“There’s really no shot-making here that’s required,” Mickelson said of the BMW Championship host course. “It doesn’t really test our ability to maneuver the ball because the fronts of the greens are blocked, and the only shot is to hit a high flop shot that stops. Chipping areas, shot value around the greens, penalities for certain misses, all that stuff wasn’t really well thought out.”

It is no secret that Mickelson isn’t a fan of Jones’ work. Jones has renovated numerous U.S. Open courses, prompting his nickname as the Open Doctor. The left-hander, though, talks about his designs as if they are open sores. And he does so without mentioning Jones’ name.

Mickelson’s dissatisfaction can be traced to Jones’ 2001 redo of Torrey Pines South, a course Lefty grew up playing in San Diego. He doesn’t like the new layout, and his play has reflected his sentiment. He won PGA Tour events three times there before the changes, none since.

And so it was that he lobbied Wednesday for other architects to take a crack at Cog’s Dubsdread course.

“I’d love to see a Gil Hanse or a (Ben) Crenshaw-(Bill) Coore or Kyle Phillips or David Kidd or guys that really know what they’re doing come in and create something special here because I think that’s what the (Jemsek) family and this facility deserve.”

Say what?  Guys that really know what they're doing?  Now, I'm a big fan of Crenshaw-Coore and can't speak personally to the work of Phillips or Kidd so I'll defer to Lefty and assume they produce quality work.  But to say Rees Jones doesn't know what he is doing is a bit over the top. 

“We all wish that it had turned out differently,” he said. “But there were a lot of other guys to choose from that probably could do the job, and maybe if they just start over, it could turn into something really special.”

Sure, just start over.  They've only spent $5.2 million on the renovation, which included a SubAir system designed to manage turf moisture and provide optimum subsurface growing conditions.  But that's no big deal to Mickelson, just start over.  I'm sure that's exactly what the Jemsek family, the owners of Cog Hill, will do as soon as the tournament is over.

A source close to the Jemseks said a couple of holes (read: greens) will be redone, probably to better facilitate approach shots if not pin positions. That’s the good news. But Mickelson might choke on his breakast knowing the source said Jones will do the work.

And finally Mickelson has to make the next comment, “It’s playable; it’s fine for us,” he said. “We don’t have any problems with it. But the average guy just can’t play it.”

What’s more, the passionate left-hander took an opportunity to move the BMW event away from Cog Hill for good.

“This will be the last year we play here, so hopefully we’ll make the most of it and then we’ll move on,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll find another course that’s a little more suitable here for us, for this tournament.”

Not so fast.

“That’s his total speculation,” said John Kaczkowski, president and chief executive officer of the Western Golf Association. “Nothing has been decided for 2013. Cog Hill will be considered along with other courses in Chicago. There’s been widespread speculation (about leaving Cog), but the facts are we will sit down after this tournament and see how it did in terms of golf course, ticket and hospitality sales and attendance.”

The BMW will move to Crooked Stick next year because the Ryder Cup is at Medinah, currently in bad condition, in another Chicago suburb next September. It will return to an undetermined venue in Chicago in 2013, then move to Cherry Hills in Denver in 2014. After that, the WGA, which oversees the Evans Scholars Foundation that is funded in part from BMW proceeds and benefits deserving caddies, hopes to hold the event in the Chicago area on a “semi-permanent or permanent basis,” Kaczkowski said.

The mild-mannered Steve Stricker, who won here in 1996, is also among those who aren’t fond of the alterations. But his take is more subdued and should carry more weight because he isn’t a vocal anti-Jones activist.

Like so many others, Stricker accurately says the course looks far better from tee to green, what with deepened fairway bunkers and the like. His problem is that some pins are inaccessible with long clubs for the average pro and some cloverleaf greens are too undulating.

“I feel sad for the Jemsek family,” Stricker said. “It’s too bad. They need to get their money back.”

“I like the golf course a lot,” Johnson said Wednesday. “It suits my game. It’s long; it’s hard.”

Nor does owner Frank Jemsek agree with the critics.

“Phil and I have a difference of opinion,” Jemsek said. “I like Rees’ work. I don’t think I like the work to justify my hiring of the guy. I like that he made big greens into three small greens because we were trying to make the golf course more challenging and put the ‘dread’ back into Dubsdread.

“We did a survey of our customers, and almost to a man they like it better now than before, even though 80 percent score higher.”

So all this being said, the real issue with Mickelson's criticism is the long last affect it will have on Cog Hill, a public golf course that relies on players wanting to play a venue where the Tour Players play.  The regular rate to play Cog Hill is $155.00, no small fee for a golf course lacking mountains and ocean.  With all of the bashing from Mickelson, do you think that helps the Jemsek family promote their golf course?

Keep in mind when a golf course hosts a PGA Tour Event, the general public or Members, in the case of a private club, are displaced for at least two weeks and sometimes longer.  They are asked to give up their golf course for the opportunity to see the greatest players in the world in their own backyard, but one of the most appealing aspects of hosting a tour event is the exposure your golf course and community will receive.  So when one of the players, who will be competing for millions of dollars over a one week period, decides to cannibalize your efforts to promote your property how do you think that makes the Members or Club Owners feel? 

Maybe the PGA Tour has plenty of venues from which to place a tournament and they can afford to alienate one of golf's biggest supporters in the Jemsek's.  And if that's the case, more power to them.  But I have a hard time believing this is the image the PGA Tour wants to portray - that of an ungrateful, entitled, scorned, spoiled brat.  Mickelson has every right to have an opinion on what he likes or dislikes in a golf course or even in a certain golf course architect.  But for the sake of golf courses around the globe that host high profile events, how about you keep your mouth shut for once because it's not all about you Mr. Mickelson.