In a field that lacked six of the top 10
players on the World Ranking, Bubba
Watson and Keegan Bradley (far right)
enjoyed the scenery and shotmaking.
Just as important, Stricker’s performance brought some validation to
the proceedings, seeing how, at No. 6,
he was the highest-ranked player on
the World Ranking in the shrunken
field and his eight wins in the last
four seasons are the most on tour.
“I’ve said a few times: He’s prob-
ably the most underrated player in
the world,” said Laird, who shot a
game final-round 67. “He has won
more than anyone since 2009, so you
could argue he’s been the best player
in the world for that spell.”
PGA Tour commissioner Tim
Finchem might heartily agree, if only
to buttress his contention that the ab-
sence of some top names, mainly non-
Americans, did not diminish the qual-
ity of the Kapalua experience. “We’re
really only talking about six guys,”
Finchem noted, pointing out that
four of 12 missing players—Dustin
Johnson, Fredrick Jacobson, Brandt
Snedeker and Lucas Glover—were
injured, and Justin Rose opted to stay
home with a newborn daughter.
Also missing, however, were six
top- 10 players, including No. 1 Luke
Donald, leading money winner on
both the U.S. and European tours
in 2011, and No. 2 Rory McIlroy, the
reigning U.S. Open champ. You notice the absence of such star power
the way you notice your basic Korean
luxury car without an engine. Nice-looking ride, but where’s it going?
Michael Bradley, after an opening
68, was a witness for the prosecution.
“I’m not going to drive the TV ratings;
I know that. People aren’t sitting in
front of their TV going, ‘Oh, Michael
Bradley is leading. Let’s go watch him.’
I’m fine with that, but when you get
[so many] top- 10 players in the world
not going, it’s a shame.”
This winners-only event has never
had 100 percent attendance, but
the sizable stable of invisible men
reignited talk of a date or format
change. Finchem rightly vexes over
the domino effect of any alterations,
but he also recognizes that dominoes
already are toppling and more might
be on the way if the tour opts to start
the season in the fall, a proposition
under consideration. “A lot of times
what happens is certain fundamen-
tals change in the global schedule
and two years later players react to
it,” he said. “The more robust the
global schedule gets, the more pres-
sure it puts on all our schedules.”
“I understand the frustration that
a lot of guys don’t come here, and
it’s a topic of discussion every year,”
Stricker adds. “You can play all year
long. But you’ve still got to find the
time where you can set the clubs
down and get refreshed. A two-week
break really doesn’t get you away.
You’re still mentally in it. Everybody
looks for that three-to-four-week
window where they can not think
about it at all, and that’s when I think
you can get recharged.”
The irony is that Stricker was in
mid-season form because, well, his
off-season has yet to commence. He
recently competed in the Presidents
Cup and two December events, and
it showed with his 23-under 269 total,
highlighted by a second-round 63. He
owned the lead outright for the final
47 holes.
