Golf News and Notes: August 31, 2011
*Mr September – When looking for a sure bet in the topsy turvey world of the FedEx Cup playoffs, no one is better that Steve Stricker.
Since the playoffs started four years ago, Stricker is the only player to play in each round of the Playoffs (67 rounds) and has the most career top-10 finishes in playoff events (10). Stricker also leads the TOUR with 42 rounds in the 60s in Playoff events.
Last year, Stricker finished in the top 10 in the first three Playoff events, but finished a disappointing T25 at the TOUR Championship. He entered the 2010 TOUR Championship ranked 4th in the standings. Eventual champion
*Rookie Success – Keegan Bradley was unknown coming into the PGA Tour regular season in January, but that all changed when he won the PGA Championship in a three-hole playoff over Jason Dufner.
When the playoffs started Bradley was ranked 5th on the FedEx Cup list, the highest-ranked rookie entering the PGA TOUR Playoffs.
The last three years the top rookies were Rickie Fowler (19th) last year, Jeff Jeff Klauk (60th) in 2009, Adres Romero (26th) in 2008 and Brandt Snedeker (9th) in 2007.
Of that group, Snedeker finished the highest in 20th place.
Only three rookies have reached the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta in the FedExCup era – all three having been voted Rookie of the Year by their peers: Marc Leishman (2009), Andres Romero (2008) and Brandt Snedeker (2007).
*Bubble Boys – The players on the playoff bubble are:
30. Brian Davis 1,128, would be the last to get into the Tour Championship if it was held this week, 70. Marc Leishman 692, would be the last to get into the BMW Championship in two weeks if it was held theis week, and 100. Ben Crane 526, was the last to get into the Deutsche Bank Championship this week from The Barclays.
*Matt Kuchar was going to the World Cup and was left to pick his partner for the late November event in China. When Kuchar heard the course at Mission Hills was long, Kuchar picked one of the longer guys on tour, Gary Woodland.
"I think a lot of his game," said Kuchar of Woodland. "I think he's going to be a guy we are going to see more and more playing some great golf. So I'm pretty excited to have a guy that plays as well as he does and hits it as far as he does as my partner, I think there's a lot of upside to that. I think I can be the steady one that makes a lot of pars and watch him just make golf look pretty easy."
