Posted by Jason Sobel
KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Woke up this morning to a reminder that this FedEx Cup thing is hardly etched in stone, at least as far as the particulars are concerned.
Over breakfast, I read in USA Today that NASCAR's own points system, which has been in place since 2004, will undergo reconstruction prior to the upcoming season. Though I've since been alerted by ESPN.com motorsports editor extraordinaire K. Lee Davis that this is old news, it was new to a racing neophyte like myself.
It was also interesting to note from a golf fan's perspective that these things are malleable to such change. The truth is, no one -- PGA Tour officials, players, writers -- knows how this FedEx system is going to play out, so the tour may have to adapt its guidelines somewhere down the road.
Let's hope that's the case, at least. I'd hate to think that if the current initial points system isn't up to snuff that we're stuck with it for the long haul. The tour should take a cue from NASCAR officials and know when -- or if -- it needs to change.
Holmes on the range: I could just tell J.B. Holmes was in for a tough second round at the Mercedes-Benz Championship. Watching the super soph on the range before the day started, I told a fellow scribe that it looked like J.B. was blocking most of his drives to the right and seemed to be struggling with his swing.
Goes to show how much I know. Though Holmes did take a while to warm up, making bogey on his first hole en route to a front-nine even-par 36, he went low on the back with five birdies to finish with a tournament-best (so far) 68 for the day.
Backing out: I was greeted by the AP's Doug Ferguson this morning with a sarcastic, "Good job." Figuring he was blaming me for the torrential rain, I apologized, but he was instead chiding me for putting an apparent hex on Arron Oberholser, the subject of this week's Hot Seat interview.
Turns out Arron suffered a back injury and was forced to withdraw from the Mercedes prior to Friday's second round. At least, he contends it was a back injury. But you and I both know he was too mentally drained from those tough questions to continue competing. Of course.
