The wife and I spent the day at the Deutsche Bank Championship. The weather was spectacular (80º and 100% sunny), the crowds were manageable, and the field (with one notable exception) was great. I've been going to PGA Tour events for a long time, and have gone to a bunch of majors as well. They are always a blast, IMO. Here are some random impressions.

1) These guys are really, really good. I've played the TPC Boston and it is a very good course. It is long and tight. The greens are fast, firm and have a lot of movement. The green complexes are varied and challenging. But these guys are freakin' tearing it up. The wind was up and gusty today, and two guys still shot 63!

2) These guys have amazing short game. I know you've heard this before, but here it is again. The pros miss greens all the time, but then they get up and down all the time. We probably saw 15 players miss greens today. We saw one guy fail to get up and down. It didn't matter whether it was a short chip or long, out of looooong rough or sand, downhill or uphill lie. They would either knock it stiff, or make a longer putt.

3) These guys can putt. Every single one of them.

4) I didn't see any ridiculous distances today. I saw Anthony Kim hit a hard 5 from 194 on the 11th hole. The hole was probably playing +5 (slightly uphill). Most guys were hitting what I would call normal shots today. IOW, no 245 4 irons.

5) The tour is sucking wind without Tiger. I couldn't believe how much smaller the crowds were this year. The crowds were ok, but nothing like when Tiger plays. Usually, you have to plan in advance to get tickets, and most years the event is completely sold out. Traffic, parking, crowds were all VERY manageable this year.

6) They have REALLY improved TPC Boston. It is a great golf course now. It used to have some stupid holes and Mickey Mouse features, but those have all been fixed now. Ernie Els was talking about it today, saying he feels he "blew it" by not playing here before because the course is so great. Hat's off to Gil Hanse, Brad Faxon and the others involved in the course refinements.

7) My wife is a big Jim Furyk fan (no idea why), and when he birdied the 10th hole she shouted out "way to go Ernie!" A thousand heads turned in unison to look at her as I gently backed away. LOL

8) Watched Anthony Kim play a few holes. I saw him make two birds, then lose a ball off the 9th tee. He was all over the map. Missing left, missing right. I was hoping to see the next coming of Tiger, but not today.

On our way out, we decided to swing by the range to see who was practicing after their round. Cink was there with Butch. Cink was just killing it. Drivers, 3 woods, long irons, finesse wedges--just smokin them all. Look for him to play well in the Ryder Cup.

Someone who isn't playing well is Brandt Snedeker. He has one of my favorite swings on tour, but he was just brutal on the range. His swing lacked the beautiful connection it normally has. His arms and body were simply not working together, and it was ugly. He was very frustrated, practically hitting and raking. Finally he just started hitting little 3/4 wedges (9 to 3 drill anyone?), and was much more in sync. He did that for like 5 minutes then went off to the putting green. Nick O'hern was there with his coach, and they were huddled over the camcorder checking out O'hern's motion.

Over at the putting green, Carl Pettersen, Brandt Snedeker, and their caddies were putting and chatting. I couldn't quite get the gist of the conversation, but it was something about not making a cut or qualifier or something. I found out later it was about Pettersen not making the Ryder Cup team. He seems like a good guy. Snedeker was practicing 10 foot putts with about a foot of break. He made 10 or 12 of those while I was watching, then canned 2 of 3 30 footers. Yowza.

What a fun day!

So, do you think it's too late to get tickets to the Tour Championship at East Lake?

Great comments, by the way.

Looks like tickets are available for all days:

http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/115150