The sums paid this week to the select Tour Championship field are relative, one supposes, depending upon who’s cashing the check.
For a Rory McIlroy, who has won more than $50 million already on the PGA and European Tours, with many millions more earned off the course, the potential $10 million bonus is not a life-changer.
It’s always fun to hear really rich athletes stammer when they try to put lottery-winning-sized paydays into perspective.
“Ten million dollars is a lot of money to anyone. And if I’m thinking of getting myself something — I don’t know, whatever it is — it’s a nice bit of extra money to have for whatever,” McIlroy said Wednesday.
Now, for a Chris Kirk, the FedEx Cup points leader entering Thursday’s first round, $10 million is much weightier. That would surpass his career earnings on the PGA Tour.
“It would be a pretty incredible nest egg to have to fall back on for the rest of my life,” he said.
Kirk, however, maintains that if he is in contention Sunday for the Tour Championship title, and the big bonus, he is not likely to be blinded by dollar signs.
“The competitive nature of all of us out here sort of takes over, and it becomes about way more than the money,” Kirk said.
“It becomes about proving to yourself that you can do it, gaining the respect of your peers, showing the tens of thousands there watching you and the hundreds of thousands watching you on TV that you can play,” he added.
Add a pause for comic effect. “But I’m not going to send the check back or anything,” Kirk assured.
Best of the rest? If you are looking for someone outside the top five in FedEx Cup points who might sneak in to win the playoffs, think the oldest gent in the field, 44-year-old Jim Furyk.
While he has not won this year, Furyk has top-10 finishes in three of his past four events. Yes, he’s a little tuckered out at this stage, but, “I think that I’ve been playing well, and because of that I’ve limited my amount of practice, limited the amount of practice rounds,” he said. That has kept him fresher both mentally and physically, he said.
The scenario for Furyk to win the FedEx Cup: Win the Tour Championship, with Chris Kirk finishing in a three-way tie for second or worse and Billy Horschel finishing in a tie for second or worse.
Ooooh, Billy, Billy, Billy. The aforementioned Mr. Horschel is an excitable golfer. His emotions can run on the surface, which does not always lead to the most consistent play.
Consider the roller coaster of just the past month. He was off the radar when these FedEx Cup playoffs began, had a painful runner-up finish two weeks ago at the Deutsche Bank Championship when he chunked his approach to the final hole in true 18-handicapper fashion, then won last week at the BMW Championship. Just all over the place.
But here he is No. 2 in the FedEx Cup points standing, playing in the last twosome Thursday with Kirk, and feeling quite steady. “Right now, sitting here (in the interview room), I feel like I’m going to play well,” he said. “I feel like on Sunday I’ll have a chance to win. Does that mean I’m leading going into Sunday? I don’t know. But I know I’ll have a chance to win on Sunday.” And he promises to have fun doing it.
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