Americans hope big hitters provide big advantage at Celtic Manor

Bubba Watson averaged 310 yards per drive on the PGA Tour this year, second longest on Tour, and Dustin Johnson wasn't far behind at 308.5.

Phil Mickelson (12th at 299 yards per drive) and 2010 Ryder rookie Jeff Overton (16th, 297) are considered exceptionally long, while Tiger Woods (296), Rickie Fowler (292.4), Stewart Cink (292.3) and Hunter Mahan (291.8) also are among the Tour's bigger hitters.

The American Ryder Cup team that will take on Europe at Celtic Manor starting Friday is being called the longest side in history. The question is whether all that firepower will help or hurt the Yanks as they attempt to win a Ryder Cup on European soil for the first time since 1993.

"I like the golf course," Johnson said Tuesday. "It fits my eye pretty good. There are a few holes where length is an advantage. A couple of the par 5s, if I hit a good drive, I can get home, where the rest of the guys are not going to be able to get there."

Still, when asked whether there was anything about the course or the set-up that would give a long hitter like him an advantage, he replied, "Not particularly."

European captains have negated Team USA's would-be power advantage by setting up their home courses with doglegs and narrow fairways. This week is no different. Although Euro skipper Colin Montgomerie has not gone out of his way to modify the course, the equalizer figures to be the rough, which has thrived and thickened in rainy Wales.

"The rough is patchy here in June," said Graeme McDowell, who won the Wales Open at Celtic. "It's not patchy anymore. It's just thick. You miss fairways, you're going to be punished."

"It's imperative that we get our numbers and lines straight because with the rough being up like that, you need to hit the ball on the fairways," Woods said.

The good news for Team USA is those fairways are not particularly narrow. The Twenty Ten Course at Celtic Manor features three par-5s, including the 610-yard second hole, the 580-yard ninth and the 575-yard 18th. The finishing hole features a pond in front of the green, forcing players to decide whether to try to carry the water with their second, or lay up and leave themselves a delicate third shot from a downhill lie to an elevated green.

J.B. Holmes, another American bomber who played on the 2008 Ryder Cup team and narrowly avoided making this year's side as a wild-card pick, is perhaps the most recent player to demonstrate the value of a length advantage in match play.

Holmes had Woods on the ropes at the '08 WGC-Accenture Match Play, forcing Woods to make three birdies and an eagle, and 88 feet worth of putts, to avoid a first-round upset.

The long-hitting Kentuckian made six birdies and scored a 2 and 1 victory over Soren Hansen in Ryder Cup singles at Valhalla later that year.

"He hit it quite long," Hansen said. "But quite long is probably an understatement. He hit it really long."

If this year's American Ryder team is to upset Europe, Watson, Johnson and company will have to figure out how to leverage their length advantage the way Holmes did. Given that Watson is 166th on Tour in driving accuracy (55.67 percent), Johnson is 161st (56.35 percent), Mickelson is 180th (52.66 percent), and Overton is 170th (55.44 percent), that may require some doing.

"I think these guys are pretty smart players and they will figure it out," said U.S. captain Corey Pavin, who added that Celtic's reasonable fairways but penal rough reminds him somewhat of the way officials set up Whistling Straits, home of the PGA Championship in August.

Johnson, who nearly won that PGA, said after comparing notes with his teammates that the play at Celtic may be to get aggressive with second shots, not tee shots.

In the end, European rookie Rory McIlroy may be best-suited to capitalize on his strong driving record. He averaged 300 yards per drive on Tour in 2010, and hit 62.64 percent of the fairways, making him far more accurate than any of the aforementioned Americans.

McIlroy drove it "like a man possessed" in practice Tuesday, McDowell said.

Long and straight — the combination never fails.

Croeso! A Ryder Cup comes to Wales

NEWPORT, Wales (AP) — Croeso, Ryder Cup!

Amid the lush, rolling hills of Wales, workers put the finishing touches on a course that was built with this very event in mind.

A giant stage has gone up alongside the 18th hole for the opening ceremony. An amphitheater-style grandstand wraps around the first tee. Signs proclaimed "Croeso," the Welsh word for "Welcome" - even if some of the locals aren't quite sure how to pronounce it.

"We're the only country in the world," a bus diver quipped as he shuttled reporters to the course, "that doesn't known how to speak its own language."

No worries. Celtic Manor looks ready for its moment in the sun, even if there doesn't figure to be much sunshine for this biennial event between the defending champion Americans and the home team from Europe. The skies Monday were gray and dreary, with the forecast calling for rain much of the week.

While the weather is unmistakably British, the new Twenty Ten course is hardly a traditional seaside links. Instead, this is a setting that one might expect from a typical week on the PGA Tour - right down to a towering fountain in front of the 18th green.

That's just fine with European captain Colin Montgomerie.

"There's a so called home-course advantage that can be used for a home team," he said. "On this occasion, I haven't played around with the golf course at all. This golf course is set up in a very, very fair manner to allow the best team to win. I don't think it is right to set the course up in any other way than to what it's been designed for. It's a great, great golf course and it's in super condition."

The Americans haven't won in Europe since 1993, so they'll take any little edge they can get. Even so, they're the clear underdogs against a team that had such a deep pool of talent to choose from that Montgomerie passed over top 10-ranked player Paul Casey and Justin Rose, who won three of his four matches in the last Ryder Cup and had two PGA Tour victories this year.

Monty wasn't buying the favorite's tag, however.

"On paper, yes. Unfortunately, the Ryder Cup is not played on paper," he said. "This will be very, very close and very competitive, as they always are."

U.S. captain Corey Pavin had a firm grip on the gold chalice as he left the media center Monday, though he didn't mind pausing long enough to let others get a look. The early winners are engraved on the original bowl, while the more recent champions - including the U.S. two years ago at Valhalla - are memorialized around the expanded base, a la the Stanley Cup in hockey.

Pavin likes the Americans' chances of taking the cup back home with them Sunday night, even if most everyone on this side of the Atlantic believes a European victory is a lock with a team that includes two of this year's major champions, Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell.

The U.S. roster isn't exactly barren. Jim Furyk is coming off a $10 million win at the Tour Championship, Dustin Johnson might have won the PGA Championship if not for his blunder in the bunker and, oh yeah, let's not forget those two guys at the top of the world rankings.

Granted, No. 1 Tiger Woods has made far more news off the course, failing to win in a year when a sex scandal led to the breakup of his marriage, and second-ranked Phil Mickelson hasn't done much since winning the Masters in April. But they're still an imposing duo, even if there's no chance of them playing together as they did during their ill-fated pairing at the 2004 Ryder Cup.

"I like the way Team USA is playing right now," Pavin said. "There's a lot of guys that have been playing well, and that's always a good thing. Any captain is going to want his players to be up on their game, but then again, anything can happen during a week of golf. Things can change quickly."

Both captains issued a no-tweeting ban for the week, hoping that will help keep their focus on the matches rather than trying to entertain their social network fans. Stewart Cink and Ian Poulter both have over a million followers on Twitter.

"We're finally off to Wales!! Won't be tweeting until we get back. I guess I'll have to pass the down time actually reading or something," Cink wrote before the U.S. team's charter flight from Atlanta to Cardiff.

Poulter, however, clarified the policy with a Tweet late Monday night: "For the record Colin hasn't banned twitter, he has asked to be respectful to the teams privacy. I played 7 holes today course is awesome."

Pavin figures his team can survive a week without documenting their every move.

"We talked about it as a team and we thought it best not to do it," he said. "We need to focus on playing and working on preparations and getting ready to play the Ryder Cup. ... Team USA, whatever they would like to do - tweeting or facebooking or whatever it may be - they have the opportunity to do that next week and for the rest of their lives."

Montgomerie figures to be one of the star attractions at Celtic Manor, even though he'll never hit a shot. He never lost a singles match during his Ryder Cup career, and would dearly love to lead the team that brought the prize back to Europe.

"First time I've arrived with no golf clubs, I assure you," he said. "It's strange in many ways. The biggest event in my golfing career and I've come here with no clubs. Quite weird, really."

Not that Monty's giving up on returning as a player in two years at Medina.

"I stood on the first tee on Friday when I arrived," he said. "I had my own thoughts about ever playing again in the Ryder Cup, and after this great honor and responsibility that this is, I intend to do my utmost to try to make the team in 2012."

Captains predict competitive Ryder Cup

CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — The U.S. and Europe Ryder Cup captains predicted Monday the outcome could hinge on a single putt on the final day.

The U.S team arrived in Wales for the three-day match, which starts Friday at Celtic Manor. The Americans are defending the trophy following their home win in Valhalla in 2008. The U.S. hasn't won the Ryder Cup on foreign soil since 1993.

"It's going to be very competitive. It's going to come down to who makes the putts," U.S. captain Corey Pavin said. "It's hard to win over here."

European captain Colin Montgomerie agreed.

"These matches will be very closely contested. On this occasion, I think it will come down to a Sunday putt," the Scot said. "But that's the beauty of the Ryder Cup, the closeness of it over the last few years."

Pavin's team includes four players - Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk - who are in the world's top five, but Europe is considered the favorite.

The No. 1-ranked Woods has a mediocre Ryder Cup record, winning 11 points from a possible 25, and only made the U.S. team as one of Pavin's four captain's picks.

"I have always said that Tiger is the best player in the world and the best player to have ever played the game," Montgomerie said. "Of course, he would be in my team. It's the first time Tiger will have played in Wales as a professional. We're delighted he's here."

