What’s The Best Golf Tourney of the Year?

Let’s be honest, every golf fan has a few event each year he/she circles as much watch events. The majors, the World Golf Championship events and other events that draw strong fields (I love the Heritage on Hilton Head Island). These are events where we know great golf and drama is sure to unfold.

My favorite golf tournament? The one I look forward to watching more than any other all year? Hands down it’s the U.S. Open.

I love it for the fact that its our national championship. I love it because anyone could improve their game and qualify – it’s not just for the pros. I love the venues it chooses. But, mostly, I love it because it likes to be tough.

Most years, the U.S. Open beats the world’s best into submission. It is a week defined more by survival than beautiful golf shots. Even par or worse can win from time to time – and that’s just fine with me.

There are a lot of tournaments that are fun to watch, but nothing compares to the U.S. Open. It’s my favorite golf-watching weekend on the calendar.

…. and you….

Honestly, I don’t know where The Mouth subscribes to his “everyone else is doing it” attitude. How easy is it to pick the US Open, or any of the four majors, for that matter? The majors, at least three of them, are run by associations that get their pick of the crop, selecting courses ranked in the top-something of someone’s list. The fourth major owns its course and preps it for one week out of 52. That takes no skill, folks. In addition, those majors, plus the Players, plus the WGC events, plus the four FedEx Cup events, get the best players in the world, the most media attention, the hot girls, the…where am I going with this?

Here’s where. The best golf tournament of the year is being played for the last time in 2012. It’s the longest tournament (six rounds), it features the hungriest players, and it makes guys (yes, plural, every year) break down and cry like no major does. The reason is, it represents their livelihood for the next 365 days. You won’t see anyone from the top 100 playing in it, nor the next 25 guys on the money list. This event is for losers, guys who couldn’t hold their card, some missing by the cash equivalent of one putt, one penalty stroke, one missed cut, one something along the way.

The PGA Tour qualifying school, until recently, wasn’t televised. I’m not surprised. The FCC probably said you can’t show that much raw emotion, restrained anger, sequestered angst, without resorting to sex or violence, so something must be wrong. I bet they prohibited it. Six rounds of golf, six days in Hell, 108 roads to perdition or salvation. And now, the PGA Tour will eliminate its value, reducing it to a qualifier for the Nationwide Tour (or whatever it is called in 2014.)

Q-School. Now there’s a tournament. Suck on that, Mouth!