The Tour Championship

V for Victory

Date Written: September 29, 2008

From the PGA Tour website yesterday:
"In a four-man race coming to the final holes, Camillo Villegas caught Sergio Garcia with a 7-iron from 184 yards to 12 feet on the 17th, then twice hit beautiful lag putts from 45 feet for par on the 233-yard 18th -- once in regulation to finish at 7-under 273, then in the playoff to win The Tour Championship."

The two V's (Vijay & Villegas) prospered mightily through the Fed-Ex season which is now, thank God (with a big G), over. Each of the V's win a ton of extra dough because "you-know-who" was on the mend at home. Seven under was good enough to playoff this year on the re-designed East Lake track. "You-Know-Who" was twenty three under last year to win the whole shebang. I think the V's should send Tiger 10% of their winnings for not being able to show up and allowing them to cash in.

If you want to read more about Tiger's absence and dwindling TV ratings and "tweaking" the Fed-Ex format, click on Thomas Bonk's article today in the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-golf30-2008sep30,0,1979671.story

With the conclusion of The Tour Championship, we have finished our fantasy pool season. Our three winners will find a chunk of dough in their mailboxes in a couple of days. Lord Arthur of Poppy killed us with his stellar, year-long picks. For his efforts, Lord Arthur takes home roughly 60% of the overall pool money ($2,500.00) for a total of $1,475.00. Second place goes to late charging Perry Sato ($725.00) and third place money to the Boise Flash....Pat Moloney ($300.00). Nice going you guys.

I hope you all enjoyed this past season and my sometimes caustic weekly commentary. It's never too early to start thinking on your picks for next year, at the very least, asking yourselves why you had a bunch of "No-Shows." We should also collectively consider the most controversial element of the pool...awarding double money for the Majors. Tell me via email if you like or dislike that feature and we will act accordingly. First tournament of 2009 will be the Mercedes at Kapalua in early January. Remember, in order to make the field in that first event, your player has to have won a tournament during 2008. I haven't found the official 2009 schedule online yet. There shouldn't be many venue changes (other than the U.S., British and PGA Championships) but the dates will surely be different.

Happy Footballing,

The Deutsche Bank

Vijay 2, Field 0

Date Written: September 2, 2008

Vijay doesn't show much emotion when he's tending to his profession so despite the business-like image to the left, I did actually spot him smiling a couple of times this weekend as he was rolling in long putt after long putt while winning his second straight Schmed-Ex event.

From the PGA Tour website:

"I got on the green and just kept talking to my caddie, 'I'm the best putter in the world,' and he said, 'You're damn right you are, now go ahead and knock it in,' and I made it. That's just a good attitude. Instead of standing there and hoping you're going to get up and down in two, I was trying to make those putts. My unconscious mind had a lot of stored-up bad thoughts in there, and that was the key, to get rid of all that, and I think I've done that,' Singh said."

After Vijay's success with convincing himself that "putting is just attitude," I'm going to do some of the same...tell myself that I'm the best putter in the world. I'll give you a report on how this works after I play in the Idaho State Seniors tournament next week. I'll see if I can fool myself into this major disbelief. Those little putting devils that live in my head are probably laughing their asses off as I write this.

Vijay's made the Schmed-Ex a "done deal" for this year. Short of a miracle, no one can catch him and deny him the 10 million smackers . When the sponsorship renewal hits the negotiating table next year, the PGA and Fed-Ex oughta discuss dumping the whole cockamamie deal. They should come to their senses and realize that their attempt at changing TV viewing habits are too tough to break. There's a reason we like football folks. Beside being a terrific game; it's fall, it's life. You cannot "undo" the magic of the changing seasons.

No one had Vijay this week in our funky pool. Lord Arthur, he of magical picking powers, remains secluded in his lofty, 1.6 million dollar lead with just two events left on our schedule. A question for his Lordship: after you receive the proceeds of first place money, are you going to pay down your credit card debt or are you going to make a dent on your outstanding bar tab? Or, like a good Irishman, give it away to the orphan golfers of County Kerrick?