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Aside from that I was surprised at how small a number of them are. For example I swear 5'9 - 5'10 is very generous for Rory's height. He was practically a gnome.

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That's the thing that stood out to a couple friends who attended the FedEx event at Cherry Hills last year. One said Rory was maybe 5'7".

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I'm guessing some would still play. Maybe the elite guys wouldn't, but it's a good chance for the mid-level players to network and maybe get an inside track to a sponsor.

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All pros on the PGA (I believe the same goes for Champions and LPGA) are required to play the Wednesday pro-am if they want to be eligible for the tournament. This is how the tournaments makes a lot of the money. Although they will usually have a Monday/Earlier in the Week Pro-Am as well (with some of the lesser names and this is typically optional and costs less to play in).

Tiger Woods always liked to tee off first - so he could have an open course. He really knew how to move his group along and finish quickly.

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Aside from that I was surprised at how small a number of them are. For example I swear 5'9 - 5'10 is very generous for Rory's height. He was practically a gnome.

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That's the thing that stood out to a couple friends who attended the FedEx event at Cherry Hills last year. One said Rory was maybe 5'7".

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Rory walked about a foot in front of me last year at the SHO. 5'7" - 5'8" is probably accurate. I couldn't believe how skinny he was

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I'm guessing some would still play. Maybe the elite guys wouldn't, but it's a good chance for the mid-level players to network and maybe get an inside track to a sponsor.

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All pros on the PGA (I believe the same goes for Champions and LPGA) are required to play the Wednesday pro-am if they want to be eligible for the tournament.

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Partially correct.

They do not have to play each week, but they do have a percentage of tournaments that they must.

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I'm guessing some would still play. Maybe the elite guys wouldn't, but it's a good chance for the mid-level players to network and maybe get an inside track to a sponsor.

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All pros on the PGA (I believe the same goes for Champions and LPGA) are required to play the Wednesday pro-am if they want to be eligible for the tournament.

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Partially correct.

They do not have to play each week, but they do have a percentage of tournaments that they must.

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That sounds right actually, thanks for the clarification.

I think I recall Phil/or someone big missing a pro-am and not being able to play int he tourney.

Man that would be my dream to play in any pro-am.

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I'm guessing some would still play. Maybe the elite guys wouldn't, but it's a good chance for the mid-level players to network and maybe get an inside track to a sponsor.

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All pros on the PGA (I believe the same goes for Champions and LPGA) are required to play the Wednesday pro-am if they want to be eligible for the tournament. This is how the tournaments makes a lot of the money. Although they will usually have a Monday/Earlier in the Week Pro-Am as well (with some of the lesser names and this is typically optional and costs less to play in).

Tiger Woods always liked to tee off first - so he could have an open course. He really knew how to move his group along and finish quickly.

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Right. I was replying to someone who said none of the players would play if they weren't required to.

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I think I recall Phil/or someone big missing a pro-am and not being able to play int he tourney.

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Think it was Jim Furyk which is not surprising. He probably took too long to put on his socks at the hotel room that morning.

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After the "stars" like Rory/Sergio/Phil, Ian Poulter and Keegan Bradley are both high on my list of guys I'd like to play with. The Ryder Cup is my favorite event and I'd love to hear some first-hand, behind the scenes stories from those two.

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My buddy randomly got paired with Keegan and his caddie a few years ago. He said Keegan had no personality/was all business, but not necessarily rude. He said the caddie ("Pepsi", I believe) was awesome, and he gave my buddy a Titleist driver after the round & bought him a beer.

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I totally believe that - when he came to the driving range at the SHO a few years ago a lady asked him for an autograph before he reached the main range area. He replied that he doesnt give autographs while hes playing, and he would have to do it afterwards. He wasn't rude about it, just matter-of-fact and very business like.

Im sure it all varies according to personality, but I cant blame alot of guys like that. For some of them to enter concentration to perform they probably have to do that to minimize distractions.

Also, I believe they are allowed to miss one or two Pro-Am events per year. Its like a get out of jail free card or something.

But if I remember correctly, Furyk forgot to set his cellphone alarm and was running up to the tee box but was too late.

