Tripping through the Tour is hard work ... or is it?

"Wait until Tiger's child grows up, wait another couple of years," said Els, who has children aged 8 and 4. "Wait until it's time for her to go off to school. Those are the things that are important in everybody's lives, and you don't want to miss those. I can assure you, it's going to get even harder for him."

School starts in San Diego this week and Mickelson has three kids. While he coyly indicated Monday he has other objections to the FedEx Cup structure -- Mickelson intimated that a rift exists with tour brass since it failed to make modifications in the playoff design he'd suggested -- there's no question he's as doting as any father on tour. This is a guy who once blew off a guaranteed check at a no-cut event in order to escort his kids through the neighborhood on Halloween, so any eye-rolling should be kept to a minimum.

Being in contention on a regular basis is especially draining, Els said, and there's really no workplace equivalent he can relate it to.

"You think playing and beating Tiger yesterday (Monday) didn't take something out of you?" Els said, rhetorically. "There is a huge mental aspect to this game and in keeping yourself fresh. It takes a toll."

Els isn't acting an apologist, mind you, he's just trying to frame a more complete picture. Yeah, whacking a ball with two hands beats wielding a shovel any day, but it ain't all roses and manicured greens. When the FedEx plan was conceived, the top players warned that it was going to be a stretch to play all four in succession so soon after the majors were completed, and they've been saying as much for more than a year. Woods, Els, Mickelson and Harrington stand as not-so-mute testament.

"They have been shoving this down our throats since the U.S. Open," Els said. "From the Memorial pretty much straight through, most of the top players play the same events. Well, the way it's designed right now, that's an awful lot of events in a row. And at the end of the day, for the top players, it's really still all about the majors, isn't it?"

The truancy rate has hurt tournaments, but besmirched the reputations of players, too. Top draws Woods and Mickelson in particular have been bashed, albeit not entirely without reason from the fan's perspective. They would have been paired together for the first two rounds this week in Chicago, just as they were for three of the four rounds last week. This week, though, it was Mickelson's turn to take a pass and deflate the balloon.

So, for the disappointed fans in the Second City, give it a second thought before eviscerating Mickelson or the other big boys who elected to take a knee.

Said veteran Scott Verplank, who also skipped last week because of fatigue: "I think the people who put this together were asleep at the wheel if they thought this wasn't a possibility."