Tour Championship Outsiders? Don’t Feel Sorry For No. 31 On Down

You kept hearing about the pressure and how bad it was not to make the PGA Tour’s Top 30 — those lucky guys who will play at East Lake in the Tour Championship.

Don’t feel bad for the guys who missed out — they’ll still get a “little something for the effort,” as Bill Murray prepared to get stiff as a looper for the Dali Lama himself.

Those guys will get that “little something” to comfort them.

Starting with Mr. No. 31, Adam Long — who barely missed, oh the agony.  Not so much.  Adam will get a fat $200,000 wired into this account this week.  No. 32 Kevin Streelman will “receive” a nice 195k while No. 33 Ben An pockets 190k.  Pat Cantlay will have to console himself with the $186,000 that goes to No. 23 while Matt Wolff, Mr. 35 will “settle” for $183,000.  How many 21-year-olds walking the streets will take home 183k?

So as you can see, The Sheriff Of Nottingham (aka Tour Commish Jay Monahan) has done a wonderful job of robbing from the ultra-rich (Federal Express) and giving to the regular rich — his tour players who didn’t make it to the final 30.

But wait, there’s more!

There’s seemingly no end to the Manna From Heaven.

No. 40 gets 173k, No. 50, 161k, 60th still hauls in 151k, finish 61-65:  150k, 66th through 70 — 140k, 71st to 85th – 110k while 101 – 125 still get 101k.  It gets pretty darn piddly for those stiffs who had lousy years and were 126th to 150th.  They “only” receive $70,000. To put that in perspective, it takes around $85,000 to fill the gas tank on Tiger Woods’ luxury yacht — Privacy.

So as you can see, virtually no one who’s 150th or higher goes home with their pockets empty.

As for the rest, the guys waaaaay down the points and money list — there’s always next season.

Zozo Championship Moved To Sherwood Forest:

Surely the Sheriff Of Nottingham (aka Tour Commish Jay Monahan) has to be smiling over the irony of this.  The 2020 Zozo Championship, as expected, has been moved to the United States from Japan and it will be held Oct. 22-25 at the ultra-rich community of Sherwood, north of L.A.  Defending Zozo champion Tiger Woods is probably overjoyed to heart that.  Sherwood was the site of his exclusive “World Challenge” event from 2000-2013 and El Tigre won there five times.

The event will return to Japan in 2021.

PGA Tour Cancels WGC-HSBC Champions In Shanghai:

One huge tournament just bit the dust.

The PGA Tour has cancelled the WGC event slated for Oct. 29-Nov. 1 in Shanghai.

Here’s the “official” statement from PGA Tour Executive VP Ty Votaw:

“We have worked extensively with all tours, international officials, the China Golf Association and other local parties to find a solution to host the WGC-HSBC Champions.  In line with Chinese government guidelines and being mindful of the logistical implications, we collectively made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 event.”

With that WGC event gone, the Tour’s opposite-field event, the Bermuda Championship, is still on.

The Tour could consider evelating the Bermuda event to full-FedExCup point status, a move that would mean the winner earns an invite to the 2021 Masters.  The Tour elevated the Corales Punta Cana Resort & Club Championship to full FedEx Cup points status.  It was postponed from its March date opposite the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.  It will offer full points when it’s played Sept. 24-27, the week the Ryder Cup was slated to be played in Wisconsin.

Zach Johnson Receives Payne Stewart Award At East Lake:

The Payne Stewart Award goes annually to that good-guy, community-involved, all-around involved player who stands as a pillar to the sport and his community.

Zach Johnson will receive the award tonight (Wednesday) in a ceremony at East Lake as part of the pre-tournament festivities at the Tour Championship.

Johnson, a native of Iowa, has helped his state and community recover from flood disasters and has been a steady presence in his hometown of Iowa City.  Although he is one of a number of tour players who live on St. Simons Island, Johnson has remained involved and true to his state and hometown.