FedEx Cup

[Puttin4Bird]

With the playoffs starting in just 3 weeks it's getting real close to FedEx Cup time. I'm preparing to write an article regarding the FedEx Cup as it sits now, how it's evolved, and changes that might need to be made in the future. I'd like to try to get a little discussion going from my friends here on the forum to better prepare for this piece, please chime in with your thoughts on the season long points standings, the re-shuffling of the points in the playoffs, and the new points structure this year giving all 30 players in the Tour Championship a mathematical shot at winning the FedEx Cup.

Here is some info from http://www.pgatour.com:

1. The Regular Season is important because points carry through until THE TOUR Championship.

The Regular Season is vital to determining who will be in THE TOUR Championship. Because there is no reset until THE TOUR Championship, Regular Season points carry through, and we expect that at least 20 of the top 30 seeds going into the Playoffs will make it through to THE TOUR Championship, joined by 5 to 10 players who have had great Playoffs performances. Players will not drop as precipitously as last year, particularly those highest in the points standings.

2. The Playoffs are important because points are quintupled, making possible big moves to the top of the standings.

With quintuple points awarded in Playoff events, the Playoffs will be a critical factor in who is in best contention to win the FedExCup. Any player who wins a Playoff event will be in great position going into THE TOUR Championship, and other top finishers in the first three events will definitely make THE TOUR Championship field with a chance to win the FedExCup in Atlanta.

3. THE TOUR Championship will be more dramatic and exciting because it will decide the FedExCup.

The reset prior to THE TOUR Championship ensures that all 30 players have a mathematical chance to win the FedExCup with a win at THE TOUR Championship. The top 10 seeds have an excellent chance and the top five seeds will win the FedExCup outright with a win at THE TOUR Championship.

4. Winning the FedExCup will be a significant achievement in golf because it's not just about winning one event.

No single victory -- even a TOUR Championship victory -- can earn a player the FedExCup. To win the FedExCup, a player must build on an excellent Regular Season or an excellent Playoff performance, or both. Because only the top five seeds control their own destiny at THE TOUR Championship, "squeaking" into THE TOUR Championship and winning it will probably not suffice to win the FedExCup. There may be several paths to the goal of hoisting the FedExCup, but all of those paths require great performances in multiple venues over an extended period of time.

5. The FedExCup structure is simpler to understand for players and fans.

Regular Season events are worth 500 points to the winner. Playoff events are worth 2,500 points to the winner -- quintuple Regular Season points. All points carry through until THE TOUR Championship, where points are reset to ensure that all 30 players have a chance to win the FedExCup, the top 10 players have a good chance and the top five players control their own destiny -- a win at THE TOUR Championship will guarantee winning the FedExCup.

So as you can see, a pretty significant change was made to make sure that the same thing doesn't happen as last year when Vijay Singh basically just had to show up at the Tour Championship and he was crowned FedEx Cup champion. From what I understand, it's going to take a real good stretch of some really good golf, but anyone who makes the playoffs has a shot at winning. Get hot at the right time and you can win it all, just like other team sports and their playoff systems.

Here we are in the 3rd year of the FedEx Cup era, so far I like it, I really love this last stretch of golf now way better than before when you rarely seen top players after the PGA.

Weigh in on your opinions if you would, I'm really interested in seeing how much of an interest there is, how much of a flawed system some feel it might still be, changes that you think might make it better, and if you feel that the days pre-FedEx Cup were better.

Thanks!!

 

[JB]

I still have quite a few issues with the Fedex Cup. I love the idea of a playoff and think in theory it can work great. But like the BCS, it does not really work well. Instead of tournaments at the end to determine a winner, why not have a match play with the top 8 or 16 to get the true winner and FedEx Cup champion for the year. It seems that you could still hold all the events like they do now, but then the last event you would just have the top 4-8 left. Right now it still means that once the cup begins, players do not have to play every week if they fare well over the 1st and 2nd tourny in the playoffs.

 

[Puttin4Bird]

I love the idea of the match play finals to determine the winner, I wish we could see it going that way!

I agree that even with the new structure it doesn't require a player to play all 4 playoff events, can't they try to put in a clause that would take points away if you missed a start? Do you think that would even be enough to get Tiger to want to commit to all 4 events? I really don't get a sense that it's all that important to him or a good number of other top tier players either for that matter.

 

[Smallville]

I agree that even with the new structure it doesn't require a player to play all 4 playoff events, can't they try to put in a clause that would take points away if you missed a start? Do you think that would even be enough to get Tiger to want to commit to all 4 events? I really don't get a sense that it's all that important to him or a good number of other top tier players either for that matter.

