Heard from a few friends from Michigan who attended the U.S. Open how heavy handed the security was at Winged Foot. One of them - a grandfather who looks like a kindly grandfather complete with the gray hair, gray mustache and easy smile - recounted how a security lady stalked over and scolded him for not having his ticket badge "displayed properly."
He had the badge around his neck. The wind blew it around, so it was backside up.
When he flipped it over and asked if he was in compliance now, the guard shot back something along the lines of, "You could be." Then, she marched off, no doubt to keep the public safe from another 60-year-old in shorts.
There were so many rent-a-cops, real cops and Homeland Security types at Winged Foot that they made Phil Mickelson's fan army look small by comparison. Meanwhile, the nearby ports, nuclear power plants and chemical factories galore had their usual tiny details - at best (how much do you want to bet some of those guys made it over to Winged Foot?)
Ah, you have to love the great terrorist fighting logic of it all.
Where's al Qaeda going to strike? Surely, the spread out golf tournament in the middle of the outdoors with a bunch of corporate fat cats drinking out of plastic cups. Bin Laden was really pissed that Tiger Woods missed the cut.
Have to love that New York metro area logic. Having covered hundreds of games there in the first few years after Sept. 11, I was always struck by the misplaced priorities.
Snipers on the roofs of nearby buildings when Bush is throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium in a World Series game right after 9-11? Sure, definitely needed. But more state troopers than fans at some New Jersey Nets games? Now, there's thinking.
I know the notoriously hotheaded Colin Montgomerie reportedly bumped into a state trooper after his final hole cough up and had some words. But this is one time I'll give Monty the benefit of the doubt. There were so many guys in uniform at Winged Foot, it's a wonder more players didn't trip over them.
Really, how did one of Phil's drives not bounce off a cop's hat? They hit everything else.
The only surprise is that security lady didn't frisk the 3-year-old that was with those two grandparent types from Michigan.
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