FanHouse Corey Pavin

For the last big event of the 2009 season, the Presidents Cup gave us more drama than the score might appear. A captain's pick failing to win a point (Gasp!). An 18-year-old rookie stealing the show for the losing team (Wow!). And, as you probably expected, the number one golfer in the world doing exactly what he does, week in and week out. So who left Harding Park a winner, and who will look back at this event wishing it never happened?

Frustrating. That is the only way you can describe Tiger Woods' opening round at the Buick Open. A two-time winner of the event, Woods went out at Warwick Hills on Thursday with two bogeys in his first five holes, it would have been three if not for a 20-foot par save after a plugged bunker lie on the par-4, 4th.

Four birdies over his next nine holes got Woods back in the picture on a premium scoring day, but a bogey on 15, a failed birdie chance on the par-5 16th after a perfect drive and a missed five-footer for birdie on 17 left Woods, yet again, talking about missed opportunities.

Here is news that will make 5-foot-9 guys all around the world more excited than entry on a scary roller coaster -- Corey Pavin, picture above in what is being called the most awkward photo of 2008, is the new United States Ryder Cup captain.

Some probably thought Paul Azinger, Captain Zero to Hero at this years matches, would be back to captain the United States in 2010. He did a fantastic job not only captaining during the week but nearly a year before, changing some of the out of date rules. Azinger did not get a second chance, even after saying he'd be interested in staying around.

Others thought Fred Couples, American golf hero and stand up guy would take the reins for the coming years. Couples had success at the Ryder Cup and has always been a helpful addition to any coaches slew of assistants. Freddy did not.

In 2010, you will get your Pavin fill.

He isn't a bad pick by any means, just surprising. Pavin won the 1995 U.S. Open, along with 14 other PGA Tour tournaments, and had an 8-5-0 record as a Ryder Cup player.

As much as a captain can't go out and hit the shots, a good one does a lot for a team and a bad one (see Faldo, Nick) can kill your chances and ruin team morale. I'm not saying Pavin won't be good or great, but I think Azinger deserved another shot at captaining this team.

That or just have John Daly do it. I promise he won't allow a lot of cameras during team meetings.

Fred Funk is known as one of the best drivers of the golf ball on any tour (he's two years into his Champions Tour stint, but before reaching the half-century mark, that distinction held on the PGA Tour as well), but he's not particularly long off the tee (think Corey Pavin sans frullet and mustache*).

Which is why Funk wasn't all that jazzed with the sixth hole at Congressional Country Club, host of the Tiger-less AT & T National. You see, No. 6 is usually a par 5, but was converted to a par 4 this week. Even though it still measures 518 yards.

"I don't like their mentality with that hole," said Funk, who double-bogeyed the hole to mar his even-par round of 70. "I think it's downright stupid, actually."

Double-bogeys tend to bring out the worst in people, but I take his point. The problem, as Rich Beem noted, is that the green is designed for wedge shots, not long irons or woods. And the results can sometimes lead to high scores.

But that wasn't the worst part of Funk's afternoon. On the 18th, a 466-yard par 4, he hit his drive about 60 yards shorter than average and, more surprisingly, missed the fairway. But there's a perfectly logical explanation: "I had a dragonfly hit my shaft on the way down," Funk said. "And I just totally flinched and hit 150 yards off the tee dead right in the trees."That must've been a humongous dragonfly.

* I know, I know; Pavin hasn't sported that look since the 1990s, but the image is burned into my brain.