FanHouse Vijay SIngh

SAN FRANCISCO -- The greatest shots in Presidents Cup history? No, not a chance. All the same, Justin Leonard played them perfectly.

Let's talk shot making.

He drained them.

"It was knowing I needed to come out and play well today," he said.

Leonard teamed with Phil Mickelson for Friday's Presidents Cup second round and played top shelf. He birdied the first hole to get the American twosome going in the best-ball competition. He kept pounding until finally rolling in a 12-footer at No. 16 to finish off the International team of Retief Goosen and Adam Scott 3 and 2.

It was a performance instrumental in allowing the United State to lead 6½-5½ going into Saturday's third round.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The eighth Presidents Cup begins play Thursday afternoon at Harding Park Golf Club, but the action started Wednesday when team captains, American Fred Couples and International Greg Norman, matched twosomes for six first-round foursome matches.

The alternate-shot competition will begin at 12:10 p.m. PDT with the International pairing of Canadian Mike Weir and South African Tim Clark taking on Americans Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson.

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Anything with the name Presidents Cup sounds like it is ripe for a Golf Czar appointment.

Are you qualified to rule over this week's PGA Tour team matches between the United States and an International squad of non-Europeans that tees off Thursday at Harding Park Golf Club?

Take this test and decide for yourself.

Greg Norman will play hurt at next week's Presidents Cup.

OK, as captain of the International Team that is taking on the Americans at San Francisco's Harding Park Golf Club, Norman will not hit a shot, but no question he is ailing.

Captain Shark has his right arm in a sling, the result of arthroscopic shoulder surgery performed Wednesday.

"A bit of a surprise," Norman said Friday. "I was trying to delay it until January of next year, but the doctor said I needed to get it done now."

Earlier this season, Phil Mickelson came out with a DVD easily named, "Secrets of the Short Game." The creative short game guru showed all sorts of shots to hit around the green and how best to execute them.

On Sunday at East Lake, Mickelson stood behind the 16th green, needing to pull off one of those shots he showed on the video -- a chip from just in the rough to a short pin over the fringe. The short shot came out high, landed soft and went directly in the middle of the cup, leading to a huge fist-pump for Lefty and a three shot lead.

Just like in 2000, when Phil shot a final round 66 to steal the Tour Championship from Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, Phil fired a Sunday 65 to take his third victory of the 2009 season and first since March 15, at the WGC-CA Championship.

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ATLANTA -- John Senden isn't apologizing for being in this week's Tour Championship.

"Points are points," he said. "If every shot counts, then I'm No. 30.''

He's right. The top 30 golfers on the FedEx Cup points list are at East Lake Golf Club this week, and Senden was the last guy in. It's the way he arrived that makes it interesting.

Two weeks ago at the BMW Championship, where this week's field was settled, Senden bogeyed the 17th hole of his final round and saw his projected finish drop him to 31st on the points list and out of action.

Senden was conceding as much, standing outside the scoring tent at Cog Hill lamenting the close call. But then a strange thing happened.

It sure ain't perfect. That's probably the best way to describe the FedEx Cup, 3.0. It is way better than it was, but still has some obvious kinks in the system that is supposed to make the PGA Tour a season ending drama. (Like the commercials say, "This is our Super Bowl. This is our World Series.")

Steve Elling over at CBS Sports did a little math about the FedEx Cup, and pointed out a serious flaw -- Tiger Woods could have won all three events heading into Thursday's Tour Championship, and he'd have the exact same amount of points as he does now (2,500, atop the standings). The more glaring problem? Woods could have skipped the first three events totally and been third in points, meaning a win at the Tour Championship would also be a FedEx Cup trophy and the $10 million prize.

Five players remain capable of winning the FedEx Cup playoff series as the PGA Tour prepares for the Tour Championship in two weeks.

Four of them are not Tiger Woods.

Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and Heath Slocum, the tee box belongs to you. Any of the four will overtake Woods by winning the regular-season finale to be played at Atlanta's East Lake Golf Club.

Unlike the two previous seasons of the event's history, when Woods in 2007 and Vijay Singh in 2008 clinched the cup and $10 million bonus before the final event began, real drama is guaranteed this year after an offseason redesign of the points system.

On Monday at TPC Boston, Bryce Molder stood over an eagle putt on the 18th green from the back fringe. Molder was ranked No. 74 in FedEx Cup points going into the Deutsche Bank Championship, and needed to get down in two for birdie if he hoped to make it to the next week, cash another check and hopefully finish high enough to join the Tour Championship field.

Molder's eagle putt nestled snugly to about a foot from the hole, he tapped it in and the 30-year-old added his name to the top-70 in the field this week at the BMW Championship. One putt. One stroke. A whole new chance at a paycheck, a trophy and a chance to join the 30 best golfers at the year's last big event.

So, is what I'm about to say true? Did the FedEx Cup, thanks to guys like Molder, a different points system and the resurgence of Steve Stricker, become interesting? Finally? I think it did.

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