Overnight Marketing Disaster
The FedExCup playoffs has, once again become a snoozer. I guess that’s not a big deal unless you consider ther’ve only been two of them. Vijay Singh comes out, wins the first two events and then uses the PGA TOUR “penultimate” series—some marketing genius’ catch line, not mine—like an ATM machine with a Black American Express Card.
Singh came into the BMW Championship last week well out of reach of practically everyone trying to catch him for the FedExCup. In St. Louis he played like crap, shot even par and still walks away from the tournament with a clinch of the Cup if he finishes 72 holes in Atlanta in two weeks.
He might want to stay in his house until then. Lock himself in, call Frank Lickliter to stand guard and be on the lookout for Tim Finchem or some other TOUR honcho, not necessarily with a urine sample cup, but with baseball bats. The boys are probably more than a little disappointed that their marquee player is limping around making babies and their precious FedExCup has already been etched, making the TOUR Championship about as exciting as watching gasoline evaporate—it’s expensive and by the end of week, it’ll all be gone.
It’s too bad, too. They have a kid in second place in these standings who won last week and could be the next Freddy Couples. At least his galleries are about as good looking as Fred’s. Maybe better.
Camilo Villegas is a young, single, sharp-featured young man from Columbia where there’s only about 40 golf courses in the whole country. He’s handsome, self-confident, wears cool clothes and has arms like an ultimate fighting champion. Chicks dig guns.
His trademark move is when he gets behind the ball on the green like Spiderman to line up his putts. I’ve actually heard women sigh when he does that saying something like, “Oh my.” Chicks dig contortionists.
In other words, he’s marketable and doesn’t have a chance to be the first to kiss the Cup. (Vijay, take note. Woods didn’t kiss the Cup even if they marketed the fact it had never been kissed before. You gotta love that. Stick it to the man, Veej)
I’m not trying to take anything away from Singh. Winning in consecutive weeks on the Tour is almost impossible, unless you’re playing on a bum knee and broken leg. Singh had a good year, but not up to his haughty standards of a few years ago when he won a gob of money, the Player of the Year award and took over the No. 1 spot in the rankings from the pre-baby maker, pre-FedExCup. He won once before the playoffs at the WGC—Bridgestone Invitational this year, another Tour-induced limited field event played in Akron. He’s won a princely $6 million in prize money, give or take a few hundred thousand. But, he didn’t make any money in the last two majors because of missing the cut at the British Open and the PGA Championship.
And here’s even more misuse of the system—the guy who won both of those isn’t even in the TOUR Championship. Padraig Harrington successfully defended his Open title then won his first major on American turf a couple weeks later. Problem was, although he won two majors he missed two cuts, just like Singh, but his were the first two events of the playoffs.
What’s wrong with this picture?
I’m glad you asked.
In the first place, if they’re trying to make a playoff situation there has to be elimination, but not until the Tour’s perceived Game 7—The TOUR Championship.
Cutting from 140 players for the first two weeks, then cutting to 70 in week three and 30 for the final is silly. We’re seeing why for several reasons.
Why not cut to the top 70 after the Wyndham Championship and let the boys play hard, with no cuts, for three weeks. Then, after progressively increasing the points for those three events, take the top 30 to Atlanta to duke it out with all the standings erased. Winner takes all. That means you have 30 of the hottest players playing at the time and anyone has a shot at the prize.
Golf is not a best of seven thing, although Singh was best of four in this series just like Woods was last year. Remember though, Woods didn’t play the Barclays, the first event of the playoffs, and still won the Cup running away. At least last year, four guys had a mathematical change at catching him in the final event of the series.
With all due respect to the men who play this Tour. They are the best players in the world even if they’re not marquee names. The sad reality of too much money is that not many folks except maybe wives, parents and agents really care to watch Jon Mills, Justin Bolli or Lee Janzen, who has also won a couple majors of his own, play golf. Sorry. I do this for a living and I’ve never even heard of two of them. So where’s the drama in that?
They had a mathematical chance to win the Cup with odds about as outrageous as an asteroid hitting earth. So why do it at all?
Sure, the guy who finishes 71st will piss and moan and kick dirt, but so does the school administration of the 65th pick in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. And why are they whining? The money.
