‘Tis the season that never ends
It never ends, I tell you.
Camilo Villegas, I stand corrected and bow meekly at your feet. You have a point.
Just when you think the PGA Tour year is over with the trumpeting of the “season-ending” Tour Championship – hey, “season-ending” is their term, not mine – you realize that no, this is not the season-ending anything.
Well, for most of the name players, perhaps, but that’s about it.
Like the in-laws that invade your house for a few days at Christmas before you discover they are still there in April, the PGA Tour season never really leaves.
Nope, there are still five chances for those who just couldn’t cut it during the year to somehow retain their cards playing with the lesser lights in watered- down fields.
The important guys are pretty well done. You won’t be seeing most of them until well after Santa has come and gone, Presidents Cup notwithstanding.
The PGA Tour year ended the way it should have, with Phil and Tiger standing side-by-side but with different trophies in golf’s fantasy photo op. Or so we thought.
It would have been a feelgood moment to carry around for the next few months. Woods putting an exclamation point on a simply dominating season, major be damned, and Lefty, the sentimental choice of so many, getting a win in the twilight of his endless summer of hell. The two best players in the world, side by side, salvaging a much-maligned post season and giving us a little something to look forward once the bell rings for a new decade.
What a way to go out for the year. If only the 2009 PGA Tour season was done.
In most sports, the crowning of a new champion is the climax of the post-season and the official start of the off-season. After the Super Bowl, you won’t see the non-playoff teams with their own tournament for the Toilet Bowl, or whatever they want to call it.
Of course, the PGA Tour marches to its own drummer. The final event of the post-season isn’t really final in any sense.
And you thought the dog days of the golf season were the days leading up to the FedEx Cup playoffs. You were wrong.
The dog days of summer are now here. In October.
In this season that never ends.
Entire country should rally behind DeLaet, Anderson
Canadians Graham DeLaet and Stuart Anderson took 17 other countries to school in Estonia this weekend past.
With a little luck, people took notice.
Thanks to a dominating 19-under performance (65-69-63-72), the two Canucks have punched this country’s ticket into the $5.5 million Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China a couple of months from now. They only needed to finish in the top three at the 72-hole qualifier, but instead cruised to a two-shot win over Wales and four up on Scotland.
And maybe – just maybe, mind you – both will get the recognition they deserve.
But thanks in no small part to the flawed reasoning of the majority of fans in this country, DeLaet and Anderson will likely be viewed as an afterthought because, well, they don’t play on the PGA, or even Nationwide, Tour.
Canada had to attend the qualifier as Mike Weir took a pass on the World Cup. DeLaet was next in line and Anderson, thanks to his lofty third-place perch on the Canadian Tour money list, got the nod to join DeLaet in Estonia.
In simple terms, DeLaet was the most dominating Canadian professional in the world this year. No one else was even close and, if you don’t want to take my word for it, it seems those doing the math for the Official World Golf Ranking are on my side here. DeLaet has slipped a few spots, mostly because he hasn’t been playing the past few weeks, but he is still ranked 180th on the planet as of Sunday, making him the second-ranked Canadian-born player behind some guy named Mike.
DeLaet has a $21,000 lead on the Canadian Tour Order of Merit despite playing in three less events than his closest pursuer.
And Sunday, DeLaet put another feather in his 2009 cap. So too did Anderson, for that matter.
Last year, taking on some of the best players in the world, DeLaet and Wes Heffernan, after taking the qualifying route, finished 13th out of 28 countries.
In November, DeLaet will return to Mission Hills once again carrying the Canadian flag and looking to improve on that standing with a new partner.
The rest of Canada should take notice. Anderson and DeLaet have earned at least that much.
Monty needs to pick his spots
Perhaps the euphoria of being tagged Ryder Cup captain has gone straight to Colin Montgomerie’s already-overblown head, but Monty may want to pick his spots a little more carefully.
Looks like he wasn’t overly impressed – perhaps rightfully so – with Ian Poulter taking a pass on the Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros competition in Paris.
“I just feel that when you are selected for your country more of an effort might well have been made,” said Montgomerie. “Ian Poulter, not having qualified for the Tour championship and having been picked for the last Ryder Cup team, I felt that a little more effort might have been made to come here.”
Psst, Monty. This Poulter guy was pretty much the only player that didn’t mail it in during last year’s Ryder Cup in Kentucky. Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose all passed on the tournament as well, but Montgomerie chose instead to call out Poulter in public, which probably isn’t the brightest thing to do.
