Keith Ganzenmuller attended Skidmore College 2004 in Saratoga Springs, NY where he currently resides. He does sales for an internet marketing company and freelance sports writing for a weekly Saratoga paper. Ganzenmuller 's passion is sports writing and he hopes to pursue it as a full time career. He has always been very involved in sports. A three-sport varsity athlete throughout high school, he played four years of varsity basketball at division three Skidmore College. In college, Keith conducted a sociology study in which he surveyed over 200 athletes, wrote an extensive research report and received two post graduate grants. Ganzenmuller has become an avid golfer and golf-fan over the last several years. He is determined to improve his current 8 Handicap into the low single digits. He can be reached at kgkeith@hotmail.com. With fall's arrival, the PGA Tour drifts far off the radar screen for the casual sports fan. The NFL and the college football seasons are in full swing, the PGA Tour is merely an after thought. Every fall there is a Ryder Cup or President's Cup, but for all its proverbial hype, this year's European Ryder Cup blowout victory lacked the theatre or drama to captivate the masses.
Let's face it, aside from Tiger's few sporadic appearances in The Deutsche Bank or American Express Championships, the PGA Tour Season ends for most sports fans with The PGA Championship in August, the Tour's final major.
The 2006 PGA season ended with an anticlimactic Tour Championship, with the field lacking two of the sport's biggest stars: Tiger and Lefty.
Phil Mickleson skipped out on The Tour Championship for the second consecutive year. Mickleson has made it clear that Major Championships are his priority, and that other PGA Tour events are far further down the list.
Why should he feel compelled to play? He's already won a Tour Championship and certainly doesn't need the money. Furthermore, a golfer's legacy is ultimately determined by Major Championship victories -- end of story. Have you ever heard anyone engage in the discussion of, who's the best player without a Tour Championship?
Tiger withdrew just a few days before the start of The Tour Championship citing fatigue. An appearance by Tiger would have heightened the buzz and ratings for the event.
Tiger in contention at East Lake, would have undoubtedly made for compelling Sunday television. The Tour Championship could have been his seventh straight PGA Tour victory, edging him one closer to the late Byron Nelson's mind-boggling record of 11 victories in a row.
Unfortunately, those who tuned in watched Australia's Adam Scott win the event by a ho-hum three-stroke margin.
The PGA Tour hopes the introduction of the FedExCup in '07 will make golf relevant after August. The tour's brainpower is betting that the allure of a $10 million payday will draw interest from the games biggest stars and boost ratings.
The FedExCup format is similar to NASCAR's Chase to the Nextel Cup. Players will qualify for the FedExCup based on points earned during the PGA Tour season. The top 144 players will be eligible to compete in the FedExCup.
The $10 million first place prize will be determined in the final four events of the PGA Tour Season -- the Barclays Classic, Deutsche Bank Championship, BMW Championship and Tour Championship.
The fields of these events will be reduced each week based on performance, a recently announced change to the original format. The field for the Barclay's will consist of 144 players, 120 in The Deutsche Bank, 70 in the BMW and 30 in the Tour Championship.
In another interesting twist, the FedExCup will now determine the PGA Tour Player of the Year, an award previously voted on and decided by the players. Tiger has taken home seven of the last eight, including this years award. Vijay Singh borrowed it for a year in '04.
Before Tiger's 2006 award was announced, Steward Cink's thoughts on the subject were published in a November 1, PGATour.com article by Helen Ross:
"This year there's going to be a Player of the Year," Cink said. “It's hard to argue against Tiger. He's going to be voted in. It's an addition of all the votes to see who wins it. Next year it's not. There's no subjectivity to it whatsoever."
Next year brings a glimmer of hope for the rest of the PGA Tour. The task of beating Tiger over a four tournament span, while still intimidating, is far less daunting then over the course of an entire season.
Will an eight-figure check bring Mickleson from his fall hibernation or entice to Tiger to tee it up every week? They certainly don't need the money.
According to Jonah Freedman in a July 27 SI.com article, in 2005 Tiger earned nearly 10 times ($97.6 million) the FedExCup's first place check of $10 million in endorsements and tour winnings. Mickleson raked in almost five times ($46 million). Nevertheless, $10 million is a serious chunk of change.
Tiger's 2006 official tour winnings fell short ($9.94 million) and so did Mickleson's ($4.26 million), according to PGATour.com.
The allure of Player of the Year will likely entice Mickleson. It's an award he's never won that he would surely like to add to his trophy case. Tiger may not care about money titles or Varden Trophies, but he may be less willing to part with PGA Tour Player of the Year honors.
Will they show? The PGA Tour is banking on it. They better show, or sports fans will give little thought to altering their favorite Sunday pastime – watching football.