For an honest look at where Michelle Wie is - and where she is going – I would imagine that the past several years never even happened. At most you should allow that she had a solid amateur background which included a few successful forays into LPGA events. Okay, got your mind right? Good. Let’s look at the facts.

In 2009 Wie started her rookie year on the LPGA Tour as a long-hitting graduate of Q-school. In the first tournament out of the gate in February in font of home crowds, she managed to finish in second place despite a lackluster final round. Wie’s next run of good play came in a 10th-15th-3rd stretch in May where another tournament got away in the final round at Sybase. The end of June saw another 10th place finish at Wegmans, immediately followed in July with another 3rd place at the Jaime Farr Owens Corning resulting from a strong 64 in the final round. Wie’s best finish in a major championship was an 11th coming in the British Women’s Open in August. This was followed by an unprecedented yet deserved role as Captain’s selection to play in the Solheim Cup at age 19. And play she did, going 3-0-1 against Europe’s best.

This performance was followed by a 4th place in the Safeway courtesy of a final round 66. October brought another runner-up finish at the Navistar in Alabama, then WHAM, it happened. Michelle Wie not only won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico in November, she did it playing with and against the best players in the game. Her emotional reaction to both the bunker shot and the tap-in birdie at the 72nd hole was absolutely priceless.

So what does all this mean? I believe Wie needed a year or so just to learn how to control herself enough to win. Her talent is undeniable but long bombs and pretty swings don’t mean squat on Sundays. Getting the ball in the hole under pressure is where it’s at. Sometimes it’s the par save to keep momentum going. Sometimes it’s a desperately needed birdie to get things started or put pressure on the opponent. Based on the arc of Michelle Wie’s first year as an LPGA touring professional that culminated in a 14th place finish on the earnings list, I’d say she’s on the right track now. It is still way too soon to expect any sort of domination but better things undoubtedly await.

Team Darth Vader (the second place guys) is comprised of Tiger Woods (1/2), Phil Mickelson (1/3), Lee Westwood and Paul Casey. Ouch! All four of them have played extremely well at this venue before. It could have been worse as they also have Angel Cabrera, but he pulled out of the tournament earlier in the week. Thank God. Coming from this week’s $7 million purse, first prize will be about $1.2 million, second about $750K and third about $450K. With my lead, fractions of Woods and Mickelson’s earnings aren’t the primary concern. No, that would be the in-form Lee Westwood. While Paul Casey is still shaking off the rust of a three-month layoff due to injury, Westwood has been playing world class golf, winning just a few weeks ago in Spain. I can only hope he has jet lag lasting throughout the weekend. The good news is that none of them are playing next week at the final PGA Tour event in Disney World.

Team Luke Skywalker (your boy Shanks) is made up of Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar and Pat Perez. Stenson always seems to run hot and cold but normally plays well in China. Kuchar is now perhaps playing as well as Westwood, having won just a month ago in Pennsylvania. And Perez is also trying to capture his pre-injury form from earlier this year. I don’t know if any of my guys - which include Dustin Johnson and Hunter Mahan - will be playing at Disney.

In addition to all of this, my secret weapon IS playing in Japan this week. Jiyai Shin has justified my draft day faith by winning three times so far in 2009 and leading the money list with three events to go. (If she were American, you’d rarely hear of anyone else.) I just might need her to win one more time if things don’t go my way in China.

But that does not mean that this will not be compelling television viewing. All those Tiger Woods fans who never watch golf if he is not playing will get a snoot full of the incomparable Mr. Woods. You just know that the television cameras will catch his every move. And he will play all five sessions – one each day except Saturday where he’ll play twice. For the rest of us, all of the very best players in the world, save a handful of Europeans, are on full display. All four of the major championship winners in 2009 are involved - Cabrera, Glover, Cink and Yang.

But the best aspect of the competition is that it is all match play, which is the most dramatic form of golf. (It’s so good that I believe the FedEx Cup should change its final event to a single elimination match play tournament.) The fourball matches have the most fireworks while the foursomes (alternate shot) have the most pressure. Even if the Americans win handily in the overall team competition, each individual match will have its own storyline. And the golf is guaranteed to be amazing. I wouldn’t miss it on a bet.

They would use their FedEx point system to determine the field over the season and also throughout the first three events (even though one event too many) but when it comes to the final Tour Championship event, it must to go to match play for a final field of 16 or 32 participants. Elimination matches inherently have more drama than stroke play rounds and drama is what they are trying to create. You know some of these guys would be choking their guts out standing over a million dollar putt. Surely a playoff system such as this would produce a season-long champion worthy of the title.

Look at it this way: Phil Mickelson just won about $3 million in bonus money and Tiger Woods won $10 million. Can you imagine, instead of what we saw, a 36 hole championship match between those two for the $7 million difference? I’m thinking a huge money match like that where the winner will be crowned PGA Tour Champion of the Year would have just the right panache.

