By Tom Hrach
June 28, 2017
Thanks to a new scholarship that honors the late Phil Cannon, one Memphis journalism student got to launch his career as a sports journalist by interviewing and following some of the biggest names in golf.
Those interviews ranged from Adam Scott, the 2013 Master’s champion, and Rickie Fowler, the four-time PGA tour winner.
Journalism student Jon Bell also got to follow the legendary Phil Mickelson around TPC Southwind at the 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic. Bell was there as well when Daniel Berger finished off his winning put on the 18th green to snag his second straight win at the Memphis PGA tour event back on June 11.
But perhaps the biggest thrill was just being shoulder-to-shoulder with the other national media members.
“It was real cool being in the media room. All the guys from the Golf Channel and media outlets like that there,” Bell said. “I was in there with all these other journalists who do this for a living. I got to see what I could be doing in a few years as a sports journalist after I get myself established.”
That opportunity came when tournament organizers decided to honor Cannon, who was tournament director for 16 years prior to his death in October of 2016 at the age of 63. An annual $2,500 scholarship will be awarded to one journalism student interested in pursuing a career in sports journalism.
As part of the scholarship, the student also gets to intern at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, which is conducted every year in early June in Memphis. Cannon was a 1978 graduate of the UofM journalism department who started volunteering for the tournament at age 16 as a White Station High School Student.
Current tournament director Darrell Smith said Cannon always had a soft spot for college students and young people who were interested in the game. In fact, Cannon gave Smith a chance right out of college in 2005 to work at the tournament, and then he became his successor.
“Phil was a journalism guy through and through,” Smith said. “He considered himself a newspaper guy,” Smith said. “We just decided hey – what would Phil appreciate. A scholarship tied to the University of Memphis journalism is a perfect way to do it.”
On the Sunday final day of the tournament after Berger gave his press conference, the media center at TPC Southwind was dedicated in Cannon’s honor. It is now known as the Phil Cannon Media Center. It was, after all, where Cannon got his start back at the age of 16.
“Phil always had a great relationship with the media, and we felt the scholarship was a perfect way to honor Phil,” Smith said.
Bell said getting access to the players allowed him to see what sports journalism was all about. Because he had a media pass during the tournament, he was inside the ropes and got to hear what the pros were saying to each other and their caddies.
The biggest following at the tournament was with Mickelson, who made some headlines before the tournament by announcing that he would play in Memphis but skip the U.S. Open the following week.
“I remember was sitting there and Brooks Koepka and others were joking around with Phil Mickelson about him getting old and how he will be able to play on the senior hour in a few years,” Bell said. “That was interesting. I got to hear that.”
What is even more interesting is that Koepka would go on to win the U.S. Open less than a week after that exchange with Mickelson.
During the tournament, Bell wrote news stories about the tournament including one about how the PGA tour was assisting the Wounded Warriors project and then a story about a St. Jude hospital patient who was involved in the tournament. The tournament is a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Bell of Hernando, Mississippi, now gets to add PGA tournament golf to his resume of events he has covered, which also include the NCAA Southeast Regional in March and also coverage this summer of the Memphis Redbirds. He returns this fall as editor of The Daily Helmsman, and he plans to graduate in December.
“I hope to land a job in sports journalism somewhere ,” Bell said. “This definitely helps because now I can put on my resume I covered a PGA golf tournament. I can cover this and write stories about it.”
This article appeared in the fall 2017 University of Memphis Magazine and also the August 2017 edition of Meeman Matters.
Tom Hrach 