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FedEx Tour Championship gets it right

Last week saw the end of the 2019 PGA Tour season with the playing of the FedEx Tour Championship.

It took the tour several years of tinkering to come up with this year’s new format, a system involving a year-long accumulation of points that narrowed the final field in this FedEx event to the top 30 players.

A new twist this year involved a staggered start to the field at the final event — with the top golfers getting an incremental head start over the rest of the field before the tournament ever began.

The result was an exciting year-end championship that not only rewarded golfers for their year-long performance but was also extremely easy for golf fans to follow — unlike the complicated point-system used in previous years to determine the ultimate champion.

This year’s finale was so exciting watching as Rory McIlroy held off challenges by Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele to take home the 2019 FedEx Cup and a cool $15 million top prize.

The PGA Tour finally came up with a worthy, season-ending event. I hope they don’t mess up a good thing and keep this format for the foreseeable future.

Lee Wertz

A few years ago, I had the privilege of meeting Lee Wertz, one of the few, original members of Sinking Valley who is still active at the club.

I remember learning of his schooling to become both a teacher and engineer. He would later go on to lead a successful business career in the Altoona area, but I was really mesmerized by Wertz’s recounting his days as a combat pilot during World War II as he flew a total of 70 successful combat missions.

So it really made me happy last week when I heard that Wertz, now 95 years old, had scored a hole-in-one. Playing with his regular foursome, Wertz holed out for an ace last Monday on Sinking Valley’s 10th hole. Congratulations, Lee.

Stephen Curry

There’s plenty of noise in the media about the crazy antics of sports celebrities these days. that’s what makes the story of Howard University’s golf program especially uplifting.

The Washington D.C.-based school quietly announced last week that it would be re-establishing its golf program after a nearly 40-year absence.

Howard University was able to make the announcement after a recent on-campus speaking engagement by NBA-star Stephen Curry. During his visit, a chance encounter with a student led Curry to learn that the university had no golf team.

Being a passionate golfer himself, Curry quickly contacted Howard University officials to offer his help.

The result was an endowment to the school, from Curry, that will fund everything necessary for Howard to re-establish its golf program.

Kudos to Curry for offering such a selfless, generous gift — without much fanfare.

Ken Love covers local golf for the Mirror. He can be reached at gltr777@atlanticbb.net.

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