PGA TOUR announces changes that will further fan engagement, understanding and drama of FedExCup

[chippa13]

And just think if you were the Winner. If your a competitive person like all pros should be then I don't want no damn strokes given to me starting off the tournament

 

So if the tour de france champion doesn't have the fastest time in the last stage, he doenst feel like the winner of a month long race?

 

Doesn't he start based on his previous days finish and so on ? Only way he doesn't have the fastest time is if he started the stage first. In hat case he earned that. Giving 10 shots to the leader is not the same thing unless he finishes 10 ahead of everyone in the next to last tournament. Good grief.

 

But he doesn't get 10 on everyone. The other top however many guys are also getting 8,6,4 what have you so it is staggered. If you don't want to be down 10 starting the last tournament then don't suck in the first 2.

 

Personally, I like the idea of making the final tournament a bracketed match play event. Maybe give the top 2-4 guys a buy in their respective bracket. It will give the better performers an advantage based on prior performance and should lead to a final match between two top players.

[Hawkeye77]

The Tour is fat right now, seems to have forgotten some of the issues when it was not so fat.

 

Not just having the cake and eating it, but thinking it can keep eating and magically have bigger pieces of cake it won't really have.

 

If that didn't come out right, Finchem advised me on the reference.

[cdnglf]

I love the idea. In the past, players had skipped playoff events and still won the FedEx Cup and had wrapped up the Cup before the last event. Can you imagine the Superbowl champion being determined before the game was played or the Patriots deciding to skip their first round of the playoffs and still winning the Superbowl?

 

Addressed the Super Bowl issue in previous post.

 

The rest is just wrong.

 

Only 2 times in Fed Ex Cup history has the eventual winner not played all 4 events (Furyk DQ and Tiger skipped one in 2007).

 

And in what years are you claiming it was "locked up" and the Tour Championship tournament itself was a mere formality and nobody else had a chance to win except the eventual winner that week?

 

Not my original post, but I'll answer...

 

First 2 years, IIRC.

Tiger had a big lead from the regular season in the first year.

Vijay won the first 2 playoff events in the second year and just had to finish the TC to win the Cup.

 

They changed the format after that, because there were a lot of complaints about the lack of drama.

 

True on Singh, but technically not locked up! My point is that Bubb is putting out misinformation suggesting we've had these years when there was no drama or whatever his complaint was because it was locked up before the Tour Championship. Just not so the past 10 years for sure. And the players voluntarily skipping and winning happened once, and that was in 2007.

 

You're right. I'm not sure that it was ever possible to completely skip the TC and win the Fedex Cup, and it certainly hasn't been possible since the changes made after Vijay won.

Somebody with a good regular season could still skip a playoff event and win the Fedex Cup, though.

 

Since Vijay won, it is actually the exact opposite - anyone in the top 5 going to the TC is _guaranteed_ a chance to win to the Fedex Cup.

I think it is manufactured drama, but ymmv.

[Hawkeye77]

No doubt it's all contrived!

[The Pearl]

This is a joke..........I like this idea more.

 

3 tournament playoff for a limited field say 50 players.

 

Each tournament is 4 rounds no cuts and has a winner.

 

Cumulative scores are kept for all 3 tournaments.

 

The top 8 players with lowest cumulative score plus the winners of the 3 tornaments if they are outside the top 8 then play a one round event at East Lake the following day for the Fed Ex cup and the bonus money winner takes all.

 

Just my ,02

 

This is the only thing that makes sense. Use the season long points total to get into the Top 50. Every other sport uses the regular season as a way to into the post season and than essentially there is a reboot. Your idea is simple, clean, and elegant. The one round winner take all with a 8 to 12 player field would be very watchable.

 

The old method and the new method are just complete nonsense devised by politicians in suits.

[Hawkeye77]

This is a joke..........I like this idea more.

 

3 tournament playoff for a limited field say 50 players.