Sorry about that, chief. Play harder next year. The Cubs have been doing it for decades.
So, I think I’ll be at the TOUR Championship in Atlanta just to see who comes in second. That’s about all it’s worth.
Singh came into the BMW Championship last week well out of reach of practically everyone trying to catch him for the FedExCup. In St. Louis he played like crap, shot even par and still walks away from the tournament with a clinch of the Cup if he finishes 72 holes in Atlanta in two weeks.
He might want to stay in his house until then. Lock himself in, call Frank Lickliter to stand guard and be on the lookout for Tim Finchem or some other TOUR honcho, not necessarily with a urine sample cup, but with baseball bats. The boys are probably more than a little disappointed that their marquee player is limping around making babies and their precious FedExCup has already been etched, making the TOUR Championship about as exciting as watching gasoline evaporate—it’s expensive and by the end of week, it’ll all be gone.
It’s too bad, too. They have a kid in second place in these standings who won last week and could be the next Freddy Couples. At least his galleries are about as good looking as Fred’s. Maybe better.
Camilo Villegas is a young, single, sharp-featured young man from Columbia where there’s only about 40 golf courses in the whole country. He’s handsome, self-confident, wears cool clothes and has arms like an ultimate fighting champion. Chicks dig guns.
His trademark move is when he gets behind the ball on the green like Spiderman to line up his putts. I’ve actually heard women sigh when he does that saying something like, “Oh my.” Chicks dig contortionists.
In other words, he’s marketable and doesn’t have a chance to be the first to kiss the Cup. (Vijay, take note. Woods didn’t kiss the Cup even if they marketed the fact it had never been kissed before. You gotta love that. Stick it to the man, Veej)
I’m not trying to take anything away from Singh. Winning in consecutive weeks on the Tour is almost impossible, unless you’re playing on a bum knee and broken leg. Singh had a good year, but not up to his haughty standards of a few years ago when he won a gob of money, the Player of the Year award and took over the No. 1 spot in the rankings from the pre-baby maker, pre-FedExCup. He won once before the playoffs at the WGC—Bridgestone Invitational this year, another Tour-induced limited field event played in Akron. He’s won a princely $6 million in prize money, give or take a few hundred thousand. But, he didn’t make any money in the last two majors because of missing the cut at the British Open and the PGA Championship.
And here’s even more misuse of the system—the guy who won both of those isn’t even in the TOUR Championship. Padraig Harrington successfully defended his Open title then won his first major on American turf a couple weeks later. Problem was, although he won two majors he missed two cuts, just like Singh, but his were the first two events of the playoffs.
What’s wrong with this picture?
I’m glad you asked.
In the first place, if they’re trying to make a playoff situation there has to be elimination, but not until the Tour’s perceived Game 7—The TOUR Championship.
Cutting from 140 players for the first two weeks, then cutting to 70 in week three and 30 for the final is silly. We’re seeing why for several reasons.
Why not cut to the top 70 after the Wyndham Championship and let the boys play hard, with no cuts, for three weeks. Then, after progressively increasing the points for those three events, take the top 30 to Atlanta to duke it out with all the standings erased. Winner takes all. That means you have 30 of the hottest players playing at the time and anyone has a shot at the prize.
Golf is not a best of seven thing, although Singh was best of four in this series just like Woods was last year. Remember though, Woods didn’t play the Barclays, the first event of the playoffs, and still won the Cup running away. At least last year, four guys had a mathematical change at catching him in the final event of the series.
With all due respect to the men who play this Tour. They are the best players in the world even if they’re not marquee names. The sad reality of too much money is that not many folks except maybe wives, parents and agents really care to watch Jon Mills, Justin Bolli or Lee Janzen, who has also won a couple majors of his own, play golf. Sorry. I do this for a living and I’ve never even heard of two of them. So where’s the drama in that?
They had a mathematical chance to win the Cup with odds about as outrageous as an asteroid hitting earth. So why do it at all?
Sure, the guy who finishes 71st will piss and moan and kick dirt, but so does the school administration of the 65th pick in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. And why are they whining? The money.
Sorry about that, chief. Play harder next year. The Cubs have been doing it for decades.
So, I think I’ll be at the TOUR Championship in Atlanta just to see who comes in second. That’s about all it’s worth.
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