Steve Sands - August 30, 2012

• By Morning Drive Team
• Aug 30, 2012 8:07 AM ET

Golf Channel Reporter Steve Sands is in Norton, Massachusetts this week for the Deutsche Bank Championship. The 18th green has been reduced in size by 2,100 square feet between last year’s tournament and this year. Over the years, the 18th hole has been one of the easiest holes on the course and tournament organizers wanted to make the close a little more challenging. They still want players to be able to go for the green in two but they also want to make them think a little more about their second shots.

Deutsche Bank signed an agreement to sponsor the second FedExCup Playoff event through 2016. This is great news for the tournament and the PGA TOUR and it is a sign that the economy is stronger and that the PGA TOUR has great relationships with the corporate sponsors who spend millions of dollars every year to sponsor events. The FedExCup Playoffs are secure for the next few years as Barclays extended its contract to sponsor the first Playoff event through 2016 last year.

Brian Davis is at #70 on the FedExCup Points List and he knows that he cannot miss the cut and that he has to play well once he makes the cut. He admitted that it is on his mind but he is not too nervous about it because there is not as much volatility in the standings as there used to be. Davis has an idea of what he needs to do and having a specific goal makes the task much easier.

Nick Watney, who won The Barclays last week, is now in the Ryder Cup discussion for a U.S. Captain’s Pick and Sands said that he could not imagine Watney not being on the team. As we have seen recently, he knows how to close once he gets in position to win and he has done so recently on tough courses like TPC Blue Monster at Doral, Aronimink GC, and now Bethpage Black. There are certainly a lot of contenders for those four spots and he thinks that Watney has a good chance of being included especially if he plays well this week.