Put the stats in perspective.  Let’s start at his ability to just win golf matches.   He will pass the great Sam Snead for most career wins (82) sometime next year because Woods – who is only 37 – is sitting at 79 of them, besting Jack Nicklaus’ career total of 73.  The nearest active player is 43 year old Phil Mickleson with 41 tour victories!  “Okay Christopher, we  understand that Tiger has won a lot of matches but what does that have to do with the PGA putting the ‘kibosh” on him winning majors?”  Tiger Woods is 5 majors short of besting Jack Nicklaus’ record.  Ponder this:  Tiger Woods hasn’t won a major since 2008 (US Open) and that dry spell coincides with his marital infidelity scandal in 2009 where the PGA and Jack Nicklaus stood in silence.  I think a side deal has been made that in exchange for the silence of the PGA and the “Golden Bear,” Woods takes a 5 year hiatus on holding active pursuit of the Claret Jug, the Wanamaker Trophy and the Green Jacket.

Woods went through all of the sordid drama of a bad made for TV move and the Professional Golfers Association did not say a word against their cash-producing stud.  They never condemned him for his improprieties.   They never issued an organizational reprimand stating how the Association was tarnished because of Tiger’s salacious actions.  They never suspended him for conduct unbecoming of the PGA Tour professional.   Why not invoke a half year suspension?   They suspended golfer John Daly and all he did was pass out drunk while sitting outside a restaurant and hitting a golf ball off of a beer can!  Who hasn’t?   Daly was suspended for six months as a two-time major winner; surely the PGA would risk a little bit of dirt on its precious image to at least have an opinion about Tiger’s dalliances?

And that brings us to the real reason: MONEY!   The almighty dollar, coin, cabbage, taters, spy- stuff (I got those descriptors off of a Jimmy Fallon commercial.).  Tiger Woods is THE number one draw for the sport.  The man who pushes the financial dial is made of Teflon when it comes to the PGA speaking ill against him.  He pushes attendance in every tournament he appears.  He makes television networks money and so he is only asked a few softball questions by the media.  Most of the other players aren’t going to mumble out anything critical because his involvement in the game raises the purse for each tournament, thus making even his completion more money.

So there you have it. History, Prestige and Wealth.  Sounds like a bit of an old boys’ network if you ask me….

The hot topic at the Open was not Rory, it was transportation.  Transportation to and from Congressional was a nightmare.  The average Joe who parked in the cross-county fairgrounds and weathered 45 minute bus rides to and from the course only to be greeted with an additional 20 minute hump to the clubhouse from the bus drop-off location expressed nothing but contempt for the grounds access system and the second class citizen feel of the general admission.   Even with the preferred parking,  I felt a better effort could have been made by the tourney organizers to esnure timely transport through Potomac.  Transportation: Grade – F

The golf course looked fantastic.  Let me restate that: the Blue Course on which the US Open was played looked fantastic.  The Gold Course at Congressional, which boasts a second 18, was positively destroyed by Open staging, parking and construction vehicles.  If I were a member at Congressional, I would be apoplectic about the loss of half of the country club’s 36 holes which will be wholly unfit for golf until October, particularly since the members of Congressional saw no reduction in dues and received no financial benefit from hosting the US Open.  Having talked with a quite a few members over my stint at Congressional, the vibe was generally displeased relative to the selection of the course as a US Open site and the corresponding limitations imposed upon the membership.  Course Condition: Grade – A (as a spectator); D (as a member).

I do question the course selection.  Aside from the proximity to the nation’s capital and the site of Venturi’s near-death march in ‘64, Congressional does not stand out as an exciting course.  Making #6 a par 5 was a mistake – it took the water out of play.  #10 was a decent challenge but only with the pin in the front.  #11 was a legitimate par 4 US Open-worthy hole with a stroke average of 4.38  #18 is a beautiful finishing hole, but for my money, Congressional does not have enough panache.  Course Selection: Grade – B-

I noticed an interesting dynamic as the week progressed.  The further into the tourney – from practice days (Monday thru Wednesday) to the full field Rounds 1 & 2 (Thursday, Friday) and then to the post “cut-line” field (Saturday, Sunday) – the less the spectators in attendance actually knew about golf.  During the practice rounds when fans can photograph the players and chat them up a bit, the devotees in attendance knew what was going on, who was on the course and how to behave.  Thursday and Friday arrived and everyone who passed by a leaderboard wanted to know what the asterisk next to a player’s name meant (“started the round on #10, folks” ) or what the difference was between the red and the black numbers.  By the weekend, all the talk was about Rory McIlroy and the rote repetition of the same NBC-generated statistical data points, how Tiger could have beat the 22 year old Northern Irishman, and where to grab a beer while quality pairings like McDowell-Kaymer, Manassaro- Johnson, and Donald-Watson walked the course alone.  Fans: Grade A (Mon-Wed), B (Thurs-Fri), C (Sat), C- (Sun).

