Players give Cog's changes glowing marks
The consensus after the opening round of the BMW Championship seems to be that the renovation by Rees Jones looks great and the framing of the holes is superb, but for some the greens are a little much.
"I'm not a big fan of the greens," said FedExCup points leader Steve Stricker. "Some of the pin locations on his greens are very difficult to get to because you're coming in with a long iron and usually it's sloping away going towards the pin.
"We're back there so far that they're tough to get to. There are all these little cloverleafs and he puts (the pins) in the corners and, really, they're not accessible with the type of irons we're hitting in there."
And it's not just the regular greens that have raised some eyebrows.
Even the practice green found a detractor Thursday.
"There's 25 holes on it and every single one of them is on the side of a hill," Geoff Ogilvy said. "It's horrific. There's not one normal, rational pin on that green.
"I think they're having a laugh."
Cash man do: Padraig Harrington has a novel idea for the PGA Tour when it comes to paying out that $10 million prize to the FedExCup playoff winner at the Tour Championship.
"I do believe they should just give out the cash on the 18th green," said Harrington, who entered the BMW Championship seventh in the playoff chase. "It would be great; like the World Series of Poker.
"We could take it in a wheelbarrow up to the clubhouse. Anything that falls out, it's the caddies'."
Going short: While the length of Cog Hill and all the new bunkers brought into play has been the talk this week, one player who is soaking it all up is first-round co-leader Rory Sabbatini.
"Luckily for me I didn't have to take too many chances because I hit it short enough now that I can't reach most of the bunkers," he said. "It was fantastic for me."
By the numbers: Eight players have now started in all 11 Tour playoff events.
The list includes Robert Allenby, Stewart Cink, Tim Clark, Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia, Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker and Camilo Villegas.
He said it: Padraig Harrington on the FedExCup playoff system: "When you talk about who's missing out this week or who's missing out on the Tour Championship, you want some marquee names to miss out in order for it to be meaningful."