Seve is playing in the Open!?

[Brian_Ewen]

Tom , If you didnt know, Brad was 6th reserve and still travelled over , just in case .

BTW , am I the only one surprised that Jason Bohn withdrew so he could defend his BC Open title ? .

[Tom Huckaby]

Brian - I did not know that re Faxon.

It still doesn't change my stance here though.  I will say it does make me respect him big-time, however!

And I'm not at all surprised by Bohn... money talks.

TH

[Tim Pitner]

Tom , If you didnt know, Brad was 6th reserve and still travelled over , just in case .

BTW , am I the only one surprised that Jason Bohn withdrew so he could defend his BC Open title ? .

If you call yourself a golfer and are exempt into the Open, there is no excuse for not playing.  Heck, I used to criticize those American pros who didn't try for entry through local qualifying.  I don't care if you're the defending champion of the BC bloody Open, you play in major championships.  That's pathetic.

[Brian_Ewen]

I am sure Brad could have played in the BC Open but ...

The trip hasn't been a total waste of time. Faxon is allowed to practice at Royal Liverpool, and "I even got a car park pass." He plans to play Tuesday with Brett Quigley, Mark Calcavecchia and Jerry Kelly.

"I get chills just coming here," Faxon said. "I feel rejuvenated."

And if he has to turn around and go home on Thursday?

"You know, we just walked a mile for dinner, walked another mile to a pub, I haven't slept, and we're just having a blast," he said.

Oh, and there's one other upside.

"I'm hitting my 3-iron 260 yards," he said. "I never do that."

 

[Tom Huckaby]

Gotta love Faxon.

But what the hell?  He obviously has zero financial issues and what could be more fun than that?  And who says he has to go home Thursday... hell he can go play countless other cool links if he wants....

TH

[Marty Bonnar]

Fax gets it - bigtime...

DD also interviewed splendidly on the Beeb tonight. Please let him recover at least some of the magic...

FBD.

[Adam Clayman]

I've never seen anyone's opinion be wrong before. Thanks Matt.

Not only does your position show a lack of respect, it's tenor is so emphatic, Seve deserves to win the Jug, and then what will you do? Ignore you ever had this thought.

The man shot within 10 shots of the LEADER. Do you still asert he has no chance?

Can you tell us where the Hezbolla are hiding too?

 

How about that 94 year old that played pro ball last night? What a record

[George Pazin]

I think it is more than a little unfair for people to second guess Jason Bohn.

How many people ever get to experience what it's like to return to an event, especially at the Tour level, as the defending champion? Who's to say he will ever get the chance to experience that again?

Balance that against playing in The Open. An unfortunate confluence of events, sure, but I don't begrudge him the choice at all.

And I don't think money had anything to do with it.

[Matt_Ward]

Adam:

Put on some eyes partner -- because I have saluted Seve and the other past champions. Do a little re-reading before the proverbial barking.

I simply said there needs to be some sort of context in which people can play up until they are 65.

Chris B:

The Masters is a private event run by a private club. The situation there is not at the same level as national / world golf associations which are deciding what constitutues an Open Championship. The premise of an Open is to be exactly that.

When you set aside long time exemptions you undercut the very nature of what makes the events so prestigious in the first place.

DCronan:

The Seve you are seeing in 2006 is nothing more than a shadow of what he was. It's no less than when I had the opportunity to see Willie Mays play with the New York Mets during the '73 season. My late Dad said it was truly sad to see such a shell of a former superstar. Ditto Seve.

[Tom_Doak]

I used to think Curtis Strange and Peter Jacobsen and others were idiots for passing up the Open Championship back in the 1980's.  Not sure about Curtis admitting error, but I know Jake agrees with me in hindsight.

But, I think Jason Bohn did a very classy thing by going back to defend his title.  The BC Open sponsors have worked hard for years to maintain their event, and after this year it is doomed ... there are a bunch of past champions who should go back to support them for the last event.

Matt:  Yep, Seve was a qualifier back in 1976 at Royal Birkdale when he came out of nowhere to finish tied for second.  But guess what?  They had a lot of past champions in the field that year, too, including DeVicenzo most likely.  He had to qualify for one of, say, 35 spots, instead of one in 45.

Don't forget, The Open is the only event where some young guy might actually get to play with one of golf's legends, and hopefully learn something in the process.  If Luke Donald didn't learn something from playing with Watson and Nicklaus last year -- even if they had no chance to win -- then he didn't deserve the scholarship to Northwestern.

[wsmorrison]

I hate to say it, but Willie Mays was a shell of himself from 1967 onward.  The greatest player of my youth (and my favorite) definitely hung on too long.  I had the chance to sit down with The Say Hey Kid and my family one evening last summer and it was a thrill.  My wife (her father was good friends with Mays) and my boys cherish that moment nearly as much as I.  We got his autograph on a couple of balls that are top shelf in my sons' growing and valuable collection.

