Every week of the 2009 PGA Tour season, the editorial staff of the SI Golf Group will conduct an e-mail roundtable. Check in on Mondays for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors.
Cameron Morfit, senior writer, Golf Magazine: Greetings, all, from the Golf.com bureau at an undisclosed location somewhere west of the Hudson.
Tiger Woods won the BMW (Bravo Mr. Woods) by a touchdown and a two-point conversion, thanks largely to a spectacular 62 on Saturday. Can we assume he's figured something out, or was it just a case of everything working for him on one special day?
Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Tiger figures out courses better than anybody since Jack Nicklaus. I'm guessing Cog Hill is his second-favorite course in Chicago now, after Medinah. He'll win there more than he loses, just like St. Andrews, Pebble and Augusta National, before the proofing.
Jim Herre, editor, Sports Illustrated Golf Plus: Tiger was scary-good on Saturday, but I loved the way he played the par-5 9th hole on Sunday — way left off the tee, a low bullet that left him behind a tree, then a wonderful punch that he drew around the tree to about 10 feet. Of course he made the birdie putt. Tough to compete against such brilliance.
Farrell Evans, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: Cog Hill is an easy course, and it showed in Tiger's 19-under score. Tiger could hit the ball all over the place and still make birdies. All to say, this tournament is no indication of how well he will fair in next year's majors.
Morfit: I'm pretty confused about the state of his game. He seems more like most other golfers now in that he's streaky-brilliant as opposed to just plain brilliant. It's just that Tiger's brilliance, when it comes, surpasses anything the rest of the guys can summon.
David Dusek, deputy editor, Golf.com: Between all these wins at Cog Hill and a pair of PGA Championships at Medinah, the guy should feel more at home in the Windy City than Mayor Daly.
Jim Gorant, senior editor, Sports Illustrated Golf Plus: Tiger was great this week, and deserved to win, but why was his 62 treated like the arrival of Haley's Comet? So far this year on Tour there have been one round of 60, six rounds of 61, and 25 rounds of 62. All those rounds did not generate the level of fawning and predictions of invincibility that Tiger's did. In fact, it's kind of shocking that Woods has only three 61s and three 62s in his career. Again, a great day and a great win, but I'm not sure it totally erases what's happened in the last few weeks.
Rick Lipsey, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: Tiger showed this week what Rudy Duran, his childhood coach, says Tiger has had since he was about 4 years old. He plays one shot at a time, with no thought to the past or future, and he cherishes every shot as an opportunity to do something really fun and really amazing. Nobody else "brings it" like that to literally every shot he or she plays.
Gorant: Maybe Bubba Watson, but it doesn't always work out as well for him.
Damon Hack, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: I think we talk so much about swing planes and positions at the top that we sometimes forget that golf is still competition. Tiger is still hungrier, mentally tougher and miles ahead of his peers. I still don't think it's even close.
Evans: Damon, we care about swing planes and such because that's all that Tiger cares about. And in the end, his obsession with perfection is going to cost him some majors over the next several years.
Hack: Sure, but there is also something to be said for intangibles and imagination and want-to, and Tiger cares about those things also, even as he tries to own his swing.
Dusek: Tiger doesn't care about swing planes as much as he cares about winning.
Morfit: What do people make of the fact that order has been restored in the universe? Does having Tiger back in the top spot make the FedEx Cup more compelling or less so? And how do we assess the odds of a guy in the top five, like Zach Johnson, winning at East Lake and taking it all?
Dick Friedman, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: I didn't need Tiger in the top spot to find it compelling. I think the whole thing's a hoot! Granted, it's still gimmicky. But you do get all the top players in big markets for four tournaments in a row. Luckily, we've had three different winners so far, and that's also helped the buzz. I'm even loving the grousing about "fatigue." Boo-effin'-hoo! Hey, tell that to an NHL player who's trying to keep his feet moving through the slush on Memorial Day!
Yes, the elimination system has its share of unfairness, in the sense that it progressively discounts regular-season performance — but that's what playoffs are all about. There are many, many examples from other sports of dominant regular-season teams being unceremoniously ousted in the postseason, and it might happen to Tiger at Atlanta. So if he gets bumped from the lead, he'll have to settle for ... $3 million. If someone like Zach can get hot and win — essentially, gaming the system — more power to him. It would be like a wild-card baseball team winning the Series.
Morfit: Yeah, I liked that the pros were saying they were fatigued. I'm sure they'll get a lot of sympathy. Maybe, though, we shouldn't be surprised if Woods goes W-W at the FedEx finish. Even with a bad knee, he's still in better shape than 99% of the guys out there.
Hack: Having shifted over to the NFL beat, I'm amazed at how many of these tough guys love Tiger. I'm writing an article on Adrian Peterson for Sports Illustrated, and he told me about meeting Tiger for the first time this summer. They spent most of the time talking about how much they bench press.
Dusek: Sorry, but I still don't feel any buzz surrounding the inappropriately named "playoffs." I know it's been written before, but this is a points race, not a playoff. Paul Casey didn't compete in the first two events and still could have competed at the BMW! In the NFL and baseball, the best teams are given a bye through ONE round as reward for their regular season performance. Then, like everyone else, they face elimination if they lose. That's a playoff.
Gorant: I disagree. I think this has been the most successful iteration of the playoffs. Lots of top guys jockeying for position. Lots of comeback stories (Garcia, Harrington), some long-shot dark horses (Leishman, Slocum) and guys grinding to keep their season alive and/or to get into the top five. Definitely thought it added something, and Casey's case only proves that the regular season does mean something. It's not perfect, and no, it's not history, but the playoffs definitely added to the golf season this year.
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