No Pro-Am, Down To Two Courses For The American Express (AKA The Hope)

Due to the ongoing pandemic, this year’s American Express moves to two courses and no pro-am format with a $6.7 million purse, reports the Desert Sun’s Larry Bohannan.

Sponsor AmEx will match last year’s charitable donation of $1 million despite the loss of pro-am revenue, though the number is a far cry from the amounts generated during the Hope years.

“Due to the current local climate in Riverside County caused by COVID-19, and considering national travel associated with the event, the tournament will be played without the traditional multi-day pro-am format and ticketed spectators, and will be held on only two courses: PGA West’s Stadium Course (host) and Nicklaus Tournament Course,” the PGA Tour said in a release Thursday. “The three-day pro-am format, which has been a part of the tournament since its debut in 1960, will return in 2022.”

The pro-am has evolved in recent years from the original concept of golfers from desert clubs playing in the event to one in which more pro-am participants fly from across the country to the desert for the tournament.

One positive of no pro-am? There will be no appearances from genocidal sleezebags this year.

Hope! Mickelson Becomes Host To PGA Tour's Desert Stop

Along with a blue chip sponsor in American Express, the once-vital Bob Hope Classic now has a blue chip host in Phil Mickelson, who expands his role as the tournament’s front man.

Larry Bohannan with all of the Desert Sun details, including these comments from Phil, who even put on his best flip-flops for the presser.

“The last couple of years, we asked to give us a few years to really showcase what this tournament can do, and have needed and had the help of many people,” Mickelson said, specifically pointing to officials with Discovery Land, developer of Madison Club and other desert courses, and Lagardere Sports, which operates the tournament for non-profit Desert Classic Charities.

“Now we have the partner that we want to bring it to a whole other level,” Mickelson said, a reference to the new five-year sponsorship deal with American Express. “American Express asked that myself and my foundation take on a bigger role, the PGA Tour asked me to take on a bigger role. My wife and I, Amy, we’ve decided this is the right fit, and we want to have a more direct involvement with the charitable support and donation here in the valley.”

Palmer's "Sweetest Win Ever" Came At The Hope

Really fun deep dive read here from Jim McCabe, in a special to PGATour.com, writing about Arnold Palmer's final PGA Tour win.

It came at a special Bob Hope Classic that brought Jack Nicklaus to the desert and one that Palmer would call "the sweetest ever."

A teaser:

Palmer and Nicklaus were together on the tournament’s eve to break ground on a golf course project they were co-designing (now Ironwood Country Club), but they were miles apart in Round 1 at Indian Wells.

In the Los Angeles Times, the great Jim Murray called Palmer and Nicklaus “the prime minister and emperor of golf,” but it didn’t appear as if they were competitors any more, at least not until Palmer outscored Nicklaus, 66-70, in the second round at Tamarisk Country Club.   
     
That left Nicklaus at 134, three ahead of Palmer and a Monday qualifier named Allen Miller. Joked Miller: “What are all those unknowns doing up there with me?”   
     
“The Hope” was competing for space in the L.A. Times with the legendary Steve Prefontaine, who beat Marty Liquori in the mile at the Times Indoor Games.

It’s Back! PGA West Stadium Hosting TFKA The Hope

Last time we saw it on the PGA Tour, poor Tip O'Neill was stuck in a bunker and Corey Pavin won there barely making it to some of the fairways. But since then players started doing yoga, ditched the persimmons and even played a bunch of Q-School rounds at PGA West's Stadium course.

The iconic Pete Dye design returns to the Bob Hope Classic CareerBuilder Challenge In Partnership With The Clinton Foundation.

Larry Bohannan reports the addition of PGA West Stadium and the Nicklaus Tournament Course to replace the Nicklaus and Palmer private courses. It was, gulp, 29 years ago that the Stadium got its one shot at hosting the Hope.

The Stadium Course is famous in the desert for hosting the Skins Game from 1986 through 1991, but also for the one year it was played in the PGA Tour event known as the Bob Hope Classic. Designed by Pete Dye, the Stadium Course was different than almost any golf course in the course in 1987, and the scores reflected the course difficulty. Corey Pavin won the event, then a 90-hole tournament, at 19-under 341, well above the typical low winning scores of the time.

With an island green on the par-3 17th, a 200-yard carry over water on the par-3 fifth and a 20-foot-deep bunker on the par-5 16th, the Stadium Course presented strong challenges to the tour players and 384 amateurs in the field in 1987. The pros grumbled, with Ken Green saying the course needed a few sticks of dynamite and other players saying the one-year-old course was just unfair. The pace of play was slow for amateurs and celebrities, including Speaker of the House Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill who found himself flailing away at the bottom of the bunker on the 16th hole on national television.

Rest Assured, 42 Is Getting In Some Golf Too...

Bill Clinton is hosting a private fundraiser Wednesday and Arnold Palmer is flying out to greet him at The Tradition, Palmer's west coast home club.

And Clinton will be playing Greg Norman for Saturday's telecast, teeing off at 10:20 reports Sean Martin.

Before then he makes history with his premiere on...Wednesday's Morning Drive in a sitdown grilling from Annika.

The Four-Day, Single Pro-Am Partner Event Not-Played-At-The-Classic-Club-Effect: Phil Returns To Desert

Bones, get ready to remember a new pro-am partner's name every day! For Immediate Release:

Two-time event champion Phil Mickelson commits to play Humana Challenge
 
Immensely popular Southern California native and four-time major winner
 has an enviable record in the Coachella Valley
 
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson, a two-time winner of the Humana Challenge and the leading all-time money winner in the event, has committed to play in an event where he has enjoyed immense success -- the 2012 Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation.
 
Set to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May, Mickelson is the second Hall of Fame selection to enter the Humana Challenge field. Greg Norman, winner of two British Opens and captain of the International Team at the last two Presidents Cups, also committed to his first Humana Challenge since 1986.
 
“I’m honored to join President Clinton and the Clinton Foundation for the Humana Challenge,” Mickelson said. “I admire President Clinton and the charitable work of his Foundation, which helps millions of people around the world, and I applaud him for joining Humana in using the tournament to help promote health and wellness. Some of my best seasons have come after starting at this event and I’m really excited about coming back again.”