The Morning Line
Doug Ferguson
No Tiger at Tour Championship is appropriate
Leave it to the PGA Tour to find the upside of Tiger Woods missing out on the Tour Championship.
In a press release Monday promoting the 30-man field at East Lake, it notes that Woods' failure to qualify for the last playoff event guarantees there will be a new FedEx Cup champion this year.
Phil Mickelson said it "absolutely" will be strange not having the world's No. 1 player at the Tour Championship, although it's nothing new. Woods has only played East Lake twice in the past five years, skipping in 2006 after a long year coping with his father's death and in 2008 when he was recovering from knee surgery.
The difference, of course, is that Woods couldn't play the Tour Championship even if he wanted. He needed to shoot 65 in the final round of the BMW Championship, and it took him until the 17th hole just to get under par for the final round, and the tournament.
In an explanation he offered Sunday he blamed only himself.
"I didn't play well in the beginning of the year and I didn't play well in the middle of the year," he said.
He said he is starting to play well now, but that only shows how far he had fallen. Woods tied 12th at The Barclays, tied for 11th at the Deutsche Bank Championship and tied for 15th at the BMW Championship.
Three straight weeks out of the top 10 used to be called a slump.
Now it's called … progress?
But there are other examples of Woods' weird year on the golf course.
He has gone seven consecutive tournaments out of the top 10, the longest stretch of his career. His previous worst was five straight tournaments out of the top 10. That was in 2001, between victories at the Memorial and Firestone.
And to get an idea of how he is playing, just look at when he is playing.
Woods is typically among the last to arrive because he is in or close to the lead so often. This year, he has teed off before noon in the final round at nine of his 12 tournaments.
This is no time to take pity on Woods. He's the one who created this mess he's in. But only Woods knows what's going on inside his head and with his swing.
Perhaps the only shock is that he's still No. 1 in the world ranking.
For Woods, the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, where Phil Mickelson is the defending champion, is more meaningful than ever. It will be his last chance this year for a PGA Tour victory (this World Golf Championship only counts as one if a PGA Tour member wins it). Woods has gone 14 consecutive seasons with at least one tour victory, three years away from the record held by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
That's not a streak Woods can start over.
Doug Ferguson covers golf for the Associated Press.
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The List
Baseball power rankings
1. Yankees (1, last week) - In new career as guitarist, Bernie Williams has high on-bass percentage
2. Rays (2) - Major Cy implications: Price vs. Sabathia on Monday
3. Twins (5) - No Cy implications whatsoever: Blackburn vs. Carrasco on Saturday
4. Phillies (9) - Just imagine a rotation of Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt and Cliff Lee
5. Giants (11) - Aubrey Huff wearing red thong to break slump, just like Mel Ott used to do
6. Reds (3) - Mysterious surge of Cincinnati-area newborns named "Aroldis"
7. Padres (8) - Reeling Padres implore Eckstein to rush order extra shipments of grit
8. Rockies (14) - For Rockies, September means Back To School and Back To Pennant Race
9. Braves (4) - Omar Infante may win batting title ... but he still shouldn’t have made All-Star team
10. Rangers (6) - When Nolan Ryan throws out ceremonial first pitch in playoffs, expect a brushback
Best of the rest ...
11. White Sox (10) - Dayan Viciedo drew 1st walk in 83rd plate appearance; Yuni nods approvingly
13. Cardinals (12) - Very conceivable La Russa won’t be back in Cards’ dugout next year
14. Blue Jays (13) - Jose Bautista and Jarrett Hoffpauir have combined for 46 home runs
15. Tigers (17) - Since he threw his no-no, Galarraga has thrown a lot of yes-yeses
16. Marlins (15) - Marlins trying to trick their fans into thinking Sanabia is Sabathia
17. A’s (18) - Power-challenged A’s have traded Nelson Cruz, Andre Ethier, Carlos Gonzalez
18. Dodgers (16) - Torre seeks advice from ex-Pirates managers on October vacation sites
22. Brewers (22) - Bud Selig statue cancels World Series of Sculpture
23. Cubs (23) - Piniella retroactively ejected by Bob Davidson
29. Mariners (29) - Pete Carroll got so carried away last week, he cut four Mariners
30. Pirates (30) - Pirates already mathematically eliminated in 2011 through 2013
- Larry Stone, McClatchy Newspapers
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Today’s talker
NFL talks to female reporter behavior
NEW YORK - After a summer in the spotlight, the Jets are under scrutiny again.
The "Hard Knocks’’ stars are being investigated by the NFL for the way Jets players and coaches carried on when they were visited by a female reporter from a Mexican TV network during the team’s practice Saturday.
Ines Sainz, of Mexico’s TV Azteca, said on her Twitter account Saturday that she felt "very uncomfortable!’’ in the Jets’ locker room, where a few players let loose with some "Whooo-weee!’’ catcalls as she waited with two male co-workers to interview quarterback Mark Sanchez.
"Of course you feel it when you are being stared at and when you are being spoken of in a certain way,’’ Sainz told The Associated Press.
"I opted to ignore it ... I tried to not even pay attention.’’
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