(What’s this? A thread about Tiger Woods that asks what should be a simple, uncontroversial question, maybe even get into a fun side discussion? All right, I’m game!)
So if you’re following golf, the kinda-big news today is that Tiger Woods withdrew from the Honda Classic today due to back pain. And of course, there’s been some talk about how serious this is and is this going to hurt his runup to the Masters. But I looked over the ESPN scoreboard, and I saw something unexpected…he’s not getting any money for the tournament.
Now, no world ranking or FedEx points, yeah, obviously. And I can understand a golfer getting nothing if he withdraws before the cut because, well, he didn’t make the cut. But this was the final round, where, presumably, he should get something regardless of where he finishes.
Also, if you’ll look down the page, you’ll see that newfangled “MDF” (made cut didn’t finish) thing the PGA implemented this year to speed up the final round. Basically this means that if too many players make the cut, there’s a secondary cut after the third round, and everyone in it finishes at the bottom. If Woods withdrew from the third round, I could see him being left out, but this was the final round, for which, at least IMO, he should’ve been credited with an MDF. Essentially, he would’ve been better off if he blew up in the third round and got cut!
I dunno…even though this is the PGA we’re talking about, that looks just a bit fishy to me, and I’m not in the mood for sifting through rulebooks. Anyone got a scoop?