ST. LOUIS (AP) — For the first time in nearly 20 years, the PGA Tour is taking a week off in the middle of the season.
The timing couldn't be better.
Tour commissioner Tim Finchem built this break into the schedule last November so players would not have to compete four straight weeks in the FedEx Cup and then head straight to Valhalla for the Ryder Cup.
Little did he know that the FedEx Cup would be over by now, assuming Vijay Singh doesn't get lost on his way to East Lake. Nor could Finchem have anticipated such negative vibes about the latest version of golf's playoffs. Best anyone can tell, only one player liked the new points system, and that was Singh.
The LPGA Tour thought it had problems?
It worries that some of its international players don't speak enough English to satisfy the sponsors. The PGA Tour has a player who in effect was handed $10 million from sponsors and didn't have the courtesy of saying anything at all.
Sunday at the BMW Championship provided an embarrassing moment for the tour. By ignoring repeated requests from NBC Sports for a few minutes of his time, Singh either showed what little regard he has for the FedEx Cup or what little regard he has for a television network that helps make it possible for him to be a millionaire.
Probably both.
Meanwhile, the FedEx Cup will "resume" one week after the Ryder Cup, which offers no prize money at all to 24 players from both sides of the Atlantic who would pay to be at Valhalla. Go figure.
The Tour Championship will only have one major winner — Masters champion Trevor Immelman — in its 30-man field. And that's assuming all 30 guys show up. Don't be surprised if Phil Mickelson suddenly realizes there's a PTA meeting he can't afford to miss that week.
Some other observations from the last two weeks of the playoffs:
— The FedEx Cup needs an identity.
In words that require a series of hyphens to be published, former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy said he couldn't care less about missing the Tour Championship because it's not the same tournament it used to be.
He's right.
What once was golf's All-Star game is now a reward for three good weeks. That explains why Kevin Sutherland is going to East Lake for the first time in his career, and why Padraig Harrington will not be there despite winning two majors. Ogilvy and Ryuji Imada were in the top 10 when the playoffs began, missed the cut in the first event and didn't play well enough to get back inside the top 30.