There has some debate whether Woods, who hasn't won a tournament in 2010, will play the maximum of five matches this week, but Pavin did not give much away about his plans.

"I have thought about it a lot. ... I have a pretty good idea of the direction I'd like to go," Pavin said. "Every time Tiger plays in the Ryder Cup, he wants to win. All the guys want to come out and play their best golf and retain the trophy. There isn't one player different to the other."

Pavin held the Ryder Cup trophy aloft as he posed for pictures at the foot of the aircraft steps after the team's charter plane landed in Cardiff. He was soon joined by his players, who stood in six pairs behind him wearing beige jackets.

Woods, one of four players wearing dark sunglasses, stood alongside Steve Stricker as Montgomerie waited to offer an official welcome.

Overcast conditions greeted the U.S. team and rain is forecast for Friday and over the weekend.

"Everyone has to play in the rain. We have a lot of guys on the team who actually enjoy playing in the rain, believe it or not," said Pavin, who played in three Ryder Cups.

"I think our guys can embrace any kind of weather. I played Ryder Cup in poor weather. You don't really notice it so much, you're just focused on winning your matches."

Pavin said he and his players would rest Monday following their overnight flight, with a first practice session scheduled for Tuesday.

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Live video of 2010 Ryder Cup on Golf.com

This week, GOLF.com will have live video coverage of holes 2, 6, 12 and 17 from the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales. Check back Friday morning for the opening matches at Celtic Manor.

Friday
2:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET

Saturday
2:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET

Sunday
6:30 a.m. to end of matches

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Cochran shoots 64 to take Champions Tour lead

CARY, N.C. (AP) — Russ Cochran shot an 8-under 64, making six birdies in a seven-hole stretch in the middle of the round and eagling No. 17, to take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Tom Pernice Jr. on Friday in the Champions Tour's SAS Championship.

Cochran, coming off his first victory on the 50-and-over tour two weeks ago in South Korea, had the best first-round score in the history of the tournament.

"I think that's probably the reason I played good today because I've been on a high from the last three or four weeks," Cochran said "I was certainly a little shaky starting off. I had a lot of par saves, so really a lucky round. But I played some really good golf the last 12 or 13 holes."

Pernice had a hole-in-one on the 188-yard 11th hole.

"I hit it right at the hole, and I thought it was going to be short," Pernice said. "I turned away to put my club away, and the next thing I know, they're screaming that it went in the hole. So I didn't get to see it, but that's OK. ... The hole-in-one was great, really got me going. But the save for birdie on 12, since I hit it out there and had a pretty simple shot to reach and missed the green and then got up and down, really, was really the key to the round."

Bob Gilder and David Eger opened with 66s, and Nick Price and Ted Schulz followed at 67.

Bernhard Langer, the tour leader with five victories, and Fred Couples had 71s.

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No sleep for Ogilvy, Aussie team playing for title

ATLANTA (AP) — Geoff Ogilvy broke into a befuddled smile, searching for the right words, unsure exactly how to reply.

If he could only have one thing this weekend, what would it be: A win in the Tour Championship? Or a championship for his beloved Aussie rules football team?

"That's not really a fair question," he finally said. "I don't know. That's not a fair question. I'm not going to answer that question."

Ogilvy shot a 3-under 67 on Friday and was just one stroke off the lead heading to the third round of playoffs-ending championship. But cashing a big paycheck wasn't the only thing on his mind.

Early Saturday, his favorite team back home, the St. Kilda Saints, faced the Collingwood Magpies in the Australian Football League Grand Final before an expected crowd of some 100,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Ogilvy planned to stay up late watching the game on television, even though it wasn't likely to end until around 3 a.m. EDT and he has an 11:15 a.m. tee time Saturday. The leaders are going off earlier than the first two days because - get this - NBC also is broadcasting an American-style football game, Notre Dame vs. Stanford.

"It would be nice if there wasn't an Irish football game tomorrow and we could have this tee time again," Ogilvy said, referring to his early afternoon start Friday. "I'll get a bit of sleep. It's less than ideal, but I'm not going to miss watching this game."

Ogilvy was asked what it would mean for St. Kilda to win a championship. After all, the Saints have been around since 1897 - and they have captured only one premiership, way back in 1966.

"St. Kilda is the hard-luck club of the league," he said. "The last 10 years they've been one of the best teams for sure, and they just haven't been able to get over the line. There's a lot of people that will be crying when they walk out of the MCG if they win. I mean, there's a lot of people who have lived their whole life and not seen St. Kilda win a premiership."

Count the 33-year-old Ogilvy among them. He was born more than decade after St. Kilda's only title, but that hasn't dampened his enthusiasm for the Saints.

He's played in outfits matching St. Kilda's colors - red, white and black - and worn golf shoes emblazoned with the team's logo. Last year, he got about two hours of sleep before the third round of the Tour Championship, struggling to doze off after the Saints lost a dramatic Grand Final to Geelong.

Not that it hurt him on the course. Taking out his frustration on East Lake, he shot a 64.

"You can play golf on no sleep if you haven't been drinking," he quipped. "Drinking is what makes it hard when you get no sleep. You couldn't do it every night, you'd get tired, but we're all semi-athletes. I mean, three or four hours, you can play golf off three or four hours of sleep."

Ogilvy would take another 64 - and it would be even better if he's celebrating a title in this year of the Saints.

First, New Orleans wins the Super Bowl. Now, St. Kilda?

"It would be," he said, "unbelievable."

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Montgomerie tells players Ryder Cup pairings

CHAMBOURCY, France (AP) — European captain Colin Montgomerie told his players who their partners will be in the opening series of matches next month against the United States in the Ryder Cup.

Montgomerie would not reveal his pairings for the fourballs and foursomes, but said Wednesday that he will use all 12 members of the team on opening day.

He did disclose two likely pairings. Brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari will play a match together, as will Northern Irish pair Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell.

The United States begins defense of its title on Oct. 1 at Celtic Manor in Wales.

"I know who is going to be on that first tee on Friday," Montgomerie said. "Barring, of course, accident or illness or a complete lack of comfort by a player with that position.

"And the players know already. It's important to let the players know earlier than not. There's no point in me keeping secrets."

At Brookline in 1999, Europe captain Mark James left three rookies on the bench until the final day of singles when the United States rallied from 10-6 down to claim victory.

Montgomerie said he wants every player to compete on the first day.

"I have spoken to them all either on the phone or by text," he said. "They are all absolutely up and raring to go."

Montgomerie said some pairings were obvious.

"The Molinaris will play a match together. I don't think that was a difficult decision," he said. "And it's likely Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell will play a match together."

He'll make the other pairings public on the eve of the event, he said.

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Masters to add an hour of TV coverage

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — The Masters is adding an extra hour of television coverage next year.

Augusta National chairman Billy Payne said Tuesday that ESPN's weekday coverage will start at 3 p.m., which is an hour earlier. The coverage ends at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.

Payne also said that British-based Sky Sports will join the BBC as a live broadcaster next year.

The Masters will be held April 7-10. Despite the additional hour of coverage on the weekdays, it remains the major championship with the most limited live TV coverage.

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Pavin: Woods could have reduced Ryder Cup role

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Corey Pavin has no concerns about Tiger Woods' passion for Ryder Cup play, even if he doesn't choose the world's top player for every match next month in Wales.

Pavin praised Woods' talent and teamwork Friday while discussing his final preparations for the Ryder Cup, which will be held Oct. 1-3. The U.S. captain also realizes everybody will be watching Woods, who could rebound from a mediocre season on tour and a nightmare year in his personal life with a strong performance for his country.

"We've talked about how many times he wants to play," Pavin said. "He said, 'I want to play five matches.' We talked about him not playing as many, and he said, 'Whatever's best for the team.'"

Pavin selected Woods 10 days ago as a captain's pick. Woods missed the 2008 competition while recovering from knee surgery, but is eager to play - despite occasional questions in the past about his motivation and results in international team play.

"He's more than ready," Pavin said. "When he's there, he's 100 percent there. I think people maybe look at his record and come to some conclusion from that. Just because he doesn't have a winning record in the Ryder Cup doesn't mean he's not fully committed to it."

Pavin believes his Americans are underdogs against a powerful European team that has more familiarity with the course built specifically for the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, the site of the European Tour's Wales Open for the past three years. He expects European captain Colin Montgomerie to add tweaks to the course to negate the U.S. team's few advantages, perhaps countering the Americans' greater power off the tee with additional rough at about 280 yards.

"That's what I'd do if I were him," Pavin said, laughing.

Pavin has spent plenty of time poring over possible pairings in the past several weeks, but wasn't ready to reveal any decisions. He got a list of preferred partners from each player, but hasn't promised he'll stick to them.

"I didn't see any surprises," Pavin said, noting every player suggested at least three potential partners. "There might be surprises in there for the fans, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary."

Pavin is aware of Woods' past success playing with Steve Stricker, who teamed with Tiger to win all four of their team segments least year in the Presidents Cup in San Francisco, and Jim Furyk - the only other player on the U.S. roster who has a winning record as Woods' partner.

"I did notice that," Pavin said coyly of Stricker's success with Woods. "I noticed a lot of things. It's important to look back at the history of who has played where, but it's not the only factor."

