Count me among the apparent few who think the FedEx Cup is just fine so far. As a fan I am not insulted that Tiger in Week One and Phil this weekend stayed home with their kids. Many of us complain about selfish, money-grubbing athletes, and then when they turn their backs on the potential for a million dollar payday, we complain that they don't care about the fans or the game. Baloney; we don't own the gaziilionaires like Tiger and Phil any more than we own Lucas Glover and Brandt Jobe. I think Phil, Tiger, Ernie and other no-shows set a great example when they put family first.
Anyway, Tiger the consummate front runner brought the field back in by staying away in Week One, making these last few weeks even more exciting; and Phil, a notoriously good handicapper of the odds in a few other sports, deduced that he could take his daughters to school this week and still be in the top five headed to the final showdown in Atlanta. So we the fans, and presumably the tour itself, will get what we want at East Lake; Tiger and Phil in the hunt, with the possibility of a Cinderalla story emerging in the form of Steve Stricker... although if I hear one more time about how incredible it is that he repaired his game so dramatically in the last 18 months, I might explode. What happened with Stricker seems pretty simple to any of us who understand that, after achieving a certain level of competence, golf is almost exclusively a mental exercise.
HE GREW UP! He stopped whining internally that he was away from his wife and kids and that the good old days of his wife carrying his golf bag, and comforting him at the end of a mediocre round, were over. He decided that doing something that he is good at would do more for his family than teaching golf at the local driving range back in Wisconsin. So here's hoping that Steve Stricker wins the FedEx Cup, pockets the $10 million prize, and stays home as long as he wants with his family.