Finally, the players.  I don’t know which image consultant that Rory Sabbatini hired before the US Open, but Sabbatini, who has a history of being an absolute prick, was the nicest chap on the course during the practice rounds.  He signed for everyone, he took pictures with fans, and he even offered sunblock advice.  The world’s third best player, Martin Kaymer, was gracious and very accommodating. Graeme McDowell, last year’s champ, was exactly the same.  Rickie Fowler signed everything that was put in front of him, while KJ Choi had his game face from Day 1 and was all business.  Of note, Steve Stricker, Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington will not be vying for the 2011 US Open Ms. Congeniality award, giving the Heisman to many a child seeking autographs.  On the whole, however, considering this was a Major, it appeared that the bulk of the players enjoyed the fans and were approachable for the practice rounds.  Players:  Grade B+

If you enjoy golf in any capacity, volunteering offers an up-close look at a tourney.  The US Open always needs volunteers, and it takes an army to run this event.  San Franciscans take note: sign-ups typically open a year in advance, and volunteering is the best way to take part in the US Open experience.

As is the custom with the Open, “super pairings” are sprinkled about the 156-man playing field to create buzz, keep spectator traffic under control, ease operational needs for televised coverage, and of course, to prove to golf fans just how very clever the USGA pairing committee really is.  Although lacking an American presence, the marquee grouping of  Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer offers Open-watchers the top three golfers in the world in a nice neat package.  The next best pairing -fortunately playing at a time when the Donald group is not – is Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, immediately followed by a pairing of three recent Master’s Champions: Charl Schwartzel, Trevor Immelman, and Zach Johnson.

Other pairings of note combine reigning U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell, British Open Championship winner Louis Oosthuizen, and U.S. Amateur winner Peter Uihlein.  Then the pairing commitee decided to get cutesy.  There is the New Spanish Armada of Miguel Angel Jimenez, Sergio Garcia, and Alvaro Quiros;, followed by the Brothers Molinari and teen phenom, Matteo Manassero to round out  the Italian Stallions.  There is the all-Swede Abba fan club grouping of Henrik Stenson, Johan Edfors, and Fredrik Jacobson (it’s too bad the commitee did not group Karlsson, Noren and Hanson for a little $2 Nassau sidebet) as well as the USGA’s own makeshift version of the Asian Invasion with Ryo Ishikawa, Anthony Kim,  and Y.E. Yang.  In a most unusual pairing, even if Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium can speak English, I am not sure he will understand many of the words coming out of the mouths of fellow pairing mates and good ol’ Georgia boys, Heath Slocum and Russell Henley – hopefully they won’t skin him.

As for early predictions, it’s easy to pick one of the favorites, but we think players from the Retief Goosen, David Toms and Steve Stricker group will be in the hunt on Sunday, along with members of the Matt Kuchar, Paul Casey, and K.J. Choi pairing.  The Bench Jockeys will be on-site for the entirety of the Open and with the volunteer schedule will be following the back-to-back pairings of Rickie Fowler, Ian Poulter, and Hunter Mahan & Camilo Villegas, Aaron Baddeley,  and Brandt Snedeker on Thursday as well as the Goosen/Mickelson groups on Friday.

To view the entire pairing list for the rounds on Thursday and Friday, click here.  http://www.golfweek.com/news/2011/jun/10/2011-us-open-usga-announces-pairings/

The Masters offers only 19 ways to recieve an invitation to compete for the Green Jacket.  Unlike many PGA Tour events, the many of the qualifications involve world play performance which promotes a more well-rounded international field.  (See the Fast Facts below for qualifications.)   The committee typically ties the high profile players together into super pairings with the lesser-followed players and many internationals grouped into the time slots between these all-star threesomes.  In this manner, the Committee can control the gallery so that players are able to move though the course, limit noise so that the fan-base is spread throughout the 365-acre grounds, and most importantly for ESPN, assure that television coverage in the morning and afternoon features players who will draw viewership.