Of course, I guess in Monty’s eyes Poulter should have been obligated to show up in Paris as he was hand-picked for the last Ryder Cup team – unlike Westwood, Garcia and Rose, who all qualified.
And, in typical Monty fashion, he wasn’t done yet:
“I spoke to Miguel Angel Jiménez. He’s never missed one of these and never would miss one. Good for him and I’m the same and Paul McGinley the same and Thomas. I haven’t spoken to Ian at all. Please don’t make any big issue of this.”
Don’t make a big issue? Then why in the heck do you call out one of your own Ryder Cup players in the press? Just Monty being Monty, I guess…
***
Interesting news from the head office of the Canadian Tour, where former standout Rob McMillan and his wife, Nicole, an experienced event manager, are set take the reins of the tour’s Canadian Tour Players Cup in McMillan’s hometown of Winnipeg.
McMillan, who seemed poised to make the jump to the PGA Tour after a stellar amateur run preceding a solid career on the Canadian Tour, advanced to the Nationwide Tour a few years ago but stalled on that circuit.
I remember when McMillan and Jon Mills were paired together in the final round of the then-MTS Classic in Winnipeg six years ago, a PGA Tour-esque gallery of thousands followed the twosome around Pine Ridge Golf Club, which showed the immense popularity of McMillan in the Manitoba capital. For the record, Mills one-upped the hometown favourite that day for his first tour win.
When it comes to the Canadian Tour Players Cup, Rick Janes and company got the right man – and woman – for the job.
Breaking down the top five at The Tour Championship
All right, it’s the PGA Tour’s curtain call for 2009, and we’re keeping this one simple.
It’s Tiger vs. the field. Who you dropping your ten-spot on?
With the Tour Championship on deck – well, provided Atlanta isn’t completely under water come Thursday – we aren’t exactly handicapping this thing because, well, that’s too easy. Pretty well everyone with even half a brain is taking you-know-who.
Not surprisingly, the FedEx Cup is Tiger’s to lose. The question is, will he lose it?
No matter what you think of the PGA Tour playoff format – and there are plenty of views on that – this final week, if nothing else, should have a bit of intrigue attached to it.
Simple math, really. Any of the top five win at East Lake, they’re Fed Ex Cup champion and $10 million richer. There are other scenarios involved as well and a player outside the top five could theoretically win, but we’re not going to get into that here. Why? Because it’s too blasted confusing and we don’t have a Masters in mathematics.
Put it this way: Mike Weir, currently ranked 27th, can still leave town with the Fed Ex Cup. All that has to happen, besides Weir winning at East Lake, is that Tiger has to finish worse than 24th, Steve Stricker seventh or worse, Jim Furyk must finish outside the top five, Zach Johnson can’t crack the top three, and Heath Slocum and Padraig Harrington both must finish third or worse. Seriously. All of those must occur, which is to say Mike Weir has absolutely no freaking chance of winning the Fed Ex Cup.
So let’s take a look at those with a realistic chance this week. In other words, the top five:
5. Heath Slocum
And no, this is not a typo. Heath Slocum, with a win, would capture the FedEx Cup which we’re guessing wouldn’t have the suits at head office doing backflips. After barely sneaking into the Fed Ex Cup and flirting with being on the bubble to keep his card for 2010, Slocum shocked the golf world by canning a 20-foot par putt on the 72nd hole at The Barclays to hold off Woods, Stricker, Els and Harrington. Timing is everything but, quite simply, Slocum is in over his head playing in this field. Fun while it lasted, but it will be a rather loud midnight wakeup call for Cinderella at East Lake.
4. Zach Johnson
Consistency may as well be Johnson’s middle name (well, that or Joaquin Phoenix, but let’s not get off track here). Looks to be firing on all cylinders after a T5 at Cog Hill –and let’s not forget Johnson won twice in 2009, piling up eight top tens along the way. Would have to be considered a sleeper pick here, fourth seed or not, but one thing that bears noting: Johnson was runner-up during his last visit to East Lake two years ago.
3. Jim Furyk
One has to figure Furyk is sick and tired of talking about the drought and would like nothing better than to shut everybody up once and for all this week. A win here would do the trick. Furyk is improved as the post-season has progressed – T15, T8, T2 for those keeping score at home – so if that trend continues, we know who is going to be flashing a $10 million smile sometime Sunday afternoon. As long as both he and Fluff can count and put the right number of clubs in his bag – unlike at The Barclays when he took a four-stroke penalty on Saturday – Furyk will have at least a puncher’s chance here. Given his precision with the irons, he is probably much more than that.
