No excitement to this end-of-year muddle
CADDIE'S ROLE:The FedEx Cup doesn’t have the edge-of-your-seat tension that an event of such financial significance should merit
IS IT just me or does this FedEx Cup leave you a bit underwhelmed?
An event that culminated in Brandt Snedeker winning 10 million greenbacks on Sunday night should be filled with expectation and drama.
I tuned in on Saturday to some of the back-nine play and the only thing that got my attention was that Rory missed a very short birdie putt, Snedeker made yet another long one with his short, jabbie and very effective putting stroke and the placid, almost stone-like Ryan Moore looked like he was going to say something as he missed a missable putt. He never moved his lips in the end.
Who won last year’s FedEx? And the previous year’s? Who cares, apart from them and their caddies of course.
It doesn’t have the edge-of-your-seat tension that an event of such financial significance should merit. Even though the television ratings are up for FedEx viewing in the States, I am struggling to see why.
Golf in America appears to have survived the economic meltdown that has effected Europe so badly. They are playing for more money in the US than they were in boom times; the winner’s cheque in East Lake was over $1.4 million.
On the contrary, it looks like they are grateful to have somewhere to play in Europe. The Spanish events have been desecrated due to their financial difficulties, England has one event on the calendar and we are spending more and more time outside any notional boundaries of Europe to cling onto the idea of a European Tour.
There are six events in South Africa next year, four in the Middle East and numerous planned for Asia. These fill some of the gaping holes in the European schedule.
When we do play in Europe, some of the events are worth not much more than those in the secondary tour in America.
Is it any wonder that Rory is selling his bachelor pad in Co Down?
Why would any golfer who had the choice waste his time circumnavigating the globe, with all the hassle and jet-lag, to ply his trade when he could set himself up in the States and not have a flight of more than four hours to any minimum $5 million event – apart from Hawaii – all year long?
The answer is nobody, particularly if the European appearance money has dried up along with the events and the purses.
If the FedEx with all its loot cannot generate genuine excitement and drama how is a trifling tournament in northern Italy with pocket money for a purse going to get bums on seats?
I suppose what this general disinterest in television golf does is put a premium on the real events of importance; the Majors.