Some of the more interesting or comment-worthy pairings are detailed below:

• 8:18 AM – Ben Crenshaw, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Na – How did Gentle Ben get paired with these two schmos?
• 8:40 AM – Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Nick Watney – Maybe the handsomest pairing in the field.
• 8:51 AM – Vijay Singh, Tim Clark, Aaron Baddeley – I am hoping that Bads and the ill-tempered Vijay start fighting and Bads lays VJ out before they reach Amen Corner.  South African Tim Clark is a perfect referee for this fracas.
• 9:24 AM – Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day – great pairing of 21 to 23 year old players representing “the next wave.”
• 10:19 AM – Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar – The Germanator and Westy, the world’s top two players, paired together.  Look for both of them to be in contention on Sunday even though Kaymer has had zero success at the Masters.  Oh, Kuch, we know you will be playing over the weekend but you’ll need to stand next to Lee to get some air-time in this pairing.
• 10:41 AM – Tiger Woods, Graeme McDowell, Robert Allenby – Tiger and Graeme have dueled recently.  In December, Graeme won the Chevron World Challenge with a birdie during the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to beat Tiger who had blown a four-shot lead on the final day of the tourney.
• 11:25 AM – Craig Stadler, Kevin Streelman, a-Nathan Smith – I fully expect the Walrus to quit before the end of the day on Friday.  Not really an ideal pairing for mild-mannered uber-Am Smith.
• 12:53 PM – Fred Couples, Luke Donald, Steve Stricker – Freddie is simply the most enjoyable golfer to watch play in the last three decades.
• 1:04 PM – Anthony Kim, Henrik Stenson, Steve Marino – Fans, keep your eyes open for flying objects – the Patented Burgess Putter-Chuck is a given with this brutish group.
•  1:15 PM – Bubba Watson, Paul Casey, Eduardo Molinari – This may well be the most well-rounded of the three player pairings.  I would take these three guys in a best-ball any day.
• 1:48 PM – Phil Mickelson, Geoff Ogilvy, a-Peter Uihlein – Coming off of a win in Houston, can Lefty repeat?

The complete pairing list can be found at  http://www.masters.com/en_US/scores/pairings/

Fast Fact:  Players who meet any of the following criteria receive an invitation to play in The Masters:

• Former winners of The Masters
• Winners of the last five U.S. Opens
• Winners of the last five British Opens
• Winners of the last five PGA Championships
• Winners of the last three Players Championships
• Winner and runner-up from the last U.S. Amateur Championship
• Winner of the last British Amateur Championship
• Winner of the last Asian Amateur Championship
• Winner of the last U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship
• Winner of the last U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship
• The top 16 finishers (including ties) from last year’s Masters Tournament
• The top 8 finishers (including ties), from last year’s U.S. Open
• The top 4 finishers (including ties) from last year’s British Open
• The top 4 finishers (including ties) from last year’s PGA Championship
• The top 30 finishers on last year’s PGA Tour money list
• Winners of PGA Tour events from the previous Masters through this year’s Masters, providing those tournaments awarded full FedEx Cup points (no opposite-field tournaments qualify)
• All players who qualified for last year’s Tour Championship
• The Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of the previous year
• The Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking published in the week prior to this year’s Masters

The Augusta National’s Masters Committee also reserves the right to invite any international golfer its sees fit who is not otherwise qualified.

It just seemed appropriate that The Bench Jockeys initiated their Blog to coincide with the start of the 2011 MLB Season.  Although there is nothing like debating AL and NL Pennant chances for the upcoming baseball season and analyzing the strengths, but more likely, the weaknesses of current and former ML players, starting this Blog at this time offers The Bench Jockeys the opportunity to assess the potential play-off scenarios in the National Hockey League, as well as the contenders and the pretenders for the Green Jacket, which is  just around the corner on April 7th.  The NBA is just absolute garbage, so you won’t see much from us about that steaming pile, but you will be able to read about the Final Four and VCU’s improbable run.  (We don’t hate basketball, we just hate the NBA.)  Conflicts, oddities and head-shaking actions within NASCAR, soccer, tennis, even the much-maligned PBA, will be served up with cheeky commentary and exploration.

But it’s not just about sports here at The Bench Jockeys, oh no.  We have opinions about any number of subjects.  And along with the sports banter, we intend to mix in a fair share of analysis about the national political scene, potential domestic and global crises, and of course, we fully intend to heckle leaders deserving of derision.  We hope that you will come along for the ride and participate in the discourse.

Oh, and in case you didn’t notice it in the pic above, Barack Obama is a lefty.  Now, there’s a big surprise.

Although the Golden Bear’s concession was a fine illustration of the notion of fair play and integrity, The Bench Jockeys have no intention of following suit.  Content categorized under the Conceded Putz will involve the dubious dealings of self-important and vainglorious sports personalities and global leaders.  We know that spelling is c-o-n-c-e-i-t-e-d; it’s a play on words.  We welcome your suggestions for this topic in the comment box below.