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Furyk at least is motivated by trying to pick up his first victory of the year, a goal that applies to 15 other players in the field, such as Steve Stricker, Ben Curtis, Mahan and Campbell.
Even someone like Singh, who won the Tour Championship in 2002, wants to finish off the season with another win.
"This is a big event for us," he said. "Two years ago, three years ago, this was one of the major events on tour. That's the way I still look at it."
But his comment was telling.
Is the Tour Championship no longer one of the big events on the PGA Tour? It sure doesn't seem like one now, with one guy assured of the FedEx Cup simply by showing up, a field that includes first-timers Kevin Sutherland and Ken Duke, and a bunch of Americans suffering from Ryder Cup hangover.
What once was considered golf's version of the All-Star game has all the atmosphere of a corporate outing.
And just imagine if the Americans had lost the Ryder Cup.
Two years ago, a World Golf Championship was held in London a week after the Ryder Cup. Furyk recalls being angry about losing, and after taking a day off, getting back to work to fix what was wrong.
"Any time I've had a close call or lost in a playoff, it's usually about a day or two and then I get back to work," he said. "After you have a big win on tour, it's a little bit of a hangover the next week, and emotionally, it's tough to get up and get ready."
The tour brought this problem on itself, and for that, 10 Americans are thankful.
Remember, the Tour Championship was supposed to be the week before the Ryder Cup, but PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem agreed to move it back two weeks so the Americans (and some Europeans) would be fresh for the event that doesn't pay a dime.
Finchem said he expects a good week and big crowd, and it helps that Saturday's round will be played early, so as not to conflict with the NBC broadcast of Notre Dame football. Thankfully, Georgia plays Alabama on Saturday night.
In the meantime, he said changes to the FedEx Cup appear imminent.
"We've got to have a climactic finish," Finchem said. "It's going to build to a finish."
