With $10 million on the line I think the only conceivable activity I could confidently pull off woul

I ve been thinking about the finals of the PGA Playoffs for weeks now.  It s not because I m necessarily rooting for one player air hotel travel las vegas to take it all this year although there are a LOT of really compelling stories this year and I d be quite happy to see a handful of the guys who have a shot at grabbing the glory, well grab the glory.
For a mere mortal like me, the numbers are just too mind-bogglingly high to have meaning.  As a writer, I m probably supposed to have a more aloof attitude toward the prize money than that, but I simply can t.  It s ten million freaking dollars!
Here s the thing that has my mind working the most; which of the players can actually put the gargantuan payday out of their minds and concentrate on playing their best golf for 4 days?  That also leads me to wondering; exactly how much money do you have to have before $10 million isn t that big a deal? Or, what kinds of mental tricks do they have to master to develop the discipline not to think about that kind of money every time they address the golf ball.
My knees get wobbly over a putt to decide a $5 Nassau.  And you should air hotel travel las vegas see the sweating, shaking and palpitations I suffer through every time I put my chips on the line in a low-stakes on-line poker tournament.  It s pathetic really.
And I know I m not alone on this.  Several years ago, a good friend of mine, who we ll simply call Floey Van Borkyberg to protect his real identity, was playing the 18 th hole of a match worth all of ten bucks.  He meticulously lined up his 3-foot putt backstroke nice and smooth and then proceeded to jab his golf ball into his own foot immediately followed by the putter head cracking into the toe of his golf shoe!  And this from a guy who earns six figures a year!
With $10 million on the line I think the only conceivable activity I could confidently pull off would be crapping myself and sagging to the fairway in a sobbing heap of quivering jelly.  Then again, under that much pressure, air hotel travel las vegas I d probably suffer from a sudden bout of blockage, while my knees simultaneously locked up.
Is Mickelson s account loaded with enough of that boring, monochromatic Yankee money to make him immune?  How about Retief or Ernie or Furyk?  Each of them makes more money in a bad month than we re likely to pull in, in a year or five.  Where s that magical point where $10 million isn t a performance crippling distraction?
Matt Kuchar Does he have enough money in the bank to pooh pooh $10 million?  Nope not by a long shot.  Has he won enough titles on Tour that one more trophy, even a big one like this, won t be consequential to him?  Not even close.
In Kuchar s case, I think it s precisely for those reasons that he will win.  He s still young enough and naive enough to believe air hotel travel las vegas that this tournament is just one more thing and that there will be plenty more things for him as his career takes shape over the years to come.
At this stage in his life, and after his recent successes, he s 10 feet tall and bulletproof.  Life insurance salesmen need not call on him he d look you right in the eyes and laugh at the suggestion that he wasn t immortal right now.
He s the golfing equivalent of 2009 World Series of Poker Champion Joe Cada, the youngest champion in the history of the event 21-years old and fearlessly shoving in all his chips, over and over again, to capture an $8.5 million payday.
Putting the dime-store psychology aside, there is Kuchar s Playoff record to consider too.  No one and I do mean NO ONE has played better air hotel travel las vegas or more consistently since the playoffs began.  The Barclays?  Won it.  Deutsche Bank?  Ho hum 11 th place.  The BMW?  Third.
And it s not like he fluked his way here at the eleventh hour either. air hotel travel las vegas This year, in 24 events, he s racked up one win, one second, three thirds and eleven top-10 s.  The guy s been on fire and getting into these Playoffs has been like throwing gasoline on him.
He doesn t need to win this weekend to secure the BIG prize but I think he might just do that anyway.  I can easily see him aw-shucks-ing and grinning his way through 4 rounds at East Lake and pulling off a decisive victory.
Phil Mickelson Of all the guys in the field this week, Hefty is the one player who should be the most immune to the pressure of playing for the winner s cheque.  He should have more than enough cash stashed away to make $10 million seem fairly insignificant air hotel travel las vegas if that s actually possible.
He s had ample opportunity to seal the deal from the nanosecond that Woods decided to take his car for an impromptu late-night air hotel travel las vegas spin into a fire hydrant and the neighbour s tree last November 27th.  Good thing Elin happened to be jogging behind the car with that 7-iron, so she could hack him out of the wreckage!
