"Well, I think that overall the FedExCup was a success."

A few highlights from Tiger's post-Tour Championship final round sitdown with the slingers.

Q. Kind of along those lines, aside from winning the TOUR Championship and the bonus, the FedExCup, how would you assess winning the first FedExCup?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think that overall the FedExCup was a success. I think that there need to be tweaks, yes, there needs to be some tweaks, but I think overall it provided a lot of drama towards the end of the season, especially post-PGA when most of the guys shut it down. You know, post-PGA it's either Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup and that's basically all anyone ever talks about, now that the Bridgestone has moved to the week before the PGA especially.

I think we now know what they'll be wallpapering Tour headquarters with. 

Q. You talked about tweaks. Do you have any comments on what tweaks you would consider to make the tournament better? And what's it like, the final tournament for you this year, to go out with such a big bang?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think -- what I described earlier to Fergie here, a couple days ago, I think that when you have 125 exempt players on TOUR and your first event is 144 guys, I thought a playoff was play all year for a smaller field, you're supposed to narrow it up, not have more players. Especially when we have limited field events, invitationals that have smaller fields, more elite, and I just think that the playoffs should be that many players. I think the playoffs you narrow the field down, and when you have 10 percent over what you do on the exempt player list starting off the first event, I think that's too many.

Consider it done!

Q. Have you ever considered playing the latest Jack Nicklaus course in Dominican Republic designed by Jack Nicklaus, 18 holes in the Caribbean with the capacity to receive the championship?

Huh? Oh sorry, Tiger...

TIGER WOODS: Say that again.

Q. Have you ever considered playing the latest course designed by Jack Nicklaus in Cap Cana, Dominican Republic, the only Jack Nicklaus designed 18 holes in the Caribbean with the capacity to hold a championship?

TIGER WOODS: I've heard about the golf course. I haven't been down there yet. I've always wanted to go. I haven't been down there yet.

Anyone have the slightest idea what that line of questioning was about? Television reporter/rally killer? Or are there actual rumors of the event moving to the Carribean?

Poor Sergio...

After collecting win No. 60 on the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods:

Q. Stricks said he was pretty sure when you made your putt on 12 you looked back at them to make sure they were watching.

TIGER WOODS: No, I didn't do a Sergio (laughter).

Tiger Is One Last Good Week From Adding More Deferred Compensation He Does Not Need

Bob Harig says it's good for the FedEx Cup that Tiger Woods is leading, and while I understand the logic ratings-wise, is anyone else finding it hard to get excited about the prospect of Tiger or Phil adding a droplet of cash to their swollen portfolios? At least with Steve Stricker you have someone who $10 million will mean something too.

To put it another way, would the FedEx Cup be more interesting if the format allowed more players, including some underdogs, to have a chance of winning it all this week? 

"The atmosphere hasn't been quite the same."

Good news for the Commissioner: fewer people are talking about Phil's defection.

Bad news: because everyone is talking about the lousy attendance and lack of buzz at normally amped up Cog Hill.

Read Four-putt posted a few thoughts on this, while Steve Elling wrote that Chicagoans can be comforted by the fact that 2008 will likely see more star defections at all of the season ending playoff events.

Chicago was a fantastic musical, and the media types have been crowing and dancing in both unison and perfect harmony to express their outrage that a burgh with 10 million folks will be left holding the bag in two of the next three years.

Let's not have a Mrs. O'Leary-sized cow, OK?

As much critical fire as the FedEx Cup plan has drawn from fans and sponsors for failing to deliver on its implied promises to put Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els on the same stage over four consecutive weeks, the real issues are fast becoming apparent.

By next year, the fields from this season's inaugural FedEx run are going to feel like the stars were present in perfect attendance. The potential potholes for 2008 with regard to scheduling, barring an organizational miracle, make this year's foibles seem like minor nuisances.

While the 2008 schedule hasn't been formally released, based on its likely structure, top players will be asked to compete seven times in an eight-week span, culminating with the greatest cauldron of pressure in the game, the Ryder Cup. When it comes to finding excuses not to play next year, gentlemen, start your search engines.

Meanwhile, Tiger was asked about the crowds, after getting some hard hitting questions out of the way...

Q. Did you go home from Boston or did you come straight here?
TIGER WOODS: I came straight here.

Q. Did you wear that shirt last week?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah.

Q. When is the last time you wore a shirt twice?
TIGER WOODS: I wear it all the time, actually. I'm not that way.

Q. I know it sounds really gay, but I recognized it (laughter). It looks good.
TIGER WOODS: Thanks. I love it.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Q. How were the crowds today?

