- FedExCup Points: 50,000
- Purse: $1.26 million
- Winning Share: $1,260,000
- Yards: 7,154
PGATOUR.com Contributor
ATLANTA -- I saw PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola on Thursday morning. I always say hello, and he is always gracious. I didn't this time. He was busy with assorted members of the media and I was busy preparing for another day of work.
Since spotting him on Thursday morning, though, it occurs to me that there were several things that I would have liked to have said to him. The commissioner has always intimidated me a little in a high school principal sort of way.
There was a time when he worked for me, in a manner of speaking, but I never got the feeling that I intimidated him -- except at the buffet. But now I work for him, or should I say, now I work at his leisure.
Like most players, I was as reluctant to accept changes to the PGA TOUR. After all, the TOUR had remained unchanged through the youths and careers of several generations -- including mine.
With the advent of the World Golf Championships and the subsequent influx of foreign-born players, the TOUR became a little more multi-cultural but stayed fundamentally the same. Oh yeah, a few years ago, everyone got rich, but increased purses don't constitute a fundamental change.
They are just one heck of a nice perk.
Then, with much resistance from the locker room, the media center and the golf fans at large, this whole FedExCup business came into effect. The idea of a points system wasn't independently revolutionary.
With the disparity in purses, particularly in the mid-1990s, a system was hinted at, if only among the players, that would award points and money with a points race determining the 125 exempt players.
But the chase for the FedExCup went well beyond an equitable points race. The nuts and bolts of it were revolutionary.
Quite simply, what I wanted to say to Commissioner Finchem was "Congratulations."
There will be a time for discussion and tweaking. There will be a time for second guesses and fine-tuning. This weekend is not the time. This weekend is about an incredibly bold initiative that proved beyond any question there is a place in the game for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
On Friday night, ESPN broke into the Red Sox-Yankees game with Tiger Woods highlights from his incredible front nine 28 that morning. Watch Woods' 70-foot eagle putt to shoot 28
From CNN to the Weather Channel, THE TOUR Championship was mentioned.
Sure, it helps that Tiger Woods is doing what Tiger does but I think that this initiative was far less predictable than hindsight might lead us to believe. The PGA TOUR did the unthinkable at an unthinkable time and it has paid off.
They changed the fundamental nature of the TOUR in the era when the TOUR was already enjoying its greatest success.
The fact that so many of the pieces of the puzzle fell into place can't be luck. I can't think of any other sport changing the way its competition is conducted so fundamentally when it boasts the most popular athlete in the world. The question leading into the playoffs was: What if Tiger doesn't win?
If Steve Stricker or Phil Mickelson does the unimaginable this weekend, I don't think that anyone will be disappointed -- except, of course, Tiger. The playoffs have simply been too good, too exciting and way too darn much fun.
This weekend may well serve as a ceremonial walk through an old park and into history for Tiger Woods. It is likely that he will win the inaugural FedExCup and his 61st PGA TOUR title. But it will be a victory walk, of sorts, for the PGA TOUR as well. Congratulations are in order all around.
There will be plenty of time for the tough questions. And in his typical fashion, the commissioner will answer them when and where he is ready.
The new schedule, the playoffs and the FedExCup will be the subject of conversation and debate for years to come. But, let's wait until after the cheers from THE TOUR Championship fade. It may take a while -- they have never been this loud.
