ESPN.com Calls Out the PGA (sort of) Right Before the Zurich Classic

Today I ran across this story on the ESPN.com website. Frankly I'm a little surprised. For those of you who don't check it out, here's the gist of of what is being debated:

• Shame on the PGA Tour regulars who are skipping the event.
• The winner should donate his winnings to the city.

The experts who were given those topics agreed with the first assertion (3 of 4). However, only 1 of 4 agreed with the second. I guess I don't have a problem with that.

The New Orleans PGA Tour stop has always had trouble bringing in good players. Most people used to argue that it was because we had a crappy slot: the week before the Masters. Because of that, most American players skipped it to get ready for next week, while a lot of Europeans showed up to get used to things. Now, we don't have the bad slot anymore, and still nobody comes. It's a shame that we still have this problem, even this year.

One of the contributors says that Tiger Woods should get a free pass on this one (presumably because of his father being sick). I say BULLSH*T on that one for two reasons: 1) He never comes. Period. And 2) He had enough time to bungee jump and race cars in New Zealand or wherever the hell he was last week.

I applaud Golfdigest.com's Brian Wacker for making this comment in the article:

If you've seen any recent photographs or images of what New Orleans and surrounding Gulf Coast communities look like, you know that things still resemble a third-world country down there. I'm not one to stand on a soap box and tell people how to spend their time or money, but teeing it up in a golf tournament eight months after the worst natural disaster this country has ever seen would not only lift spirits, but make some much-needed dollars for an area that, aside from anything else, has treated the players well through the years.

Maybe people are listening to us after all. I just hope the righteous indignation doesn't end after the tourney is over.