The FedEx Cup playoffs have continually been a source of consternation, with numerous ideas put forth as a better way to determine the PGA Tour's year-long champion. Bob Harig and Jason Sobel go back and forth with some ideas on how to fix it.
Bob Harig: OK, Jason, you and I have done our share of sniping at the FedEx Cup playoffs, acknowledging that these are great tournaments while the overall format leaves something to be desired. The four-tournament playoff series is about to conclude its ninth year at this week's Tour Championship, and once again it's obvious that a pretty good concept could be way better. I'm not sure we will come to the same conclusion as to how to do it, but we certainly are on the same page with making some changes. Where would you start?
Jason Sobel: Sniping?! Come on, man. As I often tell tweeters who misinterpret a column: Read better. I like the FedEx Cup. I'm firmly on board. I think it's a way better system than the PGA Tour had prior to its inception. It gets a bad rap from people who believe it's being pushed as more important than major championships or doesn't properly represent the entire season. That doesn't mean it's perfect, though.
My biggest issue is the self-fulfilling prophecy of a format designed to avoid the NFL and college football season that instead operates directly against it. Know your role, PGA Tour brass. Ending it on Labor Day -- in primetime would be fantastic television -- helps matters.
Harig: Okay, sniping might be harsh. But you get my point. There are flaws with the system. I share your sentiment that the FedEx Cup playoffs are terrific compared to what we used to have: a listless final two months of the season that included a lackluster Tour Championship.
Now you have good fields for four straight weeks, but Jordan Spieth could have skipped the first three events, still won this week's Tour Championship and claimed the FedEx Cup. I like ending it at Labor Day to avoid football, but how would you do that with the PGA Championship just a few weeks prior? I'd start by reducing the playoffs to three events.
Sobel: Hey, I'm just the idea man. You'll have to talk to the logistics folks to figure that out. Speaking of ideas, here's one more: Any player who voluntarily skips a playoff event can still compete in any others for which he qualifies but automatically forfeits his chance at winning any FedEx Cup bonus money.
I wonder if this would have kept Rory McIlroy from skipping the Barclays or Sergio Garcia from passing on the first two. I've got to think they'd each at least hesitate longer. But again ... I'm nitpicking here. I still like the FedEx Cup, majority opinion be damned. What else would you change?
Harig: I'm fine with your idea if we cut the playoffs to three events. That is far more manageable and easier to expect these guys to all participate. But under the current scenario, if you've earned enough points to qualify for the third event -- as Garcia had done -- how do you deny him? He's earned it.
It's easier to get them to play all the events if there are only three. That said, there has to be a way to blow off the inane reset of points going into the Tour Championship. As you pointed out, Jason Day won the BMW but actually lost points going to Atlanta because of the reset. If you want the Tour Championship to be dramatic, throw out the points when they get there and have all 30 play for the FedEx Cup title.
Sobel: There has to be a line between too volatile and not volatile enough. The previous points system once had Vijay Singh only needing to show up at East Lake and play 72 holes to reap his reward. That's obviously not the solution. But I don't think yours is, either.
If a guy like, say, Harris English, who barely snuck into the field, gets hot and wins this week, does he deserve to win the entire thing? I don't think so. And so what we're left with is the current format, which offers an advantage to those who have enjoyed great regular seasons and/or playoff runs while still guaranteeing that the season finale is an open competition.
You're never going to please everybody, but I think the current points reset is closer than any alternative options.
Harig: This is where they need to get creative and come up with something outside the box. Obviously, the way it is constructed now would not be fair to simply let all 30 play for the FedEx title straight up this week in Atlanta.
In fact, that would lead to more playoff tournament defections. If you knew all you had to do was get here, why would Spieth and Day need to worry about playing in New York, Boston or Chicago? So why not offer a separate bonus for the points standings through the BMW? Surely Tim Finchem can find a way to promote that idea and find the sponsorship money to make it happen.
That puts a premium on being on top right now. As far as the FedEx Cup, Day got virtually no boost from winning the BMW. It didn't increase his lead. In fact, it is now reduced due to the points reset. Pay out a bonus based on points now. Then, let everyone who makes it to Atlanta start over with the winner of the tournament claiming the FedEx Cup.
It would make earning those last spots in the top 30 all the more intense -- sort of like the last teams scrapping their way into the postseason -- and it would eliminate the ridiculous points reset and all the fretting over the various permutations.
Sobel: I'm just glad we've gotten this far and you haven't mentioned match play. It seems like that idea is pitched every year at this time as a solution to all of these problems. What proponents of it don't seem to understand, though, is that like any golf tournament, the Tour Championship is about entertainment value and drawing more fans to the event.
Check the ratings for the annual match play tourney. It's an inverted pyramid: the only tournament in the world that becomes less exciting as the week progresses. Quite frankly, watching, let's say, Henrik Stenson and Billy Horschel -- the past two champions -- play 18 or 36 holes against each other on a Sunday afternoon, even if it is for $10 million, isn't the solution.
Harig: Wow, something else we agree on. Match play gets kicked around all the time, and it's just not the way to handle this for all the reasons you point out, as well the problems the format presents. If the tour is worried about the best making it to the final event, then they're going to be deathly worried about the best getting knocked out early, however you devised the match-play scenario.
So I've sort of laid out a plan that I think deserves at least a bit of consideration: a separate bonus for the points leaders through the BMW to encourage all the players to fight for that; then scrap the points and let all 30 play for the FedEx title -- eliminating all the confusing computer nonsense. You've advocated an earlier Labor Day finish, which gets us away from football. What about a format?
Sobel: I'm a reasonable man, Harig. And like I said, I'm just the big-picture idea guy here. So if you can figure out a way to give me a Labor Day finish, I'll give you that new points format. This is how negotiations work. Now, somebody get Tim Finchem on the phone. We've gotta let the commish know we fixed this thing.