The Four-Day, Single Pro-Am Partner Event Not-Played-At-The-Classic-Club-Effect: Phil Returns To Desert

Bones, get ready to remember a new pro-am partner's name every day! For Immediate Release:

Two-time event champion Phil Mickelson commits to play Humana Challenge
 
Immensely popular Southern California native and four-time major winner
 has an enviable record in the Coachella Valley
 
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson, a two-time winner of the Humana Challenge and the leading all-time money winner in the event, has committed to play in an event where he has enjoyed immense success -- the 2012 Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation.
 
Set to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May, Mickelson is the second Hall of Fame selection to enter the Humana Challenge field. Greg Norman, winner of two British Opens and captain of the International Team at the last two Presidents Cups, also committed to his first Humana Challenge since 1986.
 
“I’m honored to join President Clinton and the Clinton Foundation for the Humana Challenge,” Mickelson said. “I admire President Clinton and the charitable work of his Foundation, which helps millions of people around the world, and I applaud him for joining Humana in using the tournament to help promote health and wellness. Some of my best seasons have come after starting at this event and I’m really excited about coming back again.”

FedExCup To Be Mired In Algorithm Hell For The Foreseeable Future

Doug Ferguson reports that the Ponte Vedra's permutations pundits have been running the numbers and by golly, the beleaguered points system doesn't get any better no matter how many times they try to rejig things.

PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said even though FedEx Cup points will start being awarded this week at the Tournament of Champions, changes could be made at the next policy board meeting in March, though "I would say that's unlikely."

The formula has been working well for the most part. The reward for a strong regular season is a high seeding going into the playoffs, which translates to better odds of reaching the Tour Championship. And there's still plenty of volatility for a high finish in the playoff events, as Reavie showed last year and Laird did in 2010.

Points are worth five times as much in the playoffs. Votaw said tour officials looked at how the standings would be if points were only tripled, or quadrupled, and didn't see anything worth changing.

"Going down to four [times the points] doesn't change a whole lot. We don't think going down to three changes much," Votaw said. "There has to be some premium on funneling down to the playoffs. The whole question of volatility has been a vexing one from the start. But we think the last three years have been good."

Volatility was evident all the way to the end last year. Bill Haas narrowly got into the Tour Championship as the No. 25 seed, then won the $10 million bonus by winning the Tour Championship with most of the top players in the standings faltering.

"With the Middle East swing, those at the top are going to, if anything, stretch their lead."

Ah yes, 2012 is here and with such a short off season it's a bit tough to get excited about Friday's kickoff, but at least Pond Scummers Huggan and Elling haven't lost their cynical touch while bouncing around several topics.

This exchange about the world ranking points up for grabs early in the season could play an interesting part in determining where some big names (Els, Goosen) play, how the final Masters field shapes up and how Americans playing the PGA Tour may fall behind.

Elling: Damned unlikely. For one thing, the fields over the first six to eight weeks of the season are frequently stronger on the European Tour than in the States. The ebb and flow of the world rankings at this time of year often see a slew of Euros rise to the top because of the points on offer early in the season. Then as the bigger U.S. events start kicking off, especially in March, the points start to swing back to this side of the Pond and the Yanks start to move up a few pegs in the pecking order. OK, there's your technical explanation, anyway. As for the emotional portion, read onward.

Huggan: I'd like to see an American make the top three or four of the rankings if only to stop the whining noise that has been emanating from your side of the Pond ever since it became clear that the very best players are no longer nephews of Uncle Sam. My goodness, can you guys not give it a rest? Does it really matter that much where the top players hail from?

Elling: Yeah, it matters. Ever since Francis Ouimet, we Yanks have believed we were the best of the best. It's been a rough three or four years. Men's tennis had ceased to exist as a sport here, in large part because there are zero American players at the top of the totem pole.

Huggan: I tell you one thing about the rankings: Any American wanting to be in the top five by the Masters is going to have to pull his finger out. With the Middle East swing, those at the top are going to, if anything, stretch their lead.