Philadelphia, PA -- (Sports Network) - What a difference a year can make.

Twelve months ago, the biggest story in golf was the advent of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which finally brought an honest-to-goodness playoff system to the PGA Tour. Those were the days.

Now, with barely a whimper, the second annual FedEx Cup Playoffs begin on Thursday. If the Playoffs occur in the woods, would anyone notice?

Speaking of Woods, Tiger's knee injury hurts this competition more than anything else.

Woods equals ratings. All major championships without Woods in the hunt garner lower ratings than the Tiger ones. Much like with Michael Phelps, people tune in to see history. Woods proves that with each major championship win, you are seeing a stepping stone to immortality.

While this four-week playoff race will never be confused with a major, it is significant. How significant? About $10 million significant, that's how significant. It's a month of effort, after almost nine months of effort, and the winner of this can claim some achievement. The PGA Tour sure thinks so.

Without Woods, mainstream attention is nil. All of that is firmly focused on a little thing called the Olympics. Mr. Phelps has dominated covers and headlines, so little attention is paid to anything else right now. Remember, the FedEx Cup Playoffs were designed to compete with the NFL in the fall, which is why they are starting weeks before regular season competition in that league begins. The Olympics hurt the cause.

Fact is, the Olympics impact everything. Some reports say both Sens. Obama and McCain are delaying their vice-presidential picks due to the high interest in the Olympic games.

For the FedEx Cup playoffs, there's more to the story than the Olympics hogging the limelight. In the golf community alone, the buzz just isn't there, no matter what the PGA Tour wants you to believe.

Part of the reason can directly be attributed to Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger.

Since Azinger got the PGA of America to change the selection process so that he could name all four of his picks weeks after the PGA Championship finalized the eight automatic selections, all golf musings have been about what players he would pick.

Following the completion of each of the first two FedEx Cup Playoff events, all questions will surface as to who has played their way on to Azinger's radar. Even the PGA Tour conceded to space out their playoffs so that they don't compete with the Ryder Cup.

The Ryder Cup has taken away a lot of the steam the FedEx Cup Playoffs should have been building. Woods' absence, the Olympics, you name it, they have all conspired to diminish the second FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Maybe it's just the fact that "The Godfather Part II" is the only sequel ever to be as good as the original.

Whatever you believe, the second installment of the FedEx Cup Playoffs is not moving in the right direction.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

- I will take a whack at who Azinger should pick. If an American in the hunt wins in the next two weeks, he will make the team. But, for the sake of this argument, let's assume that doesn't happen. If it were my call, I'd add Steve Stricker, Brandt Snedeker, D.J. Trahan and Sean O'Hair. Here's my logic - none of the closest candidates have lit the world on fire recently. I feel like you can use one pick on a veteran, which would be Stricker. Then the other three have outplayed everyone else over the summer. The hardest omission for me would be Rocco Mediate, but he fizzled at the British and PGA and I'd rather go with youth when it comes to inexperience.

- As far as the European side, Nick Faldo's got a tough job. He makes his selections on August 31st. If his side stays the same, Faldo's looking at Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Darren Clarke, Colin Montgomerie, Carl Pettersson and maybe some wild-card not well known to the casual fan. Poulter's got to be added based on his play over the summer, but the other pick is tough. I'd still go with Monty. His play stood up in the last two Ryder Cups - something takes him over when he's playing in the event. Based on Montgomerie's recent play, Faldo might have some explaining to do, but he's not a worse pick than Casey, Clarke or Pettersson.

- Pettersson won the Wyndham Championship and was born in Sweden. He basically considers himself a North Carolinian, but he could only play on the European Ryder Cup team. Seems silly since he only lived in Sweden for 10 years.

- Tiger Woods said on his website that he won't touch a club until the new year. All that means is we will have another wrinkle to add to his Masters' victory story.

- Non-golf thought - On Tuesday morning, I watched the "Early Show" on CBS. It had a "Happy Days" reunion (classic question was when Donny Most, aka Ralph Mouth, was asked if he actually still gets recognized), and Mrs. C (Marion Ross) looks better than Joanie (Erin Moran). According to imdb.com, Ross is 32 years older than Moran and this is not some sort of weirdo thing...I marvel at plastic surgery.