Par4QC

The FedEx Cup playoffs were copied from NASCAR. It was supposed to add some excitement to the end of the season. Golf unlike other sports didn’t have a champion at the end of the season.

So it added something in addition to the 4 Majors.

Accumulating points for playing well during the season and having playoffs seemed like a good idea. And it was. It took a few years to get it right, but it does what it was intended to do.

The LPGA and Champions Tour each have their version and I think it does add some interest.

    Charles Barkley is next. Him and Feherty could be fun!

    Par4QC And get rid of that FedEx thing. Bad set up.

    It might be the worst "playoff" system in all of sports.
    Absolute garbage and meaningless for fans. It settles nothing as far as who is the best.
    It does make somebody richer after it's all done, but it's not me for watching it.
    Copying NASCAR? Somebody thought this was a good idea? Must be an American thing. LOL

        Spuzz It settles nothing as far as who is the best.

        In order for there to be a 'best', they would all have to play the same tournaments, and/or an equal amount of tournaments throughout the season. Then they would never need any 'playoffs'.

        The way it is now(always has been), it is the 'best' player....that weekend/that course, in a restricted field. = meaningless garbage.
        That's a lot of money that could be spread out during the season, to help certain venues pump their purses to attract better players.

        What other individual sport has a 'playoff' for best player???

          Subsonic Last player standing is the best.

          In that tournament only, sorry.
          Needs to be a season long thing, not 4 days, after some are all beat up/injured.
          And the last player 'standing', in my scenario, would be #1 in the world. Couldn't be any other way. He's the best all season long. When all things are equal(only).
          jmo

              Fedex was never about actually trying to determine who was the season ending "champion". It was contrived because the tour was having difficulty getting sponsors to sign up for events held in the late summer and fall (post Majors) as the top tier talent had already made their millions and were not signing up to play those tournaments. Simple solution = throw $%&# load of money at them. Trace of irony in retrospect.

                Subsonic What about a match play situation? Last player standing is the best.

                Golf isn't like other individual sports (tennis, for example) where the better player will win almost all of the time - even the very best players will lose an 18-hole match to an average tour player once every three or four times. There's not enough talent differential between the top players, and there's a lot of natural variation in scoring in golf (the putts that burn the edge versus going in, the approach shot that catches the right or wrong side of a mound...)

                (By contrast, there are seasons where the top tennis players have won well over 90% of their matches - Connors had a 93-4 year, Federer 92-5, and Graf had a 3-year stretch where she won over 200 matches to 7 losses. It's a lot easier to determine who is the best player when they're playing that many matches, of course - how often do you get a true head-to-head matchplay situation in professional golf?)

                  Stu1961 I think the tour made a mistake with moving the PGA earlier....if anything later would have made more sense to keep guys playing through it and then some bigger fall events leading to the TC. They have ruled out a lot of colder weather states/courses for the PGA too!

                    Par4QC a season long thing

                    Take the top 8 guys based on cumulative scores of common events and then match play?
                    1 vs 8 etc?
                    Forget the round robin thing, which is another garbage format btw.

                      Stu1961 Fedex was never about actually trying to determine who was the season ending "champion". It was contrived because the tour was having difficulty getting sponsors to sign up for events held in the late summer and fall (post Majors) as the top tier talent had already made their millions and were not signing up to play those tournaments. Simple solution = throw $%&# load of money at them. Trace of irony in retrospect.

                      This pretty much sums up the Fedex Cup, with $15 mil on the line it makes showing up more often and
                      playing well a HUGE incentive.
                      I have no problem with the format, it's basically a process of elimination, play well enough to qualify for the next round
                      you move on and advance.
                      Same thing happens in just about every other sport, team and individual.
                      More interest is generated after the last Major is played, instead of the usual "Who Gives A Crap Open" etc. IMO
                      As far as 'Best Player' goes, does it mean when someone wins The British Open and is called
                      "Champion Golfer of the Year", is it him?

                          darpar

                          I look at it as a season long points competition that culminates in a playoff system to determine a FedEx Cup Champion. It adds meaning to the year long season in addition to the Majors.

                          Similar to the major team sports that play a long season and have a playoff system to determine a champion. Without a playoff system they would just crown the team with the most wins at the end of a season. Boring.

                          So they copied another individual sport NASCAR where season long points are accumulated and they crown a champion at the end of the season.

                          They screwed it up for several years before they got it right. It you remember early on Bill Haas won the FedEx Cup and had no idea he had one. 🙄 They had Steve Sands at a board explaining the different scenarios etc.. lol

                          They needed something just like other sports where the season meant something. Call it whatever. It’s all semantics. Lombardy Trophy, Stanley Cup, FedEx Cup etc., it designates a season long champion.

                            I watch the FedEx tournaments just like any other tournament throughout the year. The payoff is great for the players, but there is nothing special or playoff like about it. Maybe after it's been around for awhile it will become a tradition of sorts like the playoffs in other sports, but right now it just feels like an add on to generate revenue.

                              sdandrea1

                              Glad to see Rickie hasn’t sold out to the Saudi’s (yet?). Always liked Rickie. Hope he finds his way out of lost and found.

                              So far his ‘legacy’ is intact. Lol. And for all us non professional athlete mere mortals, legacy isn’t necessarily how much money we made in our lifetime, but were we a decent person, i.e. good father, husband or friend etc.. 😉

                                johnnydoom

                                I think all playoff systems are revenue generators. Team sport owners love to have home games.

                                That said they could still tweak the FedEx Cup playoffs to make it better. For awhile there a person could skip one of the playoff tournaments and still win the FedEx Cup.🙄

                                    Sneakylong That said they could still tweak the FedEx Cup playoffs to make it better. For awhile there a person could skip one of the playoff tournaments and still win the FedEx Cup.🙄

                                    It's even worse on the 'Senior' Tour - One year, Bernie won everything and some duffus won the last
                                    event to win it. Langer Rule. 🙄

                                        Eguller One year, Bernie won everything and some duffus won the last
                                        event to win it. Langer Rule. 🙄

                                        He won 2 of the 3 "playoff" events and finished Top 20 on a course that doesn't suit him and lost
                                        LOL
                                        Cheater long putter Scott McCarron is the doofus I believe.

                                            Spuzz Cheater long putter Scott McCarron is the doofus I believe.

                                            Agree....LOL....that is what my wife calls him. 🤣

                                              Spuzz Should wins by golfers using long putters even count? Who would want the Legacy of being known as old Broomstick Billy?