COLTS NECK, N.J. - Do you think Tim Finchem and his PGA Tour brain trust came up with the FedEx Cup because they wanted to promote Steve Stricker?

Stricker’s a good story. I know because I wrote it last year when Stricker won the first event of the first FedEx Cup. It’s hard not to like a guy who realized he had to fire his wife as his caddie to save his marriage. Stricker’s an even better guy to golf writers, always going out of his way to answer whatever questions anyone has no matter how he played. So you won’t find many scribes rooting against him.

But he’s not exactly the type of figure that moves the needle when it comes to creating interest in the game. Your casual golf fan doesn’t get intrigued when they hear the name Steve Stricker.

Yet here Stricker is again, threatening to win the first event of the second edition of the FedEx Cup too. He’s 10-under through 11 holes of the third round, two strokes clear of anyone else in the field. Which doesn’t exactly bode well for Finchem’s playoffs.

The Tour needs Sergio Garcia (-8 through 13) or Vijay Singh (-7 through three rounds) to make a move. I’d include Hunter Mahan (-7 through 11) in that group, but he only moves steadily backwards after his 62s. This FedEx Cup is supposed to introduce us to new stars or bring back old ones after all, not 41-year-olds who never captured the public attention’s in the first place.

I’m off working on another assignment in another part of New Jersey today, but I’ll be back at Ridgewood Country Club tomorrow for the Barclays finale. You can get live blogs here all day Sunday and a full story and column on the front of WorldGolf.com Monday morning. If it’s a lot of Steve Stricker, you’ll know that Finchem’s coffee isn’t going down very well.

Everyone harped on Tiger Woods not being in the FedEx Cup this year - completely forgetting that he didn’t play in this first event last year either. The no Tiger for four tournaments isn’t the biggest threat to the money grab Cup though. Steve Stricker playing a leading role is.

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