Buick Open Outlook
July 29, 2009
By Bodog
The PGA Tour needs a stimulus package.
Thanks to a press leak, we learned on Tuesday that General Motors has decided to stop sponsoring the Buick Open after this weekend?s event at Warwick Hills. The struggling automaker says it wants to focus its marketing on the product itself. Translation: There?s no more money. It?s the same basic reason GM and Tiger Woods ended their nine-year sponsorship marriage last November, one year before their contract was up for renewal.
Woods is the No. 1 golfer in the world, with a wife and two kids and hundreds of millions of dollars. But you can excuse Woods if he?s not in a good mood right now. He failed to make the cut at last week?s British Open, after which he got a paternalistic dressing down from national sports writer Rick Reilly for showing his temper on the golf course.
Those thunderclouds over Woods? head aren?t just symbolic. Grand Blanc is getting hit alternately with hot weather and lightning storms, no surprise at this time of year for southern Michigan. The forecast for Thursday?s opening round includes a chance of thunderstorms, followed by a pair of sunny days at around 80 degrees. Then the clouds are supposed to roll back in Saturday night. How well Tiger (or anyone else) does will depend on his tee times and what the weather is like then. Play could be even be suspended here and there during the week because of the lightning.
These are chaotic conditions that don?t do anything for Tiger?s betting value as the 3-2 favorite ? even without having to face defending and two-time Buick Open champion Kenny Perry or three-time winner Vijay Singh. His closest competition is second favorite and 2003 Open champ Jim Furyk at 12-1. Furyk doesn?t have the same cannonading drive at 275.6 yards per that Woods (294.7 yards) or many of the other Buick Open champions used to their advantage at Warwick Hills, but the same weather that we?re expecting this week helped Furyk beat Woods and three other golfers by two strokes.
If the local weather and the end of GM?s sponsorship spell doom for this event?s future on the PGA Tour, what about the FedExCup? The corporate identification and ever-changing playoff format haven?t had any traction with golf?s audience or golfers themselves ? what matters is who wins the four major tournaments. In the FedExCup standings, like NASCAR?s Chase for the Cup, what matters is consistency. Tom Kite would have been a deadbolt lock in his prime.
Woods won the inaugural Cup in 2007, and he?s a very close second this year to Steve Stricker (33-1), who has played in 16 events to Tiger?s 10. Here are the standings going into the Buick Open:
1. Steve Stricker- 2,059
2. Tiger Woods- 2,051
3. Kenny Perry- 1,901
4. Zach Johnson- 1,892
5. Phil Mickelson- 1,616
There are other trophies to be won that have more significance ? like the Presidents Cup, which takes place Oct. 6-11 at the Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco. This is a match play event like the more established Ryder Cup; Woods will join team captain Fred Couples as the United States faces Greg Norman and the International squad. Team USA has a 5-1-1 record since the Presidents Cup was born in 1994. Each event has had a bona fide world leader as honorary chairman ? this year, it?s the most important sponsor you can get, President Barack Obama.
July 29, 2009
By Bodog
The PGA Tour needs a stimulus package.
Thanks to a press leak, we learned on Tuesday that General Motors has decided to stop sponsoring the Buick Open after this weekend?s event at Warwick Hills. The struggling automaker says it wants to focus its marketing on the product itself. Translation: There?s no more money. It?s the same basic reason GM and Tiger Woods ended their nine-year sponsorship marriage last November, one year before their contract was up for renewal.
Woods is the No. 1 golfer in the world, with a wife and two kids and hundreds of millions of dollars. But you can excuse Woods if he?s not in a good mood right now. He failed to make the cut at last week?s British Open, after which he got a paternalistic dressing down from national sports writer Rick Reilly for showing his temper on the golf course.
Those thunderclouds over Woods? head aren?t just symbolic. Grand Blanc is getting hit alternately with hot weather and lightning storms, no surprise at this time of year for southern Michigan. The forecast for Thursday?s opening round includes a chance of thunderstorms, followed by a pair of sunny days at around 80 degrees. Then the clouds are supposed to roll back in Saturday night. How well Tiger (or anyone else) does will depend on his tee times and what the weather is like then. Play could be even be suspended here and there during the week because of the lightning.
These are chaotic conditions that don?t do anything for Tiger?s betting value as the 3-2 favorite ? even without having to face defending and two-time Buick Open champion Kenny Perry or three-time winner Vijay Singh. His closest competition is second favorite and 2003 Open champ Jim Furyk at 12-1. Furyk doesn?t have the same cannonading drive at 275.6 yards per that Woods (294.7 yards) or many of the other Buick Open champions used to their advantage at Warwick Hills, but the same weather that we?re expecting this week helped Furyk beat Woods and three other golfers by two strokes.
If the local weather and the end of GM?s sponsorship spell doom for this event?s future on the PGA Tour, what about the FedExCup? The corporate identification and ever-changing playoff format haven?t had any traction with golf?s audience or golfers themselves ? what matters is who wins the four major tournaments. In the FedExCup standings, like NASCAR?s Chase for the Cup, what matters is consistency. Tom Kite would have been a deadbolt lock in his prime.
Woods won the inaugural Cup in 2007, and he?s a very close second this year to Steve Stricker (33-1), who has played in 16 events to Tiger?s 10. Here are the standings going into the Buick Open:
1. Steve Stricker- 2,059
2. Tiger Woods- 2,051
3. Kenny Perry- 1,901
4. Zach Johnson- 1,892
5. Phil Mickelson- 1,616
There are other trophies to be won that have more significance ? like the Presidents Cup, which takes place Oct. 6-11 at the Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco. This is a match play event like the more established Ryder Cup; Woods will join team captain Fred Couples as the United States faces Greg Norman and the International squad. Team USA has a 5-1-1 record since the Presidents Cup was born in 1994. Each event has had a bona fide world leader as honorary chairman ? this year, it?s the most important sponsor you can get, President Barack Obama.
