pro-am). The Sony field isn’t real strong. But, The FBR has the FEEL of a season opener. The excited crowd, the energy, and hoopla surrounding it is like opening day of baseball or college football. Of course the Masters is the first of the significant events, but that doesn’t make it the start of the season. After all, April isn’t the most significant month in baseball, but eating a hotdog and drinking a beer in the stands of the opener while the electricity of the crowd is palpable is an experience all it’s own. That’s what the season opener is all about.
As far as the celebrity events go, I’ve decided that I don’t dislike them per se; I dislike what television has done to them. The endless mugging for the cameras, and the endless pimping for various tv shows by the anchors and producers kills me. with the last Pebble Beach I watched, you’d have thought that Ray Romano was the only guy on the course. It was as bad as the Tiger coverage, but without the quality golf shots.