The SBL Report

There were 52 groups playing golf on Friday at the Medinah Country Club, but only group mattered to the people. It's not everyday the winners of the year's Masters, US Open and British Open play together - unless it's the first two days of the PGA Championship.

I was inside the ropes for the first six holes of the Woods, Ogilvy and Mickelson Magical Mystery Tour. The gallery crowds following this group bordered on unmanageable. The fans were 50 deep on the first tee. Some fans had been camped out since 6:30 am, so they had a nice seat when this group teed off. To put this in perspective - one guy staked his claim to the second tee and waited for 8 hours to watch a guy hit a golf ball, which took 30 seconds tops.

Since we are in Chicago, one fan not named Steve Bartman, saved Tiger Woods' tee shot off the first hole. The strangest part of the day occurred at the fourth hole when I heard several fans yell "Look Tiger Woods is going to the bathroom!" They have several Port-a-Potties along the course marked "Players Only." When nature calls, nature calls. 

The Chicago golf fans are in awe of Tiger Woods. But they love Phil Mickelson. There is a different vibe from the gallery when each guy hits the ball. They want Mickelson to do well, they expect Woods to do well.

While I was trailing Phil I heard the following comments from the crowd:

"Hey Phil - Who's your Super Bowl pick?!?"

"Yo Phil - How do you think the Bears will be this year? Can I get some odds?"

"Mickey - What's the over/under on the Bears this year? Do you have any Masterlock picks for Week 1? You can call 'em 'Masterlocks' because you won the Masters."

"Phil - Do you want to be in my fantasy football league?"

Phil's caddie, Jim 'Bones' MacKay is a bad-ass. Don't dare snap a digital picture of Phil, or Bones will hunt you down like a dog. Digital cameras are kryptonite to golf's Supermen.  Medinah is in the flight path of a major Chicago international airport. There are planes landing and taking off every few minutes. These planes are very loud. I actually saw Tiger pause a couple times until the jet passed, yet I am supposed to believe the click of camera will mess up Phil's shot?

On the third hole Bones called out a digital camera in the crowd from 30 yards away. He yelled, "Marshall, Marshall. I've got a digital camera on the lady in pink. She's standing right next to the man in a blue shirt. Please remove her camera." MacKay should work the TSA - nothing is getting past that man.

When attending a golf major, you see a lot of people in straw hats that have volunteered for the event. They come from all across the country. They work crowd control, help people find the beer tent and hold up the player scoreboard. The man working the scoreboard Friday for group 36 (the Tiger, Phil and the guy who won the US Open group) was named Tony. Tony could be your grandfather and if he wasn't at the PGA Championship on Sunday could very well spend Sunday making a giant pot of spaghetti sauce. 

Tony is well aware he has a great view of the action. "I tell all my friends Tiger and Phil picked me to hold the scoreboard because I bring them good luck," he whispered on the fifth hole.

Guys named Stenson, Andrade and Donald are at top of the leaderboard headed into the weekend. Let's see if the crowds will follow them.

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