Morrissey: Another Finchem Fan

The PGA Tour's Bob Combs is going to have a busy Monday! After he places a call to the Augusta Chronicle to stick up for his boss, he'll have to call Rick Morrissey, who writes about the Western's demise:

Thanks to Finchem's oddly wired brain, Chicago soon will have a golf tournament every other year instead of yearly. This is the same Chicago that has embraced golf forever and with a fervor not seen in many other towns. But never mind that.

Finchem wants Chicago to share what will now be called the BMW Championship with St. Louis, Indianapolis and Minneapolis. If your city's name ends in "is," Finchem apparently wants you (hello, Illiopolis). That's about the only logical explanation. Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States. Indianapolis ranks 12th, Minneapolis is 48th and St. Louis 50th.

You know, it would be fun to hear the Commissioner explaining how the 12th, 48th and 50th place "markets" will give the playoffs a big boost. Oh, right, it's about the golf courses. Bellerive and Hazeltine. Doesn't get any more scintillating than that.

It's not just grumpy sports columnists who believe this is a major show of disrespect to the city. The commissioner might have wanted to check with Woods about the plan to leave Chicago for dead every other year.

"It's unfortunate because it's been such a great event, an historical event on our tour," Woods said after finishing in a tie for second Sunday. " . . . Look at the list of champions. It's a pretty impressive list.

"Unfortunately, we're not going to have a tournament anymore, but I think it's more unfortunate that we're not going to come here to the Chicago area each and every year. This is one of the biggest markets in the United States, and we're coming in every other year."