Designated different

If you haven’t heard the dull roar yet, you will.

If you haven’t felt the ground vibrate, you will.

If you haven’t taken a couple of days off to celebrate golf and all that comes with it, well, maybe you have a real job and just can’t spare the time, the money or the brain cells to fully indulge in the WM Phoenix Open this week in the overseeded splendor of Scottsdale, Arizona.

But it’s here, the PGA Tour’s annual free-for-all during which a golf tournament is played in the middle of everything else going on – and there’s a lot going on, not all of it for public consumption if some of the tall tales are true.

Familiar with the old saying that there’s one in every crowd?

This week is the one.

To say Phoenix week is different is like saying M&Ms are popular, but this time, even by this event’s elastic standards, things are different.

This is where the PGA Tour’s designated tournament model kicks fully into gear. Yes, the Sentry Tournament of Champions last month on Maui had designated status, but it was already ...