After serving as an assistant captain four years ago, Pavin is relishing his chance to run the team. He has consulted with several CEOs and a handful of coaches - Doc Rivers of the Boston Celtics, former Lakers executive Jerry West, Texas football coach Mack Brown and UCLA basketball coach Ben Howland - about motivation, management and overall athlete psychology.

With the help of his four assistant captain, Pavin is planning a low-key, entertaining week for his players, hoping to keep their minds off the pressure.

"Emotions run high during a Ryder Cup week for everybody, and you have to be very aware of your emotional level," Pavin said. "There's a drain emotionally on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and you have to be ready to go Thursday."

Pavin will be in Atlanta on Wednesday for a team meeting before the Tour Championship, but he'll go home to Dallas for the weekend before returning to Atlanta to catch Sunday's charter flight to Cardiff with his team.

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A son discovers golf, and a father rejoices

At work, I often hear horror stories about hyperzealous golf parents who drive their kids crazy or out of golf — or both. So I've taken the opposite tack with introducing golf to my eldest son, Ricky, who will be 7 next month. Every couple of weeks during the summer, I've taken Ricky to chip and putt, or to play the nine-hole par-3 course at Westchester Country Club, where I'm a member. Ricky enjoyed our casual outings, but he wasn't gung-ho about golf like I was as a tyke.

Everything changed last month. I heard about a junior tournament on Westchester's par-3. The event would be played on three consecutive Saturdays, and it was open to players of all abilities, including beginners like Ricky. I asked Ricky if he wanted to play. "Yeah!" he exclaimed. "What's the prize? Do I get money?"

On the afternoon of the first round, Ricky was bursting with energy, and I was thrilled watching him tote his little blue bag to the first tee. All of the other kids had teed off, so I became a playing marker for Ricky. "Remember, we're playing by the rules, so you keep hitting until the ball goes into the hole," I said.

Ricky shrugged his shoulders. "Of course, I want to know what I shoot," he said.

I teed up a ball for Ricky and silently backed away. A few years ago, I co-wrote a youth golf book with Rudy Duran, Tiger Woods's childhood coach, and one of Rudy's key tactics with kids is to teach very little technique. Considering how well Rudy's method worked with Tiger, I only told Ricky to whap (Rudy's favorite word) the ball as hard as possible.

Well, Ricky whapped his three-wood and the ball blooped up and flew about 10 yards. "Yes!" Ricky shouted. "That was awesome." He skipped to his ball, but the next few swings were whiffs. Ricky was unfazed and earnestly kept swinging. Soon he was on the green, and after four putts he'd finished his first hole in a competition. He made a 21.

Ricky's enthusiasm increased with every hole. Following Rudy's advice, I always let Ricky decide what club to hit, even when he'd chip with a three-wood. As the round progressed, Ricky kept improving. The ninth and final hole, a 110-yarder, was his best — he made a five. Ricky shot 95, and while giving his scorecard to a clerk in the pro shop, Ricky eagerly asked, "Is there prize money?"

The clerk smiled. "No, I think it's a trophy," he said.

Driving home, I asked Ricky why he suddenly liked golf so much. "The winner of that PGA Tour thing we watched got a check for like one million dollars. I want that," Ricky said.

The next two Saturdays, Ricky woke up early and couldn't wait to play. He shot 91 in the second round, and he improved mightily in the final with a 79. Clearly, Ricky now had the golf bug, but it wasn't until a couple of weeks after the par-3 event that I realized the depth of his newfound zeal.

Every day, Ricky began asking to watch the PGA Tour on TV. He and my wife watched the final round of the PGA Championship, and as soon as it ended Ricky left a message on my office voicemail, because I was working. "Hi Dad," Ricky said. "Did Dustin Johnson, before the playoff, do you think it was a grounder? Was it a bunker? And if it was, did he ground the club? Please call and let us know."

I listen to that message almost every day, and every time I hear it I have a big smile. My son, like I am, is now a golf nut.

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By failing to find a pass for Woods, PGA Tour has sabotaged its final event

Tiger Woods has failed to qualify for the PGA Tour's big season-ender, next week's Tour Championship at East Lake, outside Atlanta.

How ironic.

It doesn't take much imagination to visualize Tour brass huddling up in their Ponte Vedra bunker at this very moment, feverishly drafting a press release citing a "previously overlooked" sub-clause or rider that would — happy days! — get Woods in.

To whom it may concern in the fabulous world of golf: We the principals of the PGA Tour regret our failure to mention that the defending FedEx Cup champion is exempt into all the FedEx Cup playoff tournaments. Right? It's so obvious, we thought the rule went without saying, or writing, so you'll just have to trust us on this one.

When Phil Mickelson and then Woods began to no-show at East Lake, the Tour had to react, so it built the FedEx Cup from the ground up and launched the first one with copious high-concept promotion in 2007. Incredibly, the thing keeps on backfiring like someone put a balata in the tailpipe.

Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and staff have tried to fix it on the fly but have been exposed as, take your pick, flat-footed, unimaginative, or, as Michelle Wie might put it, not quite Phi Beta Kappa.

First the system was way too volatile, and then, when Vijay Singh won the Cup before the 2008 Tour Championship even started, it wasn't volatile enough.

And now the Tour — which built the $10-million playoffs as Tiger-bait — has unintentionally excluded Tiger and sabotaged one of its supposedly premier events.

Is "sabotaged" too strong a word? I don't think so.

Defenders of the status quo will credit the Tour for adhering to a strict meritocracy, but don't try selling that to NBC, which now must televise the Tour Championship absent the reigning ratings champion of the Tour.

Getting Woods to East Lake would not only help the event, but it would also help Woods. Some have said he and his new swing will benefit from the two-week break before the Ryder Cup, but I'm not buying it.

Woods played just 12 tournaments while trying to glue his life back together in 2010. This is a guy who needs game reps.

The last thing anyone thought was that Woods, of all people, wouldn't qualify for the playoffs. But being in charge requires a modicum of clairvoyance. Just ask the guys in charge of baseball and cycling, who got behind on drugs and never caught up.

There are so many ways the Tour could have regulated Tiger to East Lake next week, starting with the stipulation that the defending FedEx Cup champion gets the chance to defend. Or, stronger still: If you win the Cup once, you're exempt into all four playoff events for life. Too strong? Fine. Win the FedEx Cup more than once, as Woods has, and you're in for life.

If you lead the Tour's all-time money list, if you've won more than 50 tournaments, if you have your own yacht, then you're exempt for life.

Okay, maybe the yacht part is overboard — we can't have Sir Richard Branson playing in this thing.

Since golfers don't read the fine print, as Dustin Johnson reminded us at the PGA Championship, the Tour could almost get away with retroactively tweaking the rules to usher in Woods — but not quite.

You'd better believe Finchem would have found a caveat and given a hastily called press conference by now if the rank-and-file weren't certain to balk.

Tiger's detractors have always complained that he plays by different rules, so here's an idea: Make current-year Ryder or Presidents Cup team members exempt for East Lake. That would bring not just Woods, who wound up 42nd in FedEx Cup points, but also Rickie Fowler (32) and Stewart Cink (38) to the East Lake party that now takes only the top 30.

The Tour Championship would also get PGA Tour members Rory McIlroy (36) and Padraig Harrington (73) of Team Europe — great additions, all of them.

Exclusive tournaments are fine, but when they get too exclusive they're problematic. Not even the Tour Championship's defending champion is exempt into the Tour Championship, which we found out when Camilo Villegas didn't crack the field in 2009.

What if Mickelson, who shot a weekend 66-65 to capture last year's "ultimate" tournament, had also failed to advance to Atlanta in 2010? No Tiger or Phil would have made this Tour Championship a double-dud.

Given the latest FedEx foul-up, here's a fearless 2011 FedEx Cup prediction: another rules change.

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PGA Tour Confidential: The BMW Championship

Every week of the 2010 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 and join the conversation in the comments section below.

JOHNSON'S VICTORY AFTER A TOUGH SUMMER
David Dusek, deputy editor, Golf.com: Welcome to another PGA Tour Confidential. After imploding on Sunday at the U.S. Open, then missing a playoff at the PGA Championship after grounding his club in a bunker on the 72nd hole, Dustin Johnson was the last man standing at Cog Hill, defeating Paul Casey by one shot. Impressive fortitude was shown by a guy who's had plenty of tough luck this season. I open the floor to thoughts and observations.

Damon Hack, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: I think he just won Player of the Year.

Jim Herre, managing editor, SI Golf Group: Johnson has been playing well for the entire second half of the season. If he tacks on a solid Tour Championship and shows well in the Ryder Cup, I think he's the POY.

Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Huge win for D.J. Now he can truly say he's over those rough Sundays. Forget this year, he's my pick for POY next year.

Submit a question for Alan Shipnuck's next mailbag.

Ryan Reiterman, senior producer, Golf.com: And Augusta.

Farrell Evans, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: Johnson is a wonderful player in a savant kind of way. He hits it a mile and gets on with it. He's my early Masters favorite.

Herre: I also like Johnson's pace of play; he doesn't waste any time.

Rick Lipsey, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: Which killed him at the PGA.

Herre: Thought Johnny did a good job of analyzing Johnson's game. D.J. is simply sooo long. If he ever dials in his short irons, he could be a monster.

Reiterman: After being told all week how poor his wedge game was, it was great to see him step up on 17 and knock one close.

Lipsey: Poor is relative on Tour. The worst wedge player out there is still hitting lots of tight shots.

Gary Van Sickle, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Johnson is a super stud. Could be No. 1 in the world in three years, maybe less depending on what Phil and Tiger do.