That was Phil Mickelson’s response (paraphrased) to a post-round query of his thoughts on the FedEx Cup. Pretty funny, the way he pointed out the absurdity of the whole playoff system. I’m all for a playoff-style event but the only way the general public will consider this a true playoff is if two things happen: 1) Whoever is in first place has a chance of getting knocked out in every round - you know, like every other playoff in the sporting world - and 2) the winner of the championship round is crowned champion.

This parallel point-system has many flaws. It is fine for determining the field for the playoffs themselves. Of course, the money list would do the job just as well. But the point system must be reset to zero at the beginning of the playoffs if not discarded altogether. No team in professional sports starts the elimination process with a handicapped lead. And you don’t get one as the playoffs progress either. Could you imagine the winner of the Kentucky Derby starting the Preakness with a head start on the field? Of course not, because that would be ridiculous.

The first big problem with the FedEx Cup is that it’s one tournament too long. You can tell that by the schedule. The PGA Tour is admitting that much by taking a one week break before the “championship round.” Every one of the players is saying as much in interviews. Even the phenomenally fit Tiger Woods admitted he was gassed after three in a row, coming with just a one week break from the end of the Majors schedule.

The second huge flaw is this ridiculous points system. The Tour has re-set the points for this last event in hopes of further contrived drama, drastically reducing the effect of the previous three tournaments. What do you think Tiger Woods thinks about it now that he has played the first 12 rounds in 10 shots fewer than Padraig Harrington, 12 shots less than Jim Furyk and a minimum of twenty less than any of the other 27 who made it to the Championship event? Yet, four different guys will win the FedEx Cup if they (win and) beat him by one single shot at East Lake next week and, oh, by the way, Harrington is not one of those four guys. To add to all of this ridiculousness, Harrington can win this final event and be 11 shots in front of Woods for the week (1 overall), yet still not win the Cup.

As my old friend Kimba says, “That’s just a bunch of nonsense.”

When the Captain of the International Team in the upcoming Presidents Cup announced his first of two wild card selections – Japanese 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa – I thought, now there’s a bold pick. This youngster has a lot of game in Japan, even if it hasn’t translated to much outside of his native country. Ishikawa played in 6 events with the big boys and managed to make the cut only twice with a T56 finish in the PGA his best result. But at least he’s been winning regularly at home.

Then pick number two goes to fellow Aussie Adam Scott and I thought; now he’s really gone mad. The more you look at it, the more insane it becomes. Scott is currently in a funk of possibly catastrophic proportions. Take a look at his results in his last 13 events where there was a halfway cut to be made: Cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, T64, cut, T36, cut, cut, cut, T58. Does that, in any way, resemble the record of any other captain’s pick in the entire history of captain’s picks? Only Norman would take such a gamble when logic would dictate otherwise. It’s almost as if he is trying to spark Scott into resuming his form of over a year ago. He said the pick of Scott was “a no-brainer.” That phrase would more likely be applied to himself.

Some picks that would have made more sense:

Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, twice a winner on the Euro Tour in 2009 and a 13th place finish at the Open Championship at Turnberry.

Canadian Stephen Ames, with four top 25s in his last 6 PGA Tour events including a T10 at the US Open.

South African Rory Sabbatini, who only missed an automatic berth when Y.E. Yang shocked the world by beating Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship. Sabbatini had four top 10s this year, including a win in May at the Byron Nelson.

Aussie Michael Sim, who has dominated the Nationwide Tour this year and earned the coveted Battlefield Promotion to the PGA Tour by winning three times. So dominant has Sim been that his earnings in just 12 events are nearly double that of second place. He also finished 18th in the U.S. Open and 51st in the PGA Championship (way ahead of Scott in both those events). In my opinion, Sim would have been a better pick than either of the two Norman did select.

For traveling golfers, the Ford’s Colony layout is a perfect place to take a break in your road trip as it is located just a few miles east of Interstate 95. I had the pleasure of playing this course cut out of rolling, forested land a few weeks ago. Having previously played all three Ford’s Colony courses in Williamsburg, Virginia, I expected an interesting test and good playing conditions. Let me tell you, it is that and more.

After working yourself into a lather on the all-grass practice range, the first thing you will notice after just a few holes is the roominess between the edges of the fairways to the tree lines. This roominess gives the feel of a major league facility capable of hosting tournament-sized galleries. The next thing you will notice, or not, is lack of housing. I didn’t count the number of houses I actually saw, but would be surprised if there were 10 that came into view during the entire round. Most would agree that the pure golf feel of a course devoid of housing adds a certain something to the overall experience.

The golf course itself really doesn’t have a lot of wow-signature-type holes, but it does have 18 really solid ones. At 6,800+ yards from the tips, even top players should not be fooled into thinking it is a pushover. Many of the holes require well-placed tee shots in order to promote aggressive approaches. Additionally, there are a few water hazards and doglegs to be negotiated and the bunkering is significant. At the current greens fee of $40 on weekdays and $50 on weekends, golf at Ford’s Colony Rocky Mount is quite the bargain.

