Awtrey's 10 reasons why Milwaukee trumps Turnberry

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Milwaukee has hosted the U.S. Bank Championship for 41 years and featured winners like Greg Norman, Dave Stockton and Kenny Perry.

A year ago a lot of snooty people made a big deal out of the fact that Kenny Perry decided to skip the British Open and instead compete at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. They insisted it would be better for Perry to head overseas and ditch his commitment to the people in Milwaukee.

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But Perry saw things differently. He was raised to believe that his word was his bond, so he played in Milwaukee and allowed Padraig Harrington the opportunity to win the Open Championship for the second straight year. Turns out Perry did OK for himself; he tied for sixth at Milwaukee, went on to make the Ryder Cup team and was instrumental in whipping the Euros at Valhalla.

Maybe Perry was onto something. Why would anyone want to play at the Open Championship when they could play in Milwaukee? There are so many plusses in favor of Milwaukee, you wonder how the Open Championship even gets a legitimate field. If Tiger Woods played Milwaukee -- it was his first tournament as a professional, after all -- do you think anyone would show up in the United Kingdom, especially given the state of the U.S. dollar?

Here are a few reasons why competing in Milwaukee sounds like a lot better way to spend a week.

• Mitchell Airport, the facility that serves Milwaukee, has been rated by Conde Nast as one of the top three airports for business travelers in the United States. Plus, a new Crowne Plaza just opened there. (Can you say double Priority Club points!) On the other hand, Glasgow International Airport, doesn't even have a Thrifty Car Rental among "Car Hire" companies.

• No passport is needed to get into Wisconsin -- unless you're from Illinois.

• The weather in Milwaukee is going to be nice. The average high in July is 82 degrees, with a steady breeze off Lake Michigan. On the other hand, it was expected to reach a balmy 48 degrees at Turnberry on Wednesday, although there was only an 80 percent of precipitation. Pass the Coppertone.

• Turnberry is the home of Robert the Bruce, the King of Scotland and scourge of the British. He helped William Wallace in the battle for independence. Wallace was later played by Mel Gibson in the movie Braveheart. Milwaukee gave us Laverne and Shirley, a couple of working class girls with jobs at the Shotz Brewery, as well as their sidekicks Lenny and Squiggy. And the late, great John Candy filmed parts of Uncle Buck nearby.

• Turnberry gave us Tom Watson, Greg Norman and Nick Price. Milwaukee gave us Scott Hoch, Carlos Franco and Corey Pavin; all three are in the field this week.

• Turnberry is near the tip of Argyll. Milwaukee has argyle sweaters in the pro shop (with a logo) which sell for only $120.

• In Milwaukee, the baseball team has a sausage race at each home game. Young people dress in sausage outfits and run around the stadium while fans cheer them on and do a little wagering. The R&A wanted to try this at Turnberry, but made no headway stirring up interest in haggis races. And, can you believe it: Scotland doesn't even have a baseball team.

• Turnberry has the Alisa Craig. Milwaukee has the Pabst Mansion.

• Turnberry gave us the "Duel in the Sun." Milwaukee gave us the "Duel in the Suds."

• Milwaukee's heritage benefited from a great number of German immigrants in the 1840s. Turnberry turned back a similar influx of German immigrants (they were wearing uniforms and dropping bombs) in the 1940s.

There's a lot of talk about how easy Turnberry will play, how Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus singed the place back in 1977. The R&A says the latest round of changes will prevent a repeat and insist Watson and Nicklaus wouldn't be able to repeat those scores today. Of course, Watson is 59 and Nicklaus is 69, and, like most of us, can't do many of the things we were able to do 32 years ago.

On the other hand, Brown Deer Park, the host course for the U.S. Bank Championship at Milwaukee, had the second-lowest cumulative scoring average (68.794) on TOUR last year. The average for the final round in Milwaukee was 67.974. As Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis would say, "Just birdie, baby."

The defining vote in the Milwaukee vs. Turnberry debate belongs to Jerry Kelly, one of the all-time good guys on TOUR and a native of Madison, Wis. Kelly, who won in New Orleans earlier this season, said he was going to play at Milwaukee whether or not he qualified for the Open Championship. It's a place where he made his first cut as a professional and an event which he holds in higher esteem than any major championship.

Huzzahs for Kelly. Maybe he'll have a great week, win the tournament (he's been runner-up there twice) and play his way onto The Presidents Cup team. After all, it worked for Kenny Perry, why shouldn't it work for him?

Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.