updated 4:47 p.m. ET Aug. 22, 2007

HARRISON, N.Y. - PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem’s news conference Wednesday at The Barclays opened with a question about Tiger Woods’ decision to skip the first event of the four-tournament FedEx Cup playoffs.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed with his decision,” Finchem said. “It’s not a decision that I like to see him make, candidly, any week of the year, but he doesn’t play them all. ... From the standpoint of the sponsor here, the fans in New York, it’s certainly a negative. You know, I would like to see it the other way.”

Woods, who made the last of his four Westchester Country Club starts in 2003, repeated Tuesday in a monthly newsletter that his body needed a break after consecutive victories in the Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship, and that he wanted to be sharp for the final three FedEx Cup events and the Presidents Cup.

In addition to Woods, five other eligible players are missing, reducing the field to 138. No. 59 Bernhard Langer is playing in the KLM Open in the Netherlands, No. 64 Stephen Ames is taking the week off, No. 96 Jose Maria Olazabal is sidelined by a knee injury, No. 126 Jason Bohn has a rib injury, and No. 133 Ryan Palmer passed because of a family illness.

Finchem also was asked about possible FedEx Cup format changes.

“It’s just like a tournament, or an eligibility structure,” Finchem said. “You get through with it, you study it, you examine what the fans think about it, players think about it, sponsors think about it, and then you adjust.”

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