Skirt-wearing underdog brings life to Skins Game

	Fred Funk AP

Golf has a new Upset of the Year. Super-underdog Fred Funk winning the Skins Game against superstars Tiger Woods, Fred Couples and Annika Sorenstam?

No. The Upset of the Year is the fact that the Skins Game wasn't once again the biggest turkey seen on Thanksgiving weekend.

Maybe it was a fluke, maybe it was harmonic convergence. Or maybe, just maybe, ABC and the Skins Game folks finally hit on a combination that works, even if only temporarily, given that the top stars apparently aren't going to sign on to play anymore -- because it's chump change, it's the offseason and/or they're not members of the FOT Club -- Friends Of Tiger. After duly watching both days of last weekend's Skins Game show, it's my opinion that Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson, despite being the highest-ranked players in the world behind Tiger, never need to play another Skins Game.

Last week's pairing, combined with the light-hearted and often humorous commentary by ABC's Nick Faldo, Paul Azinger and Mike Tirico, surprisingly hit all the right notes.

Once upon a time, maybe the Skins Game was all about the golf, back in the medieval days when it featured Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tom Watson. This borderline obsolete Silly Season event has been a dud for years until last weekend. I'm giving most of the credit to Funk. Seriously, you probably thought it smacked of desperation when it was announced that Funk, The Players Championship champion, was added to the field. If Funk had turned it down, who was next in line -- Jason Gore?

Funk single-handedly changed the whole feel of the event. In short, he brought the fun because it's not so much about the golf as it is about entertainment. Annika brought the women-versus-men interest, Couples brought the cool factor and Tiger supplied the marquee power. In past years, miking the players had been a waste of time as there was little interesting chatter and almost no banter. That all changed right from the start this time, as Woods and Couples applied the needle on the first tee to Funk, a short but straight hitter who was concerned about being outdriven (and shown up) by Sorenstam. And, in fact, the players and the announcers had a field day with the topic, analyzing how Funk narrowly edged Annika with his tee shot on the opening hole. Annika hit last, in fact, and, as the cameras showed her tee shot rolling out down the fairway, you heard Tiger urging it on.

Our man Funkster was the MVP of this event not because he ended up with most of the skins -- $925,000 worth, with Tiger snagging the other $75,000. Funk was the MVP because his bright outlook and easygoing attitude loosened up the entire proceedings.