FanHouse Pat Perez

This weekend, FanHouse will be out at the FBR Open, a tournament known more for its party atmosphere than its golf.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- You need to understand something. That headline? Yeah, it is all relative to the FBR Open.

No, the wind isn't blowing hats off of the golfers, but it is a little brisk for this part of the country. And after walking the course a little bit, I noticed a few things.

Every Monday during the PGA Tour season, Monday Pin Placement will run as a wrap-up of the weekend's action, with a little commentary mixed in. We'll focus on what you may have missed while you were out grinding on the putting green.

The Argument Against PGA West -- David Duval (right) has been floundering for a while now, but a place that brings back positive memories for Duval is PGA West. In 1999, at the height of his dominance on the PGA Tour, Duval fired a 59 on the last day at the Bob Hope Classic, a round that also included an exclamation-mark eagle putt on the 18th hole that gave him a one-shot win.

The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic used to be a big stop on the PGA Tour. Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller, Fred Couples and Phil Mickelson have all claimed the title since Hope put his name on the event. The problem is, with all the available money these days and the ability for top pros to pick and choose their events, most of the big names avoid the Hope because they don't want to deal with 90 holes, slow rounds and, well, obnoxious celebrites.

Can you blame them?

So, last week, Kenny Perry finished sixth at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee instead of playing in the British Open. You may have heard something about this. I'm fine with Perry's decision, although not everybody feels that way, particularly his PGA Tour colleagues.

Good news, though, Kenny: Davis Love III's got your back.

"Kenny is a great guy. There's nothing bad in his heart," Love said. "He wasn't complaining. He just doesn't want to play."

What bothers Love more are the players that do fly across the Atlantic and start complaining ... "Just don't come," Love said. "If you're going to have a bad attitude on Thursday before you tee off because it's raining, then don't come, because you're just wasting your time. It's going to be bad, eventually, one way or another."

Davis didn't name names, but the AP suggests that Pat Perez, and his always-sunny disposition, "would have been a candidate for saying the rain and wind in the first round didn't feel like golf." I would also like to nominate Rich Beem, whose British Open experience lasted nine holes before he decided that not shooting a 90 was more important than finishing his round.

I agree with Love -- if guys don't want to be at the British, stay home -- but it's hardly news, I think. Golfers, no matter their nationality, have been complaining about the sport, well, forever. That a few of them aren't crazy about rain and wind is barely surprising. I mean, it's not like golf is actually a sport.

The 2008 U.S. Open starts tomorrow at Torrey Pines and will measure 7,643, the longest in the history of the championship by a short par 4 (379 yards). I suspect next year's venue, Bethpage Black, will break the current record, and before the end of the decade, Jim Furyk will be talking about how 8,000-yard layouts aren't all that long.

The longest hole the U.S. Open's longest course is the par-5 614-yard 13th. There won't be a lot of players going for the green in two this week, partly because of the typical USGA setup (narrow fairways, punishing rough, slick greens), and partly because IT'S 614 YARDS.

Despite the third of a mile between tee box and flag stick, there are a handful of guys who can get there, and one of them did it in the practice round.

As I continue to miss five footers for bogey in the blogging world, it's the FanHouse Media Guide.

• Colin Montgomerie -- 2 -- I'm just going to come out and say it -- I like Monty. This guy still catches hell from people, even when he isn't a factor anymore. As crazy as it is that he finished in the top three four times at the U.S. Open, it's even crazier that Colin won 40 professional tournaments, none in the United States.

• Artemio Murakami -- DNP -- Just 24, Murakami had a solid 2007 on the Asian Tour, winning the Iskandar Johor Open (say that five times fast) and finished 57th on the Order of Merit. He took up the game at age nine, where he would follow his father to the driving range.

• Sean O'Hair -- t-26 -- O'Hair is one of my favorite stories in golf, breaking away from his deranged father and continuing to play some rather impressive golf. It would be beneficial to his confidence to have another strong national showing after his collapse at The Players Championship in 2007.

• Mark O'Meara -- t-3 -- I love when people like O'Meara still try (and succeed) in qualifying for the U.S. Open. The Windermere, Florida resident had his best finish in a U.S. Open (1988) ten years before his breakthrough season when he won both the Masters and British Open.

• Joe Ogilvie -- 40 -- The Duke graduate won his first PGA Tour tournament in 2007 and lists Warren Buffett and Bill Gates as his heroes, which obviously means he just wants to be a member of Augusta National.

• Geoff Ogilvy -- WON -- I lived in Scottsdale for a couple of years and never got the opportunity to visit "MOJO Pies," Ogilvy's Original Australian Pie shop. I think Ogilvy's (pictured) on a short list of guys to win this week, especially if Phil Mickelson is standing on 18 with a one-shot lead over him (sorry, had to do it).

