The world’s best golfers have descended again on Bethpage State Park to play the Black Course in an important tournament. But unlike in 2002 and 2009, when the Black was the site of the U.S. Open and the buzz was off the charts, the 2012 Barclays must earn the attention of a sporting public turning its focus to football and baseball pennant races.
To say The Barclays is totally off the sports radar would be an over-statement. Any time PGA champion Rory McIlroy, 14-time major winner Tiger Woods and the other 125 top players in the golf are in an event that leads to a $10 million paycheck, it’s going to draw some attention.
But The Barclays being held at the Black has the feel of a first-round NCAA game at a site that previously hosted the Final Four.
Comparisons to the two previous U.S. Opens are inevitable. The crowds for those two events reached nearly 40,000 a day. Fans were boisterous and enthusiastic. They became as much a part of the event as the golf course and the players.
Perhaps the novelty of playing on the fabled public course has worn off now that the U.S. Open has been here twice. Nonetheless, The Barclays remains a major event if not a major championship. It’s the first leg of the FedEx Cup, which is still trying to establish itself as the “playoffs” of professional golf.
Among those looking forward to playing the Black again is Phil Mickelson, who finished second, three strokes behind Woods, at the 2002 U.S. Open, and tied for second, two strokes behind Lucas Glover, in 2009.
“Bethpage is such a difficult, straightforward challenge and test of good golf that regardless of the conditions, the design and the setup of the course, it will be a great challenge,” Mickelson said during the media day at Bethpage.
The Barclays comes to Bethpage for the first time as part of a rotation that has been in New Jersey the previous four years at Ridgewood CC (2008, 2010), Liberty National (2009) and Plainfield County Club (2011). All of those tournaments drew enthusiastic crowds except for Plainfield, which was shortened to 54 holes because of the impending arrival of Hurricane Irene.
This week’s tournament is important for Bethpage, which is scheduled to host the Barclays again in 2016 and has had preliminary talks about hosting a PGA Championship or a Ryder Cup.
“We are thrilled to be here and have Bethpage as part of our rotation both this year and then back again in 2016,” said Peter Mele, the Barclays Executive Director. “It’s such a renowned golf course, such a renowned facility and is so respected amongst the golf community and amongst the players. Everybody that’s been here before was so excited to hear they were coming back here to play for The Barclays.”
The course will be slightly tweaked from how it played at the U.S. Opens. It will play at par 71 with a yardage of 7,468 yards. It played 7,214 yards in 2002 and 7,426 in 2009. The 7th hole, a 500-yard par 4 in the U.S. Opens, will be about a 550-yard par 5 this week. The green speeds will be somewhere between 11 and 12 on the stimpmeter.
Mickelson hopes the crowd support doesn’t change. He became a fan favorite at both U.S. Opens. He was a sentimental choice at the first one, having not yet won a major championship. At the second, his wife just had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
“One of the best things about Bethpage is the people,” Mickelson said. “The crowds that come out to support the game of golf at Bethpage are the best I’ve ever seen, and we’re so lucky and excited to be coming back to such a great venue.”
No, it won’t be the U.S. Open and the FedEx Cup isn’t quite the Sprint Cup Series in NASCAR.
But Tiger, Rory and Phil playing at the Black for a shot at $10 million is nothing we should fuhgeddaboud.