Top golfers duck FedEx Cup
UI graduate Steve Stricker tees off during the Chick Evans Memorial Pro-Am of the BMW Championship on Wednesday in Lemont, Ill. Several top PGA players have elected not to complete all four legs of the FedEx Cup. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, NAM Y. HUH
September 6, 2007
LEMONT, Ill. – The third straight week of this FedEx Cup finale is starting to yield more evidence that the PGA Tour Playoffs aren’t like the postseason in other sports.
Instead of being desperate to keep playing, some golfers can’t wait to go home.
In what sounded like a parade of protests Wednesday at the BMW Championship, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els were among those who suggested that four straight weeks was too much golf and that most players had no input on the major decisions.
“They did not express anything to the players,” Els said. “They asked those questions, but they didn’t come out and say, ‘OK, look, this is what we’re going to do, what do you think?’ It wasn’t directly asked. And unfortunately, we are in this position now because they didn’t either listen or they just went on with the decision. And this is where we are.”
Els skipped the Deutsche Bank Championship a week ago, saying he wanted to see his children off to school in London.
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Woods missed the opening round of the playoffs at The Barclays in New York. He has not played four straight tournaments since early 2000, and said he was worn out from back-to-back victories concluding at the PGA Championship.
Phil Mickelson and British Open champion Padraig Harrington are not at Cog Hill, with Mickelson creating the biggest stir because he won last week at the TPC Boston and used a national TV audience to make cryptic complaints about PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem not listening to him.
This is the third straight playoff event that does not have the full field, and the second time in three weeks that the points leader decided to stay home.
“Personally, I don’t like it,” mild-mannered Steve Stricker said. “It’s a lot of golf in a short amount of time. I do like the end of the season that it’s in the middle of September, where if you play well enough you don’t have to chase for your card.”
He also said some of the complaints might stem from the Deutsche Bank Championship ending on Labor Day, giving players a quick turnaround before teeing it up in the third straight event.
Finchem said the tour had several meetings over the last two years as the FedEx Cup was being formed.
“I feel comfortable that we did a good job reaching out to the players on the details,” he said.
