FedEx Cup Confidential

HERE'S WHAT I REALLY THINK
There are so many things wrong with the FedEx Cup playoffs that I don't know where to start, but here are my top five.

1. Where's the buzz? The only time I hear guys in the locker room talking about the playoffs is to rip them. It's one thing that John Q. Public doesn't know much about the FedEx Cup or how it works. It's another that not very many players do, either.

2. We're not playing for real money. First prize is $10 million that you can't access until you're 45, so if you win, I guess you get a big cardboard check you can't cash for 20 years. Phil Mickelson was complaining about that at the PGA, and most of us agree. Say I win the $10 million. I'd want to give my caddie his 10% cut, except how do I pay him when I don't get any money? It's like giving a five-year-old a Cadillac for his birthday and telling him, "Sorry, you can't drive it until you're 18." The whole premise of this thing was to make the end of the season more exciting, but if you want to do that, you have to dangle a real prize in front of us.

3. The FedEx Cup was modeled on NASCAR's Nextel Cup. The only people who care about the Nextel Cup are NASCAR fans. The only people who are going to care about the FedEx Cup are golf fans. The playoffs are not going to generate a bigger audience for golf. In fact, the playoffs are so confusing they might turn off some fans.

4. Golf has always been about how many wins you have and how much money you've made. Now we have a points list that gets reset in August. When the FedEx Cup points are reset, Tiger's big lead will be erased, diminishing his year. If the idea is to identify the player who has had the best season, how does wiping out his lead accomplish that? What if the Yankees had a 10-game lead going into September and baseball cut it to two simply to make the pennant race more exciting?

5. And what happens at the Tour Championship, the final event, if Woody Austin and Nick Watney are tied for the tournament lead and the FedEx Cup comes down to Phil and Tiger, who are tied for 25th, but whoever finishes higher is going to be the FedEx Cup champ? Who does NBC show on TV? I think I know the answer.

WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR
I don't know what to think about Phil Mickelson. He won the Players, which was a bit of a surprise, but it's been downhill ever since. He hurt his wrist at Oakmont and maybe came back too soon. I like Phil's chances in '08 but don't know if he'll put everything together in time to finish strong in '07.

OUT OF THE PICTURE
What a brilliant move by the Tour, hooking up with Golf Channel for 15 years. I've been on the road for the last six weeks, and for four of them have stayed in hotels that didn't carry Golf Channel.

Now that ESPN doesn't show golf, it seems as if there's a lot less time devoted to Tour highlights on SportsCenter. Don't blink, you might miss them.

SABBO-TAGING HIMSELF
I guess Rory Sabbatini didn't learn from Stephen Ames to keep your mouth shut when you're going up against Tiger. It's like taunting a pit bull in an alley. All you're doing is setting yourself up for a mauling.

Rory's comments on Tiger in Charlotte and again in Akron were probably the dumbest things anyone did on Tour all year. It's like sitting on the deck of the Titanic and ordering a drink with extra ice.

Just remember, you asked for it.

THEY'VE GOT A SHOT
Somebody almost has to win twice to knock off Tiger. That might be Vijay Singh, who won in Boston in 2004 and was second to Tiger last year. Vijay has also won at East Lake ('02).

I'd like Jim Furyk's chances a lot more if he hadn't strained his back before the Bridgestone Invitational. He held off a Tiger charge at the '05 Western and always plays well at Cog Hill.

Another guy who has been real consistent is Steve Stricker. He could sneak in under the radar and walk off with the FedEx Cup title in the unlikely event Tiger doesn't play well.

BUT THE WINNER IS . . .It doesn't matter that Tiger Woods is taking a pass on the Barclays, I still pick him to win. It seems like the playoffs were set up especially for him.

The Deutsche Bank, the second event, benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation and, oh, yeah, Tiger won there last year.

It's awfully convenient that the old Western Open, which Tiger has won three times and in which he's been the runner-up the last two years, is the third leg. I'm surprised they didn't put Bay Hill or Torrey Pines in there too. Or even Firestone, where Tiger has now won six times.

Consider this: Woods's career winning percentage is around 27%, so there's a good chance that he's going to win one of his three starts in the FedEx Cup tournaments.

Plus, he finishes in the top 10 two thirds of the time. If Tiger has a win and a top five finish, the FedEx Cup might be over in the first three weeks. What if there's no excitement and the finish is just as big a flop as the old Tour Championship?

Maybe I'm cynical, but golf already has playoffs — they're called the major championships.