Mark Godich, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: You have to love Johnson's resolve. He'll be one of the stars at the Ryder Cup.

Van Sickle: If I had one pick to be my partner in a Ryder Cup match this year (sorry Phil and Tiger), I'm taking Dustin Johnson.

Jim Gorant, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: Johnson seems like Styrofoam under water. Whatever happens to this guy, there's no way to keep him down. He's got a lot of game and a great demeanor. Could definitely see him winning a lot over the next 10 years. With him and Moore and Casey in the spotlight, and the Woods-Mickelson-Harrington crowd fading, it was another one of those weeks that felt like "the new PGA Tour."

Dusek: I got that feeling as well. Mickelson had a backdoor top-eight finish, but Kevin Na and Matt Kuchar (again) also notched top-three finishes.

Van Sickle: If arthritis seriously curtails Phil's game, and Tiger doesn't climb back up the mountain, the game's two best players and biggest stars would be out of the picture. That leaves it wide open for the next wave to start rushing in. Whoever they end up being, Johnson will be one of them.

Cameron Morfit, senior writer, Golf Magazine: I agree with Gorant that the more you look for an overall theme for 2010, the more you keep coming back to the 20-somethings like Johnson, Day, McIlroy, Fowler and others. Very big transition year.

Evans: I don't know if it was a transition year as much as it was a year when the proven stars like Phil and Tiger didn't shine much after the Masters.

Mike Walker, senior editor, Golf Magazine: Tiger and Phil aren't done. This has been more of a fallow year on the PGA Tour than a transitional one, with Dustin Johnson as the only breakout star.

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Mike 'Fluff' Cowan ready for 10th Ryder Cup

LEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Mike "Fluff" Cowan is going back to the Ryder Cup, a competition that has changed since he caddied in his first one 25 years ago at The Belfry.

The competition is as intense as ever. The biggest difference might be his suitcase.

"We got next to nothing back then - a couple of sweat shirts, I think," Cowan said. "We certainly get treated better than we did at my first one. Now we get all kinds of clothes. We fly over on the charter. They pay us nicely. Some guys say it isn't enough, but I think it's enough. The competition ... there's nothing like it."

No other American brings as much experience to the matches as Cowan, and few have seen so much through so many players. Jim Furyk, his current boss, will be the fourth player for whom Cowan has caddied at the Ryder Cup.

He was on the bag for Peter Jacobsen in 1985 at The Belfry and for Fred Couples four years later (Couples hired Joe LaCava the following season). Jacobsen returned to the Ryder Cup in 1995, and Cowan worked for Tiger Woods at Valderrama in 1997. This will be his fifth straight Ryder Cup working for Furyk.

The biggest regret is playing on only two winning teams - the comeback at Brookline in 1999, and last time at Valhalla.

His favorite memory was two years ago at Valhalla, when Furyk won the cup-clinching point on the 17th hole, the matching ending with a handshake when Miguel Angel Jimenez conceded Furyk a short par putt.

"It was a matter of circumstances, but having Jim actually be the clincher, that was pretty much a nice memory - a thrill," he said.

As for the worst?

Cowan went back to the 18th hole at The Belfry in 1989, when Couples was in a pivotal match against Christy O'Connor Jr. All square on the 18th, with Couples having blasted a 300-yard drive, O'Connor hit 2-iron to about 3 1/2 feet for a birdie he never had to putt.

"One of the most phenomenal shots in the history of the game," Cowan said. "Freddie had a 9-iron and flared it out to the right. I felt awful for him. That was probably my worst memory, although I got to witness one of the greatest shots in the history of the competition."

That wasn't the only stunning loss. Cowan was with Woods when the world's No. 1 player lost to Costantino Rocca in 1997. And he was with Furyk when Paul McGinley made a 6-foot par in 2002 at The Belfry to halve the match and give Europe the outright victory.

As for the most bizarre moment, consider a fourballs match between Jacobsen and Brad Faxon against Seve Ballesteros and David Gilford at Oak Hill in 1995.

Thinking that Faxon was in for par, Jacobsen rapped his long birdie putt about 4 feet beyond the hole and picked it up. Only then did he realize Faxon had taken a penalty drop from behind a willow tree in the fairway.

"That might be my worst memory, now that I think about it," Cowan said. "I don't even want to go into it."

But he'll go to Celtic Manor looking forward to these matches as much as he did 25 years ago.

"It's always been an intense competition," he said. "I guess just like the rest of the world of golf, it's gotten bigger. But it's the same intensity. The players treat it the same way."

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: The race for PGA Tour player of the year has only widened since the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Matt Kuchar's win at The Barclays was a reminder how consistently well he has played this year. He is leading the PGA Tour money list and has the lowest adjusted scoring average.

Dustin Johnson is getting more attention with his victory at Cog Hill. That's his second win, along with a chance at two majors. The notion of a "sympathy vote" for Whistling Straits is silly. What resonates with players is not that Johnson failed to win, but that he put himself in position to win. Johnson and Phil Mickelson are the only players this year to be in serious contention on the back nine of two majors.

A win at the Tour Championship by Mickelson, Johnson, Kuchar, Steve Stricker or Ernie Els might wrap it up. Don't forget that Hunter Mahan, Jim Furyk and Justin Rose also have two wins.

Meanwhile, the PGA of America's award is based on points and shows just how close this is. Stricker is atop the standings with 52 points, followed by Mickelson and Matt Kuchar at 50 points, and Els at 47 points.

Kuchar nudged ahead of Stricker for the Vardon Trophy last night, although that might not be decided at the Tour Championship. Kuchar is likely to play a Fall Series event or two, while Stricker is likely to strap a bow over his shoulder and go looking for deer.

HUNTER'S RIBS: Hunter Mahan makes it sound as though his pre-round routine is eat, stretch, hit balls and pop his ribs into place.

Mahan appeared to show discomfort in his back during the third round of the BMW Championship. He revealed after the round that a couple of ribs on the lower left side were out - and that this wasn't the first time it happened.

"It happens almost every week, but this time it was in a little different place," Mahan said. "It's usually a little higher up. This one was a little low. Usually, it doesn't hurt that much."

Mahan said the ribs popped out of place when he drew a deep breath.

He said all this in such a matter-of-fact manner that when someone asked if it would affect the Ryder Cup, he laughed. Then, he tried to figure out where to put himself on the list if the Ryder Cup had an injury report like in the NFL.

"Doubtful. No, questionable," he said. "Isn't Tom Brady always questionable?"

MASTERS: Kevin Streelman and Jeff Overton are among five players in the Tour Championship who will be making their Masters debut next April. What sets them apart is that they have yet to win on the PGA Tour.

Streelman is getting a lot of attention for only having one good week against a strong field to get to East Lake.

As for being without a tour victory and going to the Masters. It happens more than one might think. There were six PGA Tour members at Augusta National who had never won on tour - John Merrick, Ricky Barnes, Kevin Na, Marc Leishman, Steve Marino and Jason Dufner.

There were five such players each of the previous two years.

DIVOTS: The Tour Championship will only have 25 of the top 50 players in the world ranking, and six of the top 10. ... Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan are the only players to reach the Tour Championship all four years of the FedEx Cup. ... The LPGA Tour does not resume until the week after the Ryder Cup.

STAT OF THE WEEK: Since securing a spot on his first Ryder Cup team, Jeff Overton has not finished in the top 50 and has a scoring average of 72.8 in his past four tournaments.

FINAL WORD: "I was beating myself up. I wasn't playing against anyone else, I was only playing against myself. And that's probably worse than playing against everybody else." - Robert Allenby on his bid to make the Tour Championship.

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Tiger begins new chapter after failing to advance to Tour Championship

LEMONT, Ill. — The PGA Tour season didn't end Sunday, but it might seem that way for for some sports fans, as it effectively ended for Tiger Woods. He finished tied for 15th at the BMW Championship, which wasn't good enough for him to advance to the Tour Championship, the finale of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Oh, you'll still be able to catch Woods in action once or twice this year. He'll tee it up at the Ryder Cup Oct. 1-3, and he is also scheduled to play the HSBC Champions in Shanghai in November. But Tiger's closing round of 70 at Cog Hill here on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, which left him one under par, should be his curtain call on the 2010 PGA Tour season, barring a shocking surprise appearance at one of the Fall Series events.

Woods never experienced the joy of driving at the BMW Championship. He never got anything going all week, never created any momentum. He double-bogeyed the opening hole of his opening round, which more or less set the tone. He birdied three of the last six holes in the third round to scrape out a three-under-par 68, but it was too little, too late for his slim FedEx Cup chances.

This was a year that Woods won't soon forget. There was the fallout from his philandering scandal in the wake of that car accident on Thanksgiving night, the ensuing tabloid feast, a stint in rehab, a costly and painful divorce and the breakup of his working relationship with instructor Hank Haney. Not surprisingly, it was also his worst-ever year on the golf course.

How bad was his play in 2010? By his standards, terrible. We are clearly in a new era for Woods. Call it what you want — post-hydrant, post-Haney, post-divorce — but this is the beginning of a new chapter for Woods.

• Tiger did not win in 2010, the first time he has gone an entire season winless. For a man with 71 career victories on this tour, 25 of them coming in the last four years alone, that's a staggering setback. For Tiger, his previous lows were 1998 (when he was re-tooling his swing with Butch Harmon) and 2004 (when he was retooling with Haney), when he managed just one victory each. This is the first time Tiger has been shut out.

