THE PGA GOLF FED EX TOUR CUP OF GOLF: PLAYOFFS?

On Saturday, Rob & I went to the 3rd round of the Barclays golf tournament for free, because Tiger wasn't there and people were GIVING their tickets away. It a great afternoon and the sparse crowds meant you could really get up close. I almost got hit with a wayward FIGJAM! drive on the par 4 314 yard 10th hole that he pulled way right, ending up in the death zone between the 10th green and the 11th tee. Minutes later with FIGJAM! teeing off on 11, Petrovic sailed another ball one into the crowd. I got out of there because I didn't want to get hit twice in one week. (Long story.) The Westchester Country Club in Harrison, NY is a beautiful course, more hilly than I realized, with some really interesting and challenging holes. The 478 yard par 4 12th (a par 5 for the members) is a standout: you hit from an elevated tee down into a valley, and then back up to an elevated green, with little room for error as a sheer cliff greets you if you miss right. It's an absolutely gorgeous golf hole.

As we entered the course, we couldn't help but notice the words "THE PLAYOFFS" were emblazoned everywhere. I think this is going to be an incredibly hard sell, a notion that has caught the imagination of absolutely no one. Here's why the FedEx Cup playoffs are a pile of crap: Rory Sabbatini currently has 100,650 points, which is 650 more points than Tiger Woods (100,000) because he clearly had a better golf season. Oh really? Let's break it down!

Tiger: 5 championships, including 1 major (PGA) and two WGC tournaments. Finished T2 (+3) at the Masters, T2 at the US Open (+6), T12 (-2) at The Open, and collected $7.8M in winnings.
Sabby: 1 championship at the Crowne Plaza Invitational (which included a free continental breakfast with a night's stay). Finished T2 (+3) at the Masters, missed the cut at PGA and The Open, carded a +21 (T51) at the US Open, took home $3.5M.
Head to head: In the final round pairing at the WGC-Bridgestone, Tiger knocked Rory's dick in the dirt, shooting a 65 vs. his opponent's 74, to win by 8 shots. This was one day after Rory, leading by one stroke, proclaimed that "Tiger looks more beatable now than ever."

In other words, Sabby completely OWNED (dare I say PWNED) Tiger in 2007! Right? Of course, everyone (in the PGA marketing department, anyway) would tell you that's only the "regular season", and this is the "playoffs". As Karl would say, I call international bullshit. Unlike playoff-focused sports like hockey, the regular season, and its 4 majors, is all that matters in golf.

Watching the final round on CBS-HD on Sunday, I got sick of these ludicrous "projected finish" numbers they put up on the screen all day as players were finishing their rounds, something like: "Eagle = 27th, Par = 56th, Bogey = 98th". WTF? Even one of the commentators mused about how nonsensical and baffling it was. Agreed. I suppose by "resetting" the "points", they're trying to give someone else a shot at winning some hideous, meaningless trophy. Because if you just look at the numbers it's usually going to add up TIGER.