HOW TO IMPROVE FEDEXCUP

By mustang6560 on 8/24/11

I have two ideas I wanted to share with you that I think will help improve the FedExCup and add more excitement to the PGA Tour Playoffs.

My first idea is to do away with the FedExCup “points” after the field is set for the first round of the playoffs - the Barclays.

The way the system works now is the points earned at each round of the playoff are added to each player’s cumulative total from the regular season to decide who moves on to the each round. This system limits the chances of players near the bottom of the standing to make it to the next round, which in my opinion undermines the purpose of a “playoff” and takes away some of the excitement.

The thrill of a playoff is anyone can win on "Any given Sunday" and if you don't bring your A-game, then you're going home. The only determinant of who moves on and who goes home should be how a player plays that week. So to make it to the second round of the FedExCup at the Deutsche Bank, you have to finish inside the top 100 at the Barclays. Not, you have to finish inside the top 100 of the FedExCup standings after the Barclays.

You could keep the same general structure of how many players move on each week (100 players make it to the Deutsche Bank, 70 make it to the BMW and 30 make it to the Tour Championship), but how someone did in week two of the regular season wouldn't matter anymore.

I think the fact that everyone's playoff life would be on the line each week would definitely add to the excitement. Plus, it would also prevent players like Charl Schwartzel from skipping the first round. Charl has enough FedExCup points that he can skip the Barclays and still have a realistic chance to win it all.

My second idea is to make the final round - the Tour Championship - a match play competition. How a player finished at the BMW would determine their seed for the final.

I find match play to be exciting, partly because you don't get to see if very often on TV. The winner of the FedExCup wins $10 million so the winner should have to fight for it and what's more cut throat than head-to-head action? With the current format, you can not win the final playoff event and still win the $10 million. How anticlimactic is that?

The FedExCup will always have a hard time trying to attract viewership because it competes with college and professional football. But, I think the PGA Tour could do more to make it more exciting.

Tim Finchem, if you're reading this, I'll be happy to talk to you about my ideas in greater detail at a later date and time.



photo via PGATour.com