Chicago ? First off, any golf tournament with Bubba Watson and Boo Weekley in it is OK in my book. I will pull for these boys at Cog Hill to git ‘er done.

A tournament with Angel Cabrera in it is also a cool thing, just as long as he doesn’t flick a cigarette butt at me.

King of the world Tiger Woods has graced us again with his presence in Lemont, where I swear he could shoot a 69 left-handed.

V.J. Singh, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and others are on the scene for the BMW Championship, though ultimate driving machine Phil Mickelson did hang a U and pull out.

It sure does sound like a whale of a golf tournament, doesn’t it?

Trouble is, this tourney has turned into a link of something known as the FedEx Cup, which is part World Series of golf, part TV game show with a $10 million first prize.

Woods has $10 million – probably on him – but he wouldn’t mind finding stacks of greenbacks by the greens.

“It’s like, how great would it be, like in the World Series of Poker, at the first tee starting the first day of the Tour championship, that all (the money) you see is stacked up there and that’s what you’re playing for?” the Buick spokesman said Wednesday after arriving for the BMW. “That would create a lot of buzz.”

That it would, Tiger.

PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem could rename the thing “Golf or No Golf.” See if that would be enough incentive to get his top players to play.

In its present format, unfortunately, this FedEx Cup is failing miserably in delivering its top golfers when they absolutely, positively need to be there overnight.

Woods skipped the first “playoff” round. Els skipped the second. Mickelson is skipping the third.

If these were the NCAA basketball playoffs or NFL playoffs, these would be known as “forfeits.”

“These players are not under contract to do anything. It’s their call. And I think fans generally recognize that,” Finchem maintained, stating the obvious.

The commissioner expressed satisfaction Mickelson could advance to a championship bracket without bothering with the semifinal bracket.

Somehow this doesn’t sit right, even with some of the men in contention. Arron Oberholser, for one, admirably took a stand in questioning the FedEx Cup’s legitimacy as a true championship if the competition is going to be optional.

“For the sake of FedEx, for the sake of all these tournament sponsors and the things they are going through to make this thing work, I do believe we all should play if we’re eligible,” Oberholser said.

“It gives legitimacy to the playoffs. If you’re going to call it a playoff and you’re going to build up all this hype and have all these commercials, I think it’s important for us to, as players, recognize that and to do the best we can.”

Victorious in last weekend’s event, Mickelson withdrew from the BMW to spend this time with the wife and kiddies.

A sweet gesture, to be sure.

Yet you could also look at things Oberholser’s way, which is like this:

“I don’t understand kids because I don’t have any … but I’m sure Peyton Manning and Tom Brady want to take their kids to school, but they’re going to play football instead because that’s their job.”

No one is singling out Mickelson . It simply waters down a playoff that was designed to be a watershed event for golf, the crowning of a genuine “season” champion.

“It’s disappointing he’s not here because it’s the playoffs and you want your best here,” Steve Stricker said. “Tiger wasn’t there the first week and it was disappointing.”