Brennans Caddy Report-Bob Hope Chrysler Classic

Mike had a very good start at the Mercedes Championship a week ago, making for a great onset to the year. I thought that he played as good as I have seen him play in a long time, easily good enough to win the event. He was hitting the ball very well all week long, and more importantly, his wedge play and short game were great. Except for the slow start on Sunday, I was very encouraged by his play and thought it was a fantastic start to the New Year.

This week's event is the only five day event left on tour now that the Las Vegas event has been cut to a regulation four day event. Not only are there five tournament rounds, they are also spread out on four courses. The entire field rotates throughout the first four days on the four courses, leaving those who make the cut to play the host course on Sunday. On the first four days each group is made up of three amateurs and one professional, with Sunday's play consisting of only pro's.

It takes much patience to play in this event, especially when in the celebrity rotation like we are this week. The celebrities realize that they are there to entertain the fans and thus try to accommodate them whenever possible, signing autographs and posing for pictures. Although, at times, this can act as a distraction to the professional, they are generally very considerate and conscience of the pro. This week's attitude has to be to enjoy the company and not let anything bother you!

The history of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic was that of very low winning scores, as the Palm Springs area golf courses did not prove very challenging. This has started to change over the past few years, as the rotation of courses has changed, and the new courses are becoming much more difficult. The Classic Club was built a few years ago as the new host course for this event, and is proving to be the most difficult in the rotation (as seen by the last few years' scores).

This year, another difficult course is being introduced, The SilverRock, which is a city owned golf course designed by Arnold Palmer. It will be interesting to see how this course will affect the overall winning score. In my opinion, the event organizers must be careful not to make the courses too challenging, as this poses a risk of losing top professionals from the field. Preparation is already very extensive for this event, with five days of playing, on several different courses, and playing with there amateurs each day. Although I find playing with non-professionals very enjoyable, I know there are many pros who do not particularly enjoy it, making the field suffer over the last few years.

When Bob Hope passed away a few years ago, a new guest host was needed for the event, preferably someone who could encourage celebrities to play. George Lopez was chosen, and I couldn't think of anyone better for the job. He is a golf fanatic and has done a great job for the last two years. George and the tournament committee do their best to persuade as many celebrities to play as possible, with mostly actors and some musicians playing each year. There are several guys who tend to play each year, including George, Samuel Jackson, Alice Cooper and many more. New faces are seen each year, with actor Luke Wilson being this year's biggest names. The celebrities most definitely add to the event, as they draw a completely different fan base than we would normally have at a PGA tour event (some of who have no idea they are at a golf tournament). This was certainly the case when Justin Timberlake played, as he had his own gallery as big as any tour professional!

Preparing for this week is quite difficult, as the courses are spread out over the valley, and it is a short week with the event starting on Wednesday. I arrived in town on Sunday and managed to see La Quinta Country Club on a cart to make sure there were no changes to the course. Early Monday I went to PGA West, and then met Mike at SilverRock where he was practicing with his instructors. I walked the golf course and tried to get a feel for the course as well as possible. It is difficult to get around a course when it is full of golfers, as you not only wait a lot, but also feel in the way when on the greens when others are putting. On Tuesday we played SilverRock in the morning, then went over to the Classic Club in the afternoon to drive around the course and hit a few shots. Mike knows this course pretty well, but still wanted to hit a few tee shots and play a few of the par 3's. It was a great day and we are now ready to start the tournament.

One question that has come up with a lot of the golfers is the new 36 hole cut rule that was put in place this year. In the past, the entire field would play 36 holes, with the low 70 golfers and ties making the cut to play on the weekend. This posed a problem, as there were as many as 85-90 guys who made the cut, making tee times difficult, especially with delays. This year's rule states that if there are more than 78 golfers, the cut is made to the closest number to 70, meaning the cut could potentially go back to approximately 60 golfers (as it did last week). Everyone who would have made the cut is still paid but is not able to play on the weekend (which in my opinion is very unfair). It has been a very hot topic this week and I am interested to see how it plays out over the next few weeks or when it happens again.

I am fully expecting Mike to have a really good year this year. I think that all the swing changes he has made are paying off, and I think he really understands his game as well as he ever has. I am really looking forward to it and think that there could be some really good things in the near future!