 

Each tournament is 4 rounds no cuts and has a winner.

 

Cumulative scores are kept for all 3 tournaments.

 

The top 8 players with lowest cumulative score plus the winners of the 3 tornaments if they are outside the top 8 then play a one round event at East Lake the following day for the Fed Ex cup and the bonus money winner takes all.

 

Just my ,02

 

This is the only thing that makes sense. Use the season long points total to get into the Top 50. Every other sport uses the regular season as a way to into the post season and than essentially there is a reboot. Your idea is simple, clean, and elegant. The one round winner take all with a 8 to 12 player field would be very watchable.

 

The old method and the new method are just complete nonsense devised by politicians in suits.

 

Nobody wants to see politicians in suits.

[chippa13]

This is a joke..........I like this idea more.

 

3 tournament playoff for a limited field say 50 players.

 

Each tournament is 4 rounds no cuts and has a winner.

 

Cumulative scores are kept for all 3 tournaments.

 

The top 8 players with lowest cumulative score plus the winners of the 3 tornaments if they are outside the top 8 then play a one round event at East Lake the following day for the Fed Ex cup and the bonus money winner takes all.

 

Just my ,02

 

This is the only thing that makes sense. Use the season long points total to get into the Top 50. Every other sport uses the regular season as a way to into the post season and than essentially there is a reboot. Your idea is simple, clean, and elegant. The one round winner take all with a 8 to 12 player field would be very watchable.

 

The old method and the new method are just complete nonsense devised by politicians in suits.

 

But no playoff scenario is essentially a reboot. The other major sports grant some kind of advantage to the teams that perform the best in the regular season, be it thru seedings, byes, home field/ice/court, or some combination thereof.

[bulls9999]

Good point (that low score of the week doesn't 'win'?)... but does someone 'win' one of the first two tournament events before the final? ….or is it just one rolling 3 tournament juggernaut till the finish with no prior weekly winners?

[joeylough]

bad for the European tour

[mister2cool]

I love the idea. In the past, players had skipped playoff events and still won the FedEx Cup and had wrapped up the Cup before the last event. Can you imagine the Superbowl champion being determined before the game was played or the Patriots deciding to skip their first round of the playoffs and still winning the Superbowl?

 

For me the expectation or comparison to playoffs in other sports in part of the problem, you can't have a "genuine" playoffs series in strokeplay golf.

 

Its a dilemma and I do understand where they are coming from but the handicap compromises the legitimacy of the Tour Championship as a golf tournament.

 

Pretty sure there's still going to be a TC tournament winner. That guy gets a cheque, an official win, exemptions, etc. Might not be the same guy as the Fedex Cup winner, but that scenario happened with the current system too.

 

I think the whole idea is so that the TC winner is the same as FedEx Cup winner. It's an idea that's completely tailored for the sports gamblers who can't or don't care to follow what had taken place the entire season, and only care about what the score is right now.

 

From a sporting perspective, I am not sure why it is so difficult to accept that the winner at the final event may or may not be the person who has done the best throughout the season, unless the playoff is done in match play format where it is the last man standing. Someone might have a so so season and barely squeezed in TC, but went bananas for the week. IMHO, one hot tournament shouldn't make that player the winner of FedEx cup.

[rawdog]

This has definitely furthered this fan's engagement.

 

I'm fully torqued.

 

[chippa13]

The player who has the most FedEx Cup points after next season’s BMW Championship will start the first round of the 2019 Tour Championship with a score of 10 under par and a two-shot lead over the second-highest FedEx Cup point earner who will begin at 8 under. The player ranked third will start at 7 under, while the golfers who arrive at East Lake in fourth and fifth will start at 6 under and 5 under, respectively.

The next five players on the list will begin at 4 under par, with scores regressing by one shot for every five golfers until the players who enter the Tour Championship ranked between 26th and 30th start the events at even par on the first day.

