Field: Top 30 FedExCup Pts. Standings •
Yards: 7,154

To sleep or not to sleep or to oversleep -- that is the question

Sep. 25, 2010
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor

ATLANTA -- Who knew that one of life's most basic necessities would become such a big part of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

No, we're not talking about getting rich, although that $10 million bonus for winning the FedExCup will be a huge contributor to the pressure that will intensify Sunday afternoon at East Lake.

"Dangling a big carrot at the end obviously has gotten everyone's attention," Jim Furyk said. "That's what everyone is talking about."

Second-round coverage

FEDEXCUP TOP 5: What are they focused on this week? Winning THE TOUR Championship, writes Helen Ross. Column

PLAYER REPORTS: How did the 30 players competing at THE TOUR Championship fare in the second round at East Lake? More

DROUGHT OVER? Luke Donald is looking to end his victory drought at THE TOUR Championship this week. Column

Round 2 Scores
Round 3 Pairings
Live Report
Transcripts
Round 2 Notebook
Round 2 Wrap-up

But for our purposes, we're actually talking about sleep.

Furyk overslept the day before the first Playoffs event last month and it may prove costly when the final FedExCup points are tabulated.

And now Geoff Ogilvy's sleeping patterns are being disrupted by another sporting event nearly 10,000 miles away.

Through the first 36 holes of THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, Furyk -- shooting the lowest round thus far, a 5-under 65 -- has a share of the lead with Luke Donald at 8 under. Ogilvy is solo third, one stroke back.

Those three players are three shots clear of the rest of the field. While plenty of golf still remains, the top three clearly have established themselves as the players everyone else must catch.

If you've followed the Playoffs at all, you're well aware of Furyk's story. His alarm didn't go off before the Wednesday pro-am of The Barclays and he missed his tee time, resulting in an automatic disqualification.

Furyk said earlier this week that he has moved past the incident, treating it as if it was a missed cut. "It's over, it's done with," he said. "I can't do anything about it."

But imagine if he wins THE TOUR Championship this week but comes up a few FedExCup points short of winning the big bonus. Only then might the enormity of the consequences come to light.

Consider this scenario: Furyk wins THE TOUR Championship. Combine the 2,500 FedExCup points with his current 480 points after the reset, and he'd have 2,980 points.

Meanwhile, Paul Casey -- who will start the weekend in a tie for fifth, five shots off the lead -- finishes in solo second place, which is worth 1,500 points. Combined with his current 1,600 points, that would give him 3,100 points, or 120 more than Furyk. Casey would win the FedExCup.

You know where Furyk would have needed to finish at The Barclays to get more than 120 points? Try 46th or better. Furyk has finished 46th or better in 16 of his 20 starts this year.

But for now, Furyk can only reflect on the situation with a smile.

"I've always been able to kind of laugh at myself," he said, "and the only way to handle that situation was to really make fun of myself. I mean, it was my fault."

Likewise, if Ogilvy is sluggish this weekend because he didn't get enough sleep, he will only have himself to blame.

That's because Ogilvy left East Lake on Friday ready to cheer for his favorite Australian Football League team, the St. Kilda Saints, who have reached the Grand Final against Collingwood. Ogilvy has been a huge St. Kilda supporter since he was 10 years old, and his club is hoping to win its first title since 1966.

It's a tie in Australia

Looks like Geoff Ogilvy may get the opportunity to watch St. Kilda try to win the Australian Football League premiership in person after his Saints played to a 68-68 tie with Collingwood in Saturday's Grand Final.

It's the first draw in the AFL Grand Final since 1977 and only the third in Grand Final history. A Grand Final Replay is scheduled for next week at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Ogilvy said this week he plans to take six weeks off after THE TOUR Championship, so perhaps he'll use the downtime to cheer on his Saints.

For more information on the match, click here

With the game back home at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the time difference means Ogilvy needs to stay up until 3 a.m. ET to watch the end of the match. Even though he's in the penultimate group teeing off in Saturday's third round, tee times have been moved up Saturday, meaning he'll go off at 11:15 a.m. ET.

"It's less than ideal," Ogilvy said after shooting a 3-under 67, "but I'm not going to miss watching this game."

Asked why the game means so much to him, Ogilvy talked about St. Kilda's history, in that the team has won only one title in 140 years. Plus, it would be at the expense of Collingwood, which evidently has reached the Yankees-Cowboys-Fighting Irish level when it comes to an extreme love-hate relationship with sports fans.

"Everyone who's a Collingwood fan will be wanting Collingwood to win," Ogilvy said. "Every other person in Melbourne will want St. Kilda to win. There is no one who doesn't support Collingwood who can stand them. ...

"There's a lot of people who have lived their whole life and not seen St. Kilda win a premiership. It would be pretty huge."

A year ago, St. Kilda lost in the Grand Final, a game that went down to the wire. Ogilvy was in Atlanta, but he wasn't a factor at East Lake. He stayed up late to watch the match, then posted a carefree 64 the next day, eventually finishing in a tie for 16th.

Can he repeat that effort with the pressure of being among the leaders?

"I think you can play golf on no sleep if you haven't been drinking," he said with a laugh. "Drinking is what makes it hard when you get no sleep. You couldn't do it every night; you'd get tired. But we're all semi-athletes. I mean, three or four hours -- you can play golf off three or four hours of sleep."

Well, in this case, it certainly beats oversleeping.