I recently had the good fortune to preview and test drive the Garia Golf Car and could not have been any more impressed. Sleek, sexy and virtually road-worthy, it is unlike anything else out there today. These vehicles are of Danish design and manufactured at Valmet in Finland, the very factory that produces several models of Porsche. Tellingly, the company does not call them golf carts, as they are serious pieces of equipment. The redesign of the chassis has moved the rear wheels to the very back of the vehicle which makes it handle like a sports car. Believe me, I put the test model through its paces on the golf course, turning at full speed on slopes and could barely feel the pressure of such a move.

It appears to me that every little detail has been scrutinized and made as well as possible. Naturally, nearly every interior luxury imaginable from plush, adjustable seating to heated, tinted windows to an in-dash refrigerator is available in standard packaging or can be customized to your particular tastes. I am a big man at 6′3″ and was impressed with the roominess of the interior. Never once did I bang my knees on the steering column while getting in or out. When I said earlier that these vehicles are virtually road-worthy, of course that also included such necessities as headlights, taillights, turn signals and the like. Even has a sun roof.

There is nothing wrong with the standard golf carts found at every golf course in America. They serve their purpose. But if luxury, quality, style and taste are your thing, and you sometimes drive your cart on the roads of your community, then the Garia Golf Car is what you want.

The most gifted in sports don’t always reach their potential. We’ve been through this discussion a few years ago when Wie was just missing cuts on the PGA Tour, so I won’t bother to repeat just yet. And I’m not saying she won’t flower now. In fact, I believe she will soon. It was huge that she was able to dig out that win on Sunday after coughing up a three hole advantage over Helen Alfredsson. In years past, I doubt she would have been able to do that. This rookie year was always going to be about her learning to win. Let’s just exercise a little caution before anointing Michelle Wie as Annika Sorenstam’s successor. Again.

Personally, I am a huge fan of team competitions like this and will be watching the Solheim Cup rather than the PGA Tour event in North Carolina or the Jeld-Wen (major championship) on the Champions Tour. As this is such an emotional weekend and given the youth on both teams, you can believe that anything could happen.

Golf is not a game that merely by force of will can be mastered in any given round on any given day. Some days you just don’t have it. I don’t know if Woods inability to make putts on Sunday was the result of the mental fatigue from 3 straight weeks atop the leaderboard, spotty poa annua in the greens or just a rotten day. But this much I can assure you: it was not from choking.

Conversely International Captain Greg Norman has relatively simple selections, although he will be leaving some big names off that team. An in-form Rory Sabbatini just missed automatically qualifying only because of Y.E. Yang’s monumental PGA Championship win. So he is an easy pick for Norman to make. His other selection will likely be Jeev Milka Singh, a cool customer who is 12th on the points list and playing as well or better than anyone else not qualified. But check out the former International team members who will not be playing at Harding Park: Adam Scott, 2008 Masters champ Trevor Immelman, K.J. Choi and Stuart Appleby. By their normal standards, they are all having a horrendous 2009.

First and foremost, here’s the particulars on course set up. River Club has wonderful bent grass greens that were a medium fast speed. The length of the rough was perfect at approximately ball height. The terrain is not quite flat with some movement and scalloped bunkering nicely frames up each hole. And here is a Shanks Tip for you: the greens will NOT break as much as they look. The pace of play was excellent as my foursome was done in 4 hours. The only downside is the range situation. The putting green and chipping/bunker area is quite nice but you can only hit full practice shots into a net for warm-up. Satisfactory, but not in concert with everything else here.

The first hole is a solid opener to get your attention, with water in play in the crook of the dogleg left and further up on right guarding the green against a weak approach shot.

The fifteenth hole, a dogleg right, is easily the toughest on the course. You must play out past the trees on the right to have an unfettered approach to the green, so a tee ball to the left side of the fairway is the wise route. (There is only water running down the left side of the fairway as opposed to the OB on the right.) If you happen to play a short iron approach, use caution, as I sadly proved that spinning it back into the pond guarding the front of the green is a possibility.

The finishing hole is a fun risk/reward par 5, wrapping around a lake to the left, somewhat reminiscent of the Gambler at Kings North but without the island fairway. Not having a great score going, I absolutely roasted my tee ball on an aggressive line and was rewarded with just a mid-iron approach over the lake – again.

The River Club is a worthy inclusion to any golf itinerary in the Low Country of the Myrtle Beach area. It will not wow you but rather will provide a solid and interesting test of 18 consecutive, well-conditioned holes that are enough to make you want to return.

We should remember that Cink birdied the the tough 18th hole on the final day of a very tough four day examination to post a good score for every player to try to better, but we won’t. Instead, we’ll curse the hard bounce that Tom Watson got on a beautifully struck 8 iron into the final hole that dribbled over the back of the green. We’ll recall Watson’s tough decision to putt that ball instead of chipping from the iffy lie. And we’ll remember the awful putting stroke of a fading former champion that missed a relatively simple putt by several inches to the right of the hole.

I’ve never felt so gutted by a loss in which I had no stake. In fact, I had a few wagers on others and would’ve been willing to sacrifice them all for this dream to come true. I should know better at my age but, alas, there is no Brigadoon.

So here’s to Stewart Cink, an excellent golfer and great guy, and Champion Golfer of the Year.