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Also, I believe they are allowed to miss one or two Pro-Am events per year. Its like a get out of jail free card or something.

But if I remember correctly, Furyk forgot to set his cellphone alarm and was running up to the tee box but was too late.

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Are they allowed to miss like they can oversleep or allowed to miss like "I'm not doing the pro-am this week"?

They can't oversleep or stand up the amateur. They have to call a couple days in advance and clear it with the PGA.

Mickelson is doing exactly that this week at the Valero. They can skip a couple of pro-am tournaments each year with proper notification.

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Also, I believe they are allowed to miss one or two Pro-Am events per year. Its like a get out of jail free card or something.

But if I remember correctly, Furyk forgot to set his cellphone alarm and was running up to the tee box but was too late.

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Are they allowed to miss like they can oversleep or allowed to miss like "I'm not doing the pro-am this week"?

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I think its like the second option, where they can opt out ahead of time. Its mentioned here for last year at the SHO with Phil:

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/mickelson-oblique-opts-out-houston-pro-am/

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Aside from that I was surprised at how small a number of them are. For example I swear 5'9 - 5'10 is very generous for Rory's height. He was practically a gnome.

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That's the thing that stood out to a couple friends who attended the FedEx event at Cherry Hills last year. One said Rory was maybe 5'7".

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Is that how tall he's going to be when he's........Standing in the Hall of Fame, oh eh oh oh, oh eh ohhhh.

I won a meet and greet with Zach Johnson at Colonial a few years back when he was the defending champ. He was very down to earth, asked about my family, what I did, etc. We got to go inside the ropes and walk 17-18 with him. Very cool experience, and he instantly became my favorite player on tour.

Those pro ams costs alot of money and are a big revenue source.

In 2000, the Byron pro am ticket cost $3,000. $3,000 x 4 players x 100 pros is $1.2 million. A lot of prize money or charity money.

The owner of my company, a dumba$$ control freak, got our office Byron package. But he wanted to go through it and hand out the passes, and divvy them up and give them to clients, etc. So on Thursday night of the tournament, we finally broke the box open without his knowledge.

Inside was a pro-am ticket. I was so pissed. I was seriously into golf and here he wasted it completely because he was a lazy man afraid to make the simplest of decisions.

Man, he was such a moron. A teasip too.

Never done a pro-am but to comment on which guys are personable from my own limited experience:

1. Lee westwood- followed him multiple times at the SHO and always acknowledges well wishes and the crowd
2. Matt Kuchar- cracked jokes last year and talked with the gallery while playing
3. Phil- as previously mentioned, always smiling and seems genuine. He may kick puppies when no one is around but he is really nice in person

I gather that Mickeltits used be a jerk, but had a genuine change of heart later in his career after he won his first major. Just a WAG, but I'd imagine he started thinking about his legacy and being an ambassador for the game. Nothing wrong with that. I know I've matured from my 20's.

Yeah, I don't doubt the FIGJAM stuff was true years ago, but I honestly think he's a genuine dude now. I've heard or read probably 100 positive things about him, first hand accounts, in the last few years without hearing anything negative.

A lot of these guys probably grew up as old money country club pr*cks or had extremely controlling and overbearing parents who forced golf on them. I would expect more than a handful of self-righteous a-holes on the tour. That being said, there are a lot of really good guys on the tour.

Phil's caddy, Bones is a good guy.

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Yeah, I don't doubt the FIGJAM stuff was true years ago, but I honestly think he's a genuine dude now. I've heard or read probably 100 positive things about him, first hand accounts, in the last few years without hearing anything negative.

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I think a lot of that is also part of their competitive spirit amongst each other, not their attitude with spectators, fans or amateurs.

I think it was Matt Kuchar's episode of Feherty, where Kuchar talks about how much he loves talking **** to his playing partners on the course. It's all in good fun, but some players handle it better than others, some don't respond at all, some give it right back. After the rounds, they are all buddy buddy and fine.

When asked who could dish it back the best, he said without a doubt Mickelson. Said Phil could talk **** with the best of em.

with no knowledge of Phil's early years and how the nickname developed, I'd assume FIGJAM was probably a result of him being a pretty confident and talkative golfer on the course, and it didn't sit well with some of those that he played with.