Sunday Promises Plenty Of Captivating Storylines And None Involve The FedExCup!

The NCAA Match Play U.S. Amateur wraps with a final between two of the top amateurs in the land, Stanford's David Chung (who has displayed some awesome shotmaking skills) and OSU's Peter Uihlein (whose father has rendered one too many USGA committees utterly impotent).

Throw in the finale at Chambers Bay, which appears to be coming out of the week with mixed public reviews while eliciting wildly animated private debates about its 2015 U.S. Open prospects, and there's no question I'm recording this one.

Next on the DVR menu is the European Tour's Johnnie Walker at Gleneagles where Edoardo Molinari has a new permanent life enemy in Monty if he can pass his brother, win, and make it nearly impossible for Monty to pass him up for the cadre of IMG stablemates that John Huggan insists are at the top of the European Ryder Cup captain's list despite their decision to play in the FedExCup.

Truly, it is disappointing that it has come to this, a situation where four multi-millionaires place filthy lucre higher on their list of priorities than support of the tour that afforded each of them such rich earning opportunities in the first place. A quick glance at the scheduling choices made by three of the four this year - Donald made a bit of an effort to play over here - makes it clear they view their presence in the Ryder Cup side as somehow preordained and theirs as of right.

Normally so thoughtful, modest and sensible, Harrington, who strangely skipped both the lucrative French and Scottish Opens in the lead-up to the Open at St Andrews, let himself down badly when making the obviously ludicrous claim that he had "done all I can" to qualify for what will be his sixth Ryder Cup appearance. Plus, it is hard to imagine that the riches available in the Fed-Ex boondoggle will alter his opulent lifestyle even a little bit.

The Molinari story--the brothers in first and second place after 54 holes--would be remarkable without the Ryder Cup on the line, but throw in that bizarre dynamic and it figures to make for thrilling viewing. There is also Edoardo's popularity with is peers and his decision to play the final event as Monty requested adding to the suspense, as Lawrence Donegan notes in a fine story laying out all of the ways Captain Monty will screw this up options facing the Euro Captain.

The Italian, winner of this year's Scottish Open and, for what it is worth, by far the most popular choice for a pick among the European Tour's rank and file, turned in a three-under 69 to finish the third round of the Johnny Walker Championship in second place. Victory is within his grasp – and on demand.

A natural Ryder Cup partnership? "Of course, it's an obvious criteria,'' Montgomerie responded. Obvious perhaps, but possibly not decisive. The older Molinari – Edoardo is 29, Francesco 28 – cannot play his way into one of the nine automatic places on the team but he can make the case for giving him a wild card almost impossible for the European captain to ignore. A victory at Gleneagles will suffice, he feels. "I would be very upset if I win here and he doesn't pick me. If you win the last event [of the qualification process] and you don't get picked then there is something seriously wrong,'' he said.

Oh and there's the tension that refuses to go away over the decision of Casey, Rose, Harrington and Donald to play in the U.S.

"We need to finish the qualification on European terms, on European soil,'' said Paul McGinley, one of the European team's three vice-captains – a coded message to Montgomerie, surely, that the loyalty of a player such as Molinari, who made the effort to travel to Scotland for this event, should be rewarded. Presumably, the Irishman will use more straightforward language when the European captain and his three amigos meet tomorrow afternoon to make the final decision and, if locker-room gossip is to be believed, so will Thomas Bjorn, another of the team's vice-captains.

And there's the the contrived "drama" of the FedEx Cup, which may get a standard definition taping, though Rachel Alexandra running at Saratoga holds a lot more appeal. Steve Elling writes of the real Sunday drama at Ridgewood involving the FedEx Four and the Ryder Cup:

You want volatility? Forget projected FedEx figures.

Two of those players in the top 22, Paul Casey and Luke Donald, are ranked Nos. 9-10 in the world, but didn't cement one of nine automatic Ryder positions and are trying to get noticed by Monty from 3,300 miles away.

"If somebody who is 10th in the world doesn't make the team," Donald said after shooting 68 on Saturday, "maybe they need to take a look at how the team is selected." Good point -- though mostly moot, since it's a matter for 2012.

PGATour.com does its best to lay out the scenarios for advancing to the next round of the playoffs but it's downright meaningless stuff compared to the U.S. Amateur and Ryder Cup drama. Throw in the fact that Tiger had a mediocre season, another mediocre tournament (with a drive OB today) and he'll be advancing barring a total eruption of Haney-meet Stack/Tilt lite. Oh the purity and meaningfulness of this rich competition...there are no words to describe the emotions. DVR, Rachel it is.

Oh but there is Dustin Johnson lurking off Martin Laird's lead. I guess it will be worth tuning in to see how he handles a fairway bunker shot. Jason Sobel writes about Johnson's chances and the sympathy support he'll be receiving Sunday:

Expect him to receive plenty of support from the vocal galleries. Much like Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga, who lost a perfect game this year on a blown call with two outs in the ninth inning, Johnson immediately became a fan favorite after the bedlam in the bunker at Whistling Straits.