TIGER WOODS: There were a few more people. Still, it's not the same as the Western, that's for sure. Granted, the weather was a little sketchy, so maybe they didn't come out because of that.

And I thought this was interesting. It seems Tiger thought so too:

Q. This is a public course, you obviously play really well here, and some of the other public courses you play really well. Is that a coincidence? Do you play well at these types of places? Do you feel at home? It's an odd question, but you grew up and cut your teeth on them.

TIGER WOODS: I certainly did not grow up on a country club, that's for sure. Yeah, public courses is where it was at. I grew up on a par-3 course, just with -- the longest hole was 150 yards I believe it was. Granted, I couldn't get there -- I used to hit driver, 7-iron when I first started playing it. That's what we did. The great thing with playing Southern Cal junior golf is you got a chance to play country clubs every now and then, and it was like the coolest thing in the world. Oh, my God, the greens are great here, that kind of thing.
I don't know, that's a good question.

Q. What was the par-3 course?

TIGER WOODS: Hartwell. It's in Long Beach.

Back to the sensitive subject at hand...

 Q. Do you see any difference in the tournament from last year to this year with the tournament having BMW as a sponsor?

TIGER WOODS: Well, the crowds haven't really come out this year so far. The atmosphere hasn't been quite the same. Granted, we moved the tee times up yesterday and then the bad weather today, so it's been kind of a double dip against the tournament. But hopefully this weekend people will come out and we'll get some great weather, and hopefully we can play some good golf and get everyone fired up.

Tiger Lands With Gatorade Which Thankfully Sponsors No USGA Events...

...therefore, no surprise clinics, not yet anyway.

Golfweek's Scott Hamilton shares the deal, uh, dynamics ($100 million).

Butch Reveals The Tiger Secret And It's Really Not That Interesting

Brian Hewitt has the scoop on what Phil was watching for last week:

Specifically, Harmon told Mickelson to note how Tiger slows down his central nervous system simply by walking more slowly in the heat of battle. Harmon told Phil to watch how Woods putts out when he has the opportunity rather than wait around and let his opponent finish.

That made Phil laugh?  Wow, he's easy.

"I just don't understand why we can't play here year after year."

Tiger Woods at the Western BMW Championship:

Q. Has the format been working out? There were concerns about how many weeks in a row you'd have to play, but it seems like players have been able to schedule a week off at some point.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, a lot of guys are taking weeks off. I took the first week off, Ernie took last week, Phil and Paddy are taking this week off. If you combine the total for the guys who are playing The Presidents Cup, it's seven out of nine weeks, end of the year, end of the summer. Guys are finding it out to play seven out of nine weeks, except for Vijay. He's the only one.

Q. When this things was pitched to you, the idea that the schedule was going to be so bunched, did you express reservations about your ability to play that many in a row?

TIGER WOODS: We all did. We all didn't think it was in the best interest for us as players to play that much. We normally don't play that much, especially towards the end of the year. Most of the guys usually shut it down post-PGA, and maybe the only time you start playing a lot is maybe trying to get ready for the Ryder Cup.

Hmmm, no comment for the moment but weren't you the one who wanted a shorter season?

Q. Should the TOUR maybe have listened a little bit more to you guys instead of scheduling the tournaments the way they are, especially going into next year when you have the Ryder Cup right after that?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what happens. It's a lot of golf for a lot of guys. These are all big events. It's not like these are small events. They're all big events that you have World Golf Championships follows by a major, and then you have these four events and then you have The Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.

It's a bunch of big events. It's not like you have events where most of the guys like at Kapalua take it easy out there and go have fun at night, and if they play good golf, great. That's not the case.

And we finally get some clarification where he stands on cash versus deferred compensation. He has been rumored to have been displeased with the latter of the two options. 

Q. The deferred issue, where do you come down on that? I know you talked about how you might be dead by the time you collected it, but how much is it an issue, and could that be solved?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think it is an issue. I don't think -- well, I know a lot of the players weren't aware of it this year, that that's what we were playing for. If the players aren't aware of it, obviously the public won't be aware of it. I think that's one of the major issues for all of us is that it's not the true payout. It's like, how great would it be like in the World Series of Poker, at the first tee starting the first day of the TOUR Championship, that's all you see is it stacked up there and that's what you're playing for. That would create a lot of buzz. But as you said, I may not be around to collect it.

And regarding the Western...

