Now We're Getting Somewhere

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Jack Vickers didn't say much with Tim Finchem at his side, but he opened up to Woody Paige:

Vickers secured a big-time international sponsor.

The PGA Tour "claims I didn't have a sponsor for the $10 million tournament, but damn right I did."

He is telling the truth. I knew about the deal last year. He was taking a mighty gamble, but Vickers was willing.

He had originated the first seven-figure tournament. He would originate the first eight-figure tournament.

Three times Vickers went to Finchem and the PGA Tour, "three times I didn't get an answer. They didn't say no. They just didn't say anything," Vickers said.

The PGA Tour stalled Vickers out of the way. That's because the PGA Tour was secretly working on its FedExCup, a year-end series of tournaments and point systems that would crown a tour champion and award $10 million.

"They didn't want me to overshadow what they were doing," a resigned Vickers says now.  

"I've never seen it in my 21 years like it is right now."

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I listened in the working portion of the Tim Finchem-Jack Vickers conference call and boy was it a downer...and I never even had one of those milkshakes everyone raves about.

While it was all a bit murky as to exactly why this happened, the most revealing comments came from Vickers: 

But all of the sudden here, we're into an era that the marketplace out there is not the same, and I think it's been influenced by some phenomena in that we have one outstanding, unbelievable player in the form of Tiger Woods today, and when he's playing, the ratings are great, and when he isn't playing, the ratings aren't so hot.

So when we go to talk to these contacts, and we have a ton of them, we've got plenty of contacts to get sponsors.  But, they call their advertising people in and the next thing we know, we're talking about ratings and that makes it tough.  Right now we're just in one of those dips.  That will change and I think we'll get things worked out looking down the line.

And during the Q&A:

I feel a little bit today that we didn't, as I said without being repetitious, the timing here on behalf of both of us was tough to deal with.  But on the other side, and moving forward on a basis that we didn't feel made much business sense and we're really going to get us in trouble if we didn't take a deep breath and try and regroup.  And so I feel that we have to do that.
I'd be honest to say that off the record here, we were just talking with Tim, he's got some problems to resolve, I've got some problems to resolve, and those are going to take some time to do.  But they will be handled and they will be mended back together and we'll have this thing back flying again.  But it's going to take some doing.

Hmmm...

I'm disappointed, and it hurts to see this happen all of a sudden because we really thought even down to the last minute we might get it fixed.  But it's a different world out there right now.  I've never seen it in my 21 years like it is right now.

A Battlefield Defection

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Thanks to Four-putt for that header. You shoulda been a writer. Oh wait, you are.

So, does everyone see what I'm reading here, no International in 2007, either? Wow.

MEDIA ADVISORY – THE INTERNATIONAL

PLEASE JOIN PGA TOUR COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM AND JACK A. VICKERS FOR A PRESS CONFERENCE REGARDING THE INTERNATIONAL.

MR. FINCHEM AND MR. VICKERS WILL ADDRESS THE FACT THAT THE INTERNATIONAL, STAGED AT CASTLE PINES GOLF CLUB SINCE 1986, WILL NO LONGER REMAIN AS PART OF THE PGA TOUR SCHEDULE, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.

The New FedEx Cup Leader...

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headshot-96x109.jpg...is John Rollins.

Thanks to reader Charlie for noticing, because I forgot to check. 

And for those of you media members searching for a "storyline" on this?

If the FedEx Cup playoffs started today, Matt Hendrix and Stephen Leaney would just miss out on being eligible for the 144-man field at Westchester. Ponder the ramifications.

Tiger at Riviera?

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My interest in Tiger Woods playing at Riviera is purely selfish (it's pretty boring without him!).

Over at ESPN.com, the boys are debating their usual FACT or FICTION topics and they all say he's going to play.

Obviously, they don't remember that Tiger got caught in two hours of about the most hideous Friday afternoon traffic I've ever seen while battling the flu and Stevie's brilliant decision to leave the umbrella in the locker with a slim rain chance.

But in this suck up piece, Tim Rosaforte starts laying out all of the excuses for why Tiger's not playing, most of which the scribblers in San Diego were fed last week in the pre-planning for a likely no-show at Riviera.

