Buick Open Ending

This year it is officially the last year of the Buick Open.

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4355462

A few stops on tour are in trouble right now, including the US Bank Championship in Milwaukee.

Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker are apparently working on something to keep the tournament in Milwaukee going. Maybe they can get that weekend which would help substantially with finding a sponsor...

Regardless, it's sad to see a few tour stop landing in trouble.

Yeah and most people agree with you. As soon as that tournament was moved behind the British a few years ago attendance just died. I remember the first year, there was no one there. Sad. I still go because I love golf and having a chance to watch it at that level is a real treat. I mean, you're in the park for the afternoon, drinking beers, eating good food and watching some of the best golfers in the world. I managed to get yelled at by Lee Janzen this year!! It was hilarious, he's such a prick. He hit into a bunker on a par 3 and there wasn't a lot of people following him. He was setting up the shot and I was standing behind him, maybe 15 feet away and side stepped a small amount. He just stopped, turned around and said "Are you kidding me?". He reset as me and some other guys kinda laughed and he hit a great shot. Had a 1 foot putt and waited for a cart behind him to move. When he walked to the next hole he looked at me, smiled and said "Shake it off.", in a friendly manner. What a dick, lol! I heard from others he's really fussy about stuff like that and gets cranky really fast.

No offense but you were in the wrong. Couldn't you have just sat still for a few seconds to let him hit his bunker shot?

Yeah, but he doesn't need to turn around, glare and say something to me. He should have reset his position and started over and acted professionally. I made a mistake, misjudged when he was about to hit. I was seriously side-stepping 1'. And honestly, a pro should be able to block that out. He wasn't even in contention. Then again, he had no sponsors so maybe he's desperately trying to get back in it and make more money.

I honestly never understood the entire don't move/talk at golf thing. For some reason baseball players have no problem hitting a moving target when people are moving and talking. Basketball players hit a high percentage of free throws when fans behind the hoop are moving intentionally to mess them up. Pros block things out. A lot of times my friends are chatting/practicing swinging when I'm on the tee. For some reason I never here it as soon as my swing starts. Also, pro athletes shouldn't say things to fans who have paid to see them. I wasn't breaking any rule. I was just trying to get a better angle at a bad time. Yeah, I know I screwed up...it happens. He should have stepped back and reset if it bothered him, not called out the fan. That's what pricks do. And he has a history of being a prick.

The thing is that is DOES matter. Golf is a much different game than basketball or any other sport and just because a high handicapper doesn't have a problem swinging with people talking or moving, doesn't mean everyone else is like that. It bugs me for someone to stand behind me while I'm hitting so that I can see them out of the corner of my eye. Sure he may not have been in contention but he was still playing for a paycheck. That's the guys job and he takes it seriously as everyone would. I don't have a problem with what Lee did personally.

I was standing on my side of the ropes. It's part of the game. I'm a paying customer and without paying customers and fans in general, he's playing for fun and that's all. I don't have a problem with him stopping but to call out a fan is out of line. I've seen many people do many worse things to players and the players don't acknowledge it at all. A player doesn't have the right to take a condescending attitude with someone there for entertainment. He more or less apologized so w/e. And I understand in the heat of competition people do and say things they regret. So I wasn't too bothered and found the entire incident funny actually. He probably heard 5 of us snickering and giggling quietly as he reset the shot, although everyone was trying to be quiet while mocking him. He was an ass, it's a simple fact. We had fun with it and he seemed happy afterward. But, people following him were definitly on egg shells, lol. He glares at a lot of people standing behind him, especially on tees where the fans can get stand very close. But that's his problem and he needs to deal with it. It's amazing he won 2 US Opens with such weak concentration.

You sound like an elitist who thinks the fan needs the player.

He has a history of crap like this, while other players don't. It proves he has issues with stuff like that. On the same hole he had a 1' putt and glared back at a golf cart that was sitting on the path 34' behind him until it moved. You're being an elitist. He's the God pro golfer and I'm some peon fan who should be happy to be there? Get out of here, lol. A fan made a small movement, you don't say stuff to him. You act like a pro and do what you have to do. I've seen much worse things and players didn't do anything. I heard a guy yell during Singhs swing and he hit his shot and moved on. Classless guy who did that but classy player to not even acknowledge it. What if I was some drunk who was agitated and my drunk buddies and I where now on a mission to ruin this guys day after something like that? We could move and make sounds and he would have to put up with it. Wave at bugs, sneeze, trip, etc. At least for a few shots. But I wouldn't ever do that for obvious reasons. The fact is he was frustrated by his terrible tee shot (he missed where you aren't supposed to miss) and had to take it out on someone. His wife wasn't there to beat or something so he said something to a fan in the stands. If he wants to stop, look backwards, etc, I had the point. You don't need to say something. I've seen players do that when they get distracted. Most of them look back and have a tight smile for the person that offended. But any good player would agree its a problem with their concentration. Any athlete will tell you that because they all say when they're locked in they don't even noticed anything around them. He was frustrated and any little thing was going to set him off and he acted like a child. If there was that big of an issue players would never get a shot off. Because people are always moving, making sound, be distracting somehow. Have you been to a PGA event? Your tone and words are so elitist it's disgusting. I respect your opinions on a lot of things, but I can't agree here.

While this thread has basically turned into a catfight, I'll comment on the original premise. The Buick Open has seemed like a blah type event for quite a while. Without the GOAT being under Buick's sponsorship, it may very well have been gone or moved sooner. That being said....as far as the moving/Lee Janzen issue, be glad it was Lee and not the GOAT/Stevie, they would've given you a glare that could do open heart surgery, then possibly had you kicked off the grounds....just saying.

Yeah I'm done with it too. [Ed: then you proceed to ramble on for six or eight lines about it.]

Anyways, it's sad to see these tourneys ending. There could be 4 spots that don't come back next year. What's going to happen with those dates? I know they want to do something new in Milwaukee and they have Herb Kohler (owner of Whistling Straights, big golf guy) in no it now too. So hopefully they get something going, get a good date and make a really cool event. I'll really miss the PGA coming to town yearly if they don't.

yeah, I guess it would be for someone a bazillion miles away in a state that has a couple of events a year, but the Buick Open was the last PGA event here in MI and there is/was a local pride associated with it. Crowds this week and weekend are expected to be realtively huge because of Tiger and it being the last event after 50+ years. From here on out we'll have to travel to the LPGA in Toledo or Jack's event down in Columbus.

Sorry for your loss....btw, I'm not originally from TX, from Louisiana, where we know a thing or two about almost losing professional events (i.e. Saints, Hornets, Jazz, etc.)

some of the stops in general are in trouble... this economic stimulus crap never works