2008 PGA Tour by the Numbers and FedEx Cup 3.0

We've been talking in the past few weeks about the design of FedEx Cup 3.0 and how the PGA Tour often tries too hard to appeal to too many stakeholders - and ends up pleasing no one in the process.  We also have talked about how the rank and file balk at anything that takes away their access to the millons and millions of dollars that the the A-list Tiger has made possible for them.

It may not have always been this way, though.  Kin Lo's 2008 Tour by the Numbers has this fascinating graphic about prize money distribution over the last 30 years.

Basically, what you have here is a trend that shows a more even distribution of money over time.  In effect, the middle 60% are taking home 20% more of the total purse available than they did 30 years ago.  They're taking home 8% more than just eight years ago.

Lo suggests that there may be greater parity or better fields.  In part, Lo may be right.  With the emergence of stars from the Nationwide Tour over time, there is a better flow of players more likely to succeed on the PGA Tour and compete longer term. 

Simultaneously, the growing number of invitational tournaments helps to assure that players have more concentrated access to money, i.e. fewer players to beat for more money. 

Even further, the best players are entering fewer events on the whole.  This means that, on a weekly basis, there are fewer players in the top fifth for the other 80% to beat.  This leads to more money trickling down because someone has to win the money.

And, don't forget that the advent of the Fall Series over the past decade or more has led to opportunities for the 3rd and 4th quintiles to pick up some serious change without having to face as much of the top 40%.

What does this all mean for the FedEx Cup and any schedule changes in the future?  Well, it means that the rank and file know that they are better able to get access to big bucks without having to fight off as many great players for it as often as they had to ten or fifteen years ago.  They are going to fight very hard for their piece of "spreading the wealth around." 

And to think that that so many Tour stars are Republicans...