EDS Byron Nelson round one: Why does Mickelson's exemption surprise anyone?

Bolshie bunch these Aussies. Guess who’s leading the charge against the inclusion of Phil Mickelson? Robert Allenby and Rod Pampling, who say he should have been disqualified for failing to turn up for Wednesday’s pro-am. Mickelson squeaked in on the ‘extenuating circumstance’ that storms prevented him from flying back in time from an outing to Arkansas. The naysayers allege he was aware of storm trouble before he made the trip in the first place.

So is there one law for the rich and one for the poor? The point is made that Retief Goosen was disqualified in similar circumstances at the 2005 Nissan Open. That was for oversleeping, over which I imagine he had full control, making the case somewhat different. But the answer to the question is: yes, of course. Have you not spotted by now what the near-divine Tiger Woods gets away with?

For all that the Tour puts on a show of assiduously enforcing every arcane rule in the book, to a degree I find faintly ludicrous, it is basically a commercial enterprise that is highly unlikely to do away with its biggest TV draw of the weekend.

So those shouting that the PGA has ’sold out’ are a little behind the times. The PGA is all about selling out, extracting the maximum return from its ‘product’. The ‘league of gentleman’ notion is just so last millennium.

There are a lot of complicit elements in all this, not the least XM radio. I am a great fan of their commentaries and banter, though it can get a bit over-sentimental (like the nth Bryon Nelson eulogy Thursday). But their efforts to put a positive, pro-PGA Tour spin on everything grate. They tried unconvincingly to gloss over complaints about the state of the greens and failed to quiz Lefty about the pro-am controversy in his interview. A little more objectivity would go a long way fellas.

Meanwhile, back on the fairways the news is good and bad. Sean O’Hair has made a clear statement of intent with his 65 on the Cottonwood Valley course, but so too did defending champion Brett Wetterich on the TPC course. The rookie sensation Anthony Kim again failed to get off to a convincing start, although at least he was able to claw his way back to par.

Wetterich is seen as having the slight advantage on the Cottonwood Friday because it is supposedly the easier of the two. But the courses played to an almost identical stroke average on day one of around 71.5.

I don’t want to worry Lefty and Vijay Singh, both four shots off the pace, but the omens aren’t brilliant. Over the last four years the winner has not come from further back than two behind. It also suggests Kim is going to have to pull out all the stops Friday to give himself any kind of chance.