Deluded

Tiger Woods will be skipping the first event in the new Fedex Cup series.

The PGA Tour has touted its new FedEx Cup competition by making references to the Green Bay Packers and New York Yankees. But when golf's version of the playoffs begin new week in New York, it won't include Tiger Woods.

Golf's star attraction said Friday he will sit out the first playoff event at The Barclays, saying he was worn out from back-to-back victories at Firestone and Southern Hills.

"My body is spent and I need a break," Woods said on his Web site.

The announcement was a setback for the PGA Tour, which had promoted the FedEx Cup as a "new era in golf" and instead was left with an old problem of convincing fans that golf was still relevant after the majors were over.

The FedEx Cup is a season-long points race that culminates with the playoffs, when the points are reset for four tournaments through the Tour Championship. The winner gets a $10 million annuity from a $35 million bonus pool.

I'm not criticizing Tiger, but his withdrawal from the Barclays comes as no surprise to me. It is testimony to how irrelevant the Fedex Cup is when you come down to it.

The Fedex Cup was an effort by the PGA Tour to- 1- Shorten the golf season and 2- Give some meaning or significance to events played after the PGA Championship. Interest in pro golf wanes late in the year, not just for fans(Even for this golf nut, I spend little time paying attention to the tour once football season starts), but for stars like Woods and Phil Mickelson who often pack it in early for the year.

Last year I wrote the following about the Fedex Cup-

TFM's opinion of the FedEx Cup? I hate it and think it is dumb and counterproductive. First because in Pro Golf there are the Major Championships and then everything else. Attempts to hype other touraments like the Players Championship, Memorial, The old World Series of Golf into major championships have all failed. Golf isn't NASCAR. Just look at the sports ratings and fan support. Fan support is mostly week to week, if it isn't a major and no Tiger playing, alot of people don't care. I'm hardcore, but I'm an exception. The PGA Tour hasn't sold the FedEx to me, how do they think the average golf fan will take it?

and this on how long-time PGA Tour events were being scuttled while forming this gimmick-

No one but Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and a few other people like this idea. Golf writers have panned it, fans in Chicago, Washington DC, Texas and Upstate New York are unhappy, so are many tour players. What made Finchem think this was a good idea? History has shown, the only tournaments that create a special interest are the majors. Besides the playoff system Finchem has devised is flawed. In five years this thing will be in the Sports disaster dustbin but golf fans in long-time golf markets will be without their tour stops. All for a misconceived idea to create interest. Golf doesn't have a Super Bowl, it has four majors. Everything else is window dressing.

Apparently Woods still wants a shorter golf year, and the Fedex excites or interests him as much as blog posts written by some nutty blogger in South Florida. Right?

This could have been predicted too. Go to this website and bring up Tiger's tournament history from 2oo2-2006. Show me the last time he played four PGA tournaments in a row? Are you still looking? Because he never did in those years. Actually Tiger has seldom played four non-west coast tournaments in a row in his career.(You have to go back to 96 and 97. I may have missed another year. 96 shouldn't be counted either, because Tiger played many weeks in a row in order to gain a tour card so as to not go through qualifying school.) I could told have told Commissioner Tim Finchem, Tournament sponsors and the world a year ago that Tiger was never going to play all four Fedex events. Plus the President's Cup is two weeks after the Tour Championship. That means Tiger would have to play five weeks in six.

Also note this article. Tiger isn't the only one apathetic about the gimmick.

Bottom line- It still wouldn't surprise me if Tiger withdraws from another Fedex Cup event. Further proving the whole series is a joke and I don't expect it to last ten years.

Linked to- Big Dog, Mad Pigeon, Perri Nelson, Right Voices, Right Wing Nation,