Print this page  |  Close Window

Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com, Chief of Correspondents

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- When Tim Finchem became commissioner of the PGA TOUR in 1994, he says, all the players on the Champions Tour were older than he was.

"And now, 65 percent of them are younger than me," Finchem said, smiling, on a sun-bathed afternoon in Hawaii. "So I'm no longer in a position where I'm eager for any year to be over."

Finchem was poking fun at himself in response to a question Sunday about whether he was anxious for 2007 to be over so the FedExCup would have become established or whether he liked the anticipation of seeing how it unfolds.

"I'm very comfortable enjoying it," Finchem said as the laughter in the media center at the Mercedes-Benz Championship died down. "But seriously, let me answer it this way. We're set up to monitor and evaluate. ...

FedExCup

• Explaining the FedExCup • FedExCup Fan Guide (pdf.) • A New Era Begins

"When we award these points tonight, and it's on PGATOUR.com tomorrow and people are checking it out, commenting on it, from that point on, it's an evaluation process of every week and what it means, and lots of storylines are going to float out of this, we think.

"I'm excited about going through that process. I think it's going to be fun. And then I'm really excited about the playoffs."

Finchem said he expects a lot of surprises during the season-long competition that will build to a climax with that four-event playoff ending at THE TOUR Championship.

There was no surprise on Sunday, though, when Vijay Singh finally won the Mercedes-Benz Championship by two shots over Adam Scott. He was overdue, after all, after finishing runner-up in two of the last three years.

The victory made Singh the first leader of the inaugural FedExCup as he collected 4,500 points for the victory. He also won $1.1 million for the win, which was his 18th since he turned 40, breaking a tie with Sam Snead, and 30th overall.

Whether Singh maintains his position at the end of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup remains to be seen. He'd be one lucky man if he did, though, since the FedExCup awards $10 million to the season champion and a total of $35 million to the 144 players who make the playoffs.

"We're delighted to get going with the FedExCup competition," Finchem told the reporters as competition was heating up on Sunday afternoon. "As I said a few minutes ago in a radio comment, any time you start up something new in golf, it's important to get some history on your side.

"That certainly was the case with the Presidents Cup, and that was the case with THE PLAYERS Championship 30 years ago and other changes that have come along, and this is a big one.

"We're looking forward to getting some points on the board tonight, having a leader in the clubhouse, if you will, for the FedExCup preliminaries here as we get going here and head towards the playoffs later in the year.

"Everything tells us that we are on the right track, and we are just excited to get this first one down and get our fans an actual list of points, which is going to begin the process of bringing people into recognition of what the FedExCup is all about."

Finchem said he knows interest in the season-long points race will intensify as the year progresses -- for the fans, as well as the players. The overall premise, which is similar to NASCAR's Nextel Cup, is simple, though.

"You get points, the guy who gets the most, wins," Finchem said. "Now as a fan, you could settle for that amount of information, and you could watch each week, the standings, and wait to see who gets the most points, and you might be satisfied with that."

Others, though, will want to know more about how players decide what tournaments to play. If they want to improve their seeding for the playoff, will they play more? And how much difference will that seeding actually make as the playoffs unfold?

"At its core, the FedExCup is a very simple process, but we are going to see people spend a lot of time and energy trying to figure it out," Finchem said. "And you'll see the television commentators as we get into the season, if Player X birdies this hole, he's on this par 5 in two; if he two putts for a birdie, he'll pick up X number of points, and he'll move from sixth to fourth or more ...

"We hope people are fascinated. But I think everything dramatically changes tonight when we have a leaderboard, we have points distributed, people will know how many you get for winning. That's going to be clear on into the season."