Here we go again. Two weeks into the FedExCup playoffs, the list of possible Cup winners is getting narrowed down so far that there may only be two or three guys with a reasonable chance to collect that $9 million check and $1 million annuity at the end of THE TOUR Championship (presented by Coca-Cola) here at East Lake.
Once again, there is wailing and gnashing of teeth among the players and media, but for a seemingly opposite reason. Last year, the spread of points at the playoff reset was so wide that even before the first ball was struck only a handful of players had a realistic shot at the big prize. At the end of the first three weeks, Tiger Woods had two wins and an insurmountable lead. All he had to do was finish in Atlanta and he would collect the Cup and the big money. Thankfully, he also has a lot of pride to go along with all that game, and he played very well at East Lake.
This year, the points were tightened up to make more movement possible from week to week and the players at the bottom could add a little excitement, not to mention cash, for playing another week of the playoffs. The players and media got what they wanted, right? Problem solved, right? Of course not.
Nothing is ever that easy. After two weeks, only two of the top-ranked players have stepped up their games. Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia could put a virtual stranglehold on the FedExCup after the second week, with a small handful of players having a decent shot with two tournaments remaining.
Phil Mickelson has made both cuts, barely, and hasn’t played well enough to stay in touch with the top of the points list. Padraig Harrington, with two majors under his belt this year, has missed both cuts and will drop out of the top 30 after The Deutsche Bank Championship.
The projected top 30 after the Deutsche Bank includes a lot of names that are known, but are not big crowd favorites anymore (such as Justin Leonard, Mike Weir, Ben Curtis, Stewart Cink and K.J. Choi). The names we hoped would be at the top have not stepped up their games to this point and could be out of the chase for the Cup if things don’t change in St. Louis. Kenny Perry, Anthony Kim, Ernie Els, Bubba Watson and Boo Weekley have not played up to their ranking.
THE FALLOUT
So, here we go again. A bunch of guys whining and complaining, but this time it is the top of the list reaching for the box of tissues. Poor babies. Their path to the FedExCup wasn’t paved with gold and covered with rose petals for them.
This year, the TOUR gave them what they wanted—a chance for guys to play their way up the list and make things more interesting—and most of the top guys are not getting the job done, so they are complaining that the TOUR went too far in reversing the situation. Too bad. I think the TOUR got it pretty close to right. The guys who have stepped up and played well are where they are supposed to be in a playoff situation. You play well, you move on. You stink it up, you go home.
If the rest of the top-ranked golfers don’t care enough to play well, then we are going to have a very exciting TOUR Championship with the guys who do play well. And I’ll be at East Lake soaking it all in.
Capps can be reached at onthegreen@scoreatl.com.
Loading ...