• Rod Pampling -- t-32 -- The reason I will always remember Pampling is because of the 1999 British Open, where he shot an opening round 71 at Carnoustie to take the lead, only to shoot an 86 in the second round and miss the cut. You know, I bet John Daly can relate.

• Jesper Parnevik -- t-14 -- Seriously, was I the only one that thought Justin Timberlake was Jesper Parnevik at that "Who Can Break 100 at Torrey Pines" thing last week? Honestly, it took me like ten minutes to realize it was Timberlake. I just figured Parnevik had fallen off the map so far he had to do those "made for TV" gigs.
  

• Craig Parry -- t-3 -- I'm sorry, but anytime Johnny Miller says something I actually laugh at, it's worth passing on. No matter his crazy over-the-top swing, Parry might own the best shot in PGA Tour playoff history.

• Pat Perez -- t-40 -- At first glance Perez looks like a sneaky pick to win this week. He grew up on Torrey Pines, an obvious advantage over anybody else. But a closer look at his finishes in the Buick Invitational show seven starts, four missed cuts and only one top-10. You can't fool the fooler buddy.

If you're not sick of us, we're not sick of you as we continue with the FanHouse Media Guide.

• Johan Edfors -- CUT -- A Swedish golfer who spends most of his time on the other side of the Atlantic, Edfors won three times on the European Tour in 2006. Also, a known long hitter around Europe (16th on tour) won't hurt on a course that can be stretched to 7,600 yards.

• John Ellis -- DNP -- Red hot on the Canadian Tour, Ellis has played in five tournaments this season, winning two and finishing in the top-10 in the other three.

• Ernie Els (above) -- WON -- It's pretty strange to think Els has won two U.S. Opens, both before I was even in high school ('94 and '97). Maybe a telling stat for the caliber of player Els used to be, he has 27 top-10s in majors and three wins.

• Sean English -- DNP -- English has played one PGA Tour event, the 2004 PGA Championship, missing the cut. He landed a spot on the driving range at Torrey Pines with a 64 in the first round of sectional qualifying.

• Niclas Fasth -- 4 -- Just typing his name gives me a lisp. If somebody told you in 2001, after David Duval won and Fasth finished second at the British Open that Fasth would be around longer than Duval, how much would you have bet? $600? $5,000? Your 401K?
  

• Derek Fathauer (a) -- DNP -- The University of Louisville senior got through sectionals in one of the toughest qualifying spots around, beating the likes of Davis Love III, Pat Perez and Rocco Mediate, to name a few.

• Fernando Figueroa -- DNP -- If you're thinking this was the 1907 to 1911 President of El Salvador, boy do you have the wrong Fernando Figueroa. This guy played golf at North Carolina and shot a 62 in local qualifying to make it to sectionals.

• Ross Fisher -- DNP -- Another European Tour members playing in his first U.S. Open, Fisher won a Jaguar in a 2006 tournament for closest to the pin. Currently Fisher is 20th on the Order of Merit and has the free-est Jaguar of anyone in golf.

• Steve Flesch -- t-7 -- It's interesting to look at results for the U.S. Open and see a guy finished 84th in the 1993 championship. They let 84 guys on the weekend? Really? Only three top-10s in major championship history, with one being at this year's Masters.

• Alastair Forsyth -- DNP -- Winner of the "Most Likely to Become a Famous British Author" award for his name, Forsyth won earlier this year on the European Tour and is now the highest ranked Scottish golfer, overtaking Colin Montgomerie.

John Daly has been in the news often in 2008, and very little of it has to do with his on-course success. Quite the opposite, actually. In today's New York Times, Larry Dorman writes that Pat Perez, on pace for a career season after slipping in recent years, is coming to the same realization of many before him who have tried to help Daly turn his life around: it's futile.

"It's impossible [to get Daly to focus on his golf career]," Perez said in February at the FBR Open. "I love John to death, but I just don't know what it's going to take. He wants to do it, too. That's the thing, he actually does want to do it, but I don't know what it's going to take. A miracle? I have no idea."

Perez frowned as he considered Daly's plight. "It's like a drug addict, a gambling addict, anything like that," he said. "If they don't think there's a problem, then that's the problem. I don't think John thinks there is a problem."

It all sounds very familiar because we've heard the stories since Daly came out of nowhere to win the 1991 PGA Championship. And for the last 17 years, he's battled one demon or another, often in a losing effort.

To read Dorman's account, Perez sounds like a one-man intervention, but Daly's unfazed. It's all very sad, really; Daly, a two-time major champion, hasn't had his tour card in two years, and is currently without a sponsor. That could all change with a few good showings, but there's a better chance Daly wins this year's PGA Championship as the ninth alternate.