PGA Tour: FedEx Finale: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Still not sure PGA Tour Towers has got this notion of a totally blank week right. Three exciting tournaments in the books at Bethpage, TPC Boston and Crooked Stick and . . . . . then what? A bit like building up a four-Test Ashes Series to an eagerly awaited Fifth Test winner-take-all finale . . . . . . . which is delayed for a month. Completely agree the players could use a break - would much rather see it betwen Rounds 2 and 3.

2).Dear PGA Of America,
Thank you for giving golf fans something for fans to be interested in with all the chat about the Ryder Cup.
Love,
Timmy F

3).And there's been lots of rhetoric about the Ryder Cup, Davis's "picks", the Medinah course, etc, etc. Some of it on here of course, with conflicting views about golfing stereotypes by Continent, usually about American bombers, European chipping and pitching prowess versus American flop-shots.
According to Jaime Diaz in GolfWorld, Medinah's rough has been been given a haircut, widening fairways and making wayward drives less heavily punished, allegedly a la Azinger's Valhalla set-up in 2008.

4).Not sure if I subscribe to the notion that Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson are significantly longer than Colsaerts and McIlroy; would have thought it would be more relevant to consider who might actually be playing the most matches. Still, Davis promises a US Open course with a PGA Tour set up, fast greens and birdies a-plenty.

5).Woods and Stricker, Mickelson and Bradley, Simpson and Watson are suggested as likely opening pairings, but reality is that each team depends heavily on its best players; in particular, I would suggest that if Garcia and Westwood play in ten days' time as they did at Valhalla, the European goose will be cooked. Long-range projections of key players: How about Jason Dufner and Peter Hanson?
And, if I was Jose-Maria, I'd be tempted to bring the wildly entertaining Pablo Larrazabal to drive my cart. That would warm up the Chicago crowd.

6).But this week will be all about FedEx's $10 million! Sure part of Rory feels as if he's already done enough to deserve the jackpot but blame Vijay Singh (and his two-tournament walkabout in 2008 with the winnings already secured) for the changes that mean he has to earn the FedEx Cup all over again. In reality, one would bet that if he can finish ahead of Woods, Watney, Mickelson and Snedeker the rest will look after itself and he'll be $10M richer.
To quote Alf Ramsey: "You've won it once, go and do it again."

7).A $10M FedEx bonus would lift Rory to the top of the list of European bonus beneficiaries during the six years of FedEx fun. This list currently looks like:
1).Luke Donald: $4,410K + 2012 winnings, at least $175K
2).Sergio Garcia: $2,757K + at least $175K
3).Rose: $1,637.5K + at least $175K
4).Harrington: $1,293K
5).Casey: $1,027K
6).Pettersson: $619K + at least $175K
7).Laird: $717K
8).Poulter: $692K
9).Jacobson: $676K
10).Davis: $$625K

8).The media wags are tonguing that Rory may be invincible "every time the Tour goes to a big, long golfcourse that plays wet and soft with no wind". That's the caveat du jour (articulated by Gary Van Sickle but seemingly widely held) when comparing McIlroy's run with Tiger in his prime. I'll be interested in comparisons when Rors has played at this pace for at least five years, but it's nice to see credit offered to a Number One after the disparagement accorded to Donald and Westwood.
And East Lake might just fit the Rory bill; hopefully he's kept his swing nicely tuned during the week off and it's good for another two weeks.

9).In the absence of Tour excitement this past week I watched some web.com action from Idaho and a salutary reminder that last week's rising star can just as easily be this week's car crash. Aberdeen's Michael Sim and one-time hotshot Jamie Lovemark were both among the alternates who were unable to gain entry into the field. While last year's flavour of the month (June anyway) and newly-minted pro, Patrick Cantlay, failed to make the cut. Luke Guthrie took home first prize and he'll grace the PGA Tour with his presence in 2013. Anyone's guess whether he'll be any more successful than Sim or Lovemark, though.
This week's web.com field in West Texas (Midland, Friday Night Lights country, the business home of Dubya and by all accounts a good place for him) includes Gary Christian and Russell Knox as well as Sweden's David Lingmerth and Colwyn Bay's Ben Briscoe.

10).While the Seniors were in Hawaii where Willie Wood's fairy tale summer continued when Bionic Bill Glasson (he of the 22 surgeries - so far) capitulated and his 18th hole bogey was trumped by Willie's 18th hole bird. There's been speculation about Europeans flocking over to PGA Tour Q-School (entries have to be in by Sept 26th), but I hope that one or two Seniors also wade in to Champions Tour qualifying; Barry Lane and Forsbrand were among those trying last year and it would be good to see at least one of them following in the recent footsteps of Langer and Roger Chapman, both of whom are still in the running for the Champions Tour year-end bonus.

But this week is all about the PGA Tour's rich getting richer.

super_realist wrote:I'd rather Hitler or Stalin won a golf tournament that Woods, so even though I'm not keen on chinless Rose, he's preferable to the most ghastly man in sport. Bell End Woods.

Hitler would struggle, poor form in bunkers......

But we get your point SR, you hate Woods. Give it a rest.

Wow, some people actually wanted Westwood's autograph after that

I'm getting really tired of most commentators comparing current Tiger to the "old Tiger". This year was a huge step forward and the next step will be for him to take a major or two next year.

EmmDee57 wrote:

super_realist wrote:I'd rather Hitler or Stalin won a golf tournament that Woods, so even though I'm not keen on chinless Rose, he's preferable to the most ghastly man in sport. Bell End Woods.

