Faxon knows he can't bank on playing

NORTON -- His spot in the field is long shot; his allegiance to the tournament is unwavering.

"If I don't finish first or second [in his next tournament], I'll be walking with Seth [Waugh] outside the ropes," said Brad Faxon, who is currently on the outside looking in when it comes to something close to his heart, the annual Deutsche Bank Championship. As the second stop in a four-week playoff series, the DBC will be for only those within the top 144 in the season-long FedEx Cup standings and Faxon currently is No. 198.

"It'll hurt not to play, but I'm going to be OK," said Faxon. "It will make me play harder and I'll play next year."

Faxon, who turns 46 tomorrow, has struggled mightily this season and nowhere does that manifest itself more than with the likelihood he'll not be in the field when the Deutsche Bank tees off Aug. 31 at TPC Boston. He noted that when he was 19 he received a sponsor's exemption into the PGA Tour stop at Pleasant Valley CC in Sutton and he faithfully teed it up there every year except one between 1983-1998. When the PGA Tour returned in the form of the Deutsche Bank in 2003, it was Faxon who gladly accepted a sort of ambassadorial role. While getting involved with the redesigns of TPC Boston and taking on an active role as tournament spokesman, Faxon has become great friends with Waugh (Deutsche Bank CEO) and he's been almost a fixture around the club.

"When I walk in here," he said to a gathering at media day yesterday, "it's like family."

That's why Faxon vowed to support this year's tournament, even if his bid falls short to get in as a player. He isn't playing this week and for the first time since 1984 he isn't eligible for the PGA Championship, so Faxon won't tee it up until Aug. 16-19 at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C. -- the final week for FedEx Cup qualifying.

"I've been a part of the TPC [Boston] since Day 1," said Faxon, who contributed toward Gil Hanse's redesign of the golf course. In need of a tournament player's perspective, Hanse leaned on Faxon for many of the changes that were made, including the 298-yard, driveable par-4 fourth; the sprawling cross-bunker at the par-5 seventh; and the shortened par-3 16th, which now plays just 161 yards to a green brought closer toward a large pond.

Members have seen the changes, but PGA Tour members have, too -- at least via photographs Faxon has distributed. Yes, that would include the defending champion, Tiger Woods, whose input was sought before the changes were made.

"I like the changes [I've seen]," said Woods via a teleconference, and he was OK with the idea behind all of Hanse's work, which was to force more thinking about shot selection. "You want to test players' ability to strategize their way around a golf course."