Week in Review

Moving On...

Despite a battle between two of the PGA Tour's top players, the first FedEx Cup playoff event still lacked drama

PGA Tour: Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar

Dustin Johnson held off Matt Kuchar for his first win of the season.

Related Links

By John Strege

Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images

August 29, 2011

Playoff fever is not contagious, for those who were wondering. No immunization is necessary. It's harder to catch than Tiger with a Sunday lead -- as best as we can remember, at any rate.

The Barclays produced an eventful (though premature) ending last week, two of the PGA Tour's best, Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, dueling in a finish moved to Saturday in advance of Hurricane Irene. Johnson prevailed with a final-round 65 that included a front nine of 29.

Related: The Top 10 FedEx Cup Moments

Playoff drama, meanwhile, was conspicuous by its absence. In other sports, it is derived from the do-or-die nature of the game or series. Johnson and Kuchar were advancing to the next round, regardless how they fared last week, and those who failed to advance rated indifference.

Therein lies the rub for the FedEx Cup. The sum of the parts is considerably less entertaining than the parts themselves.

D.J. AND BAM BAM

The winners of last week's tour events, Dustin Johnson (aka DJ) at the Barclays and Brittany Lincicome (aka Bam Bam) at the CN Canadian Open, have a lot in common beyond their victory totals that have now reached five.

Both are young (Johnson is 27, Lincicome 25) and among the longest hitters on their tours, and their potential remains greater than their productivity, notwithstanding their success.

Only consistency eludes them. Johnson has finished in the top 10 in only six of 18 starts, Lincicome in four of 15 starts (two of them victories).

CHANNELING CASEY

The late great baseball manager Casey Stengel spoke a language all his own. It was known as Stengelese and often veered into the nonsensical ("Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa").

Stengelese came to mind last week when U.S. Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples attempted to explain his rationalization for adding Tiger Woods to the U.S. team ahead of the deadline for making his captain's picks.

"The question came up, and there's no reason for me to wait until Sept. 26th to pick Tiger," Couples said. "He's the best player in the world forever."

Related: Tiger's stalled comeback

One might construe that Couples, who has his own meandering speech style, was attempting to say that Woods was the best player in history. In fact (we think), he was attempting to say that Woods was the best player in golf for an extended period of time. It's true, but also irrelevant to the Presidents Cup discussion.

"Is he playing well right now?" Couples asked. "No. He almost won Augusta three, four months ago, so you don't do that by playing poor golf."

This would make some sense only if the inverse were true, that he was playing poorly three, four months ago, but that now he's playing considerably better. As it stood, it was incoherent.

All Couples had to say was that others might be more deserving, but the object is to win and that Woods gives the U.S. the best chance to do so, meanwhile citing Tiger's 5-0 record on the last U.S. Presidents Cup team that Couples captained, in 2009 (and perhaps adding his 3-1 record in the Ryder Cup last year).

It wouldn't end the debate, but it would clear up the confusion. In the meantime, as Casey might have said, it's a good pick, unless it isn't.

KRAFT'S DILEMMA

Kelly Kraft's upset victory over Patrick Cantlay in the U.S Amateur Championship on Sunday has its rewards, of course, but it also creates a dilemma. Should he forgo turning professional in the fall to reap the rewards?

His victory in the Amateur has earned him invitations to the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open, so long as he remains an amateur. His eligibility at SMU having expired, he had initially intended to turn pro in the fall. His thoughts now?

"I haven't thought about that yet," he said Sunday after his 2-up victory over Cantlay, No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. "I mean I definitely want to play in the Masters. So I don't know. That's something I'm going to have to think about. I'll start thinking about that after the Walker Cup."

Kraft might want to consider the precedent of another SMU golfer who faced a similar decision in 2007. Colt Knost won both the U.S. Amateur Public Links and the U.S. Amateur in the summer of '07, but stuck to his decision to turn pro that fall.

"Foregoing my invitations to [the major championships] was a very hard decision," Knost said in September of '07. "But I feel like now is the time to begin my professional career. I hope to play in many of their championships in the years to come."

So how many major championships has Knost played? None. And with only $256,467 in earnings on the PGA Tour this year, he's likely facing a return to PGA Tour Qualifying in the fall.

CANTLAY TO AUGUSTA

The decision for Cantlay is easier than it will be for Kraft. Cantlay will only be a sophomore at UCLA and has steadfastly insisted he was returning to school. Given that the finalists in the U.S. Amateur both are invited to play in the Masters (provided they retain their amateur standing), Cantlay will be playing in Augusta in April.

However, the temptation to pursue professional golf must have been overwhelmingly tempting. Cantlay played four PGA Tour events this summer and finished in the top 25 in all of them, including a T-21 in the U.S. Open. He also shot a 60 in the Travelers Championship and finished T-9 in the RBC Canadian Open.