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By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

Editor's note: John Maginnes played the PGA TOUR for a decade and also won three times on the Nationwide Tour. Maginnes now works as an analyst for the PGA TOUR Network on XM Satellite Radio. He will be contributing regularly to PGATOUR.com.

On Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007, a new era in golf was marshaled in by K.J. Choi. When he hit the opening drive at Kapalua to begin the Mercedes-Benz Championship, the countdown ended and the FedExCup began.

As was to be expected, the PGA TOUR and the media have made a big deal out of the new system. The bold initiative by the TOUR to revamp the way the game is viewed certainly has merit. I believe that the FedExCup race will eventually become a major part of sport, not just golf.

There will be new storylines for the fans to follow and more drama to unfold. However, for the players, at this point, the FedExCup points race is more concept than reality. The theme of professional golf remains the same regardless of whether you are counting points or money: "If you don't like the situation that you are in, then PLAY BETTER." Take it from a player who found himself in an unenviable situation at the end of too many years -- if you play well, everything else takes care of itself.

From the players' perspective there are obvious elements that will change this year. Scheduling will be a new challenge. With several tournaments shifting position, veterans and rookies alike have had to rethink the tournaments that they want to play. Furthermore, with a playoff system that consists of four consecutive tournaments some players will be playing five and six straight weeks for the first time in their careers. Most players try to set their schedule at the beginning of the year. I believe that schedules this year, even for the top players, will be more fluid as they adjust to the new system.

That being said, the preparation and approach to the game will remain unchanged for all TOUR players. Each player has his own unique way of preparing for a golf tournament. The key elements of preparation are, of course, practice and training. Players will try to hone specific parts of their games to give themselves the best opportunity for success at each venue. Preparation, for example, is very different at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am than it is at THE PLAYERS Championship. At Pebble, there are three different courses that can each play differently. We have come to expect conditions to be soft there which puts an emphasis on quality iron shots. At THE PLAYERS, the greens are small and difficult to hit. Most players will spend extra time on their short game that week.

Between tournament preparation and weekly competition the players on the PGA TOUR don't have time to consider all the possibilities that the FedExCup race brings. The most important thing is the next tournament or, more specifically, the next shot. Play well and the points race will take care of itself.

Of course, the potential to win the silver Tiffany trophy and earn an unprecedented $10 million has certainly raised a few eyebrows. But the dangling carrot is still too far into the future to seem real. For the 34 players who teed it up at the Mercedes-Benz Championship on Thursday, the ushering in of a new era was only a shadow of a thought. At the end of the day, the FedExCup era is more about the golf fan than it is the player. The players are excited about the changes. Anything that raises the profile of the TOUR and the players is a benefit that they understand. But the business of being a professional golfer is about performance today. Rewards in the future come from the being in the moment today.