[Matt_Ward]

Tom:

Appreciate the glide down memory lane but let's skip the malarkey and deal with what's at issue.

You ADMIT one of my main points. Seve in fact qualified in '76. That's great for him and for what he showed the world at that time. That's what makes qualifying so democratic -- just ask Hogan who had to do it in '53 even with all the laurels he had prior to that event.

Two wrongs in my book don't make a right Tom. Just because past champions received preferential treatment when Seve had to qualify doesn't make it less so because Seve is now on the receiving end today.

The idea in playing with a living legend is one thing Tom -- provided that legend is not simply a walking shell / poster of what they once were. Luke Donald didn't see the real Jack Nicklaus / Tom Watson -- he simply walked with mortal men whose best days on the course have long since gone.

[Phil McDade]

Matt:

Sam Snead finished T3rd at the 1974 PGA -- behind two guys named Trevino and Nicklaus, and a shot ahead of someone named Player (all of them in the absolute prime of their careers) -- at the age of 62. I'm pretty sure he got in the tournament because the year before, at age 61, he finished T9 (at wonderful Canterbury, where I had the privilege of watching him for part of a round). He got in THAT tournament, me thinks, because in the 1972 PGA, he finished T4 (alongside Casper and Floyd, and only three shots shy of winner Player) at the age of 60.

OK, maybe the Slammer was an anomaly. But I think you're argument would be strengthened if based solely on competitiveness, not age. You say the "essence" of the championship is featuring players capable of winning it. That may be, but that's not the totality of the event. I think the R&A makes a pretty big deal of honoring the highest finishing amateur in the tournament, don't they? I know of no amateur in this year's field remotely capable of winning the Open. But they ought to have an honored spot in the field (particularly at Hoylake, of all UK venues), as should past champions. The also provide some spots for local (UK-based) qualifiers, few if any capable of winning. But don't local fans -- and by extension, their local golfers -- deserve at least a few spots for homegrown talent to shine in such a premier event.

In his prime, was their a better ambassador for the game than Seve? He practically, single-handedly, rescued the Ryder Cup from oblivion. That the R&A gives him a spot doesn't strike me as a breach worth reforming. (Besides, it's daylight forever this time of year in the UK. What's a few more threesomes? And I bet Ivor Robson loved calling off his name on the tee today.)

[Matt_Ward]

Phil:

Sam Snead is the big time exception who WAS competitive. Please knock yourself out and let me know what Seve has done for over 10 years?

This isn't about what Seve achieved. I mentioned that -- try to look it over when you get a chance.

It's about what he's doing now.

[Phil McDade]

Matt:

Seve hasn't done much in the past 10 years. That wasn't my point. Your criticisms about Seve's participation this year is couched in references to age, and I suggested your argument would be stronger if based soley on competitiveness. If that is your argument, I'd make the counter-argument that the R&A shouldn't devote every single slot to the 156 (or whatever the number is) best, highest-ranked, money-qualified golfers in the world, plus a bunch of folks who got hot for one day and got through qualifying. It should set aside a small -- very small -- percentage of its slots for past champions and local (UK) qualifiers (who got hot for one day).

If the Open was simply about identifying the best golfer for this week, why do they let fans in (and charge them for admission, plus overpriced food and drink) to watch? Oh, the R&A has some other objective than to simply crown a champion? The thought never occured...

Like most organizations, I think the R&A has multiple objectives, and running the Open is just one of them. That it chooses to honor one of its great past champions, by giving him a slot in this championship, and to do so at Hoylake, where golf crowned its first Spanish-speaking champion, does not strike me as terribly contradictory to what the R&A is all about.

[David_Tepper]

If in the 2nd round on Friday, we had a choice of watching Seve, Tom Watson and Nick Faldo in one group and Paul Lawrie, Todd Hamilton and Ben Curtis in another, which would draw a bigger gallery?.........End of discussion!!!  

[Eamon Lynch]

Pro golf isn't just competition, its entertainment, and thats where the veterans earn some props, even if they aren't likely to win. I'd wager more people remember Gene Sarazen making that ace at Troon when he was 40 years past his prime than remember Weiskopf winning that Open.  Anthony Wall or Greg Owen are competitors this week, but those guys don't draw fans. Guys like Seve or Faldo or Watson aren't going to win, but they probably helped sell more tickets than most of the guys at the very top the leaderboard.