2. Steve Stricker
Hey, Steve, Tiger called. He wants his season back. OK, Tiger has done all right himself but there is no denying Stricker just keeps getting better with age. Can he close this thing out in style? You’d be nuts to count him out, Tiger or no Tiger. A win at East Lake will get him a $10 million bonus and fist pumps from 40-somethings everywhere. Oh, and more simple math: if Stricker can pull it off this week, he’ll be named Player of the Year. If not, Tiger’s a shoo-in.
1. Tiger Woods
Shocking, huh? This guy makes it too easy for these forecasts. Pundits like to point out that Tiger hasn’t won a major this year but that is about the only thing missing. The striped one has been his normal self and that is to say quite simply dominating. For a few fleeting moments this summer, Woods has shown himself to be somewhat human but you can count those instances on one hand. In his most recent start, he toyed with the field for a methodical eight-stroke win at the BMW. If he carries that momentum into East Lake, the rest of the field is playing for second. It’s that simple.
How much do you give your brother for winning you a million and other Monday thoughts…
Here is a story that should make for some rather, um, animated discussions around the family dinner table.
If not an all-out donnybrook.
At a local charity tournament in Utah, this guy steps up to the tee and from 150 yards aces a makeshift hole to win a million bucks. Only thing is, he was hurt and originally didn’t plan on playing, and ended up borrowing his brother’s club. Yes, a dilemma indeed.
So, now the only question is how big a piece of the pie does the brother get?
Well, that and what the heck is the guy’s buddy thinking, chasing after him before the two fall down and start rolling around in the grass like a couple of schoolgirls.
Then again, not sure what I’d do if I was the one hitting the shot, but if I tore across the grass like that, I’m sure my pants would be around my ankles in a twisted celebratory dance. Why? Hey, I’d be a millionaire and, well, I can.
***
Speaking of luck, want to meet a guy that bucked three billion to one odds? He’s Canadian, to boot.
Last week, we told the story of that guy who canned a pair of aces – in the same round.
Well, buckle up. Seems a Canuck just one-upped that dude.
It happened in Cape Breton, where a 34-year-old lobster fisherman ( surprise, surprise) named Adam Sams dunked three aces in a week at Highland Links.
Friday, Sunday, Tuesday. Ker-plunk.
“My whole body started to shake actually,” said Sams. “You play 20 years and don’t have any holes-in-one, then you get three in five days, it’s amazing.
Adams Sams?
Two things: Never underestimate a man with two first names. And secondly, from a golf perspective, he is either a damn fine liar or he may want to invest in a lottery ticket or two right about now.
***
The eyes of the golf world were on Idaho last week – and trust me, you won’t hear that everyday – as Sam Saunders made his professional debut at the Nationwide Tour’s Albertsons Boise Open.
Who, you ask? Well, Saunders is the grandson of none other than The King, Arnold Palmer. Held his own in Boise, too, firing back-to-back 71s – but missed the cut by three.
And Saunders wasn’t the only high-profile kiddie making his debut. Rickie Fowler also had a short week, missing the cutline by five shots.
Oh, and try not to think about those 62 wins grandpa put up on the PGA Tour, Sam. You’ve got fine bloodlines – you’ll get there one day. No pressure, kid.
Hey Camilo- how ’bout just shutting up?
Life is tough for Camilo Villegas. Seriously.
Quick, someone pass him a tissue. Boo hoo.
Seems the Colombian feels we want to listen to him whine and moan – via his Twitter account, no less – about how professional golfers are so hard done by.
Here is what he had to say after getting ousted from the FedEx Cup playoffs:
Home…. Way too much golf in the last two months… I still dont get it, every sport has an offseason but i guess we dont…
Yeah, life sure is tough, huh, CV? Travelling the globe making millions, getting phone numbers and, for all we know, underwear passed to you from adoring, and extremely hot, female fans. Well, we hope most of them are female, anyway.
Lots of opportunities to make that kind of coin back home in Colombia, huh Camilo? Of course, you’re looking at twenty to thirty in the pokey if you get caught.
You and your colleagues chase a little white ball around, four days a week, and played for about a quarter of a BILLION dollars this year. And, yes, that is BILLION, with a ‘B’. Those lingering near the bottom of the PGA Tour’s food chain – in other words, those on the bubble when it comes to keeping a card for 2010 – will still pocket more than half a million bucks this season.
So, how about looking down at us working class stiffs and listening up. You may learn a thing or two.
Just shut up and play. Try, if you can, living in the real world for a few minutes. You know, the one where plenty of people are begging for a job to try to provide for their family, trying to make that last mortgage payment before foreclosure. Staying awake all night wondering just how in the world you are going to make ends meet while you sleep in your king size bed in some five-star resort.
