ADD HALE IRWIN TO THE anti-Tryon brigade. "Personally, I would have encouraged Ty to stay in school. God forbid, if he ever had a health problem and couldn't play golf, what would he fall back on? This because apparently Irwin thinks that once you turn 18, or is it 21, that you are no longer allowed into colleges.

Jeez, the way I see it, the "if he had a health problem" is a better argument for turning pro now. After all, what if he were to get hurt during a college golf tournament - then his dream of playing on the PGA Tour might never happen. Plus he wouldn't have millions of dollars in endorsement money already in the bank to live off of.

THREE SORT-OF RETROSPECTIVE articles about Tryon's experience at the Phoenix Open - there will be a ton of these since so many media outlets sent reporters to Phoenix specifically to follow Ty. In the NY Post article Tryon's father says that Ty was hurt by a fluky tee time that put him out is some very cold & windy weather on Thursday morning. The Orlando Sentinel article reveals that all the talk of Tryon's huge entourage (11 people) was mostly bogus as only 1 of them, his swing coach, was actually a Tryon employee. The Sun-Herald story makes the point that there are bound to be more hangers-on around Tryon because many see him as the next potential Tiger Woods and want their cut.

TRYON FINISHED HIS 2ND ROUND early this morning with three more pars to finish with and even par 71 and miss the cut as expected. Not everyone following Ty cared how well he played: Tryon was the subject of considerable adulation, too. Several gaggles of giggling teenage girls, ranging in age from perhaps 13 to 17, shadowed him all over the course. Like Tryon, they, too, cut school. They are probably just snuggling up to Ty because they heard he lives next to Justin Timberlake. :)

NOT CONTENT TO SIMPLY BASH Tryon for turning professional at an early age, Flip Bondy of the NY Daily News scolds the whole of sports for its rush to see youths succeed. What's more fun? Playing golf or writing an English paper? Tryon insisted he was doing both, yet he is only the latest in the army of youngest, fastest, most impatient. In the process, he is losing a part of himself that he will never recover, will never know he is missing. I'm certainly not going to argue with that, but just what exactly is it that he is losing, missing and will never recover? His glory days of being the big man on his highschool campus? The drunken stupor that is the college fraternity experience?

THIS 1ST TOURNAMENT HAS to feel like a bad dream for Tryon. Not only is he not going to make the cut, but because of a late start today, he's got to come back and finish the last 3 holes of his 2nd round on Saturday - its like prolonging the agony. He's currently tied for 117th place, and is even on his 2nd round - meaning he's played 1-under par since his disasterous 43 over the opening 9 holes.

BLOOD IN THE WATER. WITH Tryon having such a rough round yesterday, it was a foregone conclusion that the "I told you so" crowd would come running. Scott Bordow's article contins a few gems: Forget that Tryon probably isn't good enough to compete on Tour. Eh? Based on one round? The media critize Tryon for not having the patience to wait a few years until he's older to turn pro, and they can't even contain themselves to make a judgement on his abilities after one lousy round?



Why not follow the lead of Woods and Phil Mickelson, who went to college and are having their cake, too. But why not follow the lead of Kobe Bryant, who skipped college and now has more cake than he knows what to do with. If you are going to argue that he should have gone to college instead, at least come up with a better argument than he'll miss out on all the fun.



If Tryon is the talent everyone says he is, the money will always be there. If there are concerns that Tryon's earnings power will never be higher than now, when he's white-hot, then he's out here for the wrong reasons If he was out there for the money, don't you think he'd have skipped the Honda Classic and taken the $1.95 million offered to him to show up in Dubai (originally reported to be $1 million)?

DEAD LAST, FOR A WHILE. Not a good start for Ty in the 1st round of the Phoenix Open as he opens with a 6-over-par 77 in the first round, and is saved from last place only by an 80 turned in by Dudley Hart. The only bright spot in all of this is that he played his final 6 holes at 2-under par.



After the round Tryon said, "The more bad shots I hit, the more nervous I got." And as for the big crowds expected to follow him around, "I scared them off with my great performance. If I want a bigger crowd, I guess I've got to make some birdies." At least he's got a sense of humor about it.

DAVID FEHERETY WONDERS where have all the fat guys gone? He makes the observation that with the influx of all the new young talent (Tryon, Howell, Kuchar, Donald, etc) that everybody seems to be ultra thin in comparison to the days when Orville Moody, Roger Maltbie, and Craig Stadler were prominent players.

