Nicklaus Loves Washington Even If Finchem Hates It

I'm surprised there hasn't been more coverage in the Washington Post about the PGA-led Tim Finchem effectively heaving Greater Washington golf off the Tour, but there's this excerpt from a story by Leonard Shapiro story about the President's Cup and where the 2009 event will be held:

"We're obviously looking at RTJ [Robert Trent Jones in Gainesville Va.], but we're not wedded to that," Finchem said. "We're also looking at other possibilities."

One of those possibilities could be Harding Park in San Francisco, which has a contract with the tour to host several as yet to be decided events. But Nicklaus, whose U.S. team defeated the internationals here last September, offered a strong endorsement for the event to return to the Washington area.

"The Presidents Cup in D.C. worked very, very well," he said. "Presidents have participated and ex-presidents have participated. It's a big plus for it" returning to Washington.

If only Jack were PGA Commissioner. Since he isn't, we get this instead:

Finchem also said yesterday that Washington remains "in the mix" to host a tour event during its new fall series starting in 2007. He said the tour already has five confirmed fall events and hopes to bring the total to seven, with Washington in the running for one of the last two sites.

We still don't have a sponsor to replace Booz-Allen. And no wonder--this is like competing for bat boy after you've earned a varsity letter with the starting team.