Mercedes' Five Stars who "Crashed the Ratings"
The 2006 PGA Tour Season gets started with the Mercedes Championship, at Kapalua. It's a posh tourney for Champions from the previous season. The tourney features an elite field, no cut and last place money pays around $65,000.00.
Playing the Mercedes would seem a logical way to start the PGA Tour season. Just ask two-time defending champion, Stuart Appleby, who has racked up $2,120,000 in two victorious weeks in sunny Lahaina, HI. Appleby has teed it up 50 times over the last two years, and these two victories account for over 40% of his $5,151,741 in earnings over that period. Appleby’s got a racket going that is even better than Fred Couples’ silly season. I wonder how long Stu will ponder if it’s worth a 10 hour flight from Australia to play in this year’s event?
Here is a look at the field for the 2006 event with those opting to skip the event in bold:
Stuart Appleby, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, David Toms, Geoff Ogilvy , Padraig Harrington, Kenny Perry, Fred Funk, Peter Lonard, Tim Petrovic, Ted Purdy, Bart Bryant, Sergio Garcia, Michael Campbell, Jim Furyk, Sean O'Hair, Jason Bohn, Ben Crane, Retief Goosen, Vaughn Taylor, Brad Faxon, Olin Browne, Mark Calcavecchia, Jason Gore, Robert Gamez, KJ Choi, Wes Short Jr., Lucas Glover, Heath Slocum.
Upstarts Jason Gore and Sean O'Hair will occupy some of the spotlight. Marquee players like Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh will garner plenty of air time. The issue that will be hard for the average fan to grasp is how Woods and Mickelson need more vacation time and how playing golf in Hawaii for guaranteed money doesn’t qualify as “vacation time.”
Woods will lay low from 12/12/2005 – 1/26/2006.
Mickelson’s sabbatical will run from 10/17/2005 – 1/19/2006.
I’m not saying Tiger and Phil don’t have every right as “independent contractors” to pick and choose their events. They do. I’m just saying a few weeks of posh golf in Hawaii aint for everybody, that’s for sure!
Who knows, maybe it’s the “Kona winds of the Big Wiesy” in the forecast for the following week’s Sony Open that’s keeping the boys on the mainland. It probably isn’t good to risk being upstaged by a local 16 year-old (girl).
“No thanks boys, enjoy the islands, we’ll see you in California…”
Note: In fairness, Woods and Mickelson, have never stuck around and played in the Sony. Wie has played three times on sponsors exemptions; Sony Open (2) and the John Deere Classic. Woods and Mickelson have not been in those events. "Katy Bar the door" if Wie ever plays a tournament that has Woods or Mickelson in the field. Just don’t look for that to happen anytime soon.
Playing the Mercedes would seem a logical way to start the PGA Tour season. Just ask two-time defending champion, Stuart Appleby, who has racked up $2,120,000 in two victorious weeks in sunny Lahaina, HI. Appleby has teed it up 50 times over the last two years, and these two victories account for over 40% of his $5,151,741 in earnings over that period. Appleby’s got a racket going that is even better than Fred Couples’ silly season. I wonder how long Stu will ponder if it’s worth a 10 hour flight from Australia to play in this year’s event?
Here is a look at the field for the 2006 event with those opting to skip the event in bold:
Stuart Appleby, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, David Toms, Geoff Ogilvy , Padraig Harrington, Kenny Perry, Fred Funk, Peter Lonard, Tim Petrovic, Ted Purdy, Bart Bryant, Sergio Garcia, Michael Campbell, Jim Furyk, Sean O'Hair, Jason Bohn, Ben Crane, Retief Goosen, Vaughn Taylor, Brad Faxon, Olin Browne, Mark Calcavecchia, Jason Gore, Robert Gamez, KJ Choi, Wes Short Jr., Lucas Glover, Heath Slocum.
Upstarts Jason Gore and Sean O'Hair will occupy some of the spotlight. Marquee players like Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh will garner plenty of air time. The issue that will be hard for the average fan to grasp is how Woods and Mickelson need more vacation time and how playing golf in Hawaii for guaranteed money doesn’t qualify as “vacation time.”
Woods will lay low from 12/12/2005 – 1/26/2006.
Mickelson’s sabbatical will run from 10/17/2005 – 1/19/2006.
I’m not saying Tiger and Phil don’t have every right as “independent contractors” to pick and choose their events. They do. I’m just saying a few weeks of posh golf in Hawaii aint for everybody, that’s for sure!
Who knows, maybe it’s the “Kona winds of the Big Wiesy” in the forecast for the following week’s Sony Open that’s keeping the boys on the mainland. It probably isn’t good to risk being upstaged by a local 16 year-old (girl).
“No thanks boys, enjoy the islands, we’ll see you in California…”
Note: In fairness, Woods and Mickelson, have never stuck around and played in the Sony. Wie has played three times on sponsors exemptions; Sony Open (2) and the John Deere Classic. Woods and Mickelson have not been in those events. "Katy Bar the door" if Wie ever plays a tournament that has Woods or Mickelson in the field. Just don’t look for that to happen anytime soon.
posted by bullmizer at
7:46 PM
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