BMW Championship preview: At least Tiger Woods is turning up

So now we know, thanks to Tiger Woods and Ernie Els. It’s that dratted pension that’s got all the top golfers so uppity. Why should they have to wait for their money until they’re too old even to lift a golf stick, let alone swing it? Hang on though, didn’t I read that they actually get to pick it up at the ripe old age of 45? What an impatient bunch. You can give me the prize any old day - I don’t mind hanging on a bit for a cool 10 million bucks. Hang on. I forgot how old I am! I’ll take it now thanks.

Of course, the strange prize isn’t the only gripe. The top players think PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem has been too heavy-handed and should have listened to them more about his big idea. They definitely don’t like the four-tournament slogathon, which is why they have each pointedly taken one weekend off.

They don’t admit it of course. I understand how Ernie and Phil Mickelson would be anxious to be there when their kids start school and, even if they weren’t, can imagine the earful they’d get from ‘her indoors’ if they weren’t there. But couldn’t they have told us a while back that was their intention? It’s not as if the start of the school term is a surprise event.

Poor old Finchem. Damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. The guy was simply trying to keep the Tour relevant in a fractious age and build a bit of drama into the season’s end. I disagree with him on a few things, but I’m with him on this. The petulance of our pampered golfers does not sit well against the wealth the sport has given them. This competition is giving something back to the fans and so far I think it has succeeded. So they should shut up and get on with the task of giving us more of last week’s fare.

Of course changes are necessary. For instance, while there’s been all this fuss about Els, Mickelson and Tiger Woods swerving one of the three competitions so far, how come no one has laid into Bernhard Langer for missing all of them? I imagine there’s a hungry golfer or two out there thinking he would have made something of Langer’s slot.

Anyway, enough of that. There’s a golf tournament to be bet and laid. A quick glance at the betting table tells the familiar story: more than half of punters’ money going on Tiger Woods. Stung by last week’s loss, and Mickelson out of the way, everyone seems to think he’s nailed on. Really?

Did anyone watch his putting last week? Did they consider that, even without Lefty, Woods would still have been forced into a playoff? Sure he’s a winner on this track, but a 7th and two 2nd places since? And are we aware that they are so fearful about the weather they’ve brought the tee times forward? That could upset Tiger’s applecart.

As it is, the rain in the Chicago area has left the rough uncommonly long and sticky by all accounts, which could be a concern for such a frequent visitor as Mr Woods. So while only a fool on the hill would deny his strong chance of winning, I can’t say he’s the raging near certainty a price of 2.6 suggests.

Going down the chief rivals we have:
Jim Furyk: still a big maybe, missing that vital spark. But he’s a previous winner here and tops the table for greens in regulation, likely to be a key ingredient around Cog Hill. He’s also deadly accurate off the tee, which could help.
Ernie Els: clearly back in rude form, but I’m always wary of people who’ve just flitted across the pond and his stats don’t talk well to this track because he’s pretty wayward off the tee. He is also not familiar with Cog Hill, which could be a negative.
Geoff Ogilvy: never a particularly huge threat yet top 10 in his last three events. His stats are not brilliant either - accuracy and iron work particularly do not flatter - but he’s a momentum play for me on a course where he came 5th three years ago.
Adam Scott: is getting better all the time, but is still not quite good enough to get my vote.
Rory Sabbatini: has some course form and is on a hot streak, especially with his putter, so a tick goes in his box.
K J Choi: is back raring to go and boasts some of the best figures for this course - his accuracy and iron work particularly catch the eye. But is he fully over the tweaks that persuaded him to pull out last week? I hope so because I’d love to see him toe-to-toe with Tiger down the finishing stretch some day.

It’s a thumbs down to Vijay Singh though (after the last two missed cuts and a 60th place).

I see this as a wide open event, given there’s no cut and 40 places about to be shaved before the grand finale, so my list of likely lads is as long as my arm. I’ll stick to mentioning defending champion Trevor Immelman, who has good stats and is finally getting back to speed after his mystery ailment, Heath Slocum (some course form and good stats), Sean O’Hair, whose irons will be a big plus and who is coming back into form, and Arron Oberholser because, of the two that ended up tied with Tiger last week, I think his game is slightly better suited to this track than Brett Wetterich.