Investing in family values

Four weeks from tomorrow, the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship begins, once again the second of four playoff events to determine the winner of the seasonlong FedEx Cup. Starting with the Stop & Shop Pro-Am Monday, Aug. 31, which will include some PGA Tour pros but is not open to the public, the Deutsche Bank Championship will span eight days, concluding on Labor Day, the tour’s only scheduled Monday finish.

“The golf course is in excellent shape, we’re preparing for good weather. We’re in a good spot right now,’’ said Eric Baldwin, the Deutsche Bank Championship’s tournament director. “We’ve got a lot of our structures up, and we’re finalizing the activation plans for our partners and some of our promotional elements.’’

Most of the tickets for the tournament, either weekly or daily admission, are still available, either by calling 877-TIX-4DBC or by visiting www.dbchampionship.com. Military Appreciation Day is Tuesday, Sept. 1, with all active and non-active members of the military receiving free admission into the Mastercard Club along the 17th fairway. Also, every day during tournament week, children ages 15 and under are admitted free with a ticketed adult.

“This year in particular, I think it’s an important message,’’ Baldwin said. “It’s a family holiday, a family weekend, and we want families to come and enjoy it.’’

Since the tournament is part of the PGA Tour playoffs, which players spectators will see is still being finalized. The top 125 players on the FedEx Cup points list qualify for The Barclays, held the week before the Deutsche Bank Championship. But only the top 100 at the conclusion of The Barclays advance to TPC Boston. The top 70 move on to the third playoff event, the BMW Championship in Chicago, and the top 30 will arrive at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the Tour Championship, which will determine the FedEx Cup champion.

Last year, after Vijay Singh opened the playoffs with victories at The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship, he had the FedEx Cup title locked up. But this year, with points being distributed differently, and points being reset following the BMW Championship, clinching the FedEx Cup title before the Tour Championship can’t happen.

The players’ goal, then, is to make sure they’re inside the top 125 at the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship Aug. 23. With four events left (the Bridgestone Invitational and Legends Reno-Tahoe Open are being simultaneously held this week, followed by the PGA Championship) there’s a handful of well-known players who need to play their way in, or risk missing the playoffs.

Padraig Harrington, owner of three majors, is No. 142 on the FedEx Cup list. Stuart Appleby is 139th, David Duval 144th, Rocco Mediate 147th, and Trevor Immelman No. 153. Harrington, Appleby, and Immelman are all in the Bridgestone Invitational field, which has no cut and thus will guarantee everybody FedEx Cup points. But a finish near the bottom won’t bring many points.

Sergio Garcia is also in a precarious position. With only one top-10 finish in 11 PGA Tour starts this year, Garcia is No. 121 on the FedEx Cup list. He’s also playing at the Bridgestone and the PGA Championship.

Steve Stricker has no such worries. He’s second on the points list, and with three solid finishes at TPC Boston the last three years (tied for seventh in 2006, tied for ninth in ’07, tied for 13th last year), he’s eager to return.

“I like the area, I like the course,’’ Stricker said by phone yesterday from Akron, Ohio, where he’s playing in the Bridgestone. “I enjoy coming there, I look forward to it. I’ve gotten more comfortable being there, and my game has gotten better. I think that’s the bottom line. I feel confident going there.’’

Woods enjoyed the ride

Not for it being the 69th career victory on the PGA Tour by Woods, which puts him only four behind Jack Nicklaus. But because it might be the last tour event Buick sponsors. A decade ago, Buick had its name on four tournaments per year.

By 2009 that number had been cut in half, and on Tuesday Buick withdrew its sponsorship of the final two events, due to the court-ordered restructuring of General Motors. It means an end to a 51-year run at Warwick Hills Country Club in Grand Blanc, Mich., and the Buick Open; it also signals an end of the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, an event that had Buick’s name on it since 1992.

New sponsors are being sought for Torrey Pines, Buick hasn’t ruled out partnering with the tour in the future, and the tour is hoping to maintain a presence in Michigan. But the date that the Buick Open occupied will go to a new event in West Virginia, starting next year.

The Greenbrier Classic was announced by PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem yesterday, signaling a return to a resort with a long history of tournament golf and made famous by Sam Snead, who was hired as assistant professional in 1936, and was still professional emeritus when he died in 2002.

Coming off a missed cut at the British Open, only his sixth since turning professional, Woods for the first time won in his next start.

He seemed genuinely touched by the passionate crowds rooting him on in Michigan, letting his ever-famous guard down in the final round when he threw a golf ball into the gallery on the 17th green, and again after he holed his winning putt.

Woods used to endorse Buick, which certainly helped lure him into the field. But for a deserving fan base unsure when, or even if, they’ll be able to host a PGA Tour event again, Woods made sure they left this year’s event with plenty of memories.

Wie’s Solheim selection made a point

They’re fooling themselves if they think Wie doesn’t deserve to be on Beth Daniel’s US team. True, Wie doesn’t have any LPGA Tour victories in her career. But neither do Brittany Lang or Kristy McPherson. Are you singling Wie out and looking for a US team filled with players who have won this year? Every American with a 2009 LPGA Tour victory is on the team. All three of them (Cristie Kerr, Angela Stanford, Brittany Lincicome).

Plus, this is Wie’s first year as a member of the LPGA Tour, and in half the time that the others had to accrue Solheim Cup points, Wie finished 13th on the points list. If you only count 2009 totals (granted, there are more points available during a Solheim Cup year), Wie was sixth.

She’s also played well of late, with three top-11 finishes in her past four tournaments. Daniel didn’t say she picked Wie because of the 19-year-old’s ability to generate interest, but the women’s game should embrace all the attention it can find. If Wie ends up playing poorly at the Solheim Cup, then she’ll deserve the criticism. But compared with everyone else Daniel had to consider (her other pick was 49-year-old Juli Inkster), it shouldn’t have been that difficult a decision.

The top three players off the points list for the European Solheim Cup team are Gwladys Nocera, Tania Elosegui, and Diana Luna. Um, who? Nocera shot 91 in the first round of last week’s Women’s British Open, and neither Elosegui nor Luna broke 80 in the second round.

There’s some name recognition on the European side with Laura Davies, Suzann Pettersen, Anna Nordqvist, and Women’s British Open winner Catriona Matthew, but the big edge sits with the Americans, who will look to improve to 8-3 when the Solheim Cup begins Aug. 21 at Rich Harvest Farms near Chicago.

Etc.