• Tiger did not win a major championship in 2010. This marks only the second time in his career that he has gone two full seasons without winning a major. He went majorless in 2003 and 2004, a two-year period in which his only top-10 finishes in majors came in the British Open, where he was fourth and ninth. Tiger's performance in this year's majors, while disappointing by his standards, wasn't really that bad. He tied for fourth in the Masters and the U.S. Open, and he was 23rd at the British and 28th at the PGA.

Twice, Tiger has gone winless through 10 consecutive major championships. He ended one streak with a victory at the '99 PGA and the other when he captured the '05 Masters. His last major victory was the '08 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. His current major winless streak is eight and counting.

• Woods hasn't finished below fourth on the tour's money list since his rookie season in 1996, when he turned pro in August. He won twice and placed 24th on the money list that year. Since then, he's won the money title nine times and finished second twice. He broke the $10 million barrier three times, and that's not counting the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus he scored in two of the event's first three years. Tiger came to Cog Hill ranked 65th on the money list with just over $1.17 million. That's the lowest full-season total he's ever had. Even in 2008, when he missed half the season after knee surgery, he won $5.7 million.

• Tiger's statistics have reflected his poor play. Normally among the tour's best ballstrikers, Woods would rank 156th in greens hit in regulation if he had enough rounds played to be officially ranked in 2010. He led the tour in that category in 2008. And 2007. And 2006. He would rank 32nd in scoring average this year, another category that he typically dominates, having the lowest average on tour in each of the five previous years. In five previous seasons, his low scoring average was 67.65 in '08 and his high was 68.66 in '05. This year, he averaged 70.36 going into Cog Hill. That's 2.7 strokes per round higher than two years ago, and 2.3 strokes higher than last year. That adds up to nine more strokes for every 72-hole event. No wonder he hasn't really contended.

This will go down as the worst year of Tiger's career, but there have been a few positive signs since he started working with teacher Sean Foley the last few weeks. Still, Tiger isn't expecting a quick fix or a miracle.

"I've been through it before," Woods said at Cog Hill. "I didn't win a tournament from here at the Western Open in '97 until May of '99, a year and a half, almost two years. With Hank, it probably took a year and a half before ... I started to really get it and went off on a run. It's taken some time and I understand that. I have no problem with that as long as I keep making progress."

Woods will play next at the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales, Oct. 1-3. We'll see how much more progress he's made by then.

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I Wonder if Tiger Woods's latest swing change will help or hurt him

On Dec. 30 Tiger Woods will turn 35, and if history is any indication, he will have about five years left before his physical skills and nerves begin to deteriorate. Plagued by injuries, surgeries, a beefed-up and slower body, and a scandal, that drop-off may have already started. Decline happens to all athletes — slowly, imperceptibly but inexorably. That's why his decision to yet again change his swing is troubling.

Over 14 years on Tour, Tiger has decimated fields with three different swings, so what will happen now that he's working on a fourth swing, this one overseen by instructor Sean Foley? While I was always critical of the swing changes Tiger made after he left Butch Harmon, Woods never lost touch with the nuances of the sport — putting, short game, shotmaking. He excelled at those things because he continued to work on them.

No one doubts Foley's understanding of the physics of the golf swing, but he is very analytical. From what I can glean from his comments, Tiger is too, and while his latest swing change seems to be on track, he also looks guided and forced. I fear that his pairing with Foley will lead Woods to fall in love with geometry and lose sight of the fact that golf is about hitting the right shot, not making the perfect swing. Foley is a mathematician, and math is perfect. Golf isn't. You can drive yourself crazy thinking that the game will succumb to sheer effort, and in the process lose track of the things that separate great players from great swingers.

Editors' Riffs: Slovenia-US reactionI Wonder if Tiger Woods’s latest swing change will help or hurt him

I Wonder if Tiger Woods's latest swing change will help or hurt him

On Dec. 30 Tiger Woods will turn 35, and if history is any indication, he will have about five years left before his physical skills and nerves begin to deteriorate. Plagued by injuries, surgeries, a beefed-up and slower body, and a scandal, that drop-off may have already started. Decline happens to all athletes — slowly, imperceptibly but inexorably. That's why his decision to yet again change his swing is troubling.

Over 14 years on Tour, Tiger has decimated fields with three different swings, so what will happen now that he's working on a fourth swing, this one overseen by instructor Sean Foley? While I was always critical of the swing changes Tiger made after he left Butch Harmon, Woods never lost touch with the nuances of the sport — putting, short game, shotmaking. He excelled at those things because he continued to work on them.

No one doubts Foley's understanding of the physics of the golf swing, but he is very analytical. From what I can glean from his comments, Tiger is too, and while his latest swing change seems to be on track, he also looks guided and forced. I fear that his pairing with Foley will lead Woods to fall in love with geometry and lose sight of the fact that golf is about hitting the right shot, not making the perfect swing. Foley is a mathematician, and math is perfect. Golf isn't. You can drive yourself crazy thinking that the game will succumb to sheer effort, and in the process lose track of the things that separate great players from great swingers.

Editors' Riffs: Slovenia-US reactionWoods practices with a coach at his side at PGA

Wie to play season-ending event in Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Michelle Wie will end her season by playing in the Dubai Masters, the final Ladies European Tour event of the year.

Tour officials announced Monday that Wie will be in the field at the $642,330 event from Dec. 6-11 at Emirates Golf Club.

The 20-year-old American, who finished runner-up in Dubai last year, has improved five spots to No. 7 in the LPGA Tour rankings after winning the Canadian Women's Open last month. She finished second Sunday in Arkansas.

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PGA champion Kaymer wins KLM Open

HILVERSUM, Netherlands (AP) — PGA champion Martin Kaymer shot a final round 4-under 66 to win the KLM Open by four strokes on Sunday.

The German, who led by one shot overnight, carded five birdies and only one bogey when he missed the green at the short 10th hole, to stay top of the leaderboard all day and finish with a 14-under total of 266.

Sweden's Christian Nilsson and Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti both shot 69s to tie for second at 10-under.

The win was the 25-year-old Kaymer's seventh on the European Tour and his third in 2010 following victories in Abu Dhabi and last month's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

Kaymer now plans to take a week off before starting his preparation for his European Ryder Cup debut at Celtic Manor and his confidence could not be higher.

"I set out to be consistent in the final round," he said. "I just wanted to give myself chances and avoid high numbers which is what I did. And my swing felt very nice."

There was no mystery about the source of his current self-belief.

"Winning the U.S. PGA, one of the biggest tournaments of the year, gives you the biggest confidence you can get," he said.

Kaymer meanwhile sent a message to European team captain Colin Montgomerie who now has to find him a partner for the Ryder Cup contest against the United States.

"If I could I would choose to play with Rory McIlroy," Kaymer said. "We get along very well and he could be a great foursomes partner for me."

By earning $381,000 for his victory at Hilversum, Kaymer increased his lead at the top of the European Tour's Race to Dubai money list to nearly $635,000. Graeme McDowell, in second place, did not play over the weekend.

The only real threat to during the fourth round in Holland emerged at the 15th when his playing partner Nilsson chipped in for a birdie from off the green to cut his lead to two shots.

Kaymer, however, responded by converting a six foot birdie putt on the next green and a tap in birdie at the last completed a convincing victory.

Among the four players who shared fourth place at 9-under was the 2010 British Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen who shot a closing 5-under 65.

England squeak past Slovenia and into 2nd round; Slovenia out.Kaymer shoots 66 for 1-shot lead at KLM Open

Kaymer shoots 66 for 1-shot lead at KLM Open

HILVERSUM, Netherlands (AP) — PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer shot a 4-under 66 Saturday to take a one shot lead after the third round of the KLM Open.

The German finished with two birdies, including a brilliant bunker shot at the 18th hole to reach 10 under.

Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti shot 65 for the lowest score of the round. Sweden's Christian Nilsson had a 68 to join Zanatti a shot behind the leader.

Standing two shots back are Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez Castano (67), India's Shiv Kapur (70) and Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts (70).

American Todd Hamilton, the 2004 British Open winner, shot 70 to trail by another stroke.

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Gillis takes the long way to the BMW Championship

LEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Living off fast food and pocket change as you chase a dream from one small tour stop to another is easy - romantic, even - when you're young and have no responsibilities.

At 39, with one small child and another on the way, Tom Gillis wasn't sure he had it in him again.

"We went back to Michigan and spoke with a few people about work, and times were tough there. There wasn't a lot of opportunities," he said Wednesday. "Snow and three months in the cold weather, I found this isn't so bad."

Good thing.

Three years after nearly quitting, the 42-year-old Gillis is enjoying a resurgence that seems more suited for Hollywood than the PGA Tour. The guy who couldn't keep his card still has a shot at a $10 million payoff along with Tiger, Phil and the rest of the game's biggest names.

Gillis is at this week's BMW Championship thanks to a fifth-place finish at the Deutsche Bank Championship, his third top 10 of the season. He has earned $1.07 million this year - more than his career earnings on the PGA Tour coming into the season.

"I thought I was going to make a comeback," he said, "but do you really know how far you're going to get? Are you going to get this far?"

Gillis turned pro after college, working his way up on the satellite and European tours before earning his card in 2003. He missed the 2004 season because of a broken wrist, but opened 2005 with a tie for 11th at the Buick Invitational. His play the next few months wasn't spectacular, but it was steady enough.

