Let the FedEx Cup Playoffs Begin

THE FEDEX CUP PLAYOFFS get underway on Thursday with The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey. The four-event playoff series, which includes the Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship, concludes in Atlanta with the Tour Championship.

After much criticism and formula tinkering, the FedEx Cup points race has slowly gained acceptance. No, it’s not the majors or the Ryder Cup. No, it can’t compete with football. But it’s far better than the days when everyone tuned out after the PGA Championship. With all that cash up for grabs, the top PGA Tour players surely welcome the playoffs and gladly play deep into the month of September. That’s good for core golf fans.

Above are PGATour.com’s top 10 shots from The Barclays. I remembered three of the shots. Four, actually. After seeing it again, I did recall Sergio Garcia’s putt in his 2008 playoff against Vijay Singh. Of course, I also remembered Vijay’s long one that he made on top of Sergio. And there was Matt Kuchar’s iron out of the rough to three feet. That was last year.

I think Heath Slocum got robbed, though. Slocum’s tournament-winning 20-footer in 2009—the biggest putt of his life and the one that beat Tiger Woods—is No. 6 on the list.

Really? Only No. 6?

That’s just wrong.

−The Armchair Golfer

A Quarter Century of World No. 1 Golfers

THE OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING (OWGR) debuted in 1986. Masters champion Bernhard Langer was the first world No. 1. Langer’s reign only lasted three weeks. Seve Ballesteros, who died three weeks ago, grabbed the top spot and held on to it for more than a year. Then Greg Norman was king of the hill for much of the 1990s.

Luke Donald will now take a turn at the top, thanks to his dramatic playoff win over former No. 1 Lee Westwood at the BMW PGA Championship. Donald is the 15th player to claim the No. 1 ranking.

Here are all 15, including the number of weeks they were on top:

Bernhard Langer, 3 weeks
Seve Ballesteros, 61 weeks
Greg Norman, 331 weeks
Nick Faldo, 97 weeks
Ian Woosnam, 50 weeks
Fred Couples, 16 weeks
Nick Price, 44 weeks
Tom Lehman, 1 week
Tiger Woods, 623 weeks
Ernie Els, 9 weeks
David Duval, 15 weeks
Vijay Singh, 32 weeks
Lee Westwood, 17 weeks
Martin Kaymer, 8 weeks
Luke Donald, took over yesterday (May 30, 2011)

Since the decline of Tiger Woods, it has been Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood and now Luke Donald. How long will Donald be No. 1 and who will displace him?

It might be Westwood again, especially if he can finally get the “major” monkey off his back. Of course, The Donald would also like to win his first major.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Source: Golf.com)

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

U.S. Open Special Exemptions Started with Ben Hogan

HOW DOES THE USGA determine who gets a special exemption into the U.S. Open? However the USGA championship committee wants to.

Each situation has a different set of circumstances. Tom Watson was granted a special exemption this year based on the strength of his 2009 British Open performance at Turnberry. Plus, old Tom has some compelling history at Pebble Beach, where he snatched the national crown from four-time U.S. Open champion Jack Nicklaus in 1982. (I wish I had a buck for every time I’ve seen Tom’s chip-in for birdie on 17. Jack must still have nightmares 28 years later.)

Watson is a former U.S. Open champion and eight-time major winner, a sentimental favorite who can also contend at the age of 60. That’s an ideal set of circumstances for granting a special exemption.

Awarded a special exemption today, three-time major winner Vijay Singh is a fuzzier choice for me. I’m not saying I’m opposed to it, but the injury-plagued Veej, still an everyday PGA Tour player, certainly caught a break from the USGA after falling out of the top 50 in the world golf rankings. The special exemption will allow Singh to bypass a 36-hole sectional qualifier. Those aren’t fun. And his consecutive majors streak is still alive at 63 and soon to be 64.

Ben Hogan was the first player to be granted a U.S. Open special exemption in 1966. Hogan was 53 and still a good player who had the twitches on the greens. A 36-hole qualifier was out of the question 17 years after a head-on collision with a Greyhound bus banged up Hogan so severely that walking was a minor miracle. In fact, Ben had not played a U.S. Open since 1961 when he teed it up at the Olympic Club in June of ’66. How’d the old warhorse do? He finished 12th.

There were no more U.S. Open special exemptions until 1977. Now they’re doled out on an annual basis.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Steve and Sara Emry/Flickr)

The Rules Geek: Abnormal Ground Conditions Aid Amateur

Editor’s note: The Rules Geek may be an occasional and annoying feature at ARMCHAIR GOLF. We’ll see how it goes.

“I RECENTLY USED THE Rules of Golf in my favor while playing in an amateur tournament,” John Patota, The Pinehurst Golfer, told The Rules Geek.

“My ball had hit the green, bounced off the back, and landed in a hole about the size of a soda can. I was about to take an unplayable lie with a one-stroke penalty when the thought came to me: ‘This hole could have been made by a burrowing animal under the definitions of the Rules of Golf.’”

Let’s have a look at the rule, shall we?

Rule 25-1 Abnormal Ground Conditions says “interference by an abnormal ground condition occurs when a ball lies in or touches the condition or when the condition interferes with the player’s stance or the area of his intended swing.”

Back to John’s situation. “Sure enough, with a little more observation it was clear only some kind of animal could have made the hole. My playing competitor agreed, and I proceeded under Rule 25, Abnormal Ground Conditions, without a penalty.”

John took a free drop within one club length of, and not nearer the hole than, the nearest point of relief.

“That was the first time I can remember that knowing the Rules of Golf actually helped me,” he concluded.

This situation reminded The Rules Geek of Sergio Garcia’s burrowing animal ruling in a playoff against Vijay Singh at The Barclays in 2008. A television audience watched for several minutes as Garcia pleaded his case to PGA Tour official Slugger White. At the time, the Garcia ruling struck some golf fans as quite charitable. Singh went on to win, otherwise the ruling would have spurred more debate.

The Rules Geek salutes John for knowing the rules and calling over his playing competitor to confirm the ruling.

The Rules Geek sez rules were made to be followed. Got a rules-related tip or story? Send it to The Rules Geek at armchairgolfer@gmail.com.

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(Image: Old Shoe Woman/Flickr)