Kupelian: Time to create the FedExCup title ring

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Where is the ring?

The regular season makes a career.

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The postseason makes a star.

It's true in every sport and now it's also true in golf.

The PGA TOUR has expanded what was essentially a one-event post-season -- THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola - to four.

The second PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup began Thursday at The Barclays and it will be dramatically different from the inaugural on several counts. It has been tweaked and, no doubt, will continue to undergo modifications as it moves forward.

Here's something I would do right away.

Trophies are nice, but I would also give the winner of this year's FedExCup a championship ring to mark the occasion.

Think about it. What is the most treasured memento among championship winners?

It's the ring. Have you ever seen those baubles worn by Super Bowl champions? They are outrageous, the size of diamond-studded hockey pucks, and they are important. Winners can't carry a trophy around with them but they can wear those rings, and they surely do it with tremendous pride.

The ring instantly identifies the wearer for having achieved a special status - just as the FedExCup aspires to higher ground.

It also means success in the postseason. They don't hand out rings for regular season champions, just to the last team -- or man -- standing.

There are rare instances when teams can sneak into the playoffs and win it all. The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals finished the regular season a mere five games over the .500 mark at 83-78 but it was good enough to finish first in a weak National League Central. The Cards went on to defeat San Diego and the New York Mets in the National League playoffs and finally the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, 4 games to 1.

The Cardinals got the rings and nobody cared about what they did, or didn't do, in the regular season.

Tiger Woods' buddy, Michael Jordan, had plenty of detractors before he won six NBA Championships with the Chicago Bulls. Peyton Manning has always been a great quarterback but it wasn't until the Indianapolis Colts finally won a Super Bowl in 2007 that the opinion was authenticated. Babe Ruth was a baseball giant but not until he was traded to the New York Yankees and began winning championships was he heralded as the Great Bambino.

The premise that Playoffs create golf stars will flourish in time with the operative phrase being "in time." Golf's system of nurturing and developing stars is well-established. It has to do, first and foremost, with who wins major championships. The Official World Golf Ranking, established in 1986, has also become an accepted method of determining.

The fact that Woods, the world's best golfer, won the first FedExCup in a very calculating and efficient manner gave the Playoffs instant credibility. It's much easier to sell the notion that the system worked like it was supposed to when Woods wins.

Give the FedExCup winner a ring, and I'm betting the acceptance of the Playoffs will gain even more credibility -- and sooner rather than later.

Swing thoughts:

• Steve Stricker ended the 2006 PGA TOUR season No. 63 in the Official World Golf Ranking. By the opening round of The Barclays a year ago, he had climbed to No. 14. After winning The Barclays, Stricker soared to No. 5, where he finished 2007.

Who will be this year's Stricker? If you're looking for candidates to make a Stricker-like leap, check out Jerry Kelly and Sean O'Hair.

Finland's Mikko Ilonen started the year No. 63 in the rankings. He's not in the field. But Kelly (No. 64) and O'Hair (No. 65) are playing The Barclays. O'Hair has climbed to No. 36 this week. Kelly is No. 67.

Johnson

• Moving from statistical comparisons to hunches, I believe Zach Johnson is someone to keep an eye on this week. I like the way he played at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, where he tied for 16th, and that 64 he closed with last week at the Wyndham Championship.

In between, he missed the cut at the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills but the South Course never was a track to favor Johnson.

Besides, I think he really wants to make an impression on Paul Azinger. If I'm the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, Johnson, who played so well as a rookie two years ago in Ireland, is a lock for the team.

Holmes

• J.B. Holmes discovered that near-misses don't produce world ranking points. He was No. 59 the week of the PGA Championship and led after 54 holes but shot a final-round 81 to tie for 29th and move up just five spots to No. 54. Holmes is currently No. 55.

*Kenny Perry would love to team up with Holmes at the Ryder Cup in a pairing of Kentucky natives. Holmes is a strong candidate to be selected by Azinger as one of his four Captain's Picks.

Perry, Holmes and Azinger have all talked about how that would charge up the American supporters at Valhalla Golf Club.

If that's the case, make Rick Pitino the official scorer with the group and Larry Bird, from nearby French Lick, Ind., the standard bearer.

New PGATOUR.com correspondent Vartan Kupelian spent 37 years as a columnist and sports writer with The Detroit News, the last 15 as golf writer. The views of this columnist do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.