Then he and his wife found out they were expecting their first child.

"It froze me up a little bit," Gillis said.

After tying for 17th at the Zurich Classic the first week of May, he made just five cuts the rest of the year. Playing on the Nationwide Tour the next season, his heart wasn't in his game. He made only six cuts; three years after earning more than $400,000, he made less than $45,000.

The next year wasn't any better.

"I guess I never really welcomed the opportunity to get back out here," Gillis said. "I never really accepted that I was there after playing five years in Europe. It felt like a step down to me, and I lost my status."

After that winter of shivering - and soul searching - in Michigan, Gillis decided to give golf one more try. He moved to Florida full-time, began working with a new coach and changed his technique so he was no longer digging so deep into the dirt, which had caused repeated hand injuries. He also rethought the way he approached the game mentally.

By last year, Gillis was playing better than ever. He finished in the top 10 in eight of his 15 starts on the Nationwide Tour (he missed just two cuts all year), and got his first career victory at the Nationwide Tour Players Cup.

Best of all, he finished fifth on the money list, earning his way back onto the PGA Tour.

Gillis showed flashes of what he could do at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, shooting 69 or better in all four rounds on his way to a tie for eighth. He was in line for a strong finish at Quail Hollow until the last two holes (he still tied for 17th) and followed it with a top 10 at the Texas Open.

A missed cut at The Barclays put his spot in the FedEx Cup race in jeopardy, but a 65-65 finish in Boston bumped him up to 48th in the standings, more than enough to get him to Chicago.

The top 30 after the BMW advance to the Tour Championship, which will be played in two weeks in Atlanta.

It's a great story, but one Gillis hopes isn't finished just yet.

"I still feel like I've got further to go," he said. "I know for a fact and I believe in my heart I can win out here."

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Kaymer looks to extend money lead at Dutch Open

HILVERSUM, Netherlands (AP) — PGA champion Martin Kaymer has a chance to move further ahead in the European money list when the Dutch Open starts on Thursday.

Main rivals Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood are skipping the tournament.

Kaymer will be playing for the first time since going to the top of the Race to Dubai by winning his first major last month.

He is $255,000 in front of McDowell, the U.S. Open champion, and $548,000 ahead of Westwood.

McDowell is taking an extended break ahead of the Ryder Cup next month. Westwood is still recovering from the calf and ankle injuries that forced him to withdraw from the Bridgestone Invitational.

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Assignment Detroit: Out of the Rough

On a gusty January evening in downtown Detroit some 135 high school seniors from across the city have converged on Marygrove College, a small liberal arts haven whose stately gothic architecture belies the boarded-up storefronts and dilapidated homes that have come to symbolize this ailing town. The teenagers, some hailing from Detroit's roughest neighborhoods and worst schools, chitchat and laugh as they shuffle into a cavernous hall and find their seats. As social worker David Gamlin—check that, Mr. Gamlin—walks to the front of the room, a hush falls over the herd. Gamlin is in a dashing pinstripe suit. He's bright, articulate, and, it must be noted, physically imposing: 6' 4", strapping shoulders, a former offensive tackle at Michigan's Hillsdale College. The man can hold an audience.

He is lecturing tonight on the art of negotiating, one of those crucial life skills that you might not realize you don't possess until you stroll into a used-car dealership or ask your boss for a raise. After some opening remarks, Gamlin directs the kids to break into small groups and perform a mock exercise selling bulk orders of Droid smartphones to one another.

"So," he asks when the students reconvene, "who thinks they got a good deal?"

A smattering of hands shoot up, and the kids begin dissecting the relative merits of their transactions.

"Not bad, nice job," Gamlin tells one seller.

"Ouch," he says to another. "You think you could have done better?"

One girl got plain hosed. "If you do that in real life—guess what?" Gamlin says. "You're fired!"

The kids erupt in laughter, ratcheting the already considerable energy in the room.

"Who feels motivated?" Gamlin booms, sounding more like a preacher than a teacher. "Who feels inspired?"

The kids holler and clap, but the fun is really just beginning.

After breaking for a buffet dinner of fried chicken, cheesy potatoes and green beans, the group returns to the hall and helps transform it—with impressive haste—into a makeshift golf practice facility. (Who said you can't tee it up in Detroit in January?) On the far side of the room a pack of teens beat plastic balls off turf mats into opposing sides of a draped net, some holding their follow-throughs like seasoned Tour pros. On the near side another group chips balls to targets 10 yards away. In the hallway outside, still more students hone their putting. Instructing all of them is a hardworking team of PGA teaching professionals.

So what if many of these kids might never break 100 or for that matter become avid golfers? That's not the point. That they are playing the game at all is a revelation. "They're doing something that they probably never thought they could do or would do," says Glenn Pulice, one of the attending pros. "So the next time something comes around that they think they can't do or shouldn't do, they can accomplish that too." Like, say, going to college.

Welcome to Midnight Golf, not so much an afterschool program as a motivational series that has become a symbol of hope, success and the power of community activism in a city in desperate need of all of the above. Pairing golf lessons with life-skills workshops, college preparation counseling and good old-fashioned mentoring, the volunteer-run initiative sponsored by the PGA of America, the USGA and several corporate partners has achieved eye-opening results. Since Midnight Golf's inception in 2001, 425 students have completed the 30-week Motor City regimen. (Another chapter opened in South Florida in 2009.) Of those, 83 percent have been admitted to one of 60 colleges and universities, a remarkable statistic when you consider that, according to one disheartening study, fewer than a quarter of high school freshmen in the Detroit public schools go on to graduate.

No one is suggesting that all the Midnight Golfers rely on the program to shepherd them into college; in fact, the program purposefully selects students from varied economic and academic strata to foster peer mentoring. "We're trying to catch those kids who are on the edge," says Harold Curry, president of the Midnight Golf board of directors and chief executive officer of Detroit Commerce Bank.

"It works," he adds. "When some of the kids come in, they're like a tightly wound rose, and by the end of the program their petals are out and they're trying to grasp every ray of sun and every drop of rain."

That's thanks in great part to the program's dedicated mentors who advise the kids not only how to live productive, fulfilling lives but also on the college application process and financial aid and scholarship opportunities. (Marygrove College itself handed out $300,000 in scholarships to 18 Midnight Golfers earlier this year.) The program also runs an annual bus tour that takes the high schoolers to visit college campuses as far away as Texas and Alabama. All of which helps make believers out of kids who long assumed a college education was unattainable. "It was the first time that adults who I could relate told me that that you don't have to be a product of your society," says Amber Peden, a former Midnight Golfer who is today a pre-med sophomore (and fully funded by scholarships) at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. "That was the first time somebody told me, 'Yes, you're black, yes, you live in metro Detroit, but you know what—you can be the first person in your family to go to college. I gained a lot of confidence from that."

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Harrington adds Paris event to schedule

WENTWORTH, England (AP) — Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington will play in Paris later this month as he attempts to prepare for the Ryder Cup next month.

The European Tour announced Wednesday that Harrington, who won the British Open in 2007 and 2008 and the 2008 PGA Championship, has added the Vivendi Trophy from Sept. 23-26 to his schedule.

The Irishman hasn't won on the U.S. or European Tours for two years. He needed a wild card from captain Colin Montgomerie to be picked for his sixth Ryder Cup, which starts Sept. 27 at Celtic Manor in Wales.

Harrington has failed to qualify for the last two Fedex Cup playoffs in the United States.

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Jimenez wins European Masters ahead of EMolinari

CRANS-SUR-SIERRE, Switzerland (AP) — Miguel Angel Jimenez won the European Masters on Sunday, shooting a 4-under 67 to beat Edoardo Molinari by three strokes.

Jimenez finished at 21-under 263 to secure his third European Tour victory of the year, following wins in Dubai and France.

Molinari also shot a 67, while fellow Italian Matteo Manassero had a 68 to finish third another two shots back.

Despite his convincing victory margin, the 46-year-old Jimenez nearly faltered on the back nine.

After leading by three shots going into the final round, the Spaniard extended his advantage to six as he covered his first nine holes in 4-under.

But in the space of four holes that lead was cut to just one stroke as Molinari produced birdies at the 12th and 14th holes, and then holed a 2-foot eagle putt at the par-5 15th.

With Jimenez having bogeyed the 14th, there was a chance Molinari might produce a late dash for the line for the second weekend running. He birdied the last three holes to come from behind and win the Johnnie Walker Championship last Sunday.

Jimenez, however, got up and down after hitting a tree at the par-3 16th, which Molinari bogeyed after finding a green side bunker.

The Spaniard then birdied the 17th to ensure a long awaited victory in the Swiss mountains. It was his 22nd appearance in the European Masters and his best previous finishes had been second place in 1993 and 2004.

"It was not easy," Jimenez said. "At one point I was six ahead of Edoardo, but at the 14th I missed the fairway with my drive and went into a bunker, missed the green with the third shot, and missed a putt for a par.

"That was a lot of misses and Edoardo hit two superb shots to 2 feet at the 15th where I struggled just to make par. But it feels good to win after so many visits to these mountains where not only had I finished second twice but also been in contention many times. So I really wanted to come here and win this tournament."

The 17-year-old Manassero, appearing in his sixth tournament as a professional, won $161,445, putting him over the threshold to qualify for his first full European Tour playing card in 2011.

"I am now a full member of the European Tour for the first time, which is great,: he said. "It has been my goal since I turned professional earlier this year, something I wanted to do and making my card is fantastic."

