It's nothing new in golf to see the golfers' shirts and caps plastered with sponsors' logos. John Daly probably comes closest to looking like a NASCAR driver. John will probably be wearing front and back placards some day soon.

Just now on the Colonial broadcast, this exchange took place:

David Feherty: Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts certainly must happy with Phil's play this week. He's a spokesman for them.

Gary McCord: Aren't you one of their spokesmen, too?

And everyone laughed. Perhaps if Phil wins, he'll thank his sponsors in the post-round interview with Peter Kostis. "I couldn't have done it without Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, for whom David Feherty is also a spokesman."

Phil Mickelson has an unusual set configuration today in the final round at Colonial: a driver, no fairway woods, no  hybrids, five wedges.

Today is the first day I've been able to catch any of the Colonial broadcast, so I don't know if Mickelson has had this configuration all week. Depending on your point of view, it's a daring or dumb way to fill out the bag.

Colonial is not a driving course. It's not a bomb-and-gouge course. It's a tight, tree-lined course. As Tiger Woods explained a few years ago when talking about why some of the bigger hitters don't like to play Colonial, "You can't hit driver there."

Even many of the longer holes are doglegs that call for careful placement of the tee ball. It would almost seem to make more sense for Phil to have dropped the driver and kept 3-wood as his only wood or hybrid. At least that club is a multi-tasker.

But even if you take the position that this is a dumb set configuration, Mickelson is certainly quite capable of winning anyway (he's tied for the lead as I write this). So far, however, he hasn't been hitting the driver very well, and has had to use 3-iron off a couple tees where he might would have preferred something a little longer.

Of course, another way of looking at it is that if Colonial is a course where "you can' hit driver," and where you play for position off the tee, then a 3-iron may be plenty off most tees for someone like Phil. But then you darn well better hit your driver good on those few holes where it's your only option.

via i.a.cnn.net 

Why do some golf tournaments insist on making their winners put on an ugly jacket?

The Colonial is one of those tournaments, and later today somebody - perhaps Phil Mickelson, who's worn the plaid here in the past - will have to put on this doozie. Just like Kenny Perry. (I could rag on Kenny for wearing a shirt that goes horribly with the jacket, but, c'mon, what goes well with that?)

It's as if the tournament organizers are thinking, "OK, pal, you're taking our trophy and our money, but before you do, you have to wear this! Bwahahahahaha!"

Really, there's only one tournament that should be awarding a jacket, and it's not The Masters (their jacket is hideous, too). It's a tournament that currently doesn't award a jacket. The winner of the Indian Open should get a Nehru jacket.

I'll give Colonial this, however: They give good trophy, don't they?

... and Open Thread ...

PGA Tour
Phil Mickelson reached the final hole at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial tied with Rod Pampling and Tim Clark. Then he hit a wayward drive, way left. But this time, he recovered, playing a fantastic shot from amidst thick trees, slicing the ball around and over and to about 12 feet from the cup. Then he made the birdie putt for the victory.

Story | Scores

European Tour
Miguel Angel Jimenez became the first golfer to win the so-called "BMW treble" when he defeated Oliver Wilson the second playoff hole at the BMW PGA Championship. Jimenez had previous won the BMW Asian Open and the BMW International Open. Jimenez's final-round 68 included an ace on the fifth hole. Luke Donald and Robert Karlsson tied for third.

Story | Scores

Champions Tour
Jay Haas made five bogeys and only one birdie on Sunday - but that was good enough on a very tough Oak Hill Country Club to win the Senior PGA Championship. Haas shot 74 and finished at 7-over, one stroke better than Bernhard Langer. Greg Norman, making a rare Champions Tour appearance, finished tied for sixth.

Story | Scores

Nationwide Tour
Another birdie on the final hole for the win, this time by Jeff Klauk at the Melwood Prince George's County Open. Klauk's final-hole heroics kept him out of a playoff against Jeff Brehaut.

Scores

LPGA Tour
In the 295th start of her LPGA career, Leta Lindley is finally a winner. Lindley posted a final-round 67 to tie third-round leader Jeong Jang (who shot 68), then beat Jang with a birdie putt on the first playoff hole.

Story | Scores

Ladies European Tour
Suzann Pettersen was awarded the crown at the Ladies Swiss Open when tournament officials decided the course was too water-logged after heavy rains to play the fourth round. Pettersen would most likely have won anyway, since her 54-hole lead was six strokes over Amy Yang.

Story | Scores

The Crowne Plaze Invitational at Colonial is very lucky to have Phil Mickelson this week, seeing as how Phil had to squeeze in the tournament between acting gigs, the Dallas Morning News says:

... before arriving at Colonial, he spent two days on the set of Entourage , taping an episode of the popular HBO show.

"It's edgy; the language is a little rough," Mickelson said. "But I just love watching that show."

Of course, there are some who whisper that Phil has been an actor his whole career (d'oh!). (I'm not one of them, although I do enjoy teasing Mickelson from time to time ... such as that last sentence. I take Phil and his goofy grin at face - no pun intended - value.)

Phil's a natural in front of the camera, as his Crowne Plaza commercials demonstrated:

... the "Meeting with Phil" spots have been good for Mickelson, too, because of the exposure.

In the ads, Mickelson is having conversations with fans. Topics include fans who have advice for Mickelson's game, people who look like Phil, his biggest fans, and people he's hit with golf balls. The dialogue came from unscripted conversations. The fans were chosen in a nationwide search.

"Meeting all of the people that I hit with a golf ball, I thought that was kind of interesting," Mickelson said, laughing. "Apparently, we didn't get all of them in. My favorite was the look-alikes, when Asian me is over here to my side."

He says he won't let his kids watch his "Entourage" episode, however. The language. I guess he doesn't let them watch Tiger Woods play golf, either.

Waggler BogeyMcDuff posted a note over on his own site (Texas Golf) about the dearth of Texans winning at Colonial over the past 30 years or so.

Today an email arrives from the PGA Tour that puts that in stark terms: In the past 30 years, more South Africans than Texans have won Colonial. Ben Hogan must be rolling over in his grave.

One more Colonial note: What is now called the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial has been played at Fort Worth's Colonial Country Club every year since the tournament began in 1946. There is only one other tournament on the PGA Tour that has been around longer and never changed courses. Want to take a guess? It's actually pretty easy, but the answer is below the fold.

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