FedEx Cup Format Debate
by Ryan Ballengee on Aug 20, 2008 5:12 PM EDT
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This is a double post - which will be rare, but I think necessary in this case. I think there is a fun debate in this topic and it's much more likely to happen here at Waggle Room.
Steve Dennis of the PGA Tour and Geoff Shackelford debate the subject on PGATour.com. Dennis is in favor of the current format for a few reasons - each week has meaning, generates a deserving champion, and keeps the stars in it. Shackelford disagrees because the format is tough to understand, there is little chance for a nobody winning, and eliminations in each tournament focus on the crappier players being whittled down to the elites.
For me, I think that the format is on the right path, but it still missing something. That something is a true sense of playoffs. The Tour did a good thing in making the points system much more volatile in nature by narrowing the points reset and increasing the number of points awarded per place in playoff events by 2000. That means that fringe players that perform will be more likely to pave a path to the lucrative Tour Championship and FedEx Cup bonus money.
The PGA Tour has taken the approach that the four events together should combine to determine the champion. I am of the mind, though, that the first three events should lead to a final chase for the cash in the Tour Championship. Players are gunning to get into the final 30 to get a piece of the bonus pool (FedEx Cup).
Why not continue the trend of having three elimination events and then attaching real value to the Tour Championship by clearing the slate? Have the thirty golfers battle for a chance to win the title without having to worry about finishing in a certain place to win. To win $10 million, a player should have to win a marquee event - primarily, the Tour Championship.
You can get there a lot of ways. You could have a 72 hole medal play event and the winner takes all. Boring format, but exciting. The Tour could adopt the LPGA Tour's exciting ADT Championship format of having eliminations after every round - leading to a final round free for all for all of the cash. That's being done already, though the event may die after this year and then it would be for the PGA Tour's taking. Finally, the Tour could have 32 players in the Tour Championship and have a match play tournament.
Perhaps the best situation is a combination of these ideas. Wipe the scores clean for the 30 men who make the Tour Championship. They then play 36 holes on Thursday and Friday. After Friday, we knock it down to 8 players. On Saturday, there are two sets of matches - 8 down to 4 and 4 down to 2. On Sunday, there is one marquee match for everything. Can you imagine a close match play battle leading to a single putt for $10 million? WOW! And that's what the PGA Tour has been hoping for from this format.
This hybrid format leads to the highest probability that Sunday in East Lake matters to determine the FedEx Cup champion. Last year, it was pretty much done by Saturday. Sunday was a coronation and boring for Tiger Woods. While the Tour may tell you that it would be more exciting were Woods not involved (like this year), the reality is that the format should be tweaked to account for the reality of Tiger's dominance.
Look, I know the original intent of the FEC was to determine the best player. Guess what? That player may still be an injured Tiger Woods unless Paddy Harrington wins the FEC. So, the original intent can be shot and forgotten. The intent of the FedEx Cup SHOULD be to make golf exciting and relevant in September ...football season. If there is genuine volatility, regardless of how dominant Woods is, fans will tune in to watch a $10 million putt. If people watch poker in droves for the money, they'll watch golf for the same reason.
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supposed to vs does
I enjoy the playoffs because I love golf. I enjoyed watching the Milwaukee Open and the Reno-Tahoe – and I’ll be watching golf in the “post season” when hardly any of the top 20 will be playing – and I’ll watch some of the silly season events.
The problem I see with these playoffs is pretty simple. Golf is just too slow. NASCAR gets away with their playoff series for one reason – those are some crazy guys driving cars at 200 mph every weekend. If you don’t appreciate golf and it’s intricacies, it can be like watching paint dry. These playoffs make you wait 4 weeks for a winner. This is an MTV generation with almost no ability to focus on something that spread out. The Tiger-centric masses out there just don’t think golf is any fun to watch unless Woods is in the field. Ratings have already been slipping since the US Open.
Sports psychology and the media have pretty much sucked the life and personality out of the game with the endless preshot routines and “don’t get too high or too low” teaching that goes on. Hardly anybody lets their personality go anymore. The ones who do become targets for a childish media to scoff at. Sergio Garcia used to be what everybody pictured as a “hot blooded Spaniard”, but his interviews have become flat and cliche because the media only wants to badger him into an emotional outburst that they can ridicule. It’s not worth it to let your real personality out in front of those jackals.
The idea that these playoffs are supposed to identify the best player is a bit off, too. We all know that golf is a weird sport. How do you explain Kenny Perry’s season other than force of will to make the Ryder Cup ? But even he didn’t expect 3 wins and 2 playoff losses. These playoffs could easily go to a guy who just gets hot for a couple of weeks. Nobody knows which Phil Mickelson will show up, but a guess is that he might put out a little bit of effort because there is a wheelbarrow full of cash at the end of The Tour Championship (sponsored by Cocal Cola).
Even with the new points breakdown, the winner is still most likely to come from the top 6, with the top 12 having a mathematcal chance. That leaves 136 guys just out jockeying for cash.
The last problem is that it is still conceivable that the winner of The Tour Championship (presented by Coca Cola) will not win the Fed Ex Cup. Who wants to see the big money go to a second, third, or fourth place finisher in the last tournament ?
