featured
pairings

with negotiations for the next tv contract approaching, the PGa tour wised up this year and started putting together some “featured pairings” to help its partners, and they’ve been an unqualified success. but we shook our heads when we saw defending champion lee westwood would be paired with robert karlsson and robert Garrigus (shown) for the first two rounds of the fedex St. Jude classic. Garrigus last year suffered a heart-wrenching meltdown on the 72nd hole, chopping his way to a triple bogey and falling into a playoff with the two europeans. that the tour would put Garrigus in a position to relive that nightmare didn’t seem, well, sporting. a more pointed viewpoint would say that a tour member was put at a competitive disadvantage. Garrigus took the high road when he heard the news, but went on to miss the cut. we thought this was an example of an arrangement that didn’t work. on the flipside, give us more of groups such as Jhonattan vegas, keegan bradley and brendan Steele, first-time tour winners also featured in memphis. now that was smart. or at least more wise. —Dave Shedloski