FORESTVILLE, New York – Ever wonder what makes the season long race for the FedEx Cup so exciting? There are four majors per year and now eight signature events that the players and fans gear up for that shine the spotlight on the PGA Tour. But the cherry on top, the FedEx Cup race, and overarching goal of professional golf seems to be out of place.
FedEx and the PGA Tour are over halfway through their ten year agreement signed in 2017. The initial agreement has since been adjusted, with the introduction of LIV Golf League and more money being poured into the professional golf scene. I wonder what would happen if FedEx drops the PGA Tour sponsorship in 2027? Who knows what professional golf will look like in three years, with the talk of PGA Tour and LIV merging and content TGL creator golf expecting to shape viewership in 2025.
With less than a month left in the regular season the PGA Tour has no more drama. The points race is all wrapped up as Scottie Scheffler claimed the top spot within the first few weeks of the 2024 season, and everyone else has been fighting for second. Besides the majors, what is there to look forward to?
The FedEx Cup Playoffs consist of three tournaments that feature a progressive cut, with fields of 70 for the FedEx St. Jude Championship (TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee), 50 for the BMW Championship (Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock, Colorado) and 30 for the TOUR Championship (East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia), where the FedExCup Champion will be determined. During the first two tournaments first place points are quadrupled and the winner takes home 2,000 points, while the Tour Championship features a stroke-staggering format.
The FedExCup points leader after the first two Playoffs events will begin the TOUR Championship at 10-under par. The No. 2 player will start at 8-under. The No. 3 player starts at 7-under; the No. 4 player starts at 6-under; the No. 5 player starts at 5-under. Players 6-10 start at 4-under; players 11-15 start at 3-under; players 16-20 start at 2-under; players 21-25 start at 1-under; and players 26-30 start at even par.
Though this only pertains to the top players on tour, the FedEx Cup points list also determines which players keep their tour cards for the upcoming season, which is always stressful for the players but not as entertaining for the fans.
It is relatively odd that an entire season of grinding out tournaments comes down to a few strokes given out for one grand prize pool that results in an anticlimactic ending. Does anyone who does not receive strokes even have a chance to win? It has been hard enough for other players to compete with Scheffler this season, let alone giving him a ten-shot cushion on the bottom half of the field.
The PGA Tour should make a change to their format to coincide with the times to keep the fans and viewers more engaged in the drama that envelopes professional golf. The addition of signature events was a step in the right direction for the regular season, but the FedEx Cup Playoffs seem like an unfinished project.
In every other sport the playoffs are the most action packed moments of the season. Each team has a chance to win, even if the road to the championship is more difficult than others. In golf the regular season is more valuable, and most players are grinding to just get into the final field of thirty only to make it there with incredibly low odds to win.
So how can the PGA Tour structure the playoffs to capture more drama and still have a deserving champion?
There are numerous other formats than just stroke play in golf, and in my opinion they are underused and tossed aside. Imagine a “March Madness” type scenario where match play would be used to decide the playoff field. The top 10 players from the regular season would receive a rest period heading into the championship stroke play event and bypass the match play. That way the regular season is still just as important and players have incentive to play besides tour security and a paycheck.
The remaining top 80 players would duel out in the match play qualifying and seeding would be determined from the points list during the regular season. The 20 players that are left after two matches would qualify for the stroke play final in a field of 30 players, each with an equal chance to win.
A combination of both match play and stroke play would engage the fan and give the players at the bottom of the points list a chance to still win. No shots are given out in the stroke play final and the tournament winner takes home the top prize with no B.S.
A little creativity from the head honchos of the PGA Tour would go a long way in the entertainment and direction of professional golf. Sticking with the current bland format reduces the potential that golf has to offer and keeps the sport stagnant and limited for the players that drive the game forward.
The FedExCup is not totally broken but it sure needs some fine tuning. But then again haven’t we heard that complaint since it’s inception in 2007?
https://www.pgatour.com/fedexcup/overview
Leave a Reply