 

The amount of strokes than an "also ran" would have to beat the top 5 and the rest of the field by would make it not just one hot weekend but an historical one.

[FairwaysToHeaven]

With these constraints i'm not sure what a better format would consist of

 

1. reward the guys who play well over an entire year

2. reward the few guys who win in the playoff events

3. require players to play in all playoff events

4. make sure fans understand exactly where players stand on the leaderboard to win

5. make sure players know exactly where they stand relative to other players on leaderboard

6. the overall winner of the tour championship must also win the final playoff event. (i think this is what the pga wants and i agree. i don't want a guy coming down the stretch playing for 2nd or 3rd because he has the points lead wrapped up. two guys holding a trophy at the end is awkward)

 

its tough to reward players for winning and playing great throughout an entire pga season while simultaneously creating a system that is effectively a 'playoff' .

 

i'd be ok with going to the new system exactly as planned with the only change being adding a 5th day match play event with the final 2 players on labor day in primetime similar to what we're getting with phil vs tiger in vegas

[cdnglf]

The player who has the most FedEx Cup points after next season’s BMW Championship will start the first round of the 2019 Tour Championship with a score of 10 under par and a two-shot lead over the second-highest FedEx Cup point earner who will begin at 8 under. The player ranked third will start at 7 under, while the golfers who arrive at East Lake in fourth and fifth will start at 6 under and 5 under, respectively.

The next five players on the list will begin at 4 under par, with scores regressing by one shot for every five golfers until the players who enter the Tour Championship ranked between 26th and 30th start the events at even par on the first day.

 

The amount of strokes than an "also ran" would have to beat the top 5 and the rest of the field by would make it not just one hot weekend but an historical one.

 

For those who finish in the 26-30 range, making up 10 strokes on the leader and jumping over 25 other guys seems like a tall order.

 

But if you're 15th going in, you've got to make up 8 shots on the leader and <=6 on another 9 guys. Seems very doable over 4 days.

Even if you're 20th, you've got a reasonable shot.

 

I think this gives more chance for anyone to win it all than the old system did.

[tcbrewba]

its tough to reward players for winning and playing great throughout an entire pga season while simultaneously creating a system that is effectively a 'playoff' .

I know how you could reward the top players - give them a bye into the 2nd round. The PGA Tour would never go for it, though.

[chippa13]

The player who has the most FedEx Cup points after next season’s BMW Championship will start the first round of the 2019 Tour Championship with a score of 10 under par and a two-shot lead over the second-highest FedEx Cup point earner who will begin at 8 under. The player ranked third will start at 7 under, while the golfers who arrive at East Lake in fourth and fifth will start at 6 under and 5 under, respectively.

The next five players on the list will begin at 4 under par, with scores regressing by one shot for every five golfers until the players who enter the Tour Championship ranked between 26th and 30th start the events at even par on the first day.

 

The amount of strokes than an "also ran" would have to beat the top 5 and the rest of the field by would make it not just one hot weekend but an historical one.

 

For those who finish in the 26-30 range, making up 10 strokes on the leader and jumping over 25 other guys seems like a tall order.

 

But if you're 15th going in, you've got to make up 8 shots on the leader and <=6 on another 9 guys. Seems very doable over 4 days.

Even if you're 20th, you've got a reasonable shot.

 

I think this gives more chance for anyone to win it all than the old system did.

 

It is conceivable for the #20 guy to do it but it would have to be a remarkable performance.

[nichho]

All this is is awarding a season long champion. Get over the lowest score that week doesn't win. This tournament is not about that. Its ONE week a year where its something different.

 

The whole point of the FedEx Cup and now the Tour Championship is to award a season long champion. Nobody cares about the lowest that week Fed-Ex Cup, its about the best performance for the season. Perform better and get a lead for the final event. Its that simple stupid.

 

No I don't want to get over it, and I fixed the rest for you.

[manku]

How are bookmakers going to handicap this final tournament, especially the first year when we have no idea how this will play out.