Q. How disappointed are you to not come back to Chicago for two more years?

TIGER WOODS: Hey, I didn't like that idea. I think this is a great town. It's one of the biggest sport towns, if not one of the biggest markets we have in our country. I just don't understand why we can't play here year after year. People have always come out and supported the Western Open. They've always come out in big droves and really supported this tournament, and it's unfortunate that we're leaving here. I have a fondness for this tournament because I used to play here as an amateur, and it's always been near and dear to my heart.

This is interesting...

Q. Would you support either a U.S. Open or a PGA Championship being held here at this course?

TIGER WOODS: Well, it's not quite ready for that. It's not up to that level yet. I think after Rees gets a hold of it and makes some alterations to it, I think that it depends on how severe he's going to tweak the golf course, then yeah, you could possibly say you could get a PGA here or maybe a U.S. Open. But probably a PGA, if anything.

So does that mean he thinks a full Rees-toration increases the chances of landing a major? Oh let's hope not.

Now back to the schedule...

Q. Would building in a week off in the playoff schedule, would that address some of the problems? Would that help?

TIGER WOODS: Well, it's the way the schedule is with where you moved the Firestone event, prior to the PGA. Even if you put it post-PGA, it's still there. And then you have these four events, and then next year we have the Ryder Cup in there, as well. That's a lot of events for the guys. As I said, it's not easy events. They're all big events and events that you feel like you have to play well. It is what it is.

And it is what you wanted it to be.

Q. It sounds as if there's really no logical place on the calendar to put something like this.

TIGER WOODS: There really isn't. If the schedule is this short, there really isn't. That's kind of what you're running into.

Q. Does it seem strange that it's early September and the TOUR Championship is like next week already instead of two months away?

TIGER WOODS: You're right, that does seem different. Plus also, I think a welcome change for all of us, too. Most of us are going to take some time off and shut it down -- some of the guys, Vijay will still continue to play.

But some of the guys it's nice for them to take a break before they head down to Australia and support their Tour or South Africa and support their Tour. You know, Phil has usually built in his break post-Firestone event. But I think it's great for a lot of guys. It's a time for them to take some time off before they have to go out and support their Tours and travel all over.

Welcome change? Ugh...I'm confused.

Flashback: "Woods and Mickelson didn't draw up the plan, they simply were the strongest voices."

Just in case Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods try to put all of the blame on Commissioner Tim Finchem for the shortened season, they might want to read Doug Ferguson's July, 2006 column on how the shortened season came about. It was originally posted here.

"I think for us to compete against football, and for us to continue our season after the PGA Championship as long as it does, I just think it kind of loses its luster," Mickelson said at La Costa in February 2005. "It's just not exciting. I'd love to see a lot less tournaments on tour, so the top players play in a greater percentage of those events."

Woods and Mickelson are not the best of friends, but it sounded as though they were in cahoots on this one. For it was only two days later that Woods also argued for a shorter season.

"End it Labor Day," he said.

A week later at Doral, Woods was more expansive on his wish for an early end to the regular season, which would allow top players to compete against each more often besides the eight biggest events — four majors, The Players Championship and three World Golf Championships.

"It would be more exciting for the fans, and I'm sure the sponsors and TV and everybody, if we did play more often together," Woods said. "The only way you could do that is if we shortened the season, which I've really been trying to get into Finchem's ear about."

And Ferguson ended with this....

Woods and Mickelson didn't draw up the plan, they simply were the strongest voices.

And until the PGA Tour goes through its first season under the revamped schedule, no one can be sure it's a bad idea.

If it is, blame them.

Larry Craig Stealing Phil and Tiger's Line!

Apparently it was his merely intent to resign, just as it was Tiger's intent to play all four playoff events and Phil's intent to play each week of the FedEx Cup finish.

2011 FedEx Cup In Doubt If Woods Decides To Walk Sam To First Day of Pre-School

Okay sometimes this hiding behind family values stuff gets the best of me. (By the way, did Phil's offspring wait around for him today while he did his corporate outting?)

Anyway, it does seem that Tiger is going to pass on the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, what with Doug Ferguson already speculating on possible replacements.

Don't laugh, but Mike Weir is the third alternate.  

Update on 2007-09-05 15:43 by Geoff

It seems Ernie Els is now predicting that Sam's entry into school is going to be an issue in the coming years.

"Wait until Tiger's child grows up, wait another couple of years," said Els, who has children aged 8 and 4. "Wait until it's time for her to go off to school. Those are the things that are important in everybody's lives, and you don't want to miss those. I can assure you, it's going to get even harder for him."

