Will Phil Mickelson's absence from the BMW Championship hand Tiger Woods the FedEx Cup, can the driving range hurt your game and redress at address

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This weekend the news on the PGA Tour wasn't necessarily that Tiger Woods won his fourth BMW Championship, his sixtieth event or even that he is close to overcoming Arnold Palmer's record but, rather, that he has all but locked up his bid for the FedEx Cup. For all of his grumbling in the past few weeks where Woods wanted to see the $10 million purse stacked up in cash at the first tee of the Tour Championship because as Tiger claimed, "I may not be around to collect it", there were no complaints yesterday as it was learned that only three golfers have a real shot at the deferred annuity next week.

The other two hopefuls will be wishing for a miracle this week at the elite thirty player field.

With Woods, Mickelson and Stricker as the only three players to have a real chance to win the FedEx Cup with a long shot stretching out to K.J. Choi and Rory Sabbatini, you have to wonder if the other twenty-five even want to show up knowing there is only about $1 million at stake during this final season tournament. With the outrageous purses growing exorbitantly each year, the only guys that seem to be interested in playing weekly are the golfers on the European Tour and those players with a fear of losing their card at the end of the season. Stricker hasn't seen a hefty payday in 146 tournaments (eleven years since he's won in the U.S.A.) so he's one of the few grinders looking forward to events with such payouts. Rory Sabbatini is just yearning to kick some Tiger butt, but is his trash talk the best part of his game?

On the other hand, not playing in the BMW Championship probably cost Phil Mickelson the FedEx Cup. If Mickelson wins the Tour Championship and Woods places second, Phil will lose the trophy, and the $10 million, by just twenty points! I wonder how that's going to sit with Lefty (and coach Butch Harmon), knowing that he won two of the four events and still came up short!

Perhaps Ernie Els said it best, "We love what the tour has done for us but we just need to get closer to the big decisions, because then we won't get into problems down the line."


Here is what the FedEx Cup boils down to this week:

If Woods wins the Tour Championship, he takes the Cup, the money and the glory of being the first to win this event.

If Mickelson wins this week, he has to hope that Woods doesn't finish in second place or Woods wins by twenty points.

If Stricker wins this week, he would take the FedEx Cup because he already won the Barclays, placing well enough in all four events to clinch the trophy.

K.J. Choi and Rory Sabbatini have an outside chance to win the FedEx Cup if Tiger Woods doesn't finish in the top-fifteen. What's the chance of that happening?


This week Golf for Beginners not only discusses backlash from top PGA Tour players about the FedEx Cup but also gives you some easy golf tips meant to help you both at the driving range and on the course. For example, what should you do if you are standing uncomfortably over the golf ball for what appears to be an inordinate amount of time? And, can any good come out of pounding golf balls at the driving range?

Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed:http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes. Nextel/Sprint cell customers type http://www.mymbn.com/podcast/ in your browser and click on "sports casts". Our station number is 1955.

"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

This podcast is supported by Florida Golf Travel.

This podcast is supported by New Roc Harley Davidson, your worldwide parts and accessories distributor. Great rides start here!.

Mickelson surpasses Tiger Woods, Michelle Wie proves publicity trumps merit, easy slice fixes and other quick tips

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While watching the Deutsche Bank Championship final round, I had an unsettling feeling that Phil Mickelson was going allow his lead to slip away as soon as Tiger Woods began his ascent. Isn't that his modus operandi when placed in a pressure-cooker situation?

Tiger's pawprints were never felt as his putter let him down and Mickelson remained in control going head-to-head with "the great one" despite his double bogey "miscalculation" at the twelfth hole. With Phil now leading in the FedEx Cup standings, could he snatch the ten million dollar purse from Woods, considered to be the favorite for this cup? Maybe Woods could use a bit of help from Butch Harmon! Surely a secret or two about Phil could help Tigers' cause, or could it?

This week, Golf for Beginners cheered Mickelson to victory. We also discuss (click to listen) the interest the new 2008 HSBC Womens Champions event has in Michelle Wie, offering her an exemption in spite of the fact that all of the women golfers were offered a position based on their top-thirty status. I'll bet that ticks off more than a few of the qualifiers! Michelle has no victories but she does have what the tournament desperately needs; that is, a wealth of publicity. We therefore ask the question, "Does publicity trump merit?"

There are a few factors to consider while making your decision. For example, this event will be held in Singapore where the mention of MW's name is followed by swooning kids and more television cameras than those that cover stateside LPGA events. The event is new and the publicity could help several women's tours with the results trickling past the Duramed Futures Tour and Asian Tours even, one day, as deep as the amateur level.

The winner would also be crowned "Champion of Champions" as in the HSBC Men's event scheduled in November in which Phil Mickelson pledged to attend (more important than next week's BMW Championship?) Wouldn't it be interesting for MW to finally win this crown, putting all doubts of her ability to rest? As Barry likes to point out about Michelle Wie, "you'll see her name at the top of the leaderboard. All you have to do is flip it upside down!"

An invite to Leewood Country Club over the weekend prompted us to offer up a few golf tips from our round. We discuss the dreaded slice (who doesn't have trouble with this problem?) as well as sidehill lies and fixes for when you find the thick rough.


Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed:http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes. Nextel/Sprint cell customers type http://www.mymbn.com/podcast/ in your browser and click on "sports casts". Our station number is 1955.

"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

This podcast is supported by Golf Canada's WestMyrtle Beach Golf and Florida Golf Travel.

This podcast is supported by New Roc Harley Davidson, your worldwide parts and accessories distributor. Great rides start here!.

Is Michelle wie delusional, lag putt debate and how to hit fairway woods from different lies

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As Lorena Ochoa's star rises and her mental game grows stronger, Michele Wie's game continues to decline. The problem is that Michelle does not notice that she is on this slippery slope. She actually believes that her game is better than it really is! For example, when Wie missed the cut this week at the Safeway Classic, she actually thought that she was playing well and didn't really understand how her score didn't reflect her ability. As Michelle queried, "I felt like I didn't shoot this bad. But, like I say, the score didn't show how I played today."

Is Wie deluding herself into believing that she is still very much "in the game" or is she just putting up a facade for the cameras?

Can it really be just a single year since Michelle Wie admirably challenged the ladies on tour, finishing among the top five in three major events? Is this the same teenager who thumbed her nose up at the LPGA, believing that her future would be better served playing against the men on the PGA Tour? I'm not really sure if the LPGA would even want her to sign up at this point in her career!

Even websites devoted to Michelle Wie have stopped her promotion. There hasn't been an entry on Wieblogging.com since May (nothing to write about?) and although hometown newspapers like The Honolulu Adviser and websites like MissMichelleWie.comstrive to show Wie in the best possible light, it is becoming evident that there is little good news left to print about her golf game.

This week on Golf for Beginners, we discuss Michelle Wie's latest missed cut at the Safeway Classic and also offer a number of great golf tips from tee to green. Our disccusion on the lag putt should not be missed!

Congratulations to both Lorena Ochoa for her third win in a row and to Steve Stricker for his success at the Barclays! Here is a link to ease any confusion about the FedEx Cup.

Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed:http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes. Nextel/Sprint cell customers type http://www.mymbn.com/podcast/ in your browser and click on "sports casts". Our station number is 1955.

"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

This podcast is supported by Golf Canada's WestMyrtle Beach Golf and Florida Golf Travel.

This podcast is supported by New Roc Harley Davidson, your worldwide parts and accessories distributor. Great rides start here!.