Right now Tiger's playing with a three-club wind at his back -- but to quote Bob Seger, it's all about deadlines and commitments. After the Desert Classic, he's hanging around to check out his $25 million golf course project, and then jetting back to a short week in California after flying back through 12 time zones. What to leave in, what to leave out?

Hmmm, I don't know, the ones that don't pay big appearance fees?

Of course, while we're doing the whole Seger Against the Wind metaphor...

And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
Found myself further and further from my home and I
Guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was livin to run and runnin to live
Never worried about payin or even how much I owe

Okay, well maybe not the part about how much he owes.

More Points In Panama

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Doug Ferguson points out another wacky world ranking thingy in this week's notes column:

In the PGA Tour's attempt to validate the Nationwide Tour as something more than a minor league, consider the disbursement of world ranking points Sunday. Miguel Carballo won the Nationwide event in Panama and received more ranking points than Andrew Buckle received for his tie for fourth at the Buick Invitational.

I'd try to figure this out, but I lost interest in the world ranking years ago. 

Howell Takes FedEx Cup Lead; Media Wanted To Ask About It...

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...but forgot? Ran out of time? Simply didn't care?

Nice going guys! It's okay, we don't care either.

But, if you have absolutely nothing to do, here are the standings.

And yes I'll say what needs to be said. It's tough to address these things, but someone has to do it.

If the FedEx Cup playoffs started today, Todd Hamilton would not be in them.

But just think of the storylines! 

Not So Pat Question and Pat-hetic Answer

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Kudos to Peter Kostis for slipping in the "where will we see you next" question of Tiger in his post-final round Buick interview. Word has been quietly filtering out that he's likely not going to play at Riviera, and this was seemingly confirmed by Tiger's absurd answer about the long trip to Dubai and needing time to rest (though it did set up a nice zinger from Faldo about the trevails of traveling on a G5!).

Look Tiger, whether it's the traffic, the lousy weather, the poa greens, the lousy threadcount on the sheets at the Malibu beach house you rented, it doesn't matter. But don't claim fatigue with a week off after Dubai. You are more creative than that! 

But it also seems one of the writers (who!?) was pretty skeptical of Tiger's reasoning for likely skipping Riviera, and judging by the answer he received, the question hit a little too close to home...

 Q. If you don't play Nissan for whatever reason, if you're not ready or what-have-you, there will probably be some speculation like at East Lake where you're now at a point where you're trying to protect your streak, especially at a place like Riviera where you've never come close to winning; what would your answer be to that?

TIGER WOODS: People can say whatever they want. That's their opinion. They are entitled to it.

Pat Questions and Pat Answers

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Besides Nick Faldo's debut, CBS introduced new graphics and going to one commercial, Jim Nantz plugged everything imaginable, and some cool Killers music reminiscent of an ABC telecast briefly appeared (but lots of tired Yanni for the most part).

The only highlight was the pairing of those two lovebirds, Tiger Woods and Peter Kostis. I'm not sure what exactly gave the love-hate away. The lack of eye contact? The distance between the two, or the general feel of a dentist office conversation?

Well as promised, Kostis delivered pat questions.

Your thoughts on today's round?

How did you feel in terms of your competitive spirit with three rounds under your belt this year?

How do you feel about the overall state of your swing and game?

Thoughts about tomorrow?

Credit for Kostis for not asking any pending fatherhood questions. Those are getting really old. And we have 6 months to go! 

"I sure hope there never comes a day where a kid says, 'I have this putt to win the FedExCup.'"

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There's another donation for charity!

From Rich Beem's post second round press conference at Torrey Pines, courtesy of reader Scott:

 Q. Do you think kids will be wanting to win the FedExCup as much as the Masters or U.S. Open?

RICH BEEM: To be honest with you, this is an honest answer, I sure hope not. Because I think that that would be demeaning towards the majors and what everybody grows up -- I mean when I'm out practicing, when you see kids out there practicing, you know, seven-, eight-, nine-year-olds, even 15-, 16-year-olds, "I've got this putt to win the U.S. Open. I've got this putt to win The Masters."
I sure hope there never comes a day where a kid says, "I have this putt to win the FedExCup." I hate to say that because it sound like I'm bashing on the TOUR and the FedExCup and I'm not. I really hope that the kids are dreaming about winning a major championship and winning a title instead of winning something else. I just sure hope not.

JOE CHEMCYZ: Thanks, Rich.

RICH BEEM: Wow.