PGATOUR.COM WENT IN SEARCH of former teenage professional athletes to give Ty some advice. Tracy Austin, David Clyde and Darryl Dawkins all basically said the same thing - don't sacrifice your childhood for the sport. Darryl Dawkins somehow managed to work in a reference to Michael Jackson and his lost childhood into this story. But that comparison is a stretch because Michael was only 11 when the whole Jackson 5 thing started. We can all only pray that when Ty turns 25 he doesn't develop the urge to make himself look like Diana Ross as Jackson apparently has.

TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY for Tryon as he makes his 2002 debut at the Phoenix Open. He seems to be getting along well so far this week, including a good showing in the pre-tourney skins game and a long-drive competition with John Daly & Phil Mickelson. He tees off tomorrow at 9:20 local time in Phoenix, 11:20 on the east coast with playing partners Pat Perez and Greg Avant. ESPN has also posted a short video news piece that ran on yestday's SportsCenter that runs about 4 minutes.

I THINK MIKE HOLDER is on to something in his comments regarding Tiger being a barrier-breaker in the same way that Roger Bannister was in track & field. But where Holder doesn't ever allude to exactly what barrier it is that Tiger broke - I think I've come up with an important one - the Next Jack Nicklaus hype. Prior to Tiger, every young player with big-time potential started out of the Tour with the weight of Nicklaus' legacy on their shoulders. Hal Sutton had it, Bobby Clampett had it, Phil Mickelson had it - and all failed (relatively) perhaps because the expectations and pressures that came with it of living up to Nicklaus was too much for them. But when Tiger came out on Tour, he was already his own legend (because of his amazing amateur record) and succeeded so quickly, and to such a high degree, that he established his own legacy before anybody could start labeling him the Next Nicklaus.



And the players since Tiger? Well, doesn't it seem a bit silly now to try and label Charles Howell or Bryce Molder or Matt Kuchar or Ty Tryon as the next Nicklaus, when in all honestly, being Nicklaus with Tiger around might not mean very much? Tiger appears to have taken what was previously an albatross of a label that carried such incredible pressures with it - and made it wholly irrelevant in a matter of a few years.

OSU GOLF COACH MIKE HOLDER makes the interesting comparison between the effect on their sports of Roger Bannister - the first runner to break the 4-minute-mile barrier - and Tiger Woods. "It's similar to when Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute-mile barrier," said Oklahoma State men's golf coach Mike Holder, whose teams have won eight NCAA championships. "It was staggering how many followed soon after Bannister." Nine runners broke 4 minutes within two years of Bannister's feat on May 6, 1954. Holder makes the point that Tiger seems to have broken down a similar, though invisible, barrier in golf that has led to an absolute flood of young talent on tour.

A MEASURE OF TRYON'S celebrity status? When Tom Lehman couldn't participate in the pre-tournament 7-hole skins game Tuesday at the Phoenix Open - it was Tryon that they replaced him with - joining Mark Calcavecchia, Phil Mickelson and John Daly for the mini-event.

A NEW POLL OVER AT CNNSI Golf asks whether Ty did the right thing by turning down a $1 million appearance fee from the Dubai Desert Classic to play the Honda Classic in the US. Suprisingly, a majority of the voters think he should have taken the money - current results.

JUST A RUN-UP ARTICLE to Tryon's 2002 debut at the Phoenix Open - which begins on Thursday. I expect they'll be alot of these type articles that don't offer anything particularly new, so I'll likely not mention the majority of them. This one only makes its way here because it contains the little tidbit that Ty turned down a sponsors invite to the Byron Nelson Classic - so that he could take his girlfriend to the prom. Another similar, but larger article appears in the NY Times.

INTERESTING ARTICLE IN THE Orlando Sentinel about some of Tryon's practice habits. From his swing coach to massage therapists to an image coach [helps with media interviews] to a sports psychologist, and even yoga. If Woods' storied upbringing is the textbook example of how to best prepare a youngster for a golf career, then Tryon is the CD-ROM, the gigabyte version of how to fast-track your way to the top. You can look thru a list of Ty's handlers here.

CONTRARY TO AN OCTOBER Golf Digest article, Peter Kostis takes issue with Ty's decision to turn pro, saying that he has plenty of years to play, even if he went the college route. The jist of the October article was that there was a very definate limited time of greatness for any player - usually less than a decade. As a result, if Tryon's peak performance period has already started or is close - he'd be wasting his glory years on meaningless college events. The rest of Kostis' argument is even worse - claiming that the difficulties of travel will be too much for a kid to handle. As if Tryon's father and agents are just going to turn him loose in Phoenix and tell him to handle all his own arrangments from that point on.

