AKRON, Ohio (AP) - A proposal that would require PGA Tour members to compete in certain tournaments passed its first test and is on track to be adopted before the end of the Fall Series.
In an effort to bolster tournaments that typically get weak fields, the concept is to designate a small number of events and demand players choose one to play. The policy board approved the idea at a meeting last week in West Virginia, which was the first step.
"Because it's a tournament regulation, it has to be passed twice," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said. "It was preliminarily approved in concept. Now we go back to the PAC (Players Advisory Council) and work through the details, get some player input and bring it back to the fall meeting."
Finchem said he was "positively inclined" that it ultimately would be adopted.
What remains are the details, starting with how many tournaments would be designated and which players would be required to play. The tour could use the FedEx Cup standings, money list or even the world ranking from a previous year to determine who it affects.
It would be the closest thing the tour has had to mandatory participation, although it falls short of the "1-in-4" concept of the LPGA Tour in which players must compete in every tournament at least once over a four-year span.
Finchem has said he would want the policy adopted by around September, which would give the tour the rest of the year to explain and educate players on the plan.
Another proposal that appears to have stalled - at least for now - is expanding the field at the season-opening SBS Championship at Kapalua, traditionally reserved only for winners from the previous season. The PAC has discussed giving a two-year exemption to Kapalua for PGA Tour winners.
Finchem supports the idea, but the tour is looking for another title sponsor (although SBS is under contract through 2019). The commissioner said he wants to see if another sponsor emerges before making changes, to be sure a new sponsor agrees with the change.
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AMERICAN DROUGHT: Anthony Kim put his Ryder Cup hopes in jeopardy when he had left thumb surgery in May, which forced him to miss two majors over three months. He was No. 2 in the standings, but movement is volatile during a Ryder Cup year.
Kim returns this week at the Bridgestone Invitational and has fallen all the way ... to No. 5.
That speaks to the lack of American success on the PGA Tour over the last three months. In the 14 tournaments since Kim had surgery, the only American winners were Zach Johnson at Colonial, Bubba Watson at the Travelers Championship, Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic and Matt Bettencourt, who won an opposite-field event in Reno the week of St. Andrews.
Americans finished second in only eight of those events, a list that includes the Ryder Cup captain (Corey Pavin) and one of his assistant captains (Paul Goydos). About the only player who consistently contended was Jeff Overton, who has been rewarded by moving up to No. 4 in the standings.
That doesn't make Overton - or Kim, for that matter - a lock to finish in the top eight and make the team.
Only about $645,000 separates Jim Furyk at No. 2 from Tiger Woods at No. 9, with two events remaining with combined prize money of about $16 million.
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PATIENT PADRAIG: Padraig Harrington is playing the kind of consistent golf that usually leads to winning.
He's just not winning.
The Irishman is approaching the two-year anniversary of his last official victory - the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills. And he concedes that his patience is being tested, although Harrington finds his expectations at odds with everyone else.
He had 10 finishes in the top 10 last year, more than he had in either 2008 or 2007, and his runner-up finish in the Irish Open was his sixth top 10 of this season.
"I don't normally use as a guideline how many top 10s because I think it's not a great thing to focus on," he said. "But I've had more top 10s in the last year than I've ever had in my career. So going on a guideline that most people use, I've actually had the best year of my career. Glaringly obvious, I haven't won. But my form has been solid enough."
Harrington posed a question last week about which should be considered a better player - someone who won and did nothing else the rest of the year, or contended a majority of the time without ever winning?
"Obviously, a win would make life a lot easier," he said. "But I can tell, as much as I need a win, I'm quite happy that the form is there."
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TOP COURSES: Despite hosting its sixth major championship, Pebble Beach failed to beat out Pacific Dunes on Golf Magazine's list of "Top 100 Courses You Can Play." Pacific Dunes, designed by Tom Doak in Bandon, Ore., was voted No. 1 by the magazine's panel.
The rest of the list is to be released Thursday on the magazine's website, www.golf.com.
Bandon had four courses in the top 15, including Old Macdonald, which was among seven new courses on the list.
California had the most courses in the top 100 with 10, while 67 of the golf courses could be played for under $100.
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LANGER IN WALES?: Bernhard Langer won senior majors in consecutive weeks, eight time zones apart, and there are some wondering whether he merits consideration as a captain's pick for the Ryder Cup.
Don't count Darren Clarke among them. In between Langer winning the Senior British Open and the U.S. Senior Open, Clarke was asked if he thought the 52-year-old German had played himself into contention for the team.
"Which team?" Clarke replied.
The Ryder Cup.
"What year?" he asked.
This year.
"Have you been drinking?" came the latest reply.
Langer has not played in the Ryder Cup since 2002, and he was the European captain in 2004. Could he be a player again?
"I couldn't see that, no," Clarke said last week at the Irish Open. "I think Bernhard is a great player, has been a great player. I think he's obviously played great winning the British Seniors Open, but it's a different field you're competing in."
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DIVOTS: Nick Price has been selected to receive the Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America for his lifetime contributions to golf. He will be honored during the Golf Industry Show in Orlando, Fla., in February. ... Six players in the 82-man field at Firestone are not in the PGA Championship - James Kingston, Marcus Fraser, Katsumasa Miyamoto, Michael Jonzon, Hennie Otto and Alexander Noren. ... Camilo Villegas, whose contract with Cobra expires this year, will join TaylorMade starting in 2011.
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STAT OF THE WEEK: Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin and Tiger Woods each have played seven times on the PGA Tour this year. Pavin is No. 96 in the FedEx Cup standings, while Woods is No. 111.
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FINAL WORD: "If the fairways are 15 yards wide and you didn't have to hit it 330 (yards) to compete, maybe I wouldn't do that." - Jeff Overton on the swing he uses to create power.