Jul 7, 2018 By Mike Dudurich for The 4 min read

Boy, that rumored exhibition match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson has certainly been getting a lot of traction all of a sudden.

Evidence of that is I’m writing about it today.

This thing reportedly has been brewing for months now, behind the scenes, of course. It is an interesting concept in terms of the two participants. Ten or 15 years ago, this would never be a consideration because Woods and Mickelson were not exactly chummy.

But 10 or 15 years ago is when this exhibition was for $10 million of someone else’s money. That’s when the two were relevant and were playing spectacular golf on a regular basis. That’s not the case now when wins are few and far between, if at all.

Will the event get good television ratings? Absolutely.

Will it be interesting? Yes.

Will it be compelling? Not necessarily.

Will it be great golf? Doubt it.

We know both of them hit the ball all over the place off the tee. Based on what we’ve seen this year, there’s going to be some bad putting.

What does that add up to? It could well end up with an audience watching as they would if they were sitting down to watch a NASCAR race and waiting for the big crash.

Obviously, there will be a charitable component of this get-together when it happens. That will become known down the road when more details become firm.

But there are questions about why this is being held at all. Is it a PR ploy to help Mickelson’s suddenly sullied reputation because of antics at the U.S. Open? Is it another example of the softening of the steely-eyed persona that Woods had for so many years?

There are no ready answers to those questions, but it is indeed curious timing for this made-for-TV drama.

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The West Penn Golf Association’s Amateur Championship got caught up in some horrific weather this week and faces now faces an uncertain conclusion.

The first round was completed Monday in sunny and hot temperatures. But the second round was delayed twice by lightning in the area. After the second delay, players were sent back onto the course, but were only out there a few minutes when the siren sounded again.

Within five minutes the Fox Chapel area was pounded by heavy rains, brilliant lightning and strong winds. Within a half hour, torrents of rain were cascading down the 18th and first fairways, and the course suffered significant damage.

Bunkers were really ravaged, being washed out and being left with little or no sand. Some of the green surfaces that had sharp edges into those bunkers actually collapsed under the weight of the saturated turf.

Miraculously, the course was made playable to some degree by Wednesday and a Fourth of July event was held. But then another thunderstorm cell pounded the course again.

Officials there, at one of the premier courses in western Pennsylvania, are counting on the accuracy of the weather forecasts that predict pleasant, sunny weather for the next several days to help dry out the course and allow grounds crews to repair the damage that’s been done.

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The British Open is coming up in a couple weeks. It’s being played at Carnoustie Golf Club in Scotland.

It is one of the most difficult courses in the world and certainly in the rotation of British Open courses.

The good news is the USGA won’t have anything to say about the layout, thereby eliminating any chance of a disaster during the championship. Well, at least from a group of men with misguided ideas.

The weather can, at any time, create enough disasters for everybody.

Always entertaining watching the boys make their way around courses over there.

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If you have an interesting story about your club or course, or an individual who has done something special? Let me know. Send your story ideas to mike.dudurich@gmail.com.