It’s not exactly tough to see why millionaire athletes, for the most part, are seen as spoiled, pompous jerks.
It could have been worse, Camilo. Had you actually played decent, you would still be alive in these FedEx Cup playoffs, giving you something else to whine about.
As for the rest of us common folk, you are right about one thing. We too get an off-season that lasts about two or three weeks a year.
It’s called vacation.
Snedeker short-changes himself, Daly may want to think twice before tweeting and imagine two aces - in one round
Hey, next time you four-whack a hole, don’t be too hard on yourself. At worst, it’s probably going to cost you some humiliation from your buddies in front of that hot waitress in the clubhouse after the round.
Not like Brandt Snedeker.
Snedeker’s four-putt – from 12 feet, no less – not only cost him about $100,000 in prize money at the BMW Championship, but also a spot in the Tour Championship – which, incidentally, would have guaranteed him a berth in the 2010 Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship.
That’s gotta sting a little.
All things told, factoring in the missing zeroes on his cheque Sunday combined with last-place money at the PGA Championship – obviously a worst-case scenario - and the bonus paid to those who advance to the FedEx Cup finale, Snedeker short-changed himself about $400,000.
And proved that, yes, even those guys who play this game for a living can screw up royally. Just like the rest of us.
***
Like Budweiser and the Marlboros, John Daly needs to seriously think about giving up on Twitter. A few weeks back he was releasing a power ballad tune on Twitter. Now, a restaurant Daly owns in Memphis, Tenn. – and, no, to the surprise of most, it is not a Hooters – was the scene of a crime when one of his employees was shot getting out of his car while arriving for work:
Here’s John’s first tweet:
Thoughts and prayers for my kitchen mgr coming to wk this morning was shot 3 times in parking lot for an attempted robbery – he should be ok
Tugs at the heartstrings, right? Big-time golfer – well, former anyway – showing some love for his kitchen manager?
Well, sort of.
Not long after – and by that we mean minutes, not hours - JD decides to give another update:
Business is great today – been slammed. I don’t think people knew I had a restaurant across street from Southwind. Or they’re just curious?
Can Finchem pull some strings and get Daly banned from using a keyboard? Please?
***
Former Pittsburgh Pirates star pitcher Steve Blass just bucked some seriously long odds. As in, about 67 million to one – and no, he didn’t get hit by lightning.
Playing in the Pirates Alumni Group golf outing, Blass jarred two holes-in- one in the same round.
“The first one we all went berserk,” said Blass. “The second one, I took off my glasses, and started rolling down the hill like a little kid. I looked like a big, fat bear rolling down the hill.”
If you are thinking Blass probably took home a couple of cars or some prizes of similar value, think again. A computer and $500 gift card. That’s it.
“I’ve never even used a computer,” Blass said. “And it cost me $400 in the bar.”
Going up against NFL exposes another flaw in FedEx playoffs
From a sports fan’s perspective, it came down to a choice between Tiger or the NFL on the boob tube Sunday.
Guess which one I, and likely most of the free world, picked?
Sorry, even as a proverbial diehard fan of golf, I just can’t get excited about Woods taking a seven-shot lead into the final round of a playoff event that requires a calculator just to figure out who the heck can advance to the next round. Not much intrigue there. Sorry.
OK, OK, so some of those loyal golf fans may have turned in for the final round of the BMW, most of them either those guys like that those little umbrellas in their drinks or women that couldn’t care less about opening week on the gridiron. No offense.
Profiling is wrong, I know, but hey, it’s NFL football.
Which goes to show there is yet another major flaw with this already messed-up PGA Tour post-season.
Lesson #1: don’t go head-to-head with the NFL on Sunday. No matter how bright your outlook may be, you’re finishing second, especially on football’s maiden weekend of the year.
It’s not even open for debate.
The FedEx Cup playoffs are in need of yet another facelift. The format is far too confusing to the average fan and many would rather tune out than try to follow something that, quite simply, isn’t all that intriguing.
It can still work, but only with a little creativity.
First, drop the ridiculous, complicated point system. The top 80 off the money list qualify for the post-season. Period.
Secondly, move the PGA Championship up a week and begin the playoffs the week following. Once the majors are done, so too is golf, at least for the most part. Beginning the week after the year’s final major gives you a chance to have it all wrapped up by the first weekend of the NFL season, which will undoubtedly mean more interest and better ratings.
