My latest Sympatico golf column is now online.
Here’s a taste:
The so-called “Fall Series” of events on the PGA Tour is dismissed by many as having no value and stirring even less interest.
To many, the PGA Tour ends after the PGA Championship in August, or perhaps following the conclusion of the FedEx Cup a month later. Watching PGA Tour pros desperately scramble to make the Top 125 on the money list and regain their privileges for next year interests only a handful of golfing diehards.
But the badly-named Frys.com tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona is proof the final events of the PGA Tour season can have life and excitement.
The final round of the Frys became a shoot-out between two-time All-American Jamie Lovemark, who turned pro at the RBC Canadian Open this summer, and Oklahoma State amateur sensation Rickie Fowler, who hit the PGA Tour following this summer’s Walker Cup. Of course, there was also 2002 NCAA champ Troy Matteson who won the tournament on the second playoff hole handing him his second victory at the Frys.com event. Not surprisingly, few are talking about Matteson; all eyes are on the two rising young stars who lost.
Of the pair, most expected Fowler to deliver on the promise he demonstrated as an amatuer, though few expected his rise to come so quickly. Over four rounds, which included two scores of 64, the former No. 1 amateur in the world for most of 2007 and 2008, demonstrated the skills “ long off the tee, amazing touch with his putter, and a tremendous amount of tenacity “ that will serve him well as a professional. It is almost hard to imagine Fowler, 20, turned pro in September at a Nationwide Tournament in Idaho, and has only played two PGA Tour events since that point “ finishing tied for seventh at Justin Timberlake’s Las Vegas tournament two weeks ago, and the tie for second at the Frys.com.
A bestselling author and award-winning columnist, Robert Thompson has been writing about business and sports, and particularly golf, for almost two decades. His reporting and commentary on golf has appeared in 
The so-called “Fall Series†of events on the PGA Tour is dismissed by many as having no value and stirring even less interest. Can you tell us who the many are in this sentence? Any thought put into this writing, or is it just a brain dump, to fill space on a piece of paper? I quite enjoy the Fall series, and don’t really know many that don’t. I guess you know the so called many. Care to name a few of the many?
Well noted golf writer Steve Elling for one: http://www.cbssports.com/golf/story/10359299
There have been also a number of tour pros recently who have said the Fall Series events are marginalized due to the fact the Tour Championship comes before the end of the season….
To Kevin, Just look at the ratings for these tournaments and you will see who the “many” are.
For Canadians watching the Frys.com tournament, seeing Mike Weir have a shot at 59 also created some excitement.