Friday, September 11, 2009

Mr. Woods got the memo. Mr. Stricker?

Coming into Round 3 of the FedEx Cup, both Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods needed to just finish in the top 10 to all but secure that one of them would win the Cup this year.
Tiger got the memo, currently tied for first after 36 hole of the BMW Championship at Cog Hill in Chicago. Woods usually does well at Cog Hill, so it is really no big surprise to see his name atop the leaderboard on a Friday evening. And while Tiger cannot clinch the Cup with a win this week, he certainly can put a huge amount of pressure on the current Cup leader Stricker.
Maybe that is why Stricker is struggling horribly after two rounds this week.
After 36 holes, Stricker sits 10 shots behind Woods and is tied for 51st. If Stricker does not make a huge move up the board, and assuming Woods goes on to win this week, Stricker would go into next week's final round needing to win and probably have Woods finish no better than third.
Playing on the PGA Tour is tough enough, playing knowing you have to win or watch $10 million go up in smoke will likely lead to a poor performance that Stricker cannot afford.
As he starts his round Saturday, Stricker needs to put any thoughts of winning this week aside and focus on running down as many of the 50 players ahead of him as he can.
Saturday's third round is traditionally called "Moving Day". For Stricker's Cup chances, he'd better bring a big moving van along with his bag to the first tee.

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