Reset the points to zero for the post season. It’s a free-for-all. Play well, you move on. Hit the skids, you’re heading home, just like any other playoff season. It’s part of what makes the post-seasons in professional sport so special. There is always the hope for a Cinderella story, where someone like Heath Slocum can win the whole darn thing. Playing well during the PGA Tour “regular season” gets you your millions and a spot in the FedEx Cup, with $10 million on the line. Nothing more. No seeds, no rankings.
And finally, no matter what route the PGA Tour wants to take to the Tour Championship, close it all out with match play. Start Thursday and the last two standing Sunday go toe-to-toe for 18 holes with $10 million on the line. Now that, my friends, is intrigue.
That is what playoffs are all about. The drama.
Maybe then, just maybe, you’ll find more than a few people that actually care how it turns out.
Christina Kim, this kind of exposure isn’t what the LPGA has in mind
Yeah, I get it. Christina Kim is a little over the top, marches to her own drummer, doesn’t care what others think, blah, blah, blah. Pick your cliché.
So it should really come as no surprise that Kim is one of several athletes who will, um, wear very little clothing in an upcoming issue of ESPN The Magazine.
On the LPGA front, it seems Kim, Sandra Gal and Anna Grzebien will appear in various stages of undress and, trust me, you aren’t going to hear a whole lot of bickering amongst the boys when it comes to seeing Gal and/or Grzebien in any sort of photo where clothing is an optional thing.
For what it’s worth, Kim is also a Player Representative on the LPGA Tour Board of Directors and word on the street via Ron Sirak of GolfWorld is that several players are less than enamoured with her decision to appear in the photo shoot.
We live in a day and age where, like it or not, sex sells. Think Anna Rawson or Anna Kournikova are going to be remembered for their Hall of Fame sporting careers in their respective sports? Uh, no. And don’t tell me Danica Patrick is so popular because she can drive a race car with the boys, or Natalie Gulbis thanks to her prowess with a 4-iron.
But the LPGA is in need of some serious positive press, something they may indeed get with the magazine shoot. But whether Kim appearing in the shoot is a wise decision is certainly open for debate.
Kim, one of the more outgoing ladies on the LPGA Tour, always seems to be going out of her way to gain positive exposure for the circuit and interacts with her fans with endless Twittering. Her rather over-the-top celebrations at the Solheim Cup may have rubbed a few people the wrong way – especially those that look for a reason to sling mud at a tour that hasn’t done itself any favours in recent months – but that’s Kim.
This, however, is another issue altogether and is sure to spark many debates, cast many doubts.
Perhaps, at the end of the day, that is what Kim and Co. want, believing the adage that any press is good press.
Not always.
Christina Kim remains a player director. In essence, a leader.
And, as always with the LPGA Tour, they’ve got every reason to question their leadership.
Adam Scott was Norman’s logical choice for Presidents Cup
For those wondering what in the world Greg Norman was thinking in choosing Adam Scott for the International Team that will lay down take on the Americans, ponder this. Was there really a better option?
Really?
Unlike his counterpart Fred Couples, there was no Lucas Glover, no Hunter Mahan, waiting in the wings for an invitation to San Francisco. If anyone was mildly surprised when Norman opted for 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa, they must have been absolutely perplexed with the inclusion of Scott.
Of course, there will be those that say Norman chose Scott because, well, he’s an Aussie. As is so often the case with these things, there’s more to it than that.
True, Scott has missed 10 of 16 cuts since January and looks lost right now. But what Norman is banking on is that Scott will regain his form over the next month or so, and make him look like a genius. Far fetched? Of course. But what other choice did he have?
Logic suggests that Norman would have been better off naming Jeev Milkha Singh or Rory Sabbatini, but Singh admits he came back from injury far too early and, for those dissecting Scott’s stats, Sabbatini has missed four of his last seven cuts and hasn’t cracked the top 40 since late May.
Outside of that, let’s see. Thongchai Jaidee? Stephen Ames? Michael Sim? And how, exactly, are they better choices than six-time PGA Tour champion Scott?
When putting together a team that will look to knock off the Yanks in Frisco, Norman wants the players that give the Internationals the best chance to win. From the slim pickings available, Scott best fits that criteria.
On paper, this Presidents Cup is shaping up to be a mismatch tilted heavily in the Americans’ favour.
Adam Scott isn’t going to change that. But, on a strictly risk-reward level, he was the most obvious choice Norman had.
Fairways Web Editor Marty Henwood spent more than six years as the Media Relations Director with the Canadian Tour and has been involved in sports journalism for more than a decade, including stints in newspaper, radio, new media and media relations. He will offer his unique take on the world of golf, with nothing and no one off limits.
