Bring on the warm weather!

I can't be the only person going stir crazy watching the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and itching to have a golf club in my hand. What's making things even harder is the names that have been on the leaderboard. The first two days was like watching an All-Star game, but one that meant something. Sure the PGA started its season a few weeks back, but this is the first big tourney that the bigger names are out for. Minus a handful of players who are in a European Tour event across the pond, it's been a star-studded affair. The tournament's idea of pairing colorful players together for the first two rounds was absolutely brilliant. Just seeing Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods together brought back a flood of Monday water cooler memories for fans around the world who watched the two battle for 91 holes in the 2008 U.S. Open at the same course. Then you started seeing who was playing well and it made you itch for the weather to break even more. Tiger, Anthony Kim, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, John Daly, Hunter Mahan and Rickie Fowler were some of the players out to a fast start, making it all that much more enjoyable. It's difficult as football season comes to a close and with March Madness still more than a month away to find a lot in the sporting world to get you excited. The Pittsburgh Penguins are great, but it's still a cold weather sport in the dead of winter. NASCAR will fire up soon, as will Major League Baseball, and everyone will get into the swing of being outdoors as spring arrives. But the PGA Tour lets you know that these cold months in Northeastern Ohio won't last forever with images from this week in San Diego, and from next week's wild tournament in Phoenix. It makes you excited for what's right around the corner, and makes you long for the first stretch of 60 degree days to melt the winter wonderland that seemingly stretches on for an eternity. Maybe someone can ask John Daly to make a quick stop in Ohio for a day to melt the snow with his wild Loudmouth pants. It's close. And even for casual fans of golf or the weekend warriors that crowd the links come summer time, it's a great sign of things to come.