"But he [Harmon] told me a couple of things he [Woods] likes to do, and I was watching for it, and I chuckled throughout the round when I'd pick up on it."

Steve Elling files an entertaining report on Saturday's much-improved performance (19-under-par!!) from the Tiger-Phil-Vijay pairing.

It was gang engorgement, a feeding frenzy. Mickelson, ever the smirking wise guy, suggested that Woods might have been motivated to pick up his pace after Lefty started a torrid run in the middle of the round, when he played an eight-hole stretch in a blistering 7 under.

"I think Tiger got a little upset there when I got on that streak because he started out 6 under in his next six holes," Mickelson said, his math exactly right.

Oh that's good, but here's the buried lede:

Mickelson enjoyed the two days in the premier trio so much he wants more of the same in Monday's final round. Butch Harmon, his swing coach and Woods' former teacher, gave Mickelson some insider information on things to watch when playing with Woods. Mickelson declined to provide specifics, but it must have something to do with Woods' mannerisms or peccadilloes.

Maybe Woods has been demystified a bit.

"In the past I haven't really played that well with Tiger, per se," Mickelson said. "But he [Harmon] told me a couple of things he [Woods] likes to do, and I was watching for it, and I chuckled throughout the round when I'd pick up on it."

Mickelson stubbornly wouldn't offer more, other than Harmon's insight seemed to work.

"It's really helped because I find myself chuckling at it now and played much more relaxed and had a good time today," Mickelson said.

I think that pretty much eliminates any hope of a Butch-Tiger reunion.

A few other nuggets from Mickelson's press conference:

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, figuring out how the slopes on the greens are going to take it. I love the design and I love the setup. I love the way the greens are, around the greens, the way the rough is where you can actually play shots, and I think that I'm going to plan on making this a permanent stop. This is the first time I've been here, and I can't believe I haven't been here earlier. This is a wonderful tournament for us.

Guess Phil likes fescue rough.

And on the FedEx Cup...

Q. When you first heard about the FedExCup, what was your sense then, and has it changed at all since you've started to play in it?

PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not sure. I mean, I think that I won't have a good comment for you on the FedExCup for a couple years. I think that I've got to give it a fair chance to play out and see how the individual events go and see how the overall chase for the Cup goes. The first year we're going to need to do a few tweaks, you can tell, and I'm curious to see how next year's scheduling is going to be.

There's a lot of little areas in there that are critical I think in the first couple years on whether it makes it or not.

I guess he hasn't heard that the schedule is set for next year.

This is funny and it leads into the stuff Elling quotes above...

Q. At a normal TOUR event you three guys wouldn't play together. Would it be good to do this more often?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I think it would. I mean, I think it would. Certainly the last three years this random computer pairings has randomly had us on opposite tee times every day for three years (laughter).

Q. Funny how that works out.

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, anyway, but I enjoy it. This was actually a really interesting day because I've been working with Butch Harmon, as you know, and in the past I haven't really played that well with Tiger per se. But he told me a couple things that he likes to do, and I kind of was watching for it, and I chuckled throughout the round when I'd pick up on it. And it was just -- I think that working with Butch has really helped me understand how to get my best golf when I play in the same group as Tiger, and I'm hoping I have a chance to do that on Monday.

Q. Anything you can tell us, the things you look for?

PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, no, I'm not about to tell you. I'm not even going to go there. But just a couple things that have been very interesting, and certainly the stories have been great (laughter). But just a few things to watch for. And it's really helped because I find myself chuckling at it now and played much more relaxed and had a good time today.

Q. Kind of demystified the guy for you?

PHIL MICKELSON: I wouldn't say that. That's all I'd really care to go for. I'm sharing with you a little piece and you keep asking for more.

Q. Are you hoping you guys get paired together again next week?

PHIL MICKELSON: Absolutely. I'd like to play well tomorrow and I'd like him to play well tomorrow, so hopefully we both have a chance on Monday and maybe get paired together. That would be fun.

Tiger's Press Conference

Tiger's sit down with the scribblers Thursday included all of the right FedEx Cup answers...

Q. What would be meaningful about winning the FedExCup?

TIGER WOODS: Well, any time you win something that's never been done before, it's always meaningful. This is an experiment for the TOUR, and I equated it out there to very similar to what NASCAR went through. No one really understood it until after it happened, and then after a couple years people really got behind it. As we can all see, it's been flourishing.

Q. Several players have said this week, Rich Beem the other day said, let's be honest, without Tiger in the field, the Playoffs -- a Playoff event doesn't really matter. What's your take on the reaction you've received for taking a week off from players, from media, from fans? What's your take on you taking a week off?

TIGER WOODS: As far as the players, I really haven't heard much. I know that a bunch of my buddies were giving me some grief (laughter). But as far as any of the media stuff, I haven't seen it. I've been out on the boat and getting away from it.

Q. What kind of grief?

TIGER WOODS: Any kind of grief imaginable, just like we always do. We do it each and every day.

Q. No details, though?

TIGER WOODS: We just need to find an excuse and we're going to needle each other.

And for today's rally killer, courtesy of a television reporter (like that needed clarification!)...

Q. One of our local sports celebrities Tom Brady just had a baby, and I'm wondering do you have any new dad advice for him?

TIGER WOODS: Well, you don't sleep, that's for sure (laughter). It's fantastic. You hear from every parent who's ever had their first child that it's an experience that you'll never forget. You always want to be there. It's the little things. I've only been a dad for about two months now, but it's just the little things each and every day.

I'm away from home this week, and you miss those things. Granted, when you're at home it drives you crazy at times, especially late nights, 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning gets a little tough. But those times actually you really do sort of miss them, as well.

On the golf course...

Q. Can you talk about coming back here as the defending champion, and also now that you've played a full Pro-Am round, what about the changes on this course? What are your thoughts about that?

TIGER WOODS: Well, every time we've played here, this has been one of the greatest sporting towns you could ever play in front of. These fans, they love their sport, and they've supported this event. I know they've changed the golf course several times, and this time they've really done I think just a heck of a job and made it much more natural to the surroundings.

They made it probably slightly more difficult. The greens are a little faster right now, the fairways are giving it up a little bit, and you're really going to have to make sure you manage your game a little bit.

Before in some of the years we've played, we just had to make a bunch of birdies, just go super-low. It's going to be a little more difficult to do that this year.

On short par-4's, including this week's 4th hole...

Q. Can you talk about drivable par 4s and specifically the 4th hole out here this week?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I've always thought that's been a neat attribute to a golf course if you have one par 4 you can drive. But generally if you don't play it well, you're going to probably make bogey or even double. I think that's one of the neat things about having a par 4 like that.

You've got to hit -- you think you ought to just blow it in the bunker up there or whatever, but that's one of the harder bunker shots, too. You've got to make sure you know what you're doing, where the pin is, and it's a little more strategic than you think. It's very similar to No. 10 at Riviera. You think, oh, this is no big deal, driver down there, and up-and-down easy. We see a lot of bogeys for some reason on that hole when guys take a run at it.

And one more...

Q. In follow-up to that question about the 4th hole, how did you play it today and what is the game plan?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I drove it just short of the green probably maybe about two yards short of the bunker. I just hit kind of a flop shot. Pin was right in the middle of the green.

You know, if I hit a really good drive, I might be able to fly it to the front. I've got to really hit a good one. But generally my normal shot is going to be just slightly short of the green. A lot of it just depends on the angles you want. Obviously the green goes basically from back left to front right is the angle. To try to hit the ball to the right you've got to hit it a lot further, which makes it a little more interesting.

It's a very clever hole. You think it's pretty easy, you think you should be able to walk away for the week playing it 3-under par, 2-under par at the worst, but you'll see some bogeys there.

And they say there is no such thing as a dumb question...this isn't even a point misser.

Q. Are you presently designing any golf courses? If yes, where are they; if no, will you do some in the future?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, one in Dubai and one in Nashville [Asheville]. We have two that we're working on. You know, we're probably going to limit it to that.

Sounds like it's fun to build in Dubai...

Q. I want you to talk about maybe a couple of things that you've learned as you've started these first two projects.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, there's quite a few headaches that are involved. Just like anything, you're trying to create something from nothing, so there always are going to be some impediments along the way.

For instance, like the Dubai project, we've -- how do you get water that far into the desert? You think, okay, it's pretty easy, build a couple lakes, dump the water in. Well, it's 130 degrees, it's humid, everything is evaporating and all gone. Trying to create and shape the golf course and keep the dirt from blowing away, the wind blows there, too, it's not like it's calm every day, is a challenge. This is something that we didn't really think about at the beginning. We thought, okay, we can get around this, no big deal. All of a sudden it's a reality and it's presenting quite a problem.

On the Westchester television ratings...

Q. Did you get a chance to watch any of last week's at all and did you happen to see what the TV ratings were?

TIGER WOODS: No and then yes. I didn't watch any of it, but I read the paper on Monday.

Q. Were you a little surprised it was as low as it was given kind of the hype and the lead-in?

TIGER WOODS: I was surprised.

This did not exactly put the Hank-Tiger breakup rumors to rest...

Q. You mentioned practice. Over the last couple weeks there have been a couple reports about Hank and you guys' status and how much he's going to be intimately involved. Can you give us your view on how that's going to go going forward?

TIGER WOODS: Well, we're still working together.

Q. Just not as often?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, definitely not as often. He has some things that he needs to take care of, which is totally understandable, and he really should be there.

And last question on getting a cut of the real estate in his design ventures...

Q. When it comes to your courses and your design and the structure of them, I know they won't all be tied to real estate, but the first couple having the design part and then the real estate part on the back end for years to come, why is that? And can you just talk a little bit about the structure of that? And some other players, Jack has done deals like that that have kind of backfired on the real estate part of it for him. What are your thoughts on having it structured that way, and can you talk a little bit about it?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, that structure has its faults and can be fallible. But also if you're lucky enough, you can hit the home run, too. So it's a hit-and-miss.

But yeah, you definitely do take a chance when you do that. But that's the whole idea of being around people who are reputable, who understand what they're doing, and who have created projects in the past that have been very successful. And these people are the ones you want to partner up with.

 Like Donald Trump!

The Tiger Ratings Effect

Doug Ferguson details the changes at TPC Boston and also dispels the myth of horses for playoff courses.

Accompanying his piece was an unbylined sidebar not posted on the USA Today's web site noting the 2.1 television rating for the Barclay's. It pointed out that the same week last year featured Tiger winning at Firestone, drawing a 6.6 rating.

The City That Never Weeps

Thanks to reader Tuco for Mark Cannizzaro's borderline comical rant about Tiger's PR swing through New York city.

Woods' appearance was a cheap shot that ripped through the heart of not only those organizations but the New York area golf fans who bought tickets for last week's tournament expecting to see Woods competing in an event he even did TV ads to promote.

I think New Yorkers need to let this one go because there's no way he's playing the Barclay's next year either. Especially after he saw the greens.

"Rory Sabbatini still found a way to tug on Superman’s cape"

That's Steve Elling writing about Rory Sabbatini's latest comments directed toward Tiger. Now, they say the definition of insane is when you keep doing the same thing ov...you go Rory! We love when Tiger wipes the floor with you!

His favorite foil, Tiger Woods, isn’t even in the field this week, yet cantankerous Rory Sabbatini still found a way to tug on Superman’s cape and court another mini-controversy.
 
Sabbatini shot an 8-under 63 Thursday to take the first-round lead at the inaugural FedEx Cup playoff event, The Barclays at Westchester Country Club, but he couldn’t resist taking the bait when the topic of Woods’ controversial absence was broached.
 
Sabbatini, whose opinionated honesty has repeatedly landed him in some sticky situations with regard to Woods this year, characterized the decision of the game’s top player to skip the first round of the mega-hyped playoff series as an embarrassing black eye.
 
“It's a disappointment because, obviously the whole purpose of this new system was to try and create an atmosphere that would draw everybody to the final four events of the year,” Sabbatini said. “Obviously, it's kind of backfired in the sense by Tiger skipping the first event.
 
“It leaves a lot of questions and a lot of interesting questions to what they need to do, to maybe change it so that you definitely have the incentive to play all four.”
 
Sabbatini, who won earlier this year at Colonial and stands sixth in FedEx Cup points entering the week, said those who skip stages should suffer a penalty of some sort and possibly should not receive the full $10 million bonus if they win the four-week race.
 
“There's many guys that play on tour that are out of shape and they play six, seven weeks in a row,” Sabbatini said. “It's just, I don't know if there's any solution to it, but there's got to be some kind of financial incentive.”

This ought to go over particularly well in Orlando this week. 

Woods’ claim that he was too tired to play after winning back-to-back weeks at the Bridgestone and PGA Championship rang hollow in Sabbatini’s ears. For Woods, the FedEx bonus money is probably no great windfall, odd as it might sound to civilians out there, he said.
 
“Oh, I definitely think it's something other than fatigue,” he said. “Well, I think maybe to some people $10 million doesn't seem like a whole lot of incentive but to others it would seem like a good incentive.”

 For more of Rory's thoughts, here is his press conference transcript.