Yes, Bill Haas earned $11.44 million for winning the Tour Championsip and the FedEx Cup playoffs at East Lake Golf Club on Sunday. But he hopes for one more thing: a spot on the Presidents Cup.
Haas was one of several players competing this week to catch the attention of captain Fred Couples, who will announce his last selection Tuesday. The tournament will be played in Australia in November.
“You know, I’m not going to say it gets me to Australia,” he said. “It definitely puts me in the talk up there with some of the guys that everybody has been talking about.”
He hopes that the victory will reduce any suspicion that he may get selected because his dad, Jay, is one of the assistant captains. “I think winning here helps eliminate that, and that was all I wanted to do, play well, play solid, do what I could do for myself to be looked at as a possible pick,” he said.
Howell happy
Charles Howell III said making the Tour Championship, and all that it brings, highlighted a special year on the PGA Tour for him.
Howell, an Augusta native, posted seven top-10 finishes, including a tie for sixth at the Tour Championship with a 6-under finish Sunday. By being one of the top 30 players and making it into the Tour Championship, he also secured a spot in next year’s Masters, an event he grew up watching, but hasn’t played since 2008.
“It was a good year,” he said. I wish we could have gotten a win but ...”
Howell put a scare into the leaders Sunday after he eagled No. 15 to move to 7 under, two off the lead. He had a birdie putt on 16, but missed it. He followed with a par on 17 and bogey on 18.
Amazing shots
Steve Stricker and playing partner Bo Van Pelt played two of the more amazing shots Sunday, just after they hit two of the worst.
Both players hit their tee shots into the water to the right on the par-3 sixth hole, with both balls coming to rest within a few feet of each other.
From the drop area, Stricker went first again, and his 70-yard shot landed an inch beside the flag, prompting cheers for the tap-in bogey.
Van Pelt hit next and holed out his shot for a par. The ball landed in front of the flag and bounced in, prompting even more cheers.
The sixth hole didn’t play the hardest during the week. That distinction belonged to No. 5, a 520-yard par-4 that had a 4.24 scoring average for the tournament. No. 6, at 209 yards, had a 3.158 average and was the second hardest.
No. 15, a 525-yard par-5, was the easiest hole with a 4.417 scoring average.
Drama fine
Even two of the losers in the FedEx Cup playoffs expressed their happiness with a format that gives everyone in the 30-man field a chance to win, depending upon circumstances.
“I think FedEx and the PGA Tour and what they’ve done for these playoffs is so perfect and exciting because I finished 10th, win, 5th and I’ve still got to come here and play good golf to win the FedEx Cup,” Webb Simpson said. “I think that’s what the playoffs are all about. If I come up short, it stinks, but the other finishes aren’t too shabby.”
Luke Donald, who finished third in the Tour Championship and third in the playoff standings, agreed.
“I think that’s probably why these early predictions [a few weeks ago], there’s not too much point in that because we still don’t know who’s going to win, and they’ve got two holes to play,” Donald said as the tournament was wrapping up.
About the Author
