I guess it's time for some of us to start paying close attention

Anthony Pioppi reports the sad news in a Golf Club Atlas post.

Poor Captain Faldo, so many players, so few picks. John Huggan weighs Faldo's options and sees Casey-Poulter with Darren Clarke stepping into a spot if either qualifies on points. 

Steve Elling talks to Faldo about where things stand:

Every panicky player with a shot at making the team, with one notable exception, is playing this week in either New Jersey or Holland.

"The guys are really twitched up about it right now," Faldo said after finishing his commentary work for the Golf Channel on Friday. "The amazing thing, now I've got Darren Clarke leading.

"Crumps, I've got probably six names, unless they can jump in -- which would obviously be the best way to make the team -- but I could have four or five players outside playing well and it looks like I have to make a blooming decision."

Steve Elling considers the Barclays' move to Liberty National next year and offers this perspective from Barclays president Bob Diamond:

Last year, when Woods skipped The Barclays, the tournament was whipped in the ratings by the Little League World Series, televised on a cable outlet, ESPN. He acknowledged that was hard to stomach.  

"I think if we don't see a change, we'll be disappointed," Diamond said. "We'll see."

Let's hope that these guys pull through. And let's hope that next time they rent a balloon.

One man is in critical condition and another in fair condition following a helicopter crash at a Schuylkill County golf course.

A nursing supervisor at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville says co-pilot Joseph Matteo is in critical condition. Pilot Al Roman is listed in fair condition at Reading Hospital and Medical Center. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.

The helicopter was supposed to fly over the course Friday and drop 1,500 numbered golf balls. The person whose ball was closest to the pin would have won 50 percent of ticket sales.

The fundraiser was for Access Services, a group that helps people with disabilities.

Here I was thinking we had at least another two weeks before the FedEx Cup obituaries started rolling in and Cameron Morfit had to go and pen one before the art department could even come up with a cutesy graphic.

The FedEx Cup is stuck in a major end-of-season traffic jam. All of the individual events anyone cares about are over. In fact, judging from the breathless, parking lot stakeouts of Brett Favre, the press and public tuned out the Tiger-less Tour even during the year's final major. Paddy's PGA was no match for Brett's SUV.

And still the FedEx soldiers on despite the Olympics and an upcoming two-week break after the BMW Championship, necessitated by the Ryder Cup. Ultimately only 30 players will convene for the FedEx finale, the Tour Championship at East Lake outside Atlanta, because the smaller the field, the more "exclusive" (important) it is.

That's the idea, anyway. In reality a limited field holds limited appeal because it increases the likelihood that one hot player will run away with the tournament. It happened last year with Woods, but a mere mortal also could run away and hide with only 29 other guys chasing him. (A total of 315 players started the U.S. Amateur on Monday.)

Perhaps the FedEx champion won't be determined until the back nine on Sunday of the Tour Championship. That would be nice, but the rules are complicated. The Tour has arbitrarily narrowed the gap between players to start the playoffs, from 1,000 to 500 points. Every player who makes the cut at the Barclays will get 2,000 more points than he would have last year. This is meant to create more volatility up and down the standings.

The Amateur is simple. Two guys go into a match, and only one lives to play another day, sometimes after a wild momentum swing or five, which is typical of match play.

Meanwhile the FedEx Cup remains a play for relevance via monetization and marketing, which looks especially silly every other year, when top players are more concerned about playing for God and country at the Ryder Cup.