PGA Tour Tees Off

PGA Tour Tees Off

By Jordan Walters
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

The 2007 PGA Tour season tees off today in Kapalua, Hawaii, at the Mercedes Championship, albeit minus the tour's two biggest stars.

Tiger Woods, the world's top player who won this event in 1997 and 2000, and Phil Mickelson, the world No. 3 and 1998 champion of the Mercedes, aren't playing in this week's opener, which is comprised of 2006 winners on the tour.

Today begins a year of change on the PGA'>">PGA Tour, which is trying to bring a playoff-type finish to the sport. It introduces the FedEx Cup, which is modeled after NASCAR's Chase for the Championship. In the FedEx Cup, players compete in a seasonlong points competition that runs from today's opener through the Tour Championship on Sept. 16. Like NASCAR's Chase, this format is geared toward holding the interest of the fans once football begins in the fall -- and keep TV ratings high -- in a build-up to crowning a champion, who wins $10 million.

In a nutshell, the 33 regular-season events decide the seeding for the three weeks of playoffs that begin Aug. 23 Barclays Westchester, N.Y., event. The top 144 seeded players compete there, with the top 120 advancing to the Deutsche Bank in Boston the following week. It will then be pared down to 70 for the BMW Championship in Chicago, with the top 30 advancing to the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

The goal is also to keep players like Woods and Mickelson interested in lower-tier events late in the summer, a time those two and other top players often skip events that aren't top tier. In fact, as the playoffs draw near, many golfers will be asked to play six times in seven weeks, which is unheard of for Woods and Mickelson.

"These second-tier events have been watered down to the point where the sports fan needs to have a reason to watch, has to have a reason that all this leads to something in the end," said Jim Nantz, CBS' lead golf announcer. "For me, I love all the events. But the reality is that the PGA Tour wasn't building up to anything. It didn't have the big bang."

In addition, Woods is expecting his first child this summer, so it will be interesting to see if Tiger is a part of this new points race (incidentally, Tiger won't begin his season for three weeks -- at the Buick Invitational).

"It's an exciting time for golf," Woods said. "It's certainly going to be more exciting for everyone, not just us as competitors who will be bucking heads against the best more often, but also for the fans. The fans are really going to enjoy it, whether they are there in person or watching on TV. And all the sponsors are certainly going to enjoy the event more with a deeper and better field week to week. Its a no-brainer. We're doing the right thing."

Meanwhile, at the Mercedes Championship, WagerWeb.com lists Jim Furyk, the world's No. 2 as the favorite at +$450, but it's hard to bet against Stuart Appleby. Appleby, who is listed on WagerWeb.com at +$900, has won this event three consecutive years, joining Gene Littler (1955-57) as the only players to win the season opener three years in a row. Last year, Appleby beat Vijay Singh with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff. Singh has played well here often and is the second betting favorite on WagerWeb.com at +$800.