[JLahrman]

Pro golf isn't just competition, its entertainment, and thats where the veterans earn some props, even if they aren't likely to win. I'd wager more people remember Gene Sarazen making that ace at Troon when he was 40 years past his prime than remember Weiskopf winning that Open.  Anthony Wall or Greg Owen are competitors this week, but those guys don't draw fans. Guys like Seve or Faldo or Watson aren't going to win, but they probably helped sell more tickets than most of the guys at the very top the leaderboard.

Eamon,

Personally I'm most entertained by watching the best players trying to win.  If the players who are the most capable of winning are bypassed in favor of guys who were winning 25 years ago, how are they going to draw fans?

I don't think major championships are the place to take a trip down memory lane.  Ths USGA has joined in by transforming the exemption from an allowance for a top competitor facing special circumstances (Hogan after the car wreck) into a useless schmaltzy sentimental showpiece for a former champion.  I know the last guy through qualifying probably isn't going to win the tournament, but I do hate to see spots taken away from players who qualify for Open championships for these exemptions.

Great if people remember Sarazen's ace, but in general are these exemptions really what we remember?  There are all sorts of stories and subplots this week, is it really going to be a considerably more interesting event because Seve showed up?  Or less interesting because Nicklaus isn't eligible this year?  I don't think it's accurate to say anyone is disrespecting past champions by questioning their exemption; in my mind it's more disrespectful to an Open tournament to not have the highest quality field possible, especially when it means omitting players who went through qualifying.  The past champion may occasionally make the cut or even challenge for the lead, but so do qualifiers.

[Adam Clayman]

I simply said there needs to be some sort of context in which people can play up until they are 65.

Matt, You said a mouthful more than that, and the majority of it was totally disrespectful to the elders of our sport. Well, maybe they aren't your elders, but they are mine.

I have as much disdain for the tenor of your words as the words themself. Perhaps it is you who need to re-read your vitriol before you post it. It's a shame, and, like I said, the tenor of it SUCKS!

[Tim Pitner]

I think it is more than a little unfair for people to second guess Jason Bohn.

How many people ever get to experience what it's like to return to an event, especially at the Tour level, as the defending champion? Who's to say he will ever get the chance to experience that again?

Balance that against playing in The Open. An unfortunate confluence of events, sure, but I don't begrudge him the choice at all.

And I don't think money had anything to do with it.

Who's to say a guy like Jason Bohn will even qualify for the Open again.  It's widely regarded as the world championship of golf--as a golfer, how can you choose not to compete in it?  Yes, he showed some respect to the BC Open, but let's be honest, it's a very minor event on tour, a small step up from a Nationwide event.  When balanced against playing in the Open--a tournament most people around the globe would beg, borrow and steal to play in--there shouldn't be any contest if you're a competitor.

[Adam Clayman]

Im with Doak and Pazin on this one.

Defending champ is huge, while the open championship is bigger, it's more of a headache logistically, than being treated like a champ.

[Mike_Clayton]

Matt, Tom.

I am almost certain that Seve was an exempt player in 1976.He had a pretty good first year in Europe in 1975.

I have to say there are a lot of players who are asking 'Why' but he is still loved more than any other player here by the British crowd.
I'm not sure if he should be playing but it's a better tournament for his presence from the crowds point of view.

[Jon Wiggett]

Guys Seve was probably the single biggest factor in the revival of european golf in the late eighties. He is without doubt the all time biggest name to have come out of mainland europe. To me all this talk about him driving badly is irrelevant, he always drove it all over the place. I was lucky enough to see him close up for the first two rounds at Lythm in 1988 and although he visited places never seen before off the tee he still won the tournament.
He is the european equivalent of Arnold Palmer and as such I think has earned the invite to play in the tournament.  

[Jim Nugent]

I agree with Matt.  Seve could not qualify on any other criteria.  Not on recent wins, money earned, or high finishes.  His game is no longer competitive.  

The Masters is not only a private tournament.  Old past champs do not take places from other golfers.  What's more, JN in 1986 was a far better golfer than Seve is now.  He was far more competitive: the year before he was 2nd on tour in GIR, and 5th in ball-striking.  

My suggestion: the R&A should limit the exemption to five years, or ten max, but also allow itself some special exemptions.  That way they could invite Seve, without taking places from golfers who really might break through and win.  Hasn't the USGA done that with Jack and Arnie?

[Steve Pozaric]

I don't mind the exemption in the Open for past champions for the reasons many of the above, nor do I mind the lifetime exemption at the Masters.  

Some of the arguments (not all for sure) raised in favor of the exemption are the same that could be used in support of sponsor's exemptions on the PGA Tour.  So I am sure there is wide-spread support for those exemptions, including the ones granted to Ms. Wie.  

Before anyone says anything, I am not equating Wie with Seve, especially based on past contributions to game.