The Niblick Journal

On Sunday, the quartet of Mark Wilson, Jose Coceres, Boo Weekley and Camilo Villegas all finished regulation play at 5-under 275 at the Honda Classic, forcing a playoff that spilled into Monday.

For nearly a week, praise for the modernized Champion Course at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., was sweeping. Any time players utter the words “difficult, but fair,” it has to be Ok.

“Overall, I think it was a fair test,” said Wilson, who ultimately defeated Coceres on the third playoff hole.

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One full month into the PGA Tour’s new FedEx Cup and John Rollins is our current No. 1 seed. No knock on Rollins, but do you think this is what the PGA Tour envisioned?

Right now, Rollins is the George Mason of last year’s NCAA Final Four, followed not to far behind by Charley Hoffman (a No. 5 seed), Paul Goydos (No. 6 seed) and rookie Jeff Quinney (No. 8 seed).

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On Sunday, Tiger Woods was approaching three months being removed from his last official win on the PGA Tour. And yet his victory at the Buick Invitational to open his 2007 season marked his seventh straight Tour win.

Woods now stands four wins shy of tying Byron Nelson’s Tour record of 11 consecutive victories, which was accomplished during 1945.

Woods will be the first to admit that 11 wins stretched over two seasons does not compare to Nelson’s winning 11 in one calendar season.

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The PGA Tour’s new FedEx Cup may not be as complicated to figure out as some of the toy instructions under last week’s Christmas tree, but it’s close.

“I figure if you play good golf, [the PGA Tour will] explain it to you,” Jason Gore said, “and if you don’t, there’s no reason to. I understand the concept of it and I think it’s going to be great for the tour and great for TV, but I really don’t know the ins and outs.  The most important thing is, if you play well, then all that stuff takes care of itself.”

So following is a quick overview:

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On Monday, The Golf Channel officially announced the broadcast team for its 2007 PGA Tour coverage.

This is the 10-person team that will be the face of the channel’s coverage for 43 events – either for the opening rounds or for its entirety.

Kelly Tilghman headlines the team, becoming the first, full-time female play-by-play golf commentator, and Nick Faldo will become the lead analyst. Rounding out the team are Peter Oosterhuis (analyst), Mark Rolfing (host, analyst), Dottie Pepper (on-course reporter), Rocco Mediate (on-course reporter), Rich Lerner (play-by-play, host, player interviews), Frank Nobilo (analyst), Jerry Foltz (on-course reporter), and Steve Sands (player interviews).

Certainly no one expected a massive overhaul of the team, given what The Golf Channel already had in place. But, overall, the team appears to be average. Outside of possibly Faldo, the rest of the team is like a third starter on a pitching staff – good, dependable, but nothing that screams marquee in name or performance.