LPGA, Euro Tours' Year End Races Loved - Why Not PGA Tour?

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 20, 2009 10:37 AM EST Comment 5 comments

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While you and I were asleep, Lee Westwood fired 69 in the Dubai World Championship and took a two shot lead over Rory McIlroy at the midway point of the finale tournament to the Race to Dubai. McIlroy matched Westwood's 69 to get into weekend position along with first round leader Robert Allenby, course lover Paddy Harrington, two others, and Ross McGowan.

For Westwood, the task is simple: win. If he wins, he wins the Race to Dubai's prize pool bounty in addition to the tournament. He could also beat McIlroy by finishing in second and take the title.

McIlroy is a little cloudier. Obviously a win would do nicely. He can win no matter what if Westwood finishes outside of the top 7, but would also needs Martin Kaymer to not finish top 4 and Ross Fisher to avoid runner-up or better.

Still, the game within a game has to be a delight for the European Tour, who walked into this week amid a lot of criticism about its deal with Dubai-owned Leisurecorp, now operated by another Dubai-owned entity. The course has been a sore subject, too.

But, nothing distracts critics away problems like a great golf tournament.

The same thing may be taking shape in Houston at the LPGA Tour Championship. Three players have a chance to clinch player of the year honors. Lorena Ochoa, looking to maintain her title and three year reign, leads the tournament on -6. LoCho trailed Jiyai Shin by 8 points heading into this weekend. If she wins this weekend, she is player of the year. If she doesn't then Shin must finish 3rd or better and get help from Shin to finish worse than 8th or 9th.

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For Shin, the proposition is simple: beat Lorena. She trails by four after day one, so she has work to do.

Don't forget Cristie Kerr, though. She is six out of the lead, but if she wins and Ochoa and Shin fail to finish in the top ten, then Kerr would win.

This is the kind of thing that has the players and - seemingly - fans of both tours excited about this week.

So that begs the question: why the love for these two formats and such vitriol for the FedExCup, which is basically a hybrid of these two formats?

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Comments

Tiger is the problem!!!

The PGA Tour can’t have a competitive season long competition without funky rules because of Tiger’s dominance. If the PGA used the same system for the Fed Ex Cup employed by the European or LPGA Tours, Tiger would have had it locked up weeks (months?) before the Tour Championship.

I’m OK with that, but it doesn’t make for compelling TV (see Tour Championship version ’08).

by MattSpence on Nov 20, 2009 11:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

why would you worry about the Tour Championship in 2008 when they made changes for 2009 ? That would be relevant if they kept the format from a year ago.

LOL – “blame Tiger” – I’ll bet that would go over with a lot of people. Tiger would probably get a laugh out of it, too.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 20, 2009 12:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

My only comment about the 2008 Tour Championship is that it did not make for compelling television.

Obviously I was being facetious in calling Tiger “the problem”, because having a dominant player is a “problem” both the European & LPGA Tours would love to have.

If the PGA Tour used the money list (like Europe) or the same points system as the LPGA Tour, Tiger would win by such a landslide that the final tournaments would just be victory laps (as we saw with Vijay at the Tour Championship in 2008). Since the PGA Tour wants to avoid that, we have the new Fed Ex Cup.

by MattSpence on Nov 20, 2009 2:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Actually, you couldn’t be more wrong about the 2008 Tour Championship – there were 4 guys fighting it out down the stretch – it was a great tournament. Who gave a rat’s behind about the FEC ? It was already decided, so the actual play was what was important.

I know what you meant about Tiger Woods – thought it was hilarious.

Big secret for you – the Tour and Fed Ex WANT Tiger to win. If someone other than #1 wins, the media goes nuts.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 20, 2009 2:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Prizes for POY, ROY, etc.?

Out of interest, with all the attention being paid to who wins the player of the year, rookie of the year, Vare trophy, etc., are there actual cash prizes for winning these honours, and if so what are these prizes? The answer seems relevant to the relative interest in the prizes on the different tours.

by Rodney Topor on Nov 22, 2009 4:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs