Whew: Johnny To Get Tampa Week Off For Burdening Himself With A Kapalua Trip, Working With Sir Nick

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I've been wondering how NBC convinced Johnny Miller to make his way over to Kapalua for a lowly Golf Channel telecast when he already works so many grueling weeks a year (eight?). Sure enough, Doug Ferguson reports that Transitions Championship chokers need not worry about being heckled from the booth.

Miller said the plan is for him to skip the Transitions Championship outside Tampa, Fla., to be replaced by Tampa-resident Gary Koch.

FedExCup To Be Mired In Algorithm Hell For The Foreseeable Future

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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.

Jim Huber Tribute And Recent Interview

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Steve Eubanks pays tribute to the late, great Jim Huber.

When Augusta National built its new driving range, he gave me a tour, pointing out every feature like a teenager showing off a new car. “You’ve got to see the new television compound,” he said. When I assured him that I did not, he said, “No, really, it’s the most incredible thing you’ll ever see: state of the art and they make it look like it’s been here a hundred years.”

It was no wonder Augusta National had Jim write and narrate their video essays. The guy could make a satellite plug-in sound like the greatest invention since the titanium driver.

Thankfully, I was able to return a small favor by encouraging him and answering questions during his foray into literature. His book, “Four Days in July,” about the 2009 British Open reads the way Jim lived: heartfelt, kind, and infectiously optimistic.

The majors won’t be the same next year, especially the post-round interview areas where Jim could always lighten the mood. The players will miss him, as will the fans. But his friends, of which I was blessed to me one, will never find another one like him.

Also worth checking out is Jim's great interview with Huber from this summer. You can access it here or check out the embed below:

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

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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.