I can't believe there's a debate over whether it's good or bad for the PGA Tour when top players like Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh miss the cut, like they did last week at Disney. What this boils down to is this: who would you rather see play, Tiger or Wes Short, Jr.?

If there's any hesitation in that answer you are decidedly in the "it's good for the Tour when Tiger misses the cut" camp. Any hesitation at all. Because to me it's a no-brainer. I understand the argument that every now and then the top players have to be toppled by new blood, because Tiger can only dominate for so long. But he's 30, he's got another 10 years of dominance, at least, according to what Singh's been able to do since he turned 40, probably more than that barring serious injury or something unforeseen. There's plenty of time for young talent like last week's winner Lucas Glover to seize the day. And since Tiger plays in half the tournaments he could play in each year, there are plenty of tournaments where he's not even in the field. The way for young talent to make names for themselves is to perform. This isn't rocket science.

The PGA Tour has a few players in Woods, Phil Mickelson and John Daly who people actually want to watch play golf even if it's in one of these late-season, post-major tournaments. Any suggestion that it's somehow good for golf when those guys and other stars (a relative use of the term here) aren't playing, either because they miss the cut or are not entered, is foolish.

I'm happy for Wes Short. His is a good story, no doubt. And I'm happy for Lucas Glover. Also a good story; he looks like someone to watch. But for now I'd rather watch Tiger and/or Vijay play the weekend. Because I think I know them. It doesn't matter that I don't know them. I follow them like I follow other stars: not obsessively but, to borrow from Mickelson's role in an ad campaign, with a certain degree of familiarity coupled with an interest in what Mickelson and other stars will do next on the golf course.

This week the Tour makes its last stop in Florida before moving north to Atlanta to close out the season with the Tour Championship. A season that started off rainy is finishing up that way. There's a chance of showers this weekend in and around Tampa Bay, home of the Copperhead course at Westwood Innisbrook. It probably won't matter much anyway what the weather is doing---find me a real advantage longer hitters have over shorter hitters on a wet track and I'll bet you picked Wes Short to win two weeks ago.

Last week: Charles Howell III came through for me at the Funai Classic at Disney. He almost came through really big, as I picked him in the outright as well. With the win in the head-to-head matchup over Stuart Appleby at 10/11 odds and two units, and with no winner among my outright bets, I netted $1,000.00 for the week. I'm making a late-season run, with a few positive weeks in a row. Let's keep it going.

Jeremy Church covers the Professional Golf scene for The Professional Handicappers League.http://www.procappers.com