Tour Championship 2021

[stinger_gc]

19 minutes ago, Scotty1140 said:

 

Probably because the tour is going for a more true "playoffs, play well now or go home" type of feel like you get in other major sports. Regular season gets you here and positions you, but that's it. Cam Smith has gone 2 / T34 in the playoffs so far. And Colin played like a 1 seed losing to an 8 seed in the first round going Cut / T63.

 

Not saying I love this format, I don't, just playing devil's advocate.

 

Yeah but in all honesty the PGA Tour doesn't need "playoffs". For the NFL the top prize is the Super Bowl, same way for PGA Tour pros, the top prize are the majors. I think the Fedex Cup was developed because Fedex was losing ground to UPS in the mid 2000s and they figured that corporations invested a ton in the PGA Tour so might jump in and hit the jackpot! Looks like they've done a pretty good job of it because they've gone from $2 billion company in 2007 to a $5 billion company in 2021. (not saying that's the only reason lol)

Edited August 31, 2021 by PHILsThemannnn

[CasualLie]

I can only watch back 9 on Sunday so I can potentially have fake drama.  By Sunday I will have forgotten who started where on Thursday so the leaderboard will look just like any other tournament; and hopefully it is close among a few players.

 

Pre-setting scores is never going to be convincing.  It's not playoffs at that point.

 

If PGA Tour really wants the best player of the month to emerge as the Playoff winner, then it has to finish with match play.  For the Championship, play 36 at stroke play, top 16 make it to weekend for matches.

[DON SVO]

I personally feel that they should have the first 2 playoff tourneys be flat pay with no staggered purse. I know, it sounds crazy. But hear me out.

 

Point reset at the beginning except for top 25, period. Top 25 get auto-advance to round 2 with a point "bump", regardless of points or they can take that week off. Think of it as a bye week if they want to do it that way. Guaranteed flat $50,000 per player at round 1. Guaranteed flat $100,000 at round 2. They get "paid" since they qualified for each leg of the TC but their "reward" is advancing to the next stage. TC is play for all the marbles with a doubled prize pool... This would force players to enter the playoffs knowing that the real money is in the Final 30 TC and they have to beat ~half the field to get to the next event. They get a decent show-up payoff for the first 2 events but not tournament payout... they're playing for points because TC first place takes home $25MM. 

 

That would be interesting. Separate the wheat from the chaff real quick. I bet several of them show their true colors and opt out of playing.

Edited September 1, 2021 by DON SVO

[lightgrip]

Just saw Cantlay’s remarks about the format and he basically said he hates it. But he also said he wasn’t smart enough to come up with a better format, but stated there are plenty of smart people who could. Love Patrick Cantlay—his wisdom, his humility, how he thinks something through before me makes a comment. 

[me05501]

20 hours ago, CasualLie said:

I can only watch back 9 on Sunday so I can potentially have fake drama.  By Sunday I will have forgotten who started where on Thursday so the leaderboard will look just like any other tournament; and hopefully it is close among a few players.

 

Pre-setting scores is never going to be convincing.  It's not playoffs at that point.

 

If PGA Tour really wants the best player of the month to emerge as the Playoff winner, then it has to finish with match play.  For the Championship, play 36 at stroke play, top 16 make it to weekend for matches.

 

I'd say after one round is completed most people will start to see the leaderboard look just like any other tournament. But there's a very slim chance of anyone in that -1 group winning the Tour Championship on that course. 

 

Again I think a seeded match play tournament would be way more fair but A) TV hates match play and B) the top guy going into the event would have a much smaller advantage as one of four top seeds compared to standing on the first tee with a lead. 

 

We can only guess at the calculus behind the Tour's designs on the Tour Championship. It's pretty clear they want to include enough players to constitute a "field" without making it overly obvious that the majority of that field cannot actually win the FedEx Cup. They don't want anyone coming from 29th place to win unless he does something incredible like fire two rounds in the 50's. That'd be a story worth remembering. More than likely the winner comes from the top 6-8 contenders and that's probably how it should be. 

 

[elwhippy]

Needs to move away from East Lake. Season finale should be on a great course. East Lake is too bland.