 

Is the leader, at -10, going to go off at 2-1? And will those in the bottom 10 (places 20-30) now all be at least 100-1?

 

I'm looking forward to this...it should be a hoot!

[Barfolomew]

I wonder if they applied the new method to past years to see what the outcomes would be and how many Fed Ex winners would not have won!?

[GMR]

I wonder if they applied the new method to past years to see what the outcomes would be and how many Fed Ex winners would not have won!?

Think someone said only 2011 would have turned out differently with Luke Donald taking it home.

[Golfer4Life]

I don’t know how this is going to work out, but I’m going to approach it with an open mind. I barely followed up the current one in the first place, lol....

[Bubb]

I love the idea. In the past, players had skipped playoff events and still won the FedEx Cup and had wrapped up the Cup before the last event. Can you imagine the Superbowl champion being determined before the game was played or the Patriots deciding to skip their first round of the playoffs and still winning the Superbowl?

 

Addressed the Super Bowl issue in previous post.

 

The rest is just wrong.

 

Only 2 times in Fed Ex Cup history has the eventual winner not played all 4 events (Furyk DQ and Tiger skipped one in 2007).

 

And in what years are you claiming it was "locked up" and the Tour Championship tournament itself was a mere formality and nobody else had a chance to win except the eventual winner that week?

Vijay had the FedEx Cup wrapped up in 2008 before the Tour Championship.

 

How many times has an NFL team skipped a playoff game and still won the Superbowl?

 

Who's wrong?

 

https://www.golfdige...128newsmakers10

[SullGolf]

Vijay had the FedEx Cup wrapped up in 2008 before the Tour Championship.

 

How many times has an NFL team skipped a playoff game and still won the Superbowl?

 

Who's wrong?

 

https://www.golfdige...128newsmakers10

 

You mean besides the bye round where a team literally skips a playoff game because of their previous performance?

 

Tiger and Vijay were the first two FedEx winners, in 2007 and 2008. They changed the system for 2009. It's now impossible for someone to have "locked up" the FedEx prior to the Tour Championship.

[cdnglf]

Vijay had the FedEx Cup wrapped up in 2008 before the Tour Championship.

 

How many times has an NFL team skipped a playoff game and still won the Superbowl?

 

Who's wrong?

 

https://www.golfdige...128newsmakers10

 

You mean besides the bye round where a team literally skips a playoff game because of their previous performance?

 

Tiger and Vijay were the first two FedEx winners, in 2007 and 2008. They changed the system for 2009. It's now impossible for someone to have "locked up" the FedEx prior to the Tour Championship.

 

Also, iirc Vijay still had to play the Tour Championship to win the Fedex Cup. It didn't matter where he finished, but he couldn't skip it, WD or DQ.

[Bubb]

Vijay had the FedEx Cup wrapped up in 2008 before the Tour Championship.

 

How many times has an NFL team skipped a playoff game and still won the Superbowl?

 

Who's wrong?

 

https://www.golfdige...128newsmakers10

 

You mean besides the bye round where a team literally skips a playoff game because of their previous performance?

 

Tiger and Vijay were the first two FedEx winners, in 2007 and 2008. They changed the system for 2009. It's now impossible for someone to have "locked up" the FedEx prior to the Tour Championship.

I mentioned first round byes in a previous post and offered that, along with home field advantage, it’s akin to the stroke advantages under the new fedex cup system.

[Hawkeye77]

I love the idea. In the past, players had skipped playoff events and still won the FedEx Cup and had wrapped up the Cup before the last event. Can you imagine the Superbowl champion being determined before the game was played or the Patriots deciding to skip their first round of the playoffs and still winning the Superbowl?

 

Addressed the Super Bowl issue in previous post.

 

The rest is just wrong.

 

Only 2 times in Fed Ex Cup history has the eventual winner not played all 4 events (Furyk DQ and Tiger skipped one in 2007).

