Let the birdie binge begin

Writing from Lake Forest, Illinois

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Star-studded.

First-namers.

Rory. Jordan. Rickie. Jason. Bubba.

All the guys.

Well, all the guys playing well right now, at least.

So, not this first-namer.

Tiger.

The absence of Tiger Woods from the lineup of the BMW Championship for the second straight year won’t detract from the excitement of the four day-fandango that commences on Thursday morning. Some fans in Denver were no doubt disappointed, but the Chicago crowd that will descend on Conway Farms Golf Club through the weekend are sophisticated enough to realize that the old Western Open is a playoff tournament these days, and only the best get the fancy courtesy car for the week.

Thus, the favorites to hold the J.K. Wadley Trophy high are the favorites of the moment in men’s golf. Rory McIlroy, the top-ranked player in the world rankings by two-hundredths of a point. Jordan Spieth, the current Masters and U.S. Open champion, likely player of the year, and right on McIlroy’s rear bumper. Rickie Fowler, who won the last outing in Boston and would have a major if the Players Championship was considered one. Jason Day, who captured the PGA to go with a win at Firestone and more recently the Barclays, the first playoff tournament. Bubba Watson, who may be too long for the bandbox that is Conway Farms, but is certainly a threat.

Not a bad fivesome, eh?

Then throw in Zach Johnson, a.k.a. the Champion Golfer of the Year, plus Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, and Billy Horschel, who just happens to be the defending champion of both this derby and the playoff cash-grab, and the assembled multitude, as well as those tuning in on the magic lantern, are in for a golf treat.

These guys can play, as the PGA Tour’s slogan goes, and Conway Farms, certainly lengthened and said to be toughened, is a course these guys can play on.

Last time around here, Brandt Snedeker fired a 63 to open the proceedings, and tied for eighth.

Furyk scored a 59, with a bogey, in the second round, on a day when the average score was over par – and came in third.

Matt Kuchar put up a 61 in the third round – and finished tied for 24th.

Zach Johnson was the winner, going about the premises in 64-70-69-65 for a cool 16-under-par 268 aggregate, edging Nick Watney by two strokes in an affair that finished on Monday thanks to a Sunday monsoon.

There’s plenty to play for, from the heritage angle of joining Hagen and Hogan and Snead and Nicklaus and Watson – Tom, not Bubba – on the Wadley spittoon, to boodle, a record $1.485 million from the record $8.25 million purse, to the opportunity to lock in a top-five placing in the Tour’s playoff standings. Those five would win the FedEx Cup, and the $10 million bonus that goes with it, automatically if they win the Tour Championship next week at East Lake.

Since the Western Open was shoved into September and renamed the BMW in 2007, when the Tour’s often-tweaked playoff dance began, three players have won both this semifinal playoff test and the Tour Championship. When Woods did so in 2007 to inaugurate the affair, it was expected. When Camilo Villegas did the same in 2008, but Vijay Singh took the playoff title, apoplectic PGA Tour officials began to fiddle with the format. Horschel’s twin-killing last year brought him the big bonus as well.

Thus, a high finish just behind the winner this week could pay off even more handsomely in Atlanta next week than the champion’s take for four days work. Given that those in the chase for the pot o’gold are already rich beyond all comprehension, it may not matter to them. Perhaps they’re really playing for the honor and the glory.

Their accountants will probably tell you otherwise.

Around Conway Farms

Rory McIlroy and tee times in Chicago don’t always get along. He almost missed his Sunday singles assignment in the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah because he got out of bed late, and Wednesday, had to flip starting times with Webb Simpson in the pro-am because of a delayed flight. There were still about 60 fans following him when he came up the 8th fairway, his penultimate hole of the day, at 6:25 p.m. ... Bill Murray and his five brothers – collectively responsible for CaddyShack, the movie based on their experiences at Indian Hill Club, were inducted into the WGA’s Caddie Hall of Fame on Wednesday night. Murray, erratic off the tee on Wednesday, reported he won a dollar from Charley Hoffman. “I got $40 off each of my playing partners. I’m going to get myself a new BMW.” ... Tee times run from 11:20 a.m. to 1:21 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. Day, Spieth and Fowler go off No. 10 at 11:53 a.m. Thursday, while McIlroy plays with Hideki Matsuyama and Snedeker at 12:59 p.m. off No. 10. Horschel, now sporting a Lexus logo on his shirt – which may help explain his absence from pre-tournament publicity – starts with William McGirt in the last pairing at 1:21 p.m. off No. 1.

– Tim Cronin