South Korea's Noh Seungyul finished fourth after a 67 took him to 13-under, three shots behind Manassero.

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Day gets his nose out front in Boston

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — The final hole gave Jason Day a one-shot lead in the Deutsche Bank Championship. The final hour gave him a good idea of what he might expect for the Labor Day finish.

Day walked off the 15th green with a three-shot lead Sunday, feeling good about separating himself from the field.

It was gone in two holes.

Then came the par-5 18th, where Day stood just off the back of the green in two as he watched Brandt Snedeker make a mess of the easiest hole on the TPC Boston by hitting his approach into the hazard and his fourth shot in deep grass short of the green.

"I was thinking that he was going to just get up-and-down and make bogey, and I was going to make an eagle or birdie," Day said. "That would have given me a nice little cushion going into tomorrow."

It just didn't work out that way.

Day capped off an exciting day with a routine birdie for a 5-under 66. In another strange twist Sunday, the largest cheer was for the guy who made par. Snedeker chipped in and shot 67, leaving him one shot behind.

"It would have been a tough way to end the day as well as I played coming in," Snedeker said.

Just like so many other times at this tournament, the Deutsche Bank Championship could be up for grabs.

And so could the No. 1 ranking.

Tiger Woods could only manage one birdie over the last 11 holes and shot a 2-under 69, leaving him tied for 23rd and 10 shots out of the lead. That set the stage for Phil Mickelson or Steve Stricker to end his five-year run atop the world ranking.

Stricker is closer to the lead. Mickelson has better odds.

Both of them might have a tough time catching up to Day, the 22-year-old Australian who won the Byron Nelson Championship in May and is starting to play his best golf during the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Day was at 17-under 196, matching the 54-hole record at the TPC Boston set by Mike Weir two years ago.

Luke Donald, winless on the PGA Tour in more than four years, was steady again in his first tournament since being picked for Europe's Ryder Cup team. He birdied the last hole for a 66 and was two shots behind.

Defending champion Stricker played his third straight round without a bogey for a 67 and was at 13-under 200 with Charley Hoffman (69).

Mickelson was in a group at 201 that included Geoff Ogilvy (65), who hasn't finished in the top 10 since winning the season-opening SBS Championship; and Adam Scott (65), who won the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2003.

Snedeker was three shots behind going to the 16th tee when he made consecutive birdies - Day three-putted the 16th - to share the lead. But the final hole - the easiest at the TPC Boston with a tail wind - nearly got him. He didn't hit enough club and went into the hazard, and after taking a penalty drop, his fourth shot barely cleared the hazard and stayed in the rough.

Snedeker set off one of the loudest cheers of the day when he chipped in to escape with par.

But this was a day for plenty of noise.

Vijay Singh made the rarest shot in golf - an albatross - when he holed a 5-iron from 229 yards on the par-5 second hole for a cheer that resounded across the front nine.

"I hit it just like I wanted to and was hoping it was going to get up on the green somewhere, and it went in the hole," said Singh, who had a 69 and was right on the bubble for getting into the third round next week at the BMW Championship.

It was the second straight year someone made an albatross on that hole, with John Senden doing it a year ago.

Mickelson felt like he was back in 2009, too.

A year ago on the 15th hole, facing a front left pin, he banged his approach off the flag and watched it roll off the green. He was determined not to let that happen again and said he told his caddie, "I'm going to try to just miss the pin."

He missed his mark - and hit the pin.

The ball spun around, caught the false front and rolled into the rough. Instead of getting mad, Mickelson got even. He chipped in for a birdie, and gave his biggest fist pump of the day.

"That was a fun little moment, because that stuff happens," Mickelson said.

This is the 10th tournament this year that Mickelson has had a mathematical chance of replacing Woods at No. 1 in the world, and one of his better chances. He was four shots behind going into the final round at Firestone and shot 78.

This time, Mickelson might only need to finish in fourth place alone, provided Woods is out of the top 24. And this time, he is far more confident in his driving, with only his iron play needing to get a little more sharp.

"I haven't paid attention to what needs to happen," Mickelson said. "But I'm looking forward to getting in the hunt tomorrow and seeing if I can get off to a good start and make some birdies."

Woods keeps making progress, although not on the leaderboard.

He got off to a good start and got within four shots of the leaders - before they had teed off - until he stopped making putts. Woods made a difficult flop shot behind the 18th green look easy, hitting it to a foot for birdie. He appears safe to advance to the third round of the playoffs next week at Cog Hill, where he is the defending champion.

"I think I played better than what my score indicated," Woods said. "I had a lot of putts that I didn't make."

Winning will have to wait, though. For the third consecutive tournament, Woods was at least nine shots out of the lead.

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Kim misses cut in his last chance to impress

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Anthony Kim's only hope now is to persuade Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin with words, not scores.

In his final chance to make an impression before Pavin announces his four picks Tuesday, Kim opened with a 68 and then crashed out Saturday with a 76 to miss the cut in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Does he have a chance?

"If he believes my game will come around in a month," Kim said in the locker room as he finishing writing notes to his pro-am partners. "If he judges me on my last two weeks, I probably won't be a pick."

The 25-year-old Kim, fresh off a victory in the Houston Open and a third-place finish at the Masters, was No. 2 in the Ryder Cup standings when he decided to have surgery on his thumb that kept him out for three months.

Since his return, Kim was 76th out of 79 players at Firestone (where there is no cut), then missed the cut in his next four events. He fell out of the automatic eight qualifiers at the PGA Championship.

Kim has regained his length off the tee and said he spent seven hours practicing on Tuesday, which he could have never done before surgery. He just can't seem to post a score.

"I told Corey if I'm not playing good, I would swear on everything and tell him," Kim said. "It's close. I've been playing every day."

Kim doesn't regret having the surgery. If he could have played through the pain, he easily would have qualified. His only regret is returning when he did.

Kim said he was healthy enough to return, but rusty from not being able to practice enough. Instead, he showed up at Firestone trying to pick up points and secure a spot on the team.

"At that point, I needed to make points," he said. "Unfortunately, he (Pavin) now has some scores in front of him to look at."

He headed to the car with his clubs in a travel bag from the Ryder Cup at Valhalla, were Kim led the Americans to victory. And despite his struggles, he was still smiling.

"I just need to have someone tap Corey on the shoulder in the middle of the night and say, 'Pick the kid. He'll be ready.'"

FUNNY RULES: Chad Campbell was No. 83 in the FedEx Cup standings and opened with a 72. He never got a chance to improve his position, at the Deutsche Bank and in the playoffs, when he was disqualified Saturday for a technicality.

He forgot to register for the tournament.

Players have three responsibilities that have nothing to do with their swings - officially enter a tournament, register for the event before their first tee shot, and sign their card.

If Campbell were to ever fail to sign his card, he would have the hat trick.

A year ago, he was on a plane halfway across the Pacific Ocean when he realized he never entered the Sony Open in Honolulu. The blunder at Deutsche Bank was even worse.

"Just can't believe you would make a mistake like that," Campbell said. "Just kind of slipped my mind."

Reminded of the Sony Open mishap, he said, "It's starting a trend."

COLLEGE SPIRIT: Nike makes sure its players get into the college spirit a couple of times a year, such as the Transitions Championship (NCAA basketball tournament) and the Deutsche Bank Championship on Saturday, for the start of the college football season.

Tiger Woods had the Stanford logo on his white shirt, while Anthony Kim had his OU logo for the Sooners' opener and Justin Leonard wore burnt orange with a Texas Longhorns logo on the back. Paul Casey (Arizona State) and Lucas Glover (Clemson) also got involved.

Stewart Cink, the Georgia Tech grad, wore a white shirt with thin blue and gray lines, no logo anywhere.

He left his Yellow Jackets shirt back at his hotel by accident, except that it was no accident. Turns out Cink is a little superstitious, and he didn't like the results he was getting on what he calls "special shirt day."

"My scoring average is like 76," Cink said. "Every time it's special shirt day, I have a bad round."

He pointed to a 78 he shot at the Transitions Championship in the opening round, leading to a missed cut. And the "Live Strong" shirt he wore at the Travelers Championship, where he got off to a bad start and shot 70. A year ago at the TPC Boston, he shot 71 to miss the cut.

So on Saturday, he took a pass.

"It's in my room," he said. "I put my iPad on top of it so it would look like I forgot."

Cink shot a 66 and was four shots out of the lead.

OVERFLOWING CUP: Stewart Cink twice has been a captain's pick for the Ryder Cup, and he is considered a favorite to get one of the four picks Tuesday. But he's awfully tired of talking about it, much less thinking about it.

"The Ryder Cup is like a reward," he said after a 66. "I'd love to be on the team, and I hope to get his attention. But I'm getting so many Ryder Cup questions. I just want to concentrate on this tournament."

DIVOTS: The last 36-hole leader to win Deutsche Bank Championship was Olin Browne in 2005. ... Scott Verplank withdrew from the second round with a wrist injury. He is in danger of falling out of the top 70 in the standings and missing next week. ... The last time Woods lost his No. 1 ranking after a five-year run was at the TPC Boston in 2004. ... Andres Romero made a hole-in-one on the eighth hole. Romero made it to Boston by making a 40-foot birdie putt on the last hole of The Barclays.

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Wrist injury ends Verplank's season

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Scott Verplank could no longer hold onto a golf club and figured there was no point in playing.

