Capelle On Golf

Tiger Woods lobbied for participants of his Chevron World Challenge to receive World Golf Ranking points, and whatever Tiger wants, Tiger gets – in and out of the bedroom.

Too bad Woods wasn’t there to join in the spoils because of — well, he’s not telling. But that didn’t stop Jim Furyk from scoring 48 big points in the Tiger-less field, enabling him to leapfrog over five golfers to the number six position. Cut his take to a far more reasonable 28 points and he would be #9 in the WGR.

Since points are awarded based on the strength of the field, you can imagine how many Furyk would have earned if Woods had played. Or Woods, for that matter, who’s won four of the last seven Challenges he’s played in. I would say 55-60 points is a good guess. For beating 17 golfers!

Oh, but what an exemplary group these 18 were. Even without Tiger, or World #2 Phil Mickelson, the Challenge still attracted 5 of the top 10, and 11 of the top 20 (see below). Whoo-hoo!

3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 9 – 11 – 12 – 14 – 15 – 16 – 19 – 21 – 22 – 23 – 31 – 35 – 39 – 55

(Here are those in the top 20 who didn’t play:
Woods, Mickelson, Stenson, Garcia, McIlroy, Ogilvy, Els, Goosen, Fisher)

Never mind that Tiger, Phil, most of this group, and several that are missing from the top 20, played in Arnie and Jack’s events, which are 5x tougher to win, but that only offered only 60 and 62 points.

In case you’re wondering, here’s how Furyk’s points booty compares to those Woods earned for his six PGA Tour victories (# of players):

60  Arnold Palmer Invitational (120)
62  Memorial (120)
50  AT&T (120)
36  Buick Open (156)
76  WGC Bridgestone (80)
68  BMW Championship (70)

So, thanks to Woods, we have a scandal raging that’s made him and golf the laughing stock of the national media, not to mention this distortion of the WGR, which could affect who plays in the majors next year.

Case in point: Challenge runner-up, Graeme McDowell. Before the tournament he was on the outside looking in at #55 in the WGR. Now, thanks to the super generous 28.8 points he earned, he’s now in the 38th position and a lock to play in the majors next year.

I know, it’s no big deal. Some player on the rankings bubble may not play in the majors next year because of this WGR points silly season farce. And Furyk’s ascension to the sixth position could affect some players’ bonuses based on their yearend WGR points (just a guess, but not impossible). And who do the players have to thank? None other than PGA PLAYER (double meaning!) of the Year, Tiger Woods.