I’m watching because I love golf – and I’ll be at East Lake for The Tour Championship – but I don’t much care for the Fed Ex Cup.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Aug 20, 2008 8:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I hate the Fed Ex Cup
The LPGA’s ADT Championship is a truly exciting format and has a very fair qualification system—win a major or big-purse event, or come in the top 10 or so of the money list for either the first or second half of the season, or win enough all season to snag one of the last 2 spots if you didn’t otherwise get in. I’m dismayed that the LPGA is looking to ditch that system and maybe even the format in their quest for a better tv contract, but that’s another story.
I like Ryan’s proposed change to the Tour Championship a great deal. When the stakes are high enough to get people’s attention, match play is compelling golf, even outside a team format. Its head-to-head nature and eliminations make it as close to regular playoffs (in football, basketball, and baseball, I mean) as golf gets. A 36-hole qualifier for the 8 who get to match play strikes a happy medium between 18 holes to select a sweet 16 and 54 for a final 4, plus it has enough matches on Saturday to keep tv execs and viewers happy before the Sunday showdown. I hope the PGA goes for it, starting next season!
by The Constructivist on Aug 21, 2008 12:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
how does Match Play keep coming up ?
Especially 18 hole matches where anyone can get hot. TV doesn’t particularly like match play because they can’t predict when things will end. Viewers don’t much like it because they don’t understand the format and there is rarely any excitement on the screen unless a match comes down to the last 2 holes or goes into extra holes.
The smaller fields and points resets came up before they agreed on the format last year. Players protested because smaller starting fields left a lot more of them out – even though NONE of the bottom feeders had any chance of cashing in on the big bucks. They just wanted a guaranteed paycheck.
I agree with Con about the ADT qualifying format. Players should have to actually DO something other than hold a card and finish in the top 144 on the points list. (especially since only the top 125 on the money list actually get to keep their card) Make these guys qualify on real merit, then accrue points over the four playoff tournaments.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Aug 21, 2008 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
ADT Championship
The only reason that I wouldn’t outright advocate for this for the Tour Championship is because it’s already being used. It’s unique and I’d like for the LPGA Tour to maintain that.
I think, in my plan, having 8 get to match play means that you’re very likely to see the best players involved. Basically 1/4 players get to the real “playoff” like football and baseball. (NBA and NHL are laughing stocks.) And, who knows, you might get a Tiger v. JB Holmes kind of match that can lend some legitimacy to Holmes.
by Ryan Ballengee on Aug 21, 2008 2:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
i see what you're saying...
but it’s still match play – and there is still no guarantee that the top ranked players will make it to the weekend matches – and even less of a guarantee that they will play well for 36 holes a day on the weekend. Stewart Cink got to the finals of the WGC match play, then absolutely stunk it up on Sunday. TV was left floundering around for an hour.
I would love to see match play more – but TV is still a major player in the equation, and they don’t like being left hanging. Besides, at least part of The Tour Championship (presented by Coca Cola) will have just spent a week in match play at the Ryder or President’s Cup.
Most of that last 30 on the weekend would want to play just to have a shot at moving up the standings on the weekend. The Fed Ex Cup money isn’t all that is on the line. There is another $7 or $8 million for the Tour Championship, and they would want as much of that as they can get.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Aug 21, 2008 8:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
so what?
I thought you weren’t into coddling the players who only cared about money, cg? And why have a playoffs if the “best players” should be guaranteed of a win? Giants fans everywhere would stone you if football fans cared about golf.
by The Constructivist on Aug 22, 2008 2:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
WHHAAAAAT ?
Who said anything about ME ? I was talking about what TV and the “Tiger -centrists” who won’t watch unless Tiger or Phil are at the top.
The Tour Championship limits ticket sales to 20,000 per day plus another 5,000 business tickets. That wouldn’t surround #16 at TPC Scottsdale. Look at the size of the galleries on the weekend of the WGC matchplay. When you cut down the size of the field, you cut off the number of people who can/will show up on the weekend. And if, god forbid, Tiger and Phil don’t make it to the weekend, a lot of those ticket holders won’t show. Not good.
Finding a better way to set the field, then let them battle it out still seems like the better way to go.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Aug 22, 2008 9:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
That's not true
There were an estimated 25000 people watching Tiger-Rocco at Torrey…on a Monday. If you promote it right and make it clear that there is a serious value in the matches ($10 million seems serious) then the fans will come. I don’t think there have to be FBR Open crowds for the FEC finale to be a success.
The Tour simply has to realize that the season itself identifies the best player. The FedEx Cup should be designed to have some fun with some real big purses.
by Ryan Ballengee on Aug 22, 2008 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
yes...
…TIGER and Rocco. Do you really believe that many people would’ve come out on Monday to watch Rocco and anybody else ? (ok – maybe Mickelson)
They aren’t playing for $10 mil every week. Just the last 30 – and realistically only the top 6-12.
The FBR is a full field event – The Tour Championship is supposed to only have 30 guys. (most years it’s just 29 thanks to Tiger or Phil deciding not to play – this year, that isn’t a shot) You can’t sell 100,000 tickets to an event with just 15 tee times.
Short of windmills on the greens, define “fun”.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Aug 22, 2008 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
are you serious?
People will attend in large numbers to see quality golf if the ticket price is reasonable. Do you really think someone who is concerned whether s/he’ll have a job next month or is struggling to make a house payment really cares how much some guy is going to make for hitting a little white ball?
by dianemarie on Aug 23, 2008 10:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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