Verplank was back in Oklahoma on Sunday waiting to get an MRI on his left wrist a day after he withdrew from the Deutsche Bank Championship after four holes in the second round. He says he has been fighting the injury the last two months, and it reached a point at the TPC Boston where he could not control where the club was pointed.

He is among the most accurate players in golf. And as Verplank says, if he can't hit it straight, he's not very good.

Pulling out of the Deutsche Bank could drop him out of the top 70 to advance to the third round of the FedEx Cup playoffs, although Verplank says he would not have been able to play next week.

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Clemens ties for 18th at Golf.com World Amateur event

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Roger Clemens finished tied for 18th in his group at the Golf.com World Amateur Handicap Championship.

The event featured nearly 3,100 amateurs competing on four different courses. Clemens played his opening round by himself Monday after flying down from Washington. He had pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to Congress about whether he used steroids or human growth hormone during his baseball career.

The 48-year-old Clemens is a four-handicapper who finished 23 shots behind the group winner.

Clemens' wife, Debbie, finished tied for fourth in her group, four shots back.

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Nationwide will end golf tour sponsorship in 2012

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Nationwide Insurance announced Friday it will end its title sponsorship of the PGA Tour's developmental circuit when the contract expires in two years.

Instead, Nationwide will stay involved in golf starting in 2011 as the presenting sponsor of the Memorial Tournament, founded and hosted by Jack Nicklaus.

"We've been very, very happy for the last eight years with the Nationwide Tour, but when we have the opportunity to step up and present the Memorial, it was too good of an opportunity to pass (up)," said Jim Lyski, Nationwide executive vice president. "When you look at that, and you look at the inventory we have in golf, you reach diminishing returns when you keep adding and adding."

The company, based in nearby Columbus, Ohio, has been the title sponsor of the development tour for the past eight years.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said his tour was economically healthy and had survived a difficult financial climate, but would be looking to find a replacement sponsor for the Nationwide Tour.

"We're virtually 100 percent sponsored for the next couple of years, but we have some things to do," Finchem said. "Of course, with this announcement we now need to concentrate on 2013-plus at a minimum for Nationwide Tour sponsorship. ... We don't anticipate any issues. We just want to find a partner."

After Morgan Stanley dropped off as a presenting sponsor for the Memorial, Nationwide and the PGA Tour stop at Muirfield Village Golf Club seemed like a natural fit. The new agreement lasts six years.

Nicklaus tried to quash the perception that Nationwide had abandoned its tour for the Memorial Tournament.

"We didn't want to step on Nationwide and the tour's relationship, and I don't think Nationwide or the tour wanted to step on that, either. We wanted to make sure that whatever happened was done in the right way," he said. "So we've spent a lot of time making sure it happened in the right way. We were absolutely delighted that Nationwide wanted to be involved here and wanted to be part and grow with us."

Nationwide CEO Steve Rasmussen said his company will help with the transition to a new sponsor for the tour.

"Frankly, we wanted to work together with Tim and his team to make sure we get an orderly process with what happens with the Nationwide Tour, because that's an incredibly important thing for us," Rasmussen said. "It's like one of your children and you want to see it doing well going forward."

In addition to sponsoring the tour, Nationwide also sponsors a stop on the tour, the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational at Ohio State's Scarlet Course. The company is contracted to sponsor that event for the next two years. Beyond that, it will support the tournament but will not be a title sponsor.

Lyski said the company had to make some difficult decisions.

"The primary reason (for dropping the Nationwide Tour sponsorship) is that we wanted to get to an optimum spend level in the golf property, and we don't think we need a tour and two tour stops to be able to do that," he said. "So we were just looking at what's available and what made the most sense to spend down a little."

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Ryder Redux: Ryder Cup subplots were the story at The Barclays

There were so many tournaments within a tournament at last week's Barclays it was, at times, tough to keep track of who was playing for what. Like all the other bubble boys, Tiger Woods arrived with only one short-term goal: survive and advance. A field of 120 teed it up at Ridgewood Country Club, in Paramus, N.J., but only 100 would move on to the second round of the FedEx Cup playoffs, this week's Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. Woods, 112th on the points list at the start of the week, remained golf's biggest question mark until a stellar Sunday 67 shot him to a tie for 12th and up to 65th in points. But the machinations among the FedEx Cup bottom-feeders were the least interesting part of the Barclays.

With a Saturday 64, Dustin Johnson put himself in position for a victory that would redeem his lost summer and propel him into the thick of the player of the year race. Steve Stricker put on a Sunday charge that had him on the precipice of a Tour-best third victory, which would have made him the POY favorite. And if Stricker or Johnson had won, either would have been in the cat bird's seat in the FedEx points race. Both ultimately fell short, as Matt Kuchar beat Martin Laird with a spectacular birdie on the first playoff hole after Laird suffered a ghastly three-putt from 23 feet on the 72nd green. Kuchar's first victory of the year, after 10 top 10 finishes, propelled him to No. 1 on the FedEx points list and suddenly put him in the conversation for player of the year. But none of this was as interesting as the Ryder Cup drama that ultimately defined the week.

A dozen players — including Woods — were auditioning for a captain's pick for their respective team. The Europeans were particularly under the gun as captain Colin Montgomerie was to reveal his three picks following the conclusion of the Johnnie Walker Championship in Scotland; the announcement was due around 1 p.m. EDT, an hour before the final group was to tee off at the Barclays. (U.S. captain Corey Pavin will divulge his choices on Sept. 7, the day after the Deutsche Bank.)

On Sunday no player had more on his mind than Justin Rose. The day before, he had shot a bogeyless 65 to roar into a tie for second. Rose won twice on the PGA Tour earlier this summer, but missed cuts at the British Open and PGA Championship hurt his captain's pick candidacy. Noting the timing of Montgomerie's announcement, Rose knew that Saturday was his last chance to try to sway his captain. "Today was the big day for me," Rose said following his 65. "I had to make a little bit of noise. It's a tight selection process right now." It got even tighter when Edoardo Molinari birdied the last three holes at Gleneagles to win for the second time in the last six weeks. That made Molinari pretty much an automatic choice, especially given that his brother, Francesco, had already qualified for the squad and last year they teamed to win the World Cup for Italy.

So now there were only two spots left for a group that included Rose, Paul Casey (ninth in the World Ranking, third at this year's British Open), Luke Donald (seven worldwide top six finishes this year, 5-1-1 in two previous Ryder Cups) and, not least, Padraig Harrington, a three-time major champion. All chose to chase FedEx lucre rather than play at Gleneagles. All but Rose were already on the course as one o'clock neared. Nearly alone on the driving range, Rose dutifully beat balls while his caddie wiped the clubs and surreptitiously checked his cellphone for updates. At 1:01 Rose pulled a vibrating iPhone from his back pocket. False alarm — it was his manager informing Rose that Montgomerie's announcement had been delayed. Rose balanced the phone on a head cover and kept grinding, but the atmosphere was tense.

"I shouldn't even be talking to you," Rose's wife, Kate, told a nosy reporter. "We're trying to be very even-keeled. I don't want Justin to think I'm discussing this. In fact, I think I'll go into the clubhouse and watch the announcement on the Internet so I don't appear to be hovering." So she did.

At 1:12 Rose took another call. It was Monty. The chat was short and to the point: Rose was out. With his best English stiff upper lip, Rose betrayed no emotion and said nothing to his caddie. He struck a few putts and then cordially greeted all the dignitaries and volunteers on the 1st tee. Rose hit a perfect tee shot but ultimately struggled to a 72, falling to 15th place. "It was very, very difficult to put it all out of my mind," he said afterward.

Casey's denouement was even more brutal. His caddie is Christian Donald, Luke's brother, and Casey was paired with Harrington. "With Edoardo doing what he did, there could never have been a happy ending in my group," said Harrington.

By the time they teed off, Luke Donald was already scorching Ridgewood with a front-nine 28, which had to be unsettling. On the 7th hole Casey saw Caroline Harrington flash a thumbs-up to her hubby's caddie. "Caroline's a great friend. She would have said something to me if I had been picked," Casey said on Sunday night, his eyes watery and his voice shaking. "So at that point I kind of knew that I hadn't."

There will be more heartbreak after this week's Deutsche Bank. Pavin has four picks to choose from among Woods, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Anthony Kim, Sean O'Hair and Rickie Fowler, to name a few. Woods looks like more of a sure thing after his solid week at the Barclays. Still working to incorporate new swing thoughts from instructor Sean Foley, Woods hit a horrendous snap hook out-of-bounds off the 1st tee on Saturday, which he attributed to being "caught between the two swings. And I wasn't committed to what I was doing." Otherwise, he reported, "I'm right there. Drove it pretty much on a string all week and really controlled my irons." We'll see if captain Pavin is similarly impressed.

He has to be happy with the strong play of Kuchar, who, thanks to a 10th-place tie at the PGA, squeaked onto the U.S. team as the last automatic qualifier. Kuchar got a little Ryder Cup sneak preview in his sudden-death tussle against Laird, a Scotsman who is not on the European side. "Driving out to 18 tee for the playoff the crowd was really excited," said Kuchar. "I told [a tournament official], this is great prep for the Ryder Cup. I'm in a match-play situation, I've got a playoff and I've got people going crazy. Playing a European, people cheering out 'U-S-A.' I'll be able to put that in the memory bank and go with it come Ryder Cup time."

It's nice that Kuchar has the FedEx to tune up for a more important Cup. For Casey and Rose, points are the only thing left to play for.

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