ESPN Golf

It's that time of year again. Time for those who cover the PGA Tour to wax poetic about the fates of players on the bubble of retaining their playing privileges next year, usually the only plot to remain uncovered as we enter the stretch run.

And time for most golf fans to collectively throw their hands in the air and reply, "So what?"

It's an understandable reaction, considering the vast landscape of sports options in autumn, during which the tour hardly makes a blip on the radar screen.

But the times they are a-changing, as next year's schedule will feature a vastly different look. The Weekly 18 begins by explaining why the revamped format will benefit both players and fans.

No matter how addicted you are to watching the world's elite golfers slap a little white ball around a large green course, there's a pretty good chance you did some moonlighting this weekend. Maybe you caught Terrell Owens' return to Philadelphia. Or had your gaze fixated upon the Detroit Tigers' series-clinching win over the New York Yankees. Don't feel too guilty. At a time on the calendar when Major League Baseball is conducting its playoffs, the NFL and college football are in full swing, the NHL is just under way and NASCAR drivers are chasing their championship, even you may be excused, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Golf Fan, for failing to remain glued to the TV set for all four rounds of the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro.

It is a pardon we won't have to grant come this time next year.

That's because the PGA Tour will essentially conclude its season in mid-September during the 2007 campaign and beyond, save for a handful of post-championship events that will feature hardly any of the game's top talents. It means Tiger Woods will be able to spend more time on his yacht, Phil Mickelson will have more time for the kids and Jim Furyk will have more time to watch his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers.

It also means the tour will exit stage left, going dark before being relegated to a cameo role during the busiest sports period of the year. Instead of toiling through an interminable schedule that for years has stretched from the first week of January straight through to November, players will be given a chance to recharge their mental and physical batteries, and fans will be given more than three full months during which having a PGA Tour event can't be taken for granted.

Consider it the old less-is-more philosophy. A shorter season should prompt greater interest throughout, as players will likely compete in roughly the same number of events over a shorter period of time.

Critics complain that the tour's top players won't buy into the new FedEx Cup format, that after the majors and other substantial events even the $5 million first prize won't get their juices flowing. That remains to be seen, but the fact is right now the PGA Tour is the only major sports league in the U.S. that ends with a thud instead of a bang. The new schedule will still have its peaks and valleys throughout the season, but ending with a playoff can't be a bad idea.

And it means starting next season, you won't have to feel guilty for overlooking the PGA Tour at this time of year.

Where will Tiger tee it up next? Your guess is as good as his. When asked after winning the AmEx Championship, he responded with a simple, "Don't know." There was some speculation Woods would be motivated by a desire to win his seventh Vardon Trophy, which goes to the player with the lowest scoring average on the PGA Tour. With an average score of 68.11, Tiger is well ahead in this statistic (by .77 over Jim Furyk), but here's the catch: In order to qualify for the Vardon, a player must compete in at least 60 total rounds on tour. Currently, Woods has 55 rounds under his belt. Competing at the season-ending Tour Championship would still leave him one round shy, but it might not be enough to provoke another start along the way. When asked what the Vardon Trophy means to him, Woods responded, "Not much. … I've had a good year, but if you don't play enough rounds, you don't play enough rounds."

There was a time when North Carolina native Davis Love III seemingly only needed to show up for the tournament in Greensboro and he'd walk away with a big check on Sunday. Then the 1992 champion was put in charge of a redesign at Forest Oaks CC and, well, he might have outsmarted himself. In two starts at the event since, Love missed the cut each time. That is, until this week, when he shot a 6-under 66 during each of the final two rounds to earn his first victory since 2003 and the 19th of his career. Maybe that inside information helped after all.

You can bet there were at least a few fellow veteran players licking their lips while watching Love reach the winner's circle in Greensboro. Brad Faxon will assist course architect Gil Hanse in redesigning the TPC of Boston next year, site of the Deutsche Bank Championship. And David Toms has already worked to revamp the TPC of Louisiana, which will host the Zurich Classic. We wonder if both players could see their efforts equate to victory, just like DL3.

Why did the Europeans win the Ryder Cup? It's one of about 1,000 theories out there, but chew on this: It's because they're used to playing golf this time of year. While the Americans simply look gassed and can't wait to take vacation time come autumn, the Europeans simply continue plying their craft. Case in point: Only one U.S. player, Vaughn Taylor, competed in this week's Chrysler Classic, finishing in a share of 31st place. Meanwhile, five members of Ian Woosnam's squad finished in the top 15 at the Dunhill Links Championship this week, led by champion Padraig Harrington. Like we just said, it's just a theory, but the Euros seem to be thriving while the Americans are resting.

Good to see Jason Bohn, one of the PGA Tour's nice guys, back in contention this week, finishing two strokes behind Love in solo second place in Greensboro. "I've made a lot of cuts this year, but I just haven't been able to put four rounds together," said Bohn, who did just that with rounds of 69-69-70-66 this week. He did speak the truth, though. In 26 previous starts this season, last year's B.C. Open champion made the cut 21 times, with 10 top-25 finishes, but only two in the top 10 and nothing better than eighth place.

