By ED TRAVIS
The FedExCup has become an even bigger deal for PGA Tour members and now the schedule has returned to one based on the calendar year and with the money increased it has become a must for every player.
The Wyndham Championship is the last regular season event and is a perfect set up for the year-ending three events. Fans by now know this is the last chance for players on the bubble to earn enough to get in the top 70 to play in the first of the three events of the FedXCup Playoffs, the FedEX St. Jude Championship.
And it plays a role int the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 which awards $40 million to the top 10 after the regular season.
Wyndham is played over the Sedgefield Country Club course designed by Donald Ross opening 98 years ago. Playing it a few years ago I was fortunate to hole my approach from the fairway on the opening hole. It’s hard to not have good memories of a course when starting with a two.
Most of the top ranked players such as Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy have more than enough points to not need the help of a win or high finish entering the playoffs. There are however some big names teeing it up Thursday including Jordan Spieth, Brian Harmon and Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley.
Unfortunately, as we approach the end of the season the chasm between the PGA Tour and the PIF/LIV circuit which was highlighted again by the Olympics still means the best in the world will not be competing against each other in the playoffs.
LIV Players Olympic Hopes Dashed
Earlier in the week LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman made headlines urging players on the new tour to “Bring home the medals boys,” and as usual his comments were anything but relevant.
Of the seven professionals from the LIV circuit representing their countries at Le Golf National Jon Rahm of Spain had the best finish with a T-5 after a four-over par back nine Sunday. He had a four-stroke lead with eight holes to go but collapsed with two birdies, two pars, three bogeys and a disastrous seven on the par-5 14th hole.
Of the remaining LIVers only Joaquin Niemann at 12 under par finished in the top 10 with a tie for ninth.
LIV golfers play a less rigorous schedule over less than top quality courses in 54-hole limited field events with no cut, guaranteed pay against weaker competition. Is there anything to the opinion expressed by some that this is not the best way to prepare to compete in more meaningful tournaments? There’s a world of difference between exhibition golf versus week-to-week Tour play.
Short Putts
Did anyone else notice the broadcast coverage of the Olympics golf showed the leaderboard only occasionally? I guess that’s OK if you sit in front of the TV all day and can track your favorites on your smartphone but others of us have lives to live and jobs to do so a dearth of event standings is a pain.
The Olympics is often filled with inconsistencies like in one of the great cities of the world having the Paris Olympic Committee on top of furnishing cardboard beds in the Olympic Village opting to not put air conditioning to cut the carbon footprint by half. Of course, there are no reports of any Committee members sleeping on the beds at the height of a Parsian summer.