That is true, and if you penalize them for missing a start, they might just not play in ANY of the playoff events (if it really doesn't matter to them anyway). It's only a couple of years old and the Tour got along pretty well without it before. I personally don't care who wins it.

 

[provisional]

I am not a fan of the FedEx Cup. Actually I am not fond of the FedEx company itself. To me it seems like this season long tournament is trying to make the 4 majors seem like minor tournaments when compared to it. $10 million to one guy is a bit over shadowing to the rest of the golf pay outs.

I have read this idea on other forums, and tend to agree with it. Do away with the season long points schedule, and let each of the 4 majors become the qualifiers for the FedEx. Most of the professionals try to play their best golf at the majors. If a pro does not play well enough in any one of the 4 majors, they can't play in the FedEx. Only the best of the best should be allowed in the FedEx. IMHO, for a top prize of $10 million, the FedEx should be a 5 (6?) day tournament, and moved around from year to year to different courses.:comp:

 

[TheGasman]

I still have quite a few issues with the Fedex Cup. I love the idea of a playoff and think in theory it can work great. But like the BCS, it does not really work well. Instead of tournaments at the end to determine a winner, why not have a match play with the top 8 or 16 to get the true winner and FedEx Cup champion for the year. It seems that you could still hold all the events like they do now, but then the last event you would just have the top 4-8 left. Right now it still means that once the cup begins, players do not have to play every week if they fare well over the 1st and 2nd tourny in the playoffs.

I would go with a round robin style pool play for the first couple of rounds, that way people get even more confused by the whole system. Then switch to match for the semis.

 

[Puttin4Bird]

I'm going to bump this thread...

So other than wishing it could be a true playoff type system that would narrow the field down to perhaps 8 or 16 then have a match play bracket to decide the winner of the FedEx Cup what are some other changes you think would help? Do you think that the bulk of the top players are like Tiger and probably couldn't care less about the FedEx Cup? Most of us agree that behind closed doors TW would likely admit that he doesn't really care all that much for the FedEx Cup playoffs, what about Phil, or AK, or guys like Hunter Mahan, Vijay, or Camilo Villegas? What do you think they'd say about the playoff system?

I'm just trying to get as many opinions as possible on the topic so that I know where everyone stands. If more flaws are exposed this year do you think they'll continue to just do patch work/bandaid fixes or is there a chance we'll see a major overhaul in the future?

Someone get me Tim Finchem's office...I have some questions that NEED an answer!

 

[Smallville]

They could just do away with it and it wouldn't bother me. Play the tournaments, sure, but get rid of this Cup business.

 

[Jimmyboy]

I think they should make the last leg of the Fed Ex Cup (Tour Championship) a match play event. Even if they made that change it still doesn't have the feel of a major.

 

[Ty_Webb]

The thing I think is a joke about this is the following:

Player A goes through the entire regular season playing say 20 tournaments and winning every single one of them, then enters the playoffs and wins the first 3 tournaments, goes to the Tour Championship and finishes second.

Player B is 5th in the standings going into the Tour Championship and wins it.

Player B wins the FedEx Cup. To my mind this is a farce. I don't care if it's decided before the Tour Championship. I want the best player to win it (based on their performances throughout the year). If they want the Tour Championship to count, why not just hand the winner of that event the FedEx Cup? Screw the whole process through the year (that's basically what they're doing anyway). It doesn't matter how you play during the year, so long as you qualify for the first event. All you need to do is play well in that and you're good. All the people who were whining about how it wasn't fair that Vijay had it wrapped up before the Tour Championship last year are responsible for this.

Word to the wise: ratings were down because Tiger wasn't there, not because the Tour Championship (which used to be a big event in its own right) was a "lame duck".

 

[JB]

Ty,
Is that not what happens in every single other sport in this country? Look at the Patriots from a few years ago. They won every single game and won all the playoffs then lost

 

[Ty_Webb]

Ty,
Is that not what happens in every single other sport in this country? Look at the Patriots from a few years ago. They won every single game and won all the playoffs then lost

Yep

Back home, the football tournaments are two different types. There is a knockout one, which is like the playoffs/superbowl and there is a league one, which is more like the regular season one. The league is the more prestigious one to win. I think they have it right.

Here, the playoffs are all about spinning money and nothing else. It's not about finding the best team, whatever they say. The money list used to be a good way to determine who had played the best (or possibly the most) during the year, because it encouraged people to play and it handed the title to the person who had the most sustained high class performances through the year. The FedEx cup is a glorified effort to hand out ten million dollars to someone who wins one or two tournaments at the right time.