Jason Sobel - August 24, 2012

• By Morning Drive Team
• Aug 24, 2012 7:21 AM ET

GolfChannel.com Senior Writer Jason Sobel is at Bethpage State Park for The Barclays. When looking at Bethpage Black this week vs. when it hosted the U.S. Open in 2002 and 2009, Sobel noted that it was much more dry this week than it was during the U.S. Open in both years. Tiger Woods noted that the fans were much more quiet on Thursday than they had been during the U.S. Open but everyone at Bethpage expects the crowds to become much louder this weekend.

Tiger’s relationship with Rory McIlroy is an example of how he has matured over the years. When Tiger first joined the PGA TOUR, veteran players like Mark O’Meara and John Cook took him under their wing and helped him out by advising him about the ins and outs of life on the PGA TOUR. Tiger is a veteran now compared to Rory McIlroy and he seems to be enjoying being the elder statesman as the both of them are getting along and both seem to enjoy having a kind of fun rivalry.

Padraig Harrington had a very interesting news conference on Thursday as he admitted that he did not know what the status of his relationship with Jose Maria Olazabal was and then proceeded to elaborate on that topic immediately after saying that he would plead the 5th amendment on that question. Nicolas Colsaerts has a chance to play his way onto the European team this week in Scotland and many feel that Colsaerts fails to do so, Olazabal will make him a Captain’s Pick ahead of 6-time European Team Member Harrington.