"Why the PGA Tour Should Host A Four-Ball Tournament"

This week's second annual US Amateur Four-Ball at Winged Foot provided an opening for Joel Beall to suggest all of the reasons the PGA Tour needs such an event on its schedule.

Except one. But first, Beall writes:

For better or worse, golf has the least amount of theater away from its playing field. A lot of this can be chalked up to the "gentleman's game" mantra; conversely, your head's in the sand if you think golf's immune to the type of bathos seen in other sports. Because many of these players operate in cocoons due to game's individualistic nature, perhaps the team dynamic can ruffle a few feathers.

Which is exactly why, besides the pleasures of watching epic high five fails and allowing today's Hogan's to practice this all-important gesture, we need more four-ball with...you know where I'm going! The Stymie!

Granted, today's non-confrontational players would balk and possibly take forever (though not touching their ball once they start putting might offset some of the slowness). And modern green speeds would make it hard to stymie someone, but imagine the intrigue and creativity we would have seen in even something like the US Amateur Four-Ball?

I'll repeat for the 400th time: if the stymie was desperately missed by Bobby Jones, and it was worth a chapter in his later-in-life biography, that should be all anyone needs to bring it back at least once a year.