 

And in what years are you claiming it was "locked up" and the Tour Championship tournament itself was a mere formality and nobody else had a chance to win except the eventual winner that week?

Vijay had the FedEx Cup wrapped up in 2008 before the Tour Championship.

 

How many times has an NFL team skipped a playoff game and still won the Superbowl?

 

Who's wrong?

 

https://www.golfdige...128newsmakers10

 

If you've been reading, you pretty much are Bubb, at least as far as the facts of the FedEx Cup go the past 10 years.

[ghoul31]

This year it will be , if player A wins, and player z finishes 10th or over and player q finishes 25 or over and player w finishes 8 or over then player A wins

 

Next year it will be if player A wins, then he wins

 

I prefer next year

[golfnoob25]

This year it will be , if player A wins, and player z finishes 10th or over and player q finishes 25 or over and player w finishes 8 or over then player A wins

 

Next year it will be if player A wins, then he wins

 

I prefer next year

 

There is one difference.

 

This year the Fedex Cup is a points handicapped system, the tour Championship is not.

 

Next year, the tour Championship is handicapped.

 

 

[bogeypro]

I love the idea. In the past, players had skipped playoff events and still won the FedEx Cup and had wrapped up the Cup before the last event. Can you imagine the Superbowl champion being determined before the game was played or the Patriots deciding to skip their first round of the playoffs and still winning the Superbowl?

 

on the flip side... could you image starting off the super bowl by giving the patriots a 2 touchdown lead before it even kicks off?!! This is stupid beyond stupid.... next level stupid.

The NFL has similar built in advantages in the way of home field and first round byes for top seeds, but it’s always clear where you stand and what you need to do to win.

 

I remember when Bill Haas hit that miraculous shot from the water to win the FedEx cup but he didn’t even know it. Can you imagine scoring the winning touchdown in the waning seconds of the Super bowl but not even knowing if it was enough to win? The old system was stupid.

 

This isn't like a home field advantaged. In that scenario, both teams at least start at 0 points scored. Home field advantage gives you a friendlier home team crowd, your own field, your own locker room, no hotel room, etc... This PGA scenario is more like spotting the Patriots 14 points. It's completely dumb and its not for the viewers... This change was made purely on PGA wanted the same winner for both prizes. I've never once heard anybody talking about the points race... It's not like nascar. Golf viewers don't care about the points race. They care about about OWGR and who the winner was that week.

[jacobEDGE]

Heard a pretty cool opinion on XM radio last night. Caller called into I Am the Walrus with a similar idea, but I've changed/modified it a bit myself.

 

Cumulative scoring.

 

3 FedEx Cup events in the "playoffs". Everything is the same throughout the year; you play in events and win FedEx Cup points. The top 125 players make it into the first event. Then everything gets wiped clean. No more points. No stroke advantages. But to win the FedEx Cup, you have to have the lowest combined score across all 3 events. Basically making the FedEx Cup Playoffs a 12-round event.

 

You still keep score and have winners/purses for each individual tournament, but the winner of the FedEx Cup is the guy who comes in lowest relative to par across all 12 rounds. That way good play is rewarded and bad play is punished, yet everyone is on a level playing field.

 

Win the Northern Trust at -18, 3 strokes ahead of 2nd place? Great! Now you're going into BMW with a 3 stroke advantage, as earned from your good play in the first event. Now you have to either build upon that lead, remain steady and hold your score, or blow up and lose it.

 

This would force everyone to play in every event. Because if someone goes out and shoots -20 at the Northern Trust and you don't play it, you're already starting 20 strokes back for the Cup.

 

This also means someone could win the Tour Championship, but not the FedEx Cup (which I don't think is an issue, PGA Tour disagrees).

 

Say someone shoots -15 Northern Trust, -13 at BMW, but then has a mediocre Tour Championship and ends up -5. Well, his FedEx Cup playoffs score would be -33.