Bridge to nowhere, Wachovia standards

Myrtle Beach resident Dustin Johnson didn't make the cut despite shooting a 1-under-par 71 on Friday _ because of a 78 on Thursday _ but did leave spectators on the 18th hole entertained with one of the more interesting shots of the day. Johnson missed the 18th fairway to the right with one of his few poor drives of the day, and got a little strong with his pitch back into the fairway from beneath trees in pinestraw. His pitched rolled through the fairway and onto a brick and cement walking bridge that crosses a creek running down the left side of the hole. Johnson was awarded a free drop off the back side of the bridge by a rules official and made a bogey on the hole. Johnson assures he didn't do it intentionally for the entertainment value. ``No, no, no. I hit it a little too hard,'' he said.

The Wachovia Championship has quickly gained a reputation in its six years of existence as one of the premiere tournaments on the PGA Tour. The quality of the Quail Hollow Club layout has a lot to do with it, but the reasons goes a lot deeper than that. The Wachovia earned it early with the way it treated players, their families and caddies. The tournament sponsors a luncheon for the PGA Tour Wives Association and always sponsors some sort of outing or trip for them, caddies get valet parking, and each player receives a Mercedes-Benz for a courtesy car. The list of amenities goes on and on. Even in the media tent, the chairs at each work desk are high-end leather office chairs. The standard the Wachovia set in 2003 has led to other tournaments to follow suit in an attempt to attract the best fields.
``I love this golf course, I love the tournament, the way it's run,'' Phil Mickelson said. ``What this tournament has done for the PGA Tour is it has elevated all the other events to try to keep pace with what Wachovia has done by leading by example.''