The shark declines PGA Championship exemption

Greg Norman turned down an invitation Monday to play in the PGA Championship, deciding to stick to a previous commitment instead of competing for the fourth straight week.

The PGA of America offered Norman an exemption after he had the 54-hole lead in the British Open and finished third. Norman tied for fifth last week at the Senior British Open, and will play this week in the U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado.

"While I truly appreciate the PGA extending me an exemption for this year's PGA Championship, I have elected to decline in favour of adhering to the professional and personal commitments I made prior to The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale," Norman said on his website. "I wish the PGA and Oakland Hills all the very best for what I'm sure will be a great week for golf."

The PGA Championship will be played Aug. 7-10 at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Township, Mich.

Norman, who played the British Open while on his honeymoon with former tennis great Chris Evert, said he would return to work next week as CEO of Great White Shark Enterprises.

Still to be determined is whether he will accept his invitation to the Masters for finishing among the top four in the British Open.

My Thoughts
Greg Norman was my favorite golfer as a kid growing up in Australia. The Shark is a man of his word and it is good of him to keep his commitments. He, like the rest of us, probably realized he didn't have much of a chance anyway. I do hope that he does take up the masters invitation though - I would love to see him play there again!

FedEx Cup Explained

Well the first round of the FedEx cup was played today and while Tiger wasn't playing there were still many formidable golfers plying their trades.

I thought that today would be the perfect day to go over the FedEx cup rules and structure for all those clueless people (including me) asking the question fedex what...?

Qualifying
Each PGA tour event from the Mercedes-Benz Championship (January 4-7, 2007) to the Wyndham Championship (August 16-19, 2007), PGA Tour players can earn points in each event they play. Most PGA Tour events in 2007 have carried a total of 25,000 FedEx Cup points spread between the winner and those finishing in 70th position in each event.

At the completion of last week’s Wyndham Championship, the leading point scorer (Tiger), had his points reset to 100,000 with the last player in the FedEx Cup race (144) starting with 84,700. This is designed to bring the field much closer together so the lower ranked players can still make the following events if they have a very good tournament (and so that someone can theoretically beat Tiger or at least get close).

The ultimate goal is to be one of the top 144 points holders to get a starting place at the Barclays tournament (the first event of the FedEx Cup).

Playoff events
1. The Barclays - Top 144 points leaders (at the end of the season)

• 50000 points on offer (Position 1-85)
  
• winner 9000 points

2. Deutsche Bank Championship - Top 120 points leaders (after the Barclays)

• 50000 points on offer (Position 1-85)
  
• Winner 9000

3. BMW Championship - Top 70 points leaders (after the Deutsche Bank Championship)

• 50000 points on offer (Position 1-70)
• Winner 9000

4. The tour Championship - Top 30 points leaders (after the BMW Championship)

• 50000 points on offer
• Winner 10300
• last place 395

Prize Money

There is no doubt that the prize money for the FedEx Cup is huge, but there is a catch. Players are only eligible to receive their money after they reach 45. They may invest this money up until then and can defer payment until they turn sixty (something about reducing tax I am sure). The money is paid in payments over 5 years. It is probably best described as superannuation for golfers.
The prize money list:

Position	Amount	Position	Amount
1	$10,000,000	31	$165,000
2	3,000,000	32	155,000
3	2,000,000	33	150,000
4	1,500,000	34	145,000
5	1,000,000	35	142,000
6	800,000	36	140,000
7	700,000	37	138,000
8	600,000	38	137,000
9	550,000	39	136,000
10	500,000	40	135,000
11	300,000	41	134,000
12	290,000	42	133,000
13	280,000	43	132,000
14	270,000	44	131,000
15	250,000	45	130,000
16	245,000	46	129,000
17	240,000	47	128,000
18	235,000	48	127,000
19	230,000	49	126,000
20	225,000	50	125,000
21	220,000	51	120,000
22	215,000	52	115,000
23	210,000	53	114,000
24	205,000	54	113,000
25	200,000	55-70	110,000
26	195,000	71-80	80,000
27	190,000	81-100	75,000
28	185,000	101-125	70,000
29	180,000	126-150	32,000
30	175,000
TOTAL	$35,000,000

Note: There is still prize money awarded for the individual tournaments that is separate to this. That money is received in the normal way.

I hope that clears a few things up for anyone that is confused. I am certainly glad I wrote this as I am now much clearer on how it all works!

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Golf News: Tiger does it again - PGA Championship

Tiger has never lost a major after leading before the final round and he didn't disappoint today as he wrapped up his 13th Major title. It was Tiger's first major this year and he certainly put the disappointment of the British Open behind him to win the PGA championship for the fourth time.

Tiger finished 8 under and won with a 1 under final round to beat Woody Austin by 2 shots with Ernie Els a further shot behind at 4 under.

There was also good news for the Aussies out there as John Senden finished tied for 4th at -1.