All week, Shane Bacon will be at the Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore., writing about his experience on the bag for the LPGA's Irene Cho. Stop by each day to read about the happenings from the day's round.

Pro-ams. They're necessary, but it isn't like a day at Six Flags. Anyone that has ever been on the professional side on one of these five-hour nightmares knows a thing or two about what to expect. There are a few stereotypes that you have to be ready for, and some that come out from left field that would even surprise the most grizzled veteran.

When I arrived in Portland to meet up with LPGA star Irene Cho, the first thing she told me was that we'd be playing two practice rounds this week. "Great," I thought. "Two rounds will be perfect to get us accustomed to the ins and outs of her golfing ability (very good) and my caddie ability (I'm like a lifetime .250 hitter)."

Then I found out it was pro-ams. Two of them. 2.

Now, before Monday's first professional and amateur partnership,

You read about golf trips all the time. Stories of people playing a golf course you can't afford, or can't get to, or just haven't visited yet. They suck, I know.

But this isn't a story about a golf course. It's a story about a golf experience. It's a story about a place that should be visited by anyone in the world that thinks they've seen the best golf in the world.

This is Bandon Dunes, folks, so check your swing jacket and pink polo at home. It's golf, and more golf, and just when you think you're sick of swinging that shifty 6-iron, there is more golf to be played.

The truth is, I've visited some of the coolest golf destinations in the world. I've been to Scotland more times than I should, and I've stood in the airport at Newark waiting for that late flight to Edinburgh. I've hung around groups of guys in the bar by the gate, drinking Guinness with their Muirfield-necessary jackets, talking of the next week they'll spend at the home of this crazy game, hoping they can par the

(Left to right: Josh from The Hackers Paradise, Dave Cordero with adidas Golf, Steve Olsen, Mark Elder with adidas Golf, Chris Dukeminier and myself)

There are great things about sports, and then there is the game of golf. A sport that is more a concept than an act of competition, the golf course is the only place in the world where between three groups you could find a business meeting, a family outing and a serious gambling competition all occurring. It's more than man, ball and winner. It's lovable, frustrating and beautiful, all interchanging between golf shots.

None of this could be more apparent than what adidas Golf put on the past two months with their "Wear in the World" competition, something that pitted two lucky SOBs in some of the most beautiful and desolate golf locations in the world.

A tee time at midnight in Norway? They did it. A female caddie picking you mangos out of a tree in Thailand? It happened. A chance to walk within the ropes at the home of golf during the

It was mayhem at Whistling Straits after the ruling cost Dustin Johnson two of the most precious shots of his career, but the dust (no sand pun intended) did settle quickly and there was a playoff to be played.

Bubba Watson, who made his par on the 72nd hole to be the first to post 11-under at the PGA Championship, got in a golf cart, and headed out to the 10th hole to start his three hole playoff against Martin Kaymer.

Bubba made quick work on the first playoff hole with a birdie, only to see Kaymer make an incredible two on the par-3 17th, their second playoff hole. Then came the 18th, the hole that caused such a disturbance in regulation.

Watson was standing over his second shot as most of the chatter was about the lie that Kaymer had drawn in the rough. Then came his iron shot.

There aren't a lot of times in Bubba's life that people have used the word short to describe one of his golf shots, but this one was about four knots south of short. It found water that had barely come into

It happens at least once a year in major championships. A player that hasn't ever been in this type of position gets there and falls apart in the final round.

Earlier this year it was Dustin Johnson, the young American who got stripped of a chance to play in this PGA Championship playoff because of a bizarre bunker penalty. On Sunday, Johnson was paired with Nick Watney, who was the victim in this 2010 PGA Championship.

Watney had a three-shot lead heading into the final round, but it was eliminated on the first hole, when he made a double-bogey. Things never improved, and much like Jason Gore and Aaron Baddeley in past instances, finished the day north of the 80 mark with a 9-over 81.

Watney's final round dropped him 17 spots to a tie for 18th, but it could have been miles worse if not for a solid finish to his round. Watney was 11-over on his round before birdies on the 16th and 17th at Whistling Straits but will have to live with this nasty finish to his first real shot at a major

Phil Mickelson had a chance on Sunday at the PGA Championship. No, not a great chance, but a chance nonetheless. If he could come out early and toss some fireworks around the windy links of Wisconsin, maybe he could do something that Tiger Woods has never done; win a major from behind.

After an eagle on the par-5 5th hole, Mickelson's lurk began. He added another birdie on his outward nine before a stretch on 12, 13 and 14 where Lefty added three straight circles to his card. He was 7-under, and with the wind picking up and some of the leaders struggling early in their round, it seemed doable, albeit difficult, that Phil could post a number.

The problem is, the shots just weren't there coming in. Phil had a wedge into the long par-4 15th, but couldn't get it on the right shelf and had to settle for par. He added pars on 16 and 17 before making a bogey on 18 to post 6-under. He isn't going to win a second PGA Championship, but his charge was there.

Mickelson's Sunday 67 is currently the

On Saturday evening, I was invited to be a guest on a popular sports radio show. The first question that was tossed my way was focused on Tiger Woods. Then we kept talking about him. And kept, and that is the way it goes.

After my talk, I went to get dinner with my uncle, one of my best friends in the world and an avid golfer. During the dinner, I saw some familiar faces across the room, good enough to say a kind hello but not good enough to remember last names. Their first question to me? Tiger Woods, and what is wrong with him. And on and on it goes.

Our country is obsessed with the Tiger drama whether we like it or not, and this week, like the British Open at St. Andrews, shows exactly that.

An interesting thing happened at the end of the CBS telecast on Saturday. Steve Elkington, the 1995 PGA Championship winner, was finishing up on 18, tapping in for par on the final hole. He finished at 8-under after Saturday, and I gasped. How had I not seen more than a shot or two by Elkington

There really isn't anything that should surprise you when you check the Saturday leaderboard at the PGA Championship and see Rory McIlroy near the top of it. Some youngsters have the potential to win major championships. Rory has the game to do so.

Someone asked U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell earlier this year what surprised him the most about McIlroy's game, and he answered that the only surprising thing is he doesn't shoot 65 every time out. It makes sense. The guy has few flaws.

While he's only 21, McIlroy has some serious major experience, with most of it coming from that Jekyll and Hyde experiment at St. Andrews last month. A 63 to open, McIlroy shot 80 on Friday, and was on a steep climb north to get himself in third position when the final putts had dropped. Now, at Whistling Straits, the young Northern Irishman is there again, this time after 54 holes.

An opening 71 on Thursday was good, but it could have been a lot better if not for two double-bogeys on his card. Then,