The Rogers News

Author: Chris

  • Fall Golf Highlights

    The Fall Series – a.k.a. the FedEx Cup leftovers. Yes, that’s right. There are still official tournaments to be played that count towards the PGA Tour money list, although no one that’s likely to play in all seven of the remaining events can possibly catch Tiger Woods as the money leader. There is still room for improvement, and players can gain exemptions while climbing the money list. The Turning Stone Resort Championship starts tomorrow and will be thoroughly covered by the Golf Channel.

    Dates played: Weekly starting tomorrow. Final tournament ends on November 4, 2007.

    The Presidents Cup is a three-day team competition between the United States and the Internationals and will be played at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada. Due to the similarity between golf clubs and hockey sticks large crowds will likely gather to watch this event. It remains to be seen if the Presidents Cup (Presidents is pointedly not possessory of the cup) can outshine the FedEx Cup. The U.S. currently holds the Presidents Cup, having defeated the International team 18.5-15.5 in 2005.

    Dates played: September 28 – 30, 2007

    The Seve Trophy is Europe’s answer to The Presidents Cup. It is a team competition that pits Continental Europe against Great Britain and Ireland during non-Ryder Cup years. Seve Ballesteros himself is captaining the Continental team while Nick Faldo is leading GB & I to battle. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this tournament before yesterday. Apparently it’s been played before – four times to be exact.

    Dates played: September 28 – 30, 2007

  • Caddie Cash-In

    The winner of the FedEx Cup receives a $10 million annuity. The winner of the Tour Championship receives $1.3 million. Tiger is poised to win both of these today. That means his single-day take home is $11.3 million. That’s a lot of bacon, especially when you consider that he can’t touch the $10 million annuity until the miracle of compound interest has turned it into something like $30 or 40 million.

    A caddie may get 10% of a players winnings on a “normal” week. There may be a bonus when his player wins. So, a conservative estimate of what Tiger Woods’ caddie, Steve Williams will potentially earn today is $1.13 million. That’s good pay for carrying a bag for four hours.

  • So, 64 is Normal?

    Tiger’s last five rounds are 65, 63, 64, 63, and 64. It doesn’t even look like work on the part 70 courses on which the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship are played. The rain helps, I suppose. These guys can just toss the ball up in the air and have it stick where it lands next to the cup. But that’s assuming a lot. First, that they are hitting it in the fairway. Second, that they’re hitting it close to the pin, which isn’t supposed to look as easy as it has these last few weeks. I mean, did you see Stricker and Woods staking ever single approach shot at the BMW? And this week at the Tour Championship, the 18th hole played 223 yards for the final round and most of the tee-shots landed within ten feet. That’s ridiculous.

    Anyway, how often does a player shoot five sub-65 rounds in a row? Tiger may have to post another sub-65 round if Calcavecchia keeps his gut out of the way for another day and can stake some more zippers close enough to tap them in on those shaggy greens at East Lake.

    Oh, and let’s not forget that the reigning Masters champion, Zach Johnson shot a 60 today.

  • 28 on the Front Nine

    Tiger shot 28 on the front nine during his second round at the Tour Championship. Five birdies and an eagle. Crazy.

    The lowest nine-hole score ever was 26, shot by Corey Pavin during the 2006 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. The par was 34.

  • FedEx Cup Cheat Sheet

    The final event of the PGA Tour’s 2007 season starts Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s also the final even in the FedEx Cup playoff series, the winner of which will be awarded the largest prize in sports – a $10 million dollar annuity.

    There are 30 players remaining in the playoffs, but only the top six have a chance to win the FedEx Cup. And, realistically, only the top three have a real chance.

    FedEx Cup Rankings:

    1. Tiger Woods (112,733)
    2. Steve Stricker (109,600)
    3. Phil Mickelson (108,613)
    4. Rory Sabbatini (103,588)
    5. K.J. Choi (103,100)
    6. Aaron Baddeley (102,800)

    Here’s a link to the PGA Tour’s digest of who could win the FedEx Cup depending on who winds the Tour Championship.

  • East Lake Greens a Mess

    It was just announced that the greens at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia where the Tour Championship is to be held next week are so severely damaged that the pro-am tournament scheduled for Wednesday was canceled and the players are not allowed to practice on the greens prior to the start of play on Thursday.

    That sounds absurd. It reminds me of high school golf when we were lucky to have time to hit range balls in the morning before our tournaments. Many of the players who will make it to the Tour Championship will have been there before, and will be somewhat familiar with the course. Still, a practice round is always helpful to get acclimated to a course.

  • FedEx Cup: Projected Standings

    The FedEx Cup is the new end-of-season playoff for the PGA Tour. It is comprised of the last four events of the year and the field is reduced after the second event to 70 players and again after the third event to 30 players for the final event, the Tour Championship. Throughout the season players accumulate points, which are used to establish the rankings for the final four-event playoff series. At the start of the four-event series the points are reset, presumably so that the race is competitive. Woods, who had a large lead before the playoff events commenced, was set to 100,000 points. Second place was set to 99,000 points. A mere 1000 points separating the leaders is insignificant considering that the winning share of points for any of the play-off events is about 9000 points.

    What has made the new system especially compelling and more user-friendly are the frequently updated “projected standings.” Instead of waiting until each of the individual playoff tournaments conclude to update the point standing, the online scoreboard and the TV commentators provide updates hole by hole. The projected standings change frequently, but that only lends to the excitement.