FedEx Cup tweaks delayed until February

Jim McCabe

When plans were unveiled for the PGA Tour’s first go-round with the FedEx Cup, one by product that everyone seemed to embrace was the notion of a longer off-season. With the Tour Championship pushed up to September, marquee players and officials seemed to relish a 3 ½-month layoff and the sentiment seemed to be that it provide ample time to apply whatever tweaks were needed to the playoff system.

Apparently it wasn’t enough time, because if any changes are forthcoming in the distribution of points or the size of the fields, they won’t be confirmed until February — five weeks into the 2008 season.

Curious, to say the least, because while the 2007 FedEx Cup can be deemed a success from the point of view that it was won by Tiger Woods and did for the most part get the best players involved for four straight playoff weeks, there seemed to be universal agreement that tweaks were needed.

Specifically, players voiced concern that more volatility would be better in the points system so that good performances would vault them up the standings. Though less of an issue, players seemed to indicate that the fields (144 for No. 1, the Barclays; 120 for No. 2, the Deutsche Bank Championship) were too large.

In mid-November the PGA Tour made an announcement and it was expected to include news about the distribution of points and adjusted fields . . . but no.

Instead, officials confirmed what had been rumored for weeks — the Tour Championship would be moved back to accommodate the Ryder Cup. Instead of four straight weeks of playoffs, they will be spread out over six weeks; the Barclays, DBC, and BMW Championship will be run consecutively, then there’ll be a rare off week, then the Ryder Cup, then the playoffs would resume with the “Super Bowl,” if you will, the Tour Championship.

OK, so it’s a notable shift and deserved to make headlines, but the wish had been for updates to the FedEx Cup points and fields. None arrived, though they could still be forthcoming in February.

The hope is, the points system will be tweaked so that players can move up in the standings with good performances at the Barclays and Deutsche Bank Championship. What I don’t think needs to be done, at least not dramatically, is to alter the sizes of the field. I don’t agree with those who feel that 144 is too many to start with; given how many players have some sort of status — full and conditional — at the beginning of the season (it’s well over 200), then whittling to 144 is appropriate. Filtering to 120 at the DBC allows that tournament to put on a full show for rabid golf fans in New England and I’d hate to see more “limited field” events with just 70 players, like we’ll have for the third playoff event, the BMW.

But you can certainly stop holding your breath for any more “off-season news.” If there is any, it will be delivered during the next season, curious as that may seem.