The FedEx Cup has been decided. Tiger will take home the ten million dollar check sign the paperwork for the annuity.

Going into this weekend’s event, there were just three players who reasonably could win—Tiger, Phil and Steve Stricker. After two rounds, Tiger is leading Mickelson by seven and Stricker by nine.

The only other two players who had a mathematical chance were K.J. Choi and Rory Sabbatini. But they only had a chance if Tiger finished out of the top 15, which he most decidedly is not going to do.

If Mickelson or Stricker are able to make a game of this, it will only be as a result of one of the biggest collapses in golf history—one of Norman- or VandeVelde- ian proportions.

It’s safe to watch football.

My alma mater—West Virginia has already won this week. Mrs. Goflblogger is hoping that hers—Michigan—can finally put one in the W column.

The PGA Tour is missing a tremendous opportunity with its Tour Championship. Rather than going mano-a-mano against weekend football, the Tour should reinvent the penultimate event of the FedEx Cup as a four-day, mid-week, prime-time sporting event.

Scheduling the Tour Championship as a Tuesday through Friday event would offer a tremendous opportunity to capture both sports fans and casual audiences. Aside from some local baseball coverage and the odd Big East football game on Thursday, September weeknights are largely devoid of sports.

The mid week format would work for television coverage if they moved the venue from East Lake to somewhere in the Pacific Northwest—say, Brandon Dunes—or to Hawaii. At this time of year, sunset is at 7:55 PM in Oregon—nearly 11 pm on the East Coast. So with just thirty players in the event, the final group could tee off at around 2:30 local—or 6:30 Eastern. That’d put the back nine for the last few groups in prime time. Just to be safe, they could put up klieg lights on the final few holes. In Hawaii, Prime Time on the continent is in the middle of the afternoon, local time.

Brandon Dunes would look great on television, and I doubt Oregon has the same dead greens problem that have plagued East Lake. And from what I understand, September is a good month, weatherwise to visit Hawaii. Either offers more exciting vistas than East Lake, which is a fine course, but offers no visual distinction.

To make this work, you’d also need a week off between the third and fourth events. But that just might make the players happier, since the most they’d have to play would be three events in a row. The week off also would give the Tour a chance to promote the heck out of the final event, just as NFL has taken a week off before the Super Bowl.

And if the Tour REALLY wanted golf on a Sunday afternoon, they could televise a Sunday pro-am before the Tuesday start. Thirty players and thirty golf-serious celebs—no comedians; good golfers only.

Scheduling its biggest event in prime time would be a big, bold move for the PGA Tour. And I think it would work.

At last, a sports columnist defends the FedEx Cup.

To Watch The FedEx Cup or Not To Watch. That is the question.

The FedEx Cup point system is complicated, and football is in the air. So how do you know whether or not to watch the FedEx Cup?

Never fear. Golfblogger is here. I’ve created a handy flowchart to help you decide whether to watch the Fedex Cup or football. On Friday, just check the leaderboard and then refer to the chart below:

The whole thing is predicated upon the idea that I only watch sporting events where the outcome is in doubt. If Michigan is playing Appalachian State, there’s no sense in watching since the smaller team doesn’t have a chance. So if Tiger is in first on Friday, the outcome on Sunday is pretty much secure. If Phil or Steve are in contention, then it’s worth watching. If KJ or Rory are in the lead, then it’s only worth watching if Tiger is in the tank. If anyone else looks like they’re going to win, it’s not worth watching because Tiger can win simply by showing up.

Who can win the Fedex Cup? Thanks to Tiger and Phil each taking a week off during the FedEx Cup “Playoff,” the event is not quite a lock. From what I can gather—and not being a Tour mathematician—here’s how it seems to break down:

Tiger, of course, signs the paperwork for the annuity with a win. The same goes for Steve Stricker.

Phil signs the paperwork if he wins at East Lake, and Tiger finishes with a tie for second or worse.

Rory Sabbatini and K.J. Choi sign if they win, and Tiger finishes out of the top 15. And that’s not going to happen.

If none of the above win at East Lake, Tiger apparently could finish last and still win whole shebang.

No one else apparently has a chance.

It will be interesting to see if any of the snowballs in hell drop out of the event this weekend.

Steve Stricker continues his improbable renaissance by pulling into a one shot lead after three rounds of the Western Open BMW Championship.

Sticker is— without a doubt—the best story in golf over the last couple of years. Without a tour card in 2005, he came charging back two years ago on sponsors exemptions to win $2 million. This year, with card in hand, Stricker has been remarkable. He’s held the Sunday lead—or a share of it—at the US Open, The Open Championship, The AT&T National, and the Wachovia. He also has a victory at the Barclays, the FedEx Cup opening round.

Now, after having already won one of four FedEx Cup events, Stricker is poised to win a second. If he wins the Western, either Tiger or Phil apparently would have to win the final event outright to catch him.

I’d love to see Stricker collect the $10 million check fill out the paperwork for the delayed annuity (doesnt’ quite have the same victorious ring, does it?).

So—like millions of other golf fans—while I’m watching the first weekend of NFL games on the television (and worrying about my fantasy team), I’ll be thinking about Stricker on the course at Cog Hill. 

The London Times has an article detailing player criticisms of the FedEx Cup.

I’m actually getting a little weary of all the criticism. But it’s interesting that I can’t find anyone who likes what’s going on.