OK, since you asked (well, even if you didn't), here's why Bohn is among the nicest guys in the game: Earlier this season, he resisted attempting to qualify for the British Open, opting instead to defend his title at the final B.C. Open that would ever take place on the PGA Tour. "I wanted to come back and say thanks to the people who put it on, let them know that they changed my life forever," Bohn said at the time. "I know there will be another British Open, so I felt like this was the right thing for me to do." Classy move by a guy who now has an inordinate amount of fans in upstate New York. They should all be very pleased with his result this week.

Further evidence that brief bursts of success are more handsomely rewarded than consistency on the PGA Tour: In Bohn's 26 starts before the Chrysler Classic, he reached the weekend 21 times (as previously mentioned) and earned $1,043,259. Meanwhile, Chris Couch had played in only two fewer events, but made the cut on 13 fewer occasions. His total: $1,229,858. Of course, Couch needed only one tournament to earn more than Bohn so far this season: his victory at the Zurich Classic came with a $1.08 million payday.

For those who truly are excited about the PGA Tour's race to reach the top 125, here's some news on the bubble boys who just might burst your own bubble. Of the 20 players ranked between 115th and 134th on the money list entering Greensboro, five didn't compete in the event, one withdrew and eight missed the cut. Of the six who did reach the weekend, Kevin Sutherland (121st on the money list coming in), Omar Uresti (128th) and Rich Beem (129th) led the way with hardly memorable T-43 results.

Meanwhile, on the Nationwide Tour, where battles on the bubble are even more gruesome -- it's either a PGA Tour card or back to the Nationwide circuit; there often is no middle ground -- it's another predictably tight race to finish among the top 20 earners. Jarrod Lyle currently retains the 20th spot with $182,990, but John Merrick is a mere $3,334 behind him. In all, there are eight players within $30,000 of Lyle with four tournaments left to play.

Kevin Na is in professional golf purgatory. One of the PGA Tour's youngest players at 23, Na played well at times during each of his first two seasons, but has struggled with injuries this year, earning only $114,442 while making the cut in four of nine starts. This week, he played in just his second career Nationwide Tour event -- and first since 2001 -- and proved he doesn't belong there, either. Na stormed out of the gate with an opening-round 62 at the Mark Christopher Charity Classic and never looked back, earning a three-shot victory on Sunday. No doubt he'll look to build on this performance in future big league starts.

This one comes to us from the Slow and Steady Wins the Race Department: Adam Scott entered this past week as the world's fourth-ranked player, according to the formula that figures such placements. Yes, this is the same Adam Scott who hasn't won a tournament since last year's Johnnie Walker Classic and hasn't triumphed at an official event on U.S. soil since June 2004 (his victory at last year's rain-shortened Nissan Open was considered unofficial). So, how did he ascend so high on the World Ranking? By coming close. In 17 PGA Tour starts this season, Scott owns three second-place finishes and three thirds.

Stat of the week: The top four money winners in the Greensboro field entering the event -- Carl Pettersson ($2,517,983), Brett Wetterich ($2,424,477), Brett Quigley ($2,368,536) and Lucas Glover ($2,181,347) -- had combined to earn $449,220 less than Woods in a combined 87 more starts this season.

Nice week to be a lefty in Greensboro. Though Mike Weir -- generally regarded to be the world's second-best southpaw player, behind only Mickelson -- missed the cut, four others reached the weekend, including Eric Axley and Steve Flesch, both of whom tied for third place. (Bubba Watson was T-31 and Nick O'Hern was T-67.) In fact, it's a nice year to be a lefty. Each of the six aforementioned players is ranked inside the top 100 on the money list.

Meanwhile, the Weekly 18 was stumped when a coworker recently asked if there are any left-handed players on the LPGA Tour. Needing an expert's knowledge, we posed the question to Golf World's resident LPGA guru Ron Sirak, who confirmed that Malinda Johnson and Kelly Lagedrost were the only lefties on that circuit this season. (A third, Angela Buzminski, has also spent time on tour in recent years.) What does it mean? Probably very little, other than the fact that we're all now armed with one more piece of trivial golf information.

Kudos to Lorena Ochoa, who earned her first career LPGA victory in her native Mexico at this week's Corona Morelia Championship. She is clearly the face of a nation as far as golf is concerned, and enjoys that role. "I share all I do with my people, and every time I go back home, they are waiting for me," Ochoa said recently. "I appreciate the support very much and, you know, when I win, it's for all of them." With four victories this season, Ochoa now leads the LPGA money list and has stretched her lead over Karrie Webb and Annika Sorenstam in the tour's Player of the Year race.

With three wins and six other top-10 finishes in 17 events this season, Ted Potter has clinched Player of the Year honors for the Hooters Tour. Don't be surprised if this leads to bigger and better things, as Potter could be competing on a bigger stage in the near future. Former POYs on the Hooters circuit include Lee Janzen, Zach Johnson and Chad Campbell, the last of whom is the tour's all-time victory leader with 13.

"I can't wait. I'll be listening to Coldplay, and I'll have it on so loud that the car will be vibrating."
-- Colin Montgomerie, talking about the drive from his home in Oxshott, Surrey, to St. Andrews for the Dunhill Links Championship, as reported by The Telegraph.

Jason Sobel is ESPN.com's golf editor. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn3.com