Everybody is aware of a number of the changes coming to the FedExCup subsequent season.
For example, the Playoffs will end earlier than football season starts offevolved and the quantity of activities will be decreased from 4 to three. That's a part of the cause the PGA Championship changed into moved back to May. And these adjustments aren't very controversial for most fans.
But there are rumors of more changes -- none of which are more than rumors at this time -- which will likely cause a lot of debate among Player Advisory Council members, not to mention the public at large. You can read about some of the rumors in this Golf Magazine post.
There's some war of words regarding whilst the normal season need to cease. Currently that is on the Wyndham in Greensboro NC, about a 1/2-hour from where I live. Some oldsters need it to end every week earlier, at the WGC occasion. However, that could have an effect on the sphere at Wyndham adversely, and hurting a Tour forestall isn't always some thing the Council will want to do.
I suppose maximum folks would like to peer the points machine modified, despite the fact that the rumors that it may be removed absolutely might also seize many lovers off-protect. There's a proposal that it be replaced by way of a staggered starting rating, where the pinnacle participant may additionally begin the Tour Championship as many as ten pictures below par and different players could begin at various ratings underneath that; the similarly back you start, the greater shots you need to make up so that you can win.
The winner of the Tour Championship would automatically win the FedExCup, which might suggest handiest one winner would be topped. The prize would be extra than the modern-day $10mil, and there would be extra payouts on the quit of the normal season for the guys who lead the points listing at that time.
And those is probably handiest the tip of the iceberg, as there will without a doubt be more options debated earlier than any selections are made.
I think it's risky to make severe overhauls to a machine that has executed precisely what the PGA Tour desired it to do when they created the FedExCup Playoffs. Some of the current ideas make sense to me:
- I like the idea of a payout to the FedExCup point leaders at the end of the regular season. That would give the regular season added weight, as well as perhaps giving the top points getters a reason to play a bit more as the season ends.
- I don't mind cutting the number of Playoff events to three, since many of the players only play that many now. I don't see it changing the outcome much, and it makes each event feel more important.
But while converting the factors system to something extra effortlessly grasped for the Tour Championship makes experience, I don't think seeking to jigger the machine is the manner to head. Presumably the factors will continue to be used till the very last 30 players are identified, so basically we're simply trying to discern out a way to make the standings in the course of the Tour Championship easier for the enthusiasts to follow.
Match play has been counseled for the final event, and there is merit on this idea. Seeding probably offers the number 1 seed the easiest direction to the name, because the better seeds play the decrease seeds, who're theoretically the easiest to conquer. But I assume the ordinary technique to healthy play skews the percentages an excessive amount of in prefer of certain gamers. Ian Poulter and Patrick Reed are two examples of gamers whose seeding, decided via stroke play, might be misguided for healthy play.
I'm not going to weigh in on all of the unique rumors inside the linked article, but I do have a idea on how the Tour Championship ought to be handled... And there's no guesswork in the way to "handicap" the sphere.
Once the Top30 are identified, the Top8 in FedExCup points are seeded 1-8 and that they bypass the first spherical of the Tour Championship (in order to now have 5 rounds, as you will see). The ultimate 22 players play a single round of stroke play; eight gamers move on -- use a playoff if important to determine these 8 -- and the rest of the players obtain a payout, as they're finished.
The 8 who servive the first spherical are then seeded nine-sixteen primarily based on their ratings within the first round -- lowest rating is 9, subsequent lowest is 10, and so forth. If players are tied, they truly draw numbers from a hat to determine their seeding. For instance, if three players are tied for tenth, three papers marked 10, 11 and 12 are placed in a hat.
The Final16 then play one-on-one 18-hole STROKE PLAY matches to determine the winner, cutting to eight, then four, then two, and finally the winner. (You would have four top players, with "layers" of finishers after that. You guys know how match play events pay out!) This would give the event a unique format that isn't seen in any other pro event, and every shot would count. Fans would know at every stage exactly where players stood, without any attempts to create some bizarre handicapping system. All that would matter is a player's ability to score.
And in my opinion, this is how it ought to be.
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