FedEx Cup Playoffs Are A Success

I will admit that I was highly skeptical and perhaps a bit contemptuous of Tim Finchem’s plan to institute a golf playoff. The scoring system is obtuse and lacks both the finality and the surprise possibilities of other sports’ playoffs. In other sports, if you don’t win, you go home. In the PGA Tour playoffs, if you don’t win, you can still go on, provided you at least managed to be mediocre. In other playoffs, even the lowliest wild card team has the chance to win it all. In the PGA Tour playoffs, that’s not really a possibility.

But based on this year, I think the PGA Tour “playoffs” actually are an unqualified success. Even considering the lack of merit as a “playoff,” the series has accomplished the feat of keeping the best players on Tour engaged well into September. Prior to the FedEx Cup, the Tour’s best hung up their cleats after the PGA Championship, leaving the fall to the start of the football season and the baseball pennant chases. The only golf remaining was an afterthought of a fall series populated by borderline players trying to keep their cards, or pad their yearly earnings.

My problem apparently was that I was thinking of the FedEx Cup series as a traditional sports “playoff.” It is not, and the Tour should somehow get rid of that unfortunate word. The FedEx Cup chase has more in common with a season of Survivor than with the football or baseball post seasons. At the end of every episode, a few go home and the remainder soldier on.

I still think the Tour should do a complete points reset at the beginning of the FedEx Cup playoffs. If the top players are so great, they should have no problem moving on. But I understand why they don’t. Television doesn’t want to take the chance of the final week being full of journeymen.

Looking forward to this weekend

3 thoughts on “FedEx Cup Playoffs Are A Success”

  1. I will say, this has been quite exciting, but a lot has to do with Rory, Tiger and Phil all competing strongly right now.  It also has the feeling of a torch passing to someone worthy or perhaps less of a volunteer passing of the torch to a mugging of Tiger by Rory.

    But I fear there could be great controversy on Sunday.
    Consider: someone from 8th (Westwood) or below wins this weekend, Tiger is 2nd, Rory is 3rd.  I believe in that scenario, Tiger wins the FedEx cup without a playoff win.

    In my mind, this last reset is steerscat.  Rory, after two wins, should be locked as long as he finishes in the top 10 or maybe even 15 this weekend.  What was the point of even saying Deutche Bank or BMW was playoffs if this reset takes that much from Rory.  They should have just been regular season events.

    Reply
  2. The Playoffs have been great becuase of the caliber of players that are up on top like Troy says. It also helps that they are playing on some great courses. Wasn’t a huge fan of Crooked Stick but oh well.

    Years ago after the PGA was finished there was no reason for the top players to play or for us to watch. Not the case now.

    The Ryder Cup also benefits. All the top players from the US and a few Euro PGA Tour members have their games in top shape.

    Reply
  3. I love the fact that the best players in the world are still competing against each other well into September.

    It’s attracted the best players in the world and being a smaller field it lets the fans get a lot more up close and personal with them.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from GolfBlogger Golf Blog

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading