Posted by Jason Sobel
I've gotta hand it to the good people who run the PGA Grand Slam of Golf: They really want you, the fans, to watch their tournament. The 36-hole event, which begins today and features Tiger Woods, Geoff Ogilvy, Jim Furyk and Mike Weir, will be telecast from 7-10 p.m. ET on Tuesday night and 6-10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, and has been the subject of innumerable advertisements as of late. Of course, if that's not enough golf for you, you can also tune into the live webcast on
PGA.com beginning around 5 p.m. each of the next two days.
Sheesh, if we could only get this much exposure for regular season PGA Tour events -- or even some majors (remember not being able to watch Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson play together on Thursday morning at this year's PGA Championship because TV coverage hadn't started yet?) -- we'd be all set.
The Grand Slam tournament officials also really want us, the media, to cover the event. Not that I'm ever against a trip to beautiful Poipu Bay in Kauai, but a four-man Silly Season event that takes place during the two days preceding Thanksgiving is a tough sell, to say the least. That hasn't stopped the PR folks from lavishing golf reporters with (sort of) interesting items from the tournament in advance. So far, I've received a box of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts (you know, 'cause the event is in Hawaii; can't say I wouldn't have preferred a pineapple, though), a large poster featuring this year's competitors (actually, Tiger is shown twice, but, what the heck, he's Tiger, so why not?) and a hologram of the four players (think those old "Sportflics" baseball cards, replete with fist-pump action).
Tell you what: Anyone who'd like to receive a hologram, poster or half-eaten box of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts (act quickly for that last one), click on our feedback link and offer up a creative e-mail about the Grand Slam, Tiger Woods or anything else. So long as its entertaining and clean, maybe I'll send out these gifts as a sign of appreciation. Then again, maybe I'll gorge myself with chocolate nuts, hang the poster on my basement wall and stare at the hologram for hours on end while ignoring your repsonses. You never know.
One last note on the Grand Slam: I was recently asked to participate in a media poll to choose the winner of this year's Grand Slam. Here's my response:
Tiger Woods won eight PGA Tour events this season, including the British Open and PGA titles. Geoff Ogilvy claimed the U.S. Open and Match Play. Jim Furyk won the Wachovia and Canadian Open. Mike Weir won nothing. What does that tell us? He's due. Here's saying Weir claims the PGA Grand Slam victory.
So you can imagine my surprise when the poll was made public a few days ago and the winning picks read as follows: Woods 14; Furyk 4; Ogilvy 2; Weir 0.
Uh ... OK. I was assured that my pick was merely inadvertently overlooked, rather than neglected for its idiocy. But when the little lefty is holding up the trophy Wednesday night, just remember you read it here first. And if he isn't, well, just forget you read it here at all.