[me05501]

12 minutes ago, elwhippy said:

Needs to move away from East Lake. Season finale should be on a great course. East Lake is too bland.

 

It would be cool for them to play it on a track that invites lower scores. 

[stinger_gc]

Dustin Johnson without a beard looks like caillou 

[iBanesto]

On 8/30/2021 at 7:17 PM, iBanesto said:

Not a fan of this scoring format.

 

How about a matchplay knockout format for the Tour Championship?

 

Top players in the FedEx Cup standings straight into 3rd round per se, whilst the others play to meet the seeded players.

 

Top players benefit from their solid year by playing fewer matches to win.

 

 

PGA Tour have to move away from their focus of trying to make the winner of the Tour Championship to also win the FedEx Cup.

[CasualLie]

Bumping to get this thread above the "how can the internet fix Bryson" threads.

[teude]

Van Rooyen should start +5 because of those pants.

[teude]

Garcia with nice start 😄

[thatbaseballguy22]

18 hours ago, PHILsThemannnn said:

Dustin Johnson without a beard looks like caillou 

I feel like the beard usually puts some years on. In his case, it definitely takes some years off.

[khalespace]

15 minutes ago, teude said:

Van Rooyen should start +5 because of those pants.

I was thinking the same thing. I am glad that he doubled. When do they allow sweat pants on the PGA? He should also cover his ankles.

[betarhoalphadelta]

On 8/30/2021 at 6:08 PM, Hawkeye77 said:

Play golf Thursday, shoot clay birds Friday, watch Iowa stomp Indiana and play golf on Saturday, shoot real birds Sunday, play golf Monday -- I will NOT be watching, do you hear me Tim Finchem?  Do you?

 

I'll watch on and off during the weekend, but Saturday is for college football. 

 

Indiana with a #17 preseason ranking? That just hurts my soul as a Boilermaker. 

 

So hopefully I'll watch the Hawkeyes stomp the Hoosiers as an appetizer to the Boilers over the Beavers.

[wcbjr]

Koepka looks like a man of the cloth today.  😆

[teude]

Reverend Koepka.

[Frankensteins Monster]

USGA needs to amend the rule about aligning to prohibit any form of alignment help by a caddie or partner on the green.

 

I can't stand Berger.

[me05501]

43 minutes ago, khalespace said:

I was thinking the same thing. I am glad that he doubled. When do they allow sweat pants on the PGA? He should also cover his ankles.

 

Why? Are his ankles turning you on? 

[jt2gt]

DJ as Tim Blake Nelson's younger brother, maybe.

Edited September 2, 2021 by jt2gt

[Frankensteins Monster]

DJ going back to his cocaine cowboy look. Yuck!

[Frankensteins Monster]

Great to hear Tirico commentating.

[bscinstnct]

Bryson on deck!

 

No Brooksys

 

Pipes it like 490

[rooski]

Almost feels like DJ has a bit of a Samson and Delilah kind of situation going on with his beard. Not sure why he would have cut that off

[ProjectX]

2 minutes ago, bscinstnct said:

Bryson on deck!

 

No Brooksys

 

Pipes it like 490

So disappointed in Atlanta right now. Was really hoping they'd be giving him the business on the 1st swing.

[teude]

What a shot from Hovland!

[jdl]

Man, early fireworks with both Garcia and Hovland holing out for eagles on par 4s.

[jdl]

7 minutes ago, bscinstnct said:

Bryson on deck!

 

No Brooksys

 

Pipes it like 490

Saw him shaking hands with the volunteers working his group, wouldn't it be something if one of them was named "Brooksie"? 

 

Just now, jdl said:

Man, early fireworks with both Garcia and Hovland holing out for eagles on par 4s.

And now Rahmbo! For birdie.

[3whacker]

after last weeks playoff today seems like a letdown, hopefully it changes by Sunday 

[TiScape]

3 minutes ago, 3whacker said:

after last weeks playoff today seems like a letdown, hopefully it changes by Sunday 

Gonna be hard to live up to that epic finale last Sunday!