Well, here we are again, half way through the FedEx Cup and only about four guys even have a remote shot at winning the $10 million, and if Vijay gets a 10,501-point lead over second place next time around, he can’t lose even if he DQs during the final week. There are ways he could lose, but even if Sergio Garcia wins the next two tournaments, Vijay still wins if he finishes with two thirds or with a second and an eighth place. Even if Singh finishes dead last in the next two events only a player in the top 24 with two wins could beat him.
If Singh has two last-place finishes, Garcia would still need a first and a third at BMW and THE TOUR Championship, or a fifth at BMW and a win in Atlanta. Mike Weir would need a win and a second at BMW and THE TOUR Championship, or a third at BMW and a win in Atlanta.
Everybody else needs to win twice and hope Singh falls asleep at the wheel and finishes last twice, and the chances of that happening are almost non-existent. Justin Leonard could help his checkbook $10 million ways with a second at BMW and a victory at THE TOUR Championship, but no one else has a chance, as long as Singh earns any points at all in both events. Leonard could pull off two wins and grab 128,888 points that would mean Singh would need 8,388 in the two events, which is equivalent to two fifth-place finishes. Our boy Jim Furyk would have 127,729 points with two wins, only 7,229 more than Singh's already has. All Vijay needs is two ninth-place finishes to overcome that hill.
I may be wrong, but it looks like the self-proclaimed “best putter in the world” has ruined Tim Finchem’s surprise party.
By the way, in addition to the prize money at each event, did you know that there is a $35 million bonus pool at stake, with the winner receiving $10 million? The second-place finisher gets $3 million, and payouts will be made all the way down to 150th place , which is six spots outside the cutoff for qualifying for the playoffs and that makes no sense at all. Here's the catch: This bonus money is deferred. It will be paid immediately, but into a tax-deferred retirement account. I know that you’ll agree that life is hard when you have to wait for the money.
Maybe the best reason to watch the BMW is the great golf course. The history of Bellerive Country Club goes back to 1897 in north St. Louis as a nine-hole course with 166 members. Back then it was known as the St. Louis Field Club. Perhaps the Field Club didn’t sound fancy enough; in any case, in 1910, the membership incorporated as Bellerive Country Club, naming the club after Louis St. Ange De Bellerive, the last French commander in North America. That same year, Scotsman Robert Foulis designed the “new Bellerive” in Normandy where the club remained for 50 years, but you knew that, didn’t you?
Under the leadership of a couple of dudes named Hord Hardin and Clark Gamble, the membership decided to move west in 1955, and allowed legendary architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr. to pick a prime farm location for the new site. The so called “Green Monster of Ladue Road” opened on Memorial Day, 1960.
In 1963, Mayor Raymond Tucker asked Hardin if Bellerive would pursue hosting the U.S. Open in 1965 to coincide with the St. Louis Bicentennial Celebration. With the USGA’s cooperation, Bellerive became the “youngest” course to ever host the Open. Gary Player won the event by defeating Kel Nagle in a playoff after the two had tied at two-over-par 282. Player then donated his entire $25,000 check to cancer research and junior golf.
The ‘65 Open was the first of many national and world championships to be held at Bellerive. In 1981, they hosted the inaugural Mid-Amateur Championship that was won by St. Louis native Jim Holtgrieve. Nick Price captured his first major by winning the PGA Championship there in 1992. The 2001 American Express World Golf Championship, scheduled for September of that year, was cancelled due to the events of 9-11. Major championship golf returned to Bellerive in 2004 when the club played host to the U.S. Senior Open. Peter Jacobsen won his first senior major by besting a stellar field of competition that included local favorites Hale Irwin and Jay Haas.
The golf course has just undergone a year-long renovation and reopened in October, 2006. Rees Jones, son of original architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr., was entrusted with this project.
I’ll enjoy the course, and I’ll enjoy the golf… on TiVo. Sorry Tim. Go Cowboys.
