Everybody wants to fix the FedEx Cup playoff system. And why not? What if the Super Bowl winner or the World Series winner was known ahead of time and the pre-determined champion just had to show up and take home the prize? If the gurus in Ponte Vedra truly want to have an exciting playoff, why not conduct it like a hmmm…let’s see—like a playoff. The Tour can continue to use the season-long accumulated FedEx points, but for playoff qualification only. (Money winnings would be better and easier to understand, but let’s solve one issue at a time.) Once qualified, all 125 qualifiers revert to zero points and start a true playoff. Sorta like the New England Patriots a couple of years ago. After the first event (The Barclays) the field is cut to the top 100. Then only 70 stay alive after the second event (Deutsche Bank Championship). Starting to sound like a playoff yet? The third event (BMW Championship) cuts the field to the final 30 who then compete for the championship in—guess what—The TOUR Championship.
No carry over points—ever. You know, like a playoff! Whoever wins the TOUR Championship (Presented by Coca-Cola) is the FedEx Cup winner and walks away with the $10,000,000. There now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?
Terry Smail, Seattle, WA
The Tour's "primer" on the playoffs explains a system not too different than reader Smail's, with the exception of FedEx points, which are carried over from the regular season and during the playoffs, and worth twice as much when earned in a playoff event. Obviously, this complicates things, but rewards players who do more than simply survive the cuts of the first three playoff events and then play spectacularly in the last event. But it does, as Small points, detract from the "clean slate" element of simple cuts.
Love to hear what others of you think? Do you understand the system? Do you like it? Do you think the Tour's tweaks have made it right?
Bob Carney
Rating
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