AP: Phil Texted Commish During Round; No Word If The Commish Asked For A Translation Of "WTF" Or "IMHEIUO"

Doug Ferguson says Commissioner LOL got a text last Thursday from Phil Mickelson as the mentally fatigued San Diegan was backing off shots while the Annie Leibovitz's of Columbus snapped useless photos. But as Ferguson notes, even though Phil's move got the attention of headquarters, the policy won't be changing since the tour has a lot riding on the use of phones at tournaments.

Banning the policy isn't an option. The Tour is moving forward in the digital age with programs to enhance the gallery's experience. Plus, the increase in attendance has been tangible this year. Nowadays, if fans can't bring their phones, they're more likely not to come at all.

The solution is to add security or volunteers to the two or three marquee pairings and to take away phones from fans caught taking pictures (giving them a claim check to retrieve the phone at the end of the day). That's what happened on Friday, and there were no big incidents the rest of the way.

What has to be sorted out is better policing and training security to understand when someone is pulling out their phone to take a photo, and when they are simply checking email. Unfortunately, I saw a few folks lectured about putting their phone away when all they were doing was looking up a score or reading a text.

By the way, IMHEIUO was a new one for me too Commissioner. It's "In My High Exalted Informed Unassailable Well-Reasoned Opinion."