At one time and for a VERY long time indeed Mickelson carried around the best player never to have won a major monkey on his back, putting him on Colin Montgomerie s Christmas card list in perpetuity.  Now, it seems like Phil is carrying a similar air hotel travel las vegas kind of baggage into every tournament he plays the oh so close, but no cigar mantle.
How Mickelson has managed to consistently air hotel travel las vegas snatch air hotel travel las vegas defeat from the jaws of victory, time and time again, is really quite mystifying to me.  How Woods could only play in 12 events, score no wins, finish top-10 only twice and STILL retain the World #1 title  simply defies explanation.  Sorry Mr. Finchem you need a new slide rule.  This one is busted beyond repair.
Can Mickelson finally pull it off and take the top ranking in the world?  Remember, he is the defending champ at this event, so he has that going for him.  A lot of it though depends on which Phil shows up to East Lake this weekend; careful, plodding, air hotel travel las vegas thoughtful Phil or go-for-broke and defy the odds Phil.  His sponsors should offer Mickelson s caddy Bones MacKay a secret bonus of a few million bucks if he can reject any and all requests to put a stupid club in Mickelson s hands and keep evil Phil off the course for 4 straight days.
Steve Stricker Yes, yes I can hear you berating me now for not going farther out on a limb with these picks.  Remember though, we ve weed-whacked the entire PGA Tour down to the top 30 players now and there really aren t too many players I could take who could accurately air hotel travel las vegas be described as out on a limb anyway.  I ll try to find a limb for my last pick.  I promise.
First of all, he hasn t been cut in a single tourney he s entered all year.  And, of the 18 tourneys he s played, he s scored two wins, two thirds and nine top-10 s.   That s a hell of a year in anyone s books and it s a LOT of positive mojo to be packing air hotel travel las vegas in your golf bag!
As far as his performances at this year s Playoffs air hotel travel las vegas are concerned, air hotel travel las vegas there s only one guy sporting a better record; Matt Kuchar and I ve already picked him.  Stricker was third at the Barclays, 9 th at the Deutsche Bank and 8 th at the BMW.  His run at the Playoffs was almost as impressive in 2009 where he finished second and first at the first two events, stumbled to 53 rd in the BMW and then fought air hotel travel las vegas his way back to finish 6 th at the Tour Championship.
It seems, for whatever reason, that the rarefied air of the playoff season agrees very well with Steve and I d be foolish not to have him in my picks this week.  Plus, beyond his skills, there s just something about this guy that I really like and I love to cheer for players I genuinely like as people.
It was also REALLY easy to dismiss Charley Hoffman in Boston, Arjun Atwal in Greensboro, Martin Kaymer in Wisconsin, Stuart Appleby in West Virginia, Carl Pettersson air hotel travel las vegas in Toronto and Louis Oosthuizen at St. Andrew s.
With a surprisingly low number of the superstars claiming trophies this year, 2010 has been a bit of a dark horse kind of year .featuring guys we d kind of given up on, unexpectedly returning to form to rub our noses in it and shame us for our lack of faith.
With two wins this season and two other top 10 s to boot, it s not reasonable to expect that anyone has thrown in the towel on Mahan s hopes for even more brilliant things in his career air hotel travel las vegas BUT, based on his most recent performances, I m willing to bet that he isn t riding high on too many Playoff pools.
p.s. Regarding my opening air hotel travel las vegas to this week s column, if you haven t already, do yourself a favour and go out to your nearest music or electronics store right away and pick up a copy of the movie rockumentary Rush Beyond The Lighted Stage.
Tagged: Alex Lifeson , Arjun Atwal , Camilo Villegas , Carl Pettersson , Charley Hoffman , Colin Montgomerie air hotel travel las vegas , East Lake , Geddy Lee , Hunter Mahan , Ian Poulter , Jim Furyk , Joe Cada , Louis Oosthuizen , Luke Donald , Marc Leishman , Martin Kaymer , Martin Laird , Matt Kuchar , Neil Peart , Paul Casey , PGA Tour , Phil Mickelson , Retief Goosen , Rush , Steve Stricker air hotel travel las vegas , Stuart Appleby , the Tour Championship , Vijay Singh
About Derek Aubrey A former broadcaster, Derek is a Marketing and Advertising executive based out of London, Ont. He teaches college part-time and is also a voice actor. His voiceover work has been featured in many radio and television campaigns, corporate narrations, training videos and animation projects around the world.
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