Ah the playoffs, the blood starts pumping at the thought, the thrill, the….yawn…heightened interest. Tiger Woods bolted to a seven shot lead after the third round, almost seeming to understand that Sunday was the first full slate of NFL games. That means for a lot of us, baseball season is inconsequential until at least the league championship (unless your team is deep into a race), and golf is pretty much finished.
Blasphemy perhaps, but despite Tim Fincham Sundays and Monday nights are pretty much NFL. For some, Saturday is college football beginning at 10am. So if you missed the Sunday finish to the BMW Championship because Mr. Woods had a seven shot lead at the start of the day, you’re not alone. In my neck of the woods, Brett Favre starting for the Vikings was way more important than Brent Snedecker four putting the last green to miss the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standing and a chance to play in the Tour Championship next week.
Ian Poulter, the 30th ranked player at the start of the week, hit his approach on the final hole into the water and finished less than half a point out of that spot. Picture the intro to the old ABC Wide World of Sports show, the ski jumper crashing at the bottom of the ramp while Jim McKay intones "the agony of defeat". Ouch! Jim Furyk tied for second, barely in binocular distance of Mr. Woods and moved from 18th to 3rd, which means if he wins next week, as with any other member of the top 5 players, the Cup trophy is his. Top that NASCAR. Steve Stricker, last weeks number one, fell to number two, while Zach Johnson and Heath Slocum round out the top five. Points will be reset, but I can’t figure out who else has a chance to win. The formula might as well be Greek for all I understand it, not a bad thing necessarily, but a thing none the less.
“To play as well as I have of late and not get the Ws has been a little bit frustrating, no doubt, because I’ve been so close,” he said. “It’s just been a matter of making a couple of putts here and there, and I would have won the tournaments. And lo and behold, boom! I hit the ball just as well, just as consistent this week, and I made a few putts. And that’s how it happens.” See, that’s how to run away and hide from the best golfers in the world. Amazing the simplicity of it all. Oh and it also helps to have a truck full of talent and a work ethic the envy your peers.
So now we go to East Lake for the sprint over 72 holes to determine who goes home with all the loot and the FedEx trophy. I just don’t know which to pay the most attention to come Sunday? We’ll see when Sunday afternoon rolls around.
