After a year of traveling across the Midwest to cover Web.com Tour events, I am proud - and a little bit in disbelief - to say that I am typing this from the media room at the Travelers Championship, this week's PGA Tour event just south of Hatrford, CT. I'm here in the media center, in the company of probably about 30 or 40 media folk, straight from the lavish lunch buffet that included a zucchini casserole and high-quality roast beef.
Let me make clear: I have no disrespect for the Web.com Tour. I love the Web.com Tour, and my experience last year was one of the best of my life. Where else can I find a player who offers to let me caddy for him after just three of four interviews (Kevin Johnson)? That sure as heck isn't happening out here on the PGA Tour. Rather than the journeymen out there in the minor league hinterlands, I will be dealing this week with the likes of Justin Rose, last week's U.S. Open at Merion who outlasted Phil Mickelson and a pack of all-stars to claim his first major.
Sure enough, Rose will be in the media center tomorrow at 11 a.m., followed by Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley and Hunter Mahan during the afternoon. This week won't carry the highest-quality PGA Tour field (it's a week after a major, after all), but there are some pretty darned good names. Storylines are abundant too, with Mike Weir trying to continue a recent revival after finishing T28 at Merion, Lucas Glover trying to resurrect a rocky season after shooting in the 80s in his second round at the Open, and Vijay Singh likely having to dodge a few more questions about his mysterious use of deer-antler spray - and we still don't really know if it was illegal or not.
Of course, I will be happy to check in with some of my old Web.com friends who I followed across the Great Plains last summer. 2012 Wichita winner Casey Wittenberg is in the field, along with goofy Andres Gonzales - who has made a mess of his 2013 PGA Tour campaign in missing all but one cut. And of course, I hope to check in with the namesake of this entire blog, the guy who got this all started - Jeff Gove.
Just looking through the field gives me plenty of story ideas. John Daly is a story in himself, and he would certainly love a win this week to get his career back on track as he gets ready to try the Champions Tour in a few years. Davis Love III is also approaching his 50th birthday and would like to find a pot of golf under this Travelers rainbow. Lee Westwood could contine his momentum from Merion where he birdied his final four holes to surge into a back door top-15 finish, and cerebral Paul Goydos is looking for a successful return from a long-term injury.
As I exited my car in the media parking lot, I was greeted by a volunteer in a golf cart who offered me a ride to the media center. He graduated from Skidmore College and said he rooted for the 'Cuse while in school (he was there during the 2003 national championship run), and he couldn't have been nicer. Drinsk and snacks are abundant around here, along with viewing TVs and a big screen leaderboard to use once play begins. I also met a guy named Rich from ESPN Radio - I had lunch with him, and we discussed the state of the industry as well as the nature of golf magazines. He knows a lot of people at Golf World (where I now work), and again, he couldn't have been nicer.
So let the week begin - I'm getting ready to head out and explore the course, hopefully getting to meet a few players and fellow media members along the way. Not quite sure what's in store, as always, but it's sure to be a joy of a time.
And hey, Doug Flutie is playing in the pro-am tomorrow. If I got to talk to him...
I'd be done.
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