CBSSports.com staffers Ross Devonport and Steve Elling take a scattershot look at three compelling and timely topics in the game.
| 1. There's only a week left to make a splash, boys. Ross, being English, tell us which two players you'd take as your Ryder Cup captain's picks (the European team is finalized Sunday night) and Steve, being a Yank, give us the four wild-cards you'd pick for the American side. | |
| Steve Elling | Ross Devonport |
 Hey, this isn't fair. Ross has more guys than he knows what to do with and I have to fill four positions from among a group of candidates that have all but croaked at the finish line? Of the 10 players leading the U.S. points list who had not already qualified for an automatic Ryder spot, six missed the cut last week. Early Barclays leaders Steve Stricker (T19) and Hunter Mahan (T31) crashed and burned on the weekend. At this point, it might be best to consider taking a couple of bombers like J.B. Holmes (T24) and Sean O'Hair (missed cut), then setting up the course to suit their strengths, a tactic captain Paul Azinger is considering. And since we seem destined to get slaughtered, why not take a couple of guys with a sense of humor, like Rocco Mediate (missed cut) and Paul Goydos (missed cut)? If the U.S. wins in Louisville next month, especially without Tiger Woods, it will rank as a huge upset. Can I pick Vijay Singh? |  This might appear like a tough question at first glance, but I think I have it figured out. Assuming Justin Rose doesn't completely blow it this weekend and force Nick Faldo's hand, one pick which I think has already been made is Ian Poulter. He pulled out of this week's Johnny Walker to play in the Deutsche Bank Championship, and I don't think he'd be doing that unless he was pretty sure he had his spot sewn up. I think Faldo realizes Poulter has the perfect personality to succeed in match play as he'll get under the Americans' skin and get the traveling Europeans fired up at Valhalla. He's also playing pretty well and has more experience in the U.S. over the last couple of seasons than another bubble guy, Paul Casey, which I think gives him an advantage. Though he is playing pretty well lately, unless Casey wins this week in Boston, I think Darren Clarke is the second pick for Faldo. The guy has been a massive part of the last two routs and is playing great golf lately, as evidenced by his win last week at the KLM Open. He's a legend on my home continent and Faldo would be vilified back there if he didn't select Clarke. Hey, did I just write more than Elling? Whoah! |
| 2. After one round, the FedEx Cup points overhaul has already raised eyebrows among fans and players for its mega-volatility as we begin the second incarnation of the PGA Tour "playoffs." The final top 30 players on the points list, weighted heavily to reward play in the four FedEx events, automatically qualify for the Masters and U.S. Open fields. The question becomes whether those exemptions categories into the two biggest majors staged in the States should be eliminated or modified. | |
| Steve Elling | Ross Devonport |
| The overused term the tour employed to describe the new points schematic was "volatile," but who could have really envisioned the possibilities? Had Kevin Streelman, a guy fighting to retain his card two weeks ago, won the Barclays, he would have rocketed to No. 1 in FedEx points, a 101-position jump. My concern is this -- the two biggest majors staged in this country should feature the most deserving players. A tour player in the midst of a forgettable season could muster a couple of solid weeks under the new FedEx points system and steal away a spot from somebody who has played far better over the entire season. That's a joke, whether it's an unintended consequence or not. The tour can do whatever it wants with its points race, but the brass at the USGA and Augusta National should revisit these exemption categories, pronto. Take players off the money list instead, for instance, which is a more accurate gauge of sustained excellence. | I don't have a problem with this new-fangled FUC (can I call it that?). The Masters already invites the top 50 from the season-ending world rankings and the week prior to the tournament, plus the top 30 on the final money list, so I don't think this is taking away any spots from any "deserving" players. The playoffs are like they are in other sports -- if you can perform well in the postseason, you secure your history in your respective sport, no matter how poorly you played in the regular season. Just look at my Florida Marlins! They got into two playoffs via the wild card and won both times! Look, how about we take a look at the top 30 in this thing once the Tour Championship is over and see how many guys wouldn't get into those two majors regardless. I doubt it will be a big number. |
| 3. The LPGA announced last week that it would double the number of playing cards awarded off the season-ending money list of the developmental Duramed Futures Tour to 10 starting next year. Good idea or not? | |
| Steve Elling | Ross Devonport |
| It probably should have been done years ago, since the PGA Tour promotes 25 players annually off its Nationwide circuit. However, I take issue with the fact that the LPGA move wasn't made until after the organization purchased the Futures Tour a little over a year ago and moved it into the same Daytona Beach office used by the tour, so it's clearly a self-serving change. However, there is no disputing that the Futures has produced worthy players, including the reigning U.S. Open champion, Inbee Park, and the 2007 LPGA Rookie of the Year, Angela Park. The LPGA has also, finally, green-lighted a battlefield promotion to the LPGA for any Futures player who wins three times in the same season, like Florida teen Vicky Hurst did this year. That's something else that was well overdue. | This is the same tour that's now requiring their members to speak English, right? I'm sure we'll visit that topic next week, but any time an organization comes out with a decision as asinine as that one automatically loses credibility when it comes to future decisions. Therefore, I'm going to withhold judgment on this question, even though it appears to be a clear-cut positive at first look. I'm starting to think the L in LPGA stands for Lunacy. |
