Aug31 PGA Playoffs

Steve Stricker provided the feel-good start to the PGA Tour Playoffs by winning a tournament for the first time in more than six years. Tiger Woods added some controversy by spending time on his boat instead of at The Barclays.

One week into this new season-ending format, it’s too early to determine whether it’s been a success.

A better indication might come at the Deutsche Bank Championship, which starts Friday. Woods, the biggest draw in golf, is playing for the first time since he won the PGA Championship. And the PGA Tour can only hope that helps the television ratings.

Despite a dramatic finish at Westchester, the PGA Tour received only a 2.1 rating. That was slightly ahead of The Barclays in 2006 when Vijay Singh won a week before the U.S. Open, but it was down from a 6.6 rating over the same weekend a year ago, when Woods won the Bridgestone Invitational for his fourth straight victory.

“I wasn’t surprised,” PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said Thursday. “We had an increase over historical Barclays tournaments, which have had good champions. I think it was close to being a good, solid rating. It could have been up even more had we either gone to a playoff or had Phil (Mickelson) and Ernie (Els) make a stronger run.

“Listen, I thought it was off to a good start,” he concluded. “I’m not displeased by the numbers, but I’m looking for our numbers to go up here in the next couple of weeks.”

Maybe that’s because Woods is playing the next three tournaments through the Tour Championship.

And even before the world’s No. 1 player teed off Friday afternoon with Singh and Mickelson in his group, there already were indications that these playoffs had a little more energy.

The crowd following Tiger Woods around the TPC Boston grew steadily throughout the morning sunshine until it lined the length of the 18th fairway as he finished his pro-am Thursday. It was about the same size of the gallery following the leaders Sunday at The Barclays.

Maybe that’s why some people believe the playoffs don’t start until Woods shows up.

“Let’s be honest about it,” Rich Beem said. “There’s only one person that really matters in this playoff system, and that’s Tiger Woods. If Tiger is not playing, you’re not going to have a whole lot of validity. If he’s not playing, then how serious can we be about this?”

Woods skipped the first round of the PGA Tour Playoffs last week at Westchester, saying his body and mind needed a brief vacation after back-to-back victories in stifling heat, the second title coming at the PGA Championship.

He looked plenty refreshed on the refurbished TPC Boston during the pro-am round, playing without a bogey and without much effort on his way to a 63. That’s the same score he had the last time he was on this course, when he turned a three-shot deficit into a two-shot victory over Singh in the final round last year.

Woods went 10 days without picking up a club, but doesn’t appear to have lost momentum anywhere but the playoff standings.

By skipping The Barclays, which Stricker won with a birdie-birdie-birdie finish, Woods fell from No. 1 to No. 4, nearly 5,000 points behind Stricker. He didn’t break much of a sweat when he heard that.

“I know I’ve slipped in the standings, but there’s plenty of points out there, and I’m just going to go out there and get some Ws,” Woods said. “It makes things pretty exciting coming down to the last few weeks.”

To get to the finish line, Woods figured he needed to be at full strength. He has not played four straight tournaments since early in the 2000 season, and had no regrets spending time on his boat instead of at The Barclays last week.

Jack Nicklaus, in town for a Presidents Cup meeting, understood completely.

“It was really important when I played my last event that I was just as fresh as I was for my first event of the year,” Nicklaus said.

Woods doubts that will happen.

Asked if he was just as recharged as when he won the Buick Invitational in late January, he smiled and said, “No.”

“It is a long season, and that the whole idea of not playing a lot throughout the year, so that when you do play, you’re fresh,” he said. “You’re able to go in with the same energy level each and every time.”

For the second straight week, the playoffs didn’t get all the top players.

Ernie Els withdrew so he could spend a week at home in London as his kids go back to school, and Scott Verplank took this week off to recharge and give himself his best shot of winning at East Lake, one of his favorite courses. Tom Lehman also withdrew.

There’s a good chance at least one other top player won’t be in Chicago.

“You’ve always got a guy that doesn’t feel like he’s ready to go, gets to the tournament week and pulls back,” Finchem said. “Candidly, I thought we might have a little bit more of it than we did.”

But he’s got Woods this week. Now the tour might have a better idea if people are watching.

Adam Scott believes TV ratings might be the best way to measure success of the FedEx Cup finale.

“It’s been done for TV as far as I know, in the big picture,” Scott said. “We tried not to go against football and have our own season-long race, finishing up at East Lake and these four events to lift TV ratings and keep golf in the forefront of everyone’s mind.”