STEVE ELLING OF THE ORLANDO Sentinel reports that Tryon passed up $1 million from a European Tour event [Dubai Desert Classic] to play the "Florida Swing" events this March. Dubai's proximity to Afghanistan may have played into this decision as well. As mentioned here before, it is believed that Tryon will play at the Honda Classic, Doral, and Bay Hill - all of which lead up to the Players Championship. Just as a side note, don't expect Tryon to show up at the Players this year - his chances of qualifying are quite slim given his limited number of events.

GOLF DIGEST CREATES A LIST of 12 young players to watch in 2002 that places Ty at #10. Showing that they are still far from sold on his abilities, they offer up this "Impact Rating": Despite accolades, Tryon has yet to contend in significant amateur or professional tournament.

THE CALLAWAY GOLF WEBSITE has its profile of Ty posted now. Some of the new information is that Ty (real name William) was nicknamed after Ty Webb, Chevy Chase's Caddyshack character. There is also a listing of the equipment currently in Tryon's bag: Hawk Eye VFT Pro Series Driver, Steelhead Plus 3-Wood, Steelhead X-14 irons (2-9), White Hot 2 Putter, and a CTU 30 Red golf ball. Since they are absent from the list, we can probably assume that Ty's wedges are not made by Callaway.

TY IS GOING TO BE A GUEST Golf Talk Live tonight at 8PM EST on The Golf Channel, along with his coach - David Leadbetter. There are links on the page to email a question to the show and an 800 number if you want to call and talk to Tryon.

THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC HAS a story about Tryon's practice round for the Phoenix Open. Instead of relaying any information about how Ty played, they focus on a stare-down with a coyote near the 18th green at the end of his round. Its an interesting little story, but I'd have liked some actual golf information mixed in as well.

ANSWERING THE UNASKED question is John Cook, a member of the PGA TOUR Policy Board: saying that the age-limit rule wasn't put into place because of Tryon, and wasn't done after Tryon sent in his entry fee for QSchool. Both of those statements are contrary to everything the media has been telling us for the past 3 months.

But I'm not sure even Cook's own statements don't contradict what he is saying. Cook was assistant golf coach last year at Tryon's high school (Cook's son was also on the team). Cook says: "after being around junior golf awhile and seeing some of the potential trouble on the horizon. And in August, Cook called Tryon's father to inform him of the decision. Somehow, this makes it look like the "potential trouble" that Cook saw all along was Tryon.

TIM ROSAFORTE HAS HIS 2002 season predictions available now. In the section about the 'Young Guns' (anybody else tired of that term yet?), he says that the only way Tryon won't succeed is if he gets a big head.
One thing that I think may have an impact on Tryon that hasn't been mentioned is how he's received by the other players on Tour. If he's looked down upon or shunned because of his age - I think it'll have a negative impact on his performance.

TRYON'S 2002 SCHEDULE CONTINUES to take shape as the Palm Beach Post reveals 3 known/likely tournaments for Ty early in the year. A return trip to the Honda Classic is a given, and its likely that he'll get a sponsor's exemption in the tournament at Doral. Also mentioned is a likely invite from Arnold Palmer, a fellow Callaway staff member, into his event - the Bay Hill Invitational.

THE PHOENIX OPEN JANUARY 24-27th will be Ty's first PGA Tour event of 2002. Phoenix is where Mark Calcaveccia broke the 72 hole scoring record last year and where Tiger Woods once had his gallery remove a giant boulder from in front of his ball. Jay Danzi of IMG said that was one reason Tryon decided to start the year in Phoenix, along with the fact he has played several junior events there and knows the course. Tryon is also mentioned in this PGATour.com article primarily about amateur James Vargas.

THE SPORTS PRESS JUST CAN'T figure out what they expect out of Tryon in 2002. This 2002 Preview by Matthew Rudy manages to play both sides of the fence. In the text of the main article, Rudy predicts that Tryon will miss more cuts than he'll make in 2002; while in the 'Storyline to Watch' he slips in With the influx of all the young talent in the game, expect Tryon (and Charles Howell) to be the best of the bunch.

Are we to believe that a player could miss cuts left and right and still be considered the best young talent in the game? That hardly seems logical.