Vijay Singh is as bad as Tiger Woods when it comes to drama spoiling

For the sake of drama, Vijay Singh should have played worse and not clinched the $10-million FedEx Cup bonus three weeks before the Tour Championship is even played.

What? Sure, it's a silly notion, but that's the upshot of what some suggest, after Singh sewed up the extra dough and the FedEx Cup playoffs were decided before the last event is played, and for the second time in two years.

Of course, last year it was Tiger Woods who turned the trick, despite not even playing in one of the playoffs.

Singh won twice and built up such a sizable lead that there's no way for him to avoid picking up the $10-million bonus, unless he fails to show up at East Lake Golf Club.

His task is simple: If he plays four rounds, he wins.

Singh got hot at the right time, took advantage of the already tweaked FedEx Cup rules, and made them work for him. Now, some want to tweak the points system again so the Tiger-Vijay early wrap-up parties don't continue.

To borrow a phrase from Woods, there's an easy way for players to change things if they don't like the way the points system tilts toward actual performance in the FedEx Cup playoffs: Play better.

Buckle up

He's one of six rookies on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, but Anthony Kim hasn't performed anything like an inexperienced player this year, with two victories to his credit.

Still, next week's Ryder Cup is a vastly different scene, with match play, a U.S. losing streak, no Tiger and all. Still, the question about Kim probably isn't about how he's going to play, but whether he's going to wear his signature belt buckle.

You've seen it. . . . Oval, glittering, roughly the size of Delaware, the initials AK gleaming.

It's been a topic of conversation since early in the year when Tiger Woods and Kim were on the driving range, and Woods spotted the buckle and ribbed Kim about it.

Composed of Swarovski crystal, the buckle retails for $395, and is custom-made by Elevee Golf, based in Van Nuys.

"It's his good-luck buckle," said Rickey Lamitie, president of Elevee Golf.

And, proving you don't have to play like Kim to look like him, custom-made buckles with your own initials can be ordered at www.elevee.com.

Ratings news

The third round Saturday of the BMW Championship had a 1.1 overnight rating on NBC, down from a 2.6 in 2007; and Sunday's fourth round had a 1.2 overnight rating, down from a 3.2 in 2007.