Finchem talks FedExCup changes, says it's not a wrap

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Sep. 3, 2008
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- When PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem first chatted with his No. 1 player about the concept behind the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup several years ago, Tiger Woods wasted little time getting to the point.

"He said, 'So let me understand, I could win nine times, and I've got a little bit of an edge on the next guy going into the playoffs,'" Finchem recalled. "And I said, 'Yeah, but the Yankees could win 120 times, and they don't have any edge. They're starting over. It's playoffs."

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PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem poses with Vijay Singh after the Big Fijian won The Barclays.

Finchem smiled Wednesday as he remembered Woods' response.

"Let's bring it on," Woods said.

Woods dominated the first FedExCup -- winning the No. 1 seed after the PGA TOUR Regular Season and the final two Playoff events to earn the $10 million bonus. The lack of movement during the Playoff run was a concern, though, and it led to changes in the points system.

A year later, Woods again finished first during the Regular Season, but he has been on the sidelines since the U.S. Open after having reconstructive surgery on the ACL in his left knee. This time, though, Vijay Singh is dominating after wins in the first two Playoff events.

There has been much more volatility this year, however -- so much, in fact, that Padraig Harrington, who won the last two majors, is in danger of being eliminated this week. He has missed the cut in the first two Playoff events and dropped from fourth to 44th in the standings.

Only the top 30 in the FedExCup get to play in the season-ending TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola in a couple of weeks. Harrington must finish sixth or better at this week's BMW Championship to punch his ticket to East Lake for the finale.

Finchem likes the way the Playoffs have progressed so far -- and he thinks the debate over the plusses and minuses of the points system is healthy.

"I know there's some consternation about a player like Padraig Harrington, wins two majors, top 10, misses two cuts, and he's in danger of not getting to Atlanta," Finchem said. "But that's actually what we heard from a lot of fans that they wanted to see. They wanted it to feel more like a playoff, more like a do-or-die situation, and we just moved the needle a little bit in that regard, and so there is more volatility. That means on the upside and the downside. I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. It's something to look at.

"I know that some players are concerned that the falloff, the difference between just making a cut and slightly missing a cut is fairly significant, and I don't know what the answer to that is given the other things we want to accomplish with the points. But as Padraig himself said, he thinks this is basically the way it should be.

"It should mean a lot, you should have to play well, and if you don't, you face the prospect of going home just like any other team sport and playoffs in general."

Play well like Singh has done in the first two Playoff events, though, and you threaten to wrap up the FedExCup prematurely. Entering the BMW Championship this week, only No. 2 Sergio Garcia and No. 3 Mike Weir -- and the man who wins at Bellerive if he's not one of the top three -- have a chance to overtake Singh and win the $10 million bonus.

Isn't that what the Playoffs are all about -- performing at the top of your game when it matters most?

"The culture of the sport is winning is so very, very important, and the only way it can be important is if you get a lot of points," Finchem said. "If you win twice, it's twice as important. ... If you come out, Tiger aside, (and beat) virtually all the best players in the world on the same golf course two weeks in a row, (it) doesn't happen very often, and a guy beats them twice in a row, he ought to get the just rewards.

"Now, should he have it wrapped up after two wins? No, but he doesn't have it wrapped up. ... We'll still look at it and say, let's make sure we've done the right thing here."

Finchem said consideration was given to having the Playoffs be full-field events -- rather than eliminations from 144 players to 120, 70 and 30 -- which is similar to the way NASCAR's "Chase" is handled. Having a tournament-within-a-tournament concept was confusing, though, and many players felt reducing the field was vital to a playoff structure.

"So I think we're okay where we are now for the moment on that point. But that's one of those areas where there's no right or wrong, there's pluses and minuses," Finchem said. "It depends on who you are and where you are in terms of how you're looking at it.

"In some of these situations, it depends which piece of the pie you're looking at and you get a different view. But, right now, we're reasonably pleased with where we are for the moment."

The thing Finchem has liked most about the Playoffs this year is the amount of interest -- and knowledge -- from the fans.

"I think when we do our data after this is over, we'll find that the percentage of our fan base that understands and sort of gets what the Cup is for and what it's designed to do will have gone up again nicely after a pretty good start in year one," he said.

"All we're trying to do right now is continue to build interest in the concept, and then we have to rely on the competition to ... spike it based on finishes and leaderboards and things like that."

Singh & Co. appear to be taking care of the latter.