PGA won't tinker with FedEx Cup

The PGA Tour is leaving the FedEx Cup just as it is with the playoff schedule and points system.

Rick George, chief of operations for the PGA Tour, said any adjustment to the points system was not on the agenda and not discussed at a policy board meeting earlier this week.

"We think the FedEx Cup did a lot of positive things and met the objectives we set for it," George said Tuesday. "We don't anticipate it changing."

It would be the first time since the FedEx Cup began in 2006 that the points system was left alone.

Tiger Woods won the $10 million bonus this year with two runner-up finishes and a victory during the FedEx Cup playoffs, although four players had a chance to win the cup on the back nine of the Tour Championship.

The playoff schedule will stay the same for the third straight year, which includes a week off after the third playoff event, the BMW Championship on Sept. 9-12 outside Chicago. The Tour Championship is Sept. 23-26.

PGA Tour officials had been polling players about changing the playoff schedule in 2010 because of the Ryder Cup, which will be played in Wales the week after the Tour Championship. Most U.S. team members will be playing five times in six weeks, concluding with one of the most draining weeks in golf at the Ryder Cup.

The 2010 season begins Jan. 7 with the SBS Championship at Kapalua for previous year's champions and continues with the Sony Open in Honolulu and the Bob Hope Classic in the California desert.

The tour has 37 events during the FedEx Cup season, adding The Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia the last week in July to replace the Buick Open. The Fall Series portion of the schedule was not released. Now that Turning Stone has moved to August, only four tournaments in the Fall Series are under contract through next year, down from seven tournaments in 2008.

Zenyatta early favorite

Zenyatta was made the early 5-2 favorite Tuesday in a field of 13 for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic, where she'll put her 13-0 record on the line against the boys for the first time.

Zenyatta will break from the No. 4 post in Saturday's 11/2-mile race at Santa Anita (Calif.).

She also had been pre-entered in Friday's $2 million Ladies' Classic, which she won last year.

But owners Jerry and Ann Moss, along with trainer John Shirreffs, had a bigger goal in mind for the 5-year-old mare, who has won all four of her starts this year.

"There's an opportunity to make history in the Classic, that's why we chose the Classic," Shirreffs said, referring to the fact that no female horse has ever won in the race's 25-year history.

Zenyatta will be just the fourth female to run in the Classic. Jolypha had the best result, finishing third in 1992. Azeri was fourth in 2004, and Triptych was sixth in 1986.

"I believe she deserves this chance," said Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who rides Zenyatta. "If she gets her opportunity to run her race and she runs it like I know she can, we might see something pretty incredible."

With a victory, Zenyatta would better Personal Ensign's career mark of 13-0 set from 1986 to 1988. That filly retired as the first undefeated champion in American racing in more than 80 years.

Haas battles swine flu

Tommy Haas, the 17th-ranked player from Germany, is dealing with a case of H1N1 flu.

"I did a test because I suspected that I had swine flu. The test was positive," Haas said in Tuesday's Bild newspaper. "Of course, it was a shock for me."

Haas told the paper he was already feeling better.

"I've calmed down now because although swine flu is a very strong form of flu, you can quickly overcome it when you're in good physical condition like I am," Haas said.

Haas, 31, pulled out of a tournament in Stockholm last week after becoming ill. He first thought it was normal flu but decided to get tested.

He also pulled out of this week's Swiss Indoors and is unlikely to play next week at the Paris Masters.

Nantz, wife divorce

CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz must pay $916,000 yearly in alimony and child support to his former wife and give up their Connecticut home under terms of a newly issued divorce decree.

The ruling, made Monday in Bridgeport Superior Court, dissolves the 26-year marriage of Nantz and Ann-Lorraine "Lorrie" Carlsen Nantz. It comes after both testified about the breakdown of their marriage; Judge Howard Owens concluded neither was at fault.

Nantz, described by Owens as "our nation's most prominent sportscaster," filed for divorce last year from his wife after years of marriage counseling, according to the decree.

Although Nantz, 50, acknowledged he started dating a 29-year-old woman before the divorce was final, the judge concluded the marriage deteriorated years earlier and "this remote event in no way contributed to the breakdown of the marriage."

Owens noted that the couple didn't share the same interests in Nantz's television career, which required frequent travel as the network's primary commentator for college football, golf and basketball, as well as appearances at charity events.

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