Despite not having sharks with lasers, the FedExCup has had a little bit of seemingly everything else. Columnist Grant Boone (with some help from an esteemed British agent from decades ago) gives an overview of what's groovy about the FedExCup, and what it needs to recapture some mojo.

By Grant Boone, Special to PGA.com

First off, you'll be relieved to know I made it back from Utah - it's wedged in between Wyoming and Nevada, you've seen pictures - just in time to take the family to dollar ride night at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo (motto: "Come see what we've learned to deep fry since last year!") Hadn't been there 30 seconds before I was reminded of this scene from Austin Powers. Perhaps they could afford to shower off that cabbage smell if they were paid a living wage. (This is not the strongest union in organized labor. The only time you hear "401K" at the fair is when dads count up how much they spent trying to win their daughters a flea-infested teddy bear playing Ring Toss.)

Meanwhile, the three-ring, four-week circus that is the PGA Tour Playoffs rolls into Atlanta this week for THE TOUR Championship. You know things have bottomed out when parts of the golf course aren't even showing up. If the greens don't come back, maybe they can settle the FedExCup with a game of Pop-A-Shot.

Finally, in this the fourth and final leg of the TOUR's inaugural playoffs, all of the big names have found their way to East Lake, just in time to see the media do an about-face. After a monthlong skewering of everything from poor scheduling to the fact that even if he won Tiger Woods couldn't cash the $10 million annuity 'til a couple of weeks after the 2035 U.S. Open (where he's already been installed as a 3-1 favorite), a growing number of scribes have run out of creative ways to bash the playoffs and instead taken to admonishing the players as whiners. Makes for good copy, especially during a week when we're commemorating the tragedy of 9/11.

So which is it? Are the playoffs flawed or are the players spoiled? Today, I'd like to do something to bring both sides together. That way I can poke fun at both of them. With a little help from Austin Powers, here's a recap of the PGA TOUR Playoffs to date:

"Allow myself to introduce...myself." The TOUR hoped to make a more impressive introduction to its inaugural playoffs than having Tiger Woods skip the first tournament, The Barclays at Westchester in New York. Love him or hate him, Woods is the only player who matters to the people whose careers hinge on the financial success of events like this. No one else puts fannies in the seats and, more importantly, in front of television sets like the world's top-ranked player. His absence was a colossal embarrassment to the TOUR and commissioner Tim Finchem, who felt betrayed after giving Woods the revamped schedule and shorter season he and a few other big names had asked for.

"One mee-llion dollars!" Nothing made those of you who e-mailed me during the first few days of the playoffs more frustrated than finding out the first prize wasn't a $10 million check but rather an annuity. The players weren't crazy about it either, though it shouldn't have been a surprise to them. They were told of the deferred payout at player meetings throughout the year. Still, Tiger's idea of putting the cash in a World Series of Poker-style stack on the first tee Sunday, then moving it to the 18th green that afternoon sounds like a good one.

(Austin to Dr. Evil as they scaled an escape ladder) "I used to think you were crazy, but now I can see your nuts!" A close second to the winner being paid a quarter century from now was how the fields were set each week, beginning with the 144-man lineup at The Barclays. That's about how many fully exempt players there are on TOUR, with another 50 or so having conditional status. Having three-fourths of the league in the playoffs created no sense of exclusivity. It also didn't seem right to a sports world weaned on win-or-go-home postseasons that players like Vijay Singh, who missed the cut, or Tiger, who didn't even play, could still advance to the next round.

"Crikey! I've lost my mojo!" Besides being the best player in the world, Tiger Woods is also the most intimidating. But Phil Mickelson stole some of Woods' mojo with a little help from Butch Harmon, his new coach and Woods' old one. Harmon helped penetrate the Tiger mystique by sharing some of the unique mannerisms and machinations Woods uses during a round to dismantle courses and opponents. It worked. In the three rounds they played together at the Deutsche Bank in Boston, Mickelson tied Woods once and went lower in the other two, including that Labor Day duel, to beat Woods in one of the most memorable final rounds in recent memory.

"Who! Does! Number! Two! Work! For?" Mickelson, the world's second-ranked player, pooped the Boston tee party by announcing in his victory speech that he wouldn't be playing later that week at the BMW Championship in Chicago. Mickelson gave that dagger a left-handed twist when he confessed he wasn't happy that the playoff format didn't include some of the things he'd asked for and, therefore, he wouldn't lose any sleep missing one of the big four.

"Jimi Hendrix: deceased, drugs. Janis Joplin: deceased, alcohol. Mama Cass: deceased, ham sandwich." Finchem and other TOUR officials acknowledged that the current system isn't perfect and that they're weighing player and public opinion as they consider how they might attempt to make it better.

"Yeah, and I can't believe Liberace was gay. I mean, the women loved him. I didn't see that one coming." (There's really not a connection here. I just like the line.)

"Au contraire, baby. I think you can't resist me." It took all of six days for Tiger to get his mojo back. Playing the role of Fembots at the BMW Sunday were Aaron Baddeley and Steve Stricker, who shared a one-shot lead going into the final round at Cog Hill, only to see Woods shoot 63 in the group ahead of them, win by two, and - oh, yes! - regain the lead in the FedExCup points standings.

"Shh! Shh! Let me tell you a little story about a man named 'Shh!' Shh, even before you start! That was a preemptive 'shh!' I have a whole bag of 'shh' with your name on it!" After relentlessly pestering TOUR members for their opinions about the playoffs, some in the media are now saying "Shut up and play" to those who dare to question how the FedExCup has been conceived and carried out.

And that brings us to THE TOUR Championship. Regardless of what's at stake, it should be fun to see the best players together one last time this season. So let's all settle in and enjoy it. Come, Mr. Bigglesworth!

Grant Boone is a husband, father, golf broadcaster, and sports journalist based in Abilene, Texas. His column appears on PGA.com each Wednesday and every day during major championships and other big events. He can be contacted at pgagrant@hotmail.com.

The views and opinions expressed here do not reflect those of PGA.com or The PGA of America.