Final PGA Reads, Vol. 1

Here's Damon Hack's game story on Phil Mickelson's impressive PGA win, and another take from the UK's Lawrence Donegan in The Guardian.   And Jim Litke writes about Mickelson's amazing up-and-down on 18.

Mike Lopresti in the USA Today takes a much stronger stance on the CBS-PGA screw-up than his colleague, and uses the opportunity to look at all sports and the ways they are selling out their integrity in an effort to pander to the networks.

This is old, old news — television forcing a sport to genuflect to its demands, no matter how ludicrous. Buying off nonsense with a check. And yet maybe such a screwball ending will cause some needed reflection.

Television's billions feed the wolves and always will. Fact of life. But there ought to be a line … somewhere.

The folks at the Masters, self-proclaimed guardians of the purity of the game, do the same thing, pushing their Sunday start to the very last telegenic moment. And you know the other handwork of television. The 10 p.m. NCAA tournament games. The bloated NBA playoff format that stretches toward July. The NFL January playoff games in frigid northern cities at night. All for a few dollars more.