Hitler would struggle, poor form in bunkers......

But we get your point SR, you hate Woods. Give it a rest.

And Stalin would go way left.

mystiroakey wrote:sorry to burst your bubble but no Euro event is taken that seriously bar the open and possibly the PGA

I reckon the guys trying to hold onto their cards take every event pretty seriously. As do those trying to qualify for the Ryder Cup. And pretty much any of them who wish to prolong their golfing careers.

Horses for courses Hibbz, We are talking on a thread about a tourny that only has the top 30 pga tour players in it.

but i get what your saying- the monthly medal is important to me!

Great finish by lukey!!

snedeker proving what most of us new about him. He can do almost anything on a golf course. As streaky as they come.. top round today

Furyk has just gone mental!

hit one in the water left. Instead of droping 200 yards up the fairway he hits another from the tee!! then crushes that one into a hospitality tent on the other side of the hole!!

Danny Lee leading the way in the Web.com event.

Andre Gonzalez looks like he's going to secure a PGA card for 2013. He looks like someone who Super will enjoy seeing on a golf course.....

Never seen that Gonzalez- but I am imagining a donugt lover that goes to church!

Did Westy check the airlines and find that he can take a cheaper afternoon flight to Chicago after the Tour Championship?

Looks like Tiger has gotten his Fridays and saturdays mixed up.............

Well its safe to say that tiger doesnt seem to be able to string 4 good rounds together!

Tiger has the Luke syndrome.

Make that Lukey has the Tiger syndrome.

Look for Rory to finish what he started earlier this year.

Snedekar, Rory Mac, Woods, and Rose.

Anybody else with a chance to win the big fat cheque today?

I think you'd be stretching a bit to say Woods is in with a chance.

Snedeker and Rose most likely.

Not sure where Rory would need to finish to win Fed Ex if Rose wins..........

Edit............Rose can only win Fed Ex if Rory is about 17th..............so don't think Justin has a chance.................

Super

I think leff was talking about the $10 million of the fed ex. Even if rose were to win today Rory would need to finish worse than 17th for Justin to pick up the big cheque. I dont think rory will play that badly, in fact I think he will play well and challenge sneds.

+14 for Westwood is really pretty embarrasing stuff..............

If Snedekar wins today, he will win the FedEx Cup. Rory, who started with 2500 points, will only add 1000 points for finishing in the second place, with a total of 3500. Tough for Rose as he has to win this and also hope for several others to crash down to a deep pit as he started with only 270 points.

At this stage, it is looking like Snedekar vs McIlroy for the $10m.

so if rose wins the tourny he will gift rors the 10 mills!!

Mcilroy will owe him a few beers if thats the case!

It's all a bit Duckworth-Lewis.

SR didnt realise you was a cricket fan!

Only the Pimms, cucumber sandwiches and cake Oakey

Never understood Cucumber sandwiches..

Anyone else think donald might be the best placed brit(incl rmac) at the end of play?

no i think ropse will hold out and win the thing!!

Woods +4 already today

Whatever happens I bet rors and tiger wish they hadn't chucked so many shots away already.

Another bogey for rose and a double for sneds!

Why do they keep showing Westwood? he has been totally woeful all week, we are now getting an interview from a man who just finished 15 over some 23 shots off the lead. Terrible coverage.

Terrible coverage is what American Broadcasters do best!

why are we getting an interview from lee?

because he is class and he just finished.

He just finished last and his play this week was certainly not "class", it's the equivalent of cutting halfway through an F1 race to speak to Karthikeyan.

Wrong Monty dude.

Just because someone has an off race/golf tourny doenst mean he is a rubbish golfer or racer. You shouldnt compare westy with Karthikeyan pal- your talking chalk and cheese

If Woods was last (or second last) as he was in an event last year or the year before they interviewed him, whilst he was knocked out in R1 of the matchplay this year but they still showed him in day 2 and that was when he was world number 100000 or something.

In a field where there is only 30 players and he's first in, they are hardly going to tell him to get stuffed because he stunk the place out this week.

He probably didn't talk to them anymore than they wanted to talk to him, but it's usually a media commitment.

s_r...What a sad little muppet you are. Absolutely pathetic.

How so GT. What's not to like about seeing an obnoxious sportsman's bottle crash again?

ROSE !!!! naughty rose

Looks like Snedekar will be very very very rich this evening, with all possible contenders having fallen off the ladder.

I quite like Snedeker. Seems like a good egg, even if his eyes are too close together.

Ryder Cup rookie looking strong!!

If Ryan Moore wins today and Snedekar finishes second, Rory Mac will win $10m. How interesting!

Not surprised Lukey came on strong today or that Tiger didn't. It's what they seem to do.

Very surprised Rory didn't put a beat down on everyone.

Take a bow Brandt Snedeker, quite flawless for last two rounds.

18th tee in the stands, but with a 4-shot cushion, even if he does a van der velde, he will win this and the big bounty as well.

$11.44m for Sneds!

Don't know about you, but a bit of a so-so ending to the FEC imo.

Pretty easy finish to an event when you can bail out in the grandstands on 17 and 18.

Shotrock, I dont think sneds will be sitting on the bench anyway.


I still cant shake the feeling that the fedex finale is contrived. It is a bit like those leagues where someone in 4th and 15 points off the leaders can win in a championship decider match. For those who used to play champ man they will know the feeling well if you accepted a job in the j league.