Debate about FedExCup points is healthy, says commissioner

Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Want to talk FedExCup, pro or con? PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem is happy to hear the debates.

ATLANTA -- After no changes were made to the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup at the end of last year, it remains to be seen if that will be the case at the end of this one.

"Obviously at the end of the season, depending on how things work out this week, we'll evaluate the structure again," PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem said during his annual state of the TOUR address Tuesday at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

Among the things the Commissioner said he liked was the volatility of the FedExCup points system, the fact that players could play well early in the year and benefit from having a cushion during the Playoffs, and, of course, that the FedExCup champion can't be determined before reaching East Lake.

One other thing Finchem said he liked: Debate, something there's been plenty of ever since the Playoffs began in 2007.

"I think it's healthy to have a debate," Finchem said. "As incensed as all of us college football fans are about the BCS, it's a great thing for the BCS to be arguing about it all the time. Who wouldn't want the debate?"

In 2008, that debate focused on the lack of drama in terms of the FedExCup, with Vijay Singh just needing to sign his scorecard in order to win the title at THE TOUR Championship. The points system was changed for the following year, with the top five in points going into East Lake each guaranteed the FedExCup should he win THE TOUR Championship.

Lately, much of the debate has centered around the question of whether the point system is too top-heavy, with one very good week in the Playoffs allowing a player to move into the top 30 and ultimately gain invites to the first three majors of the year.

That said, players seem relatively happy with the system even though it's not without its question marks.

"Is the system perfect? Probably not," said Paul Casey, who enters this week ranked fifth in the FedExCup standings and in control of his own destiny. "I haven't really fallen afoul of the system and as far as I'm concerned it's an opportunity to obviously make an awful lot of money. From my angle, it's all positives."

Then there's Steve Stricker, who enters this week fourth in the standings after winning twice and finishing in the top 10 eight other times.

"I think [the Playoffs] have been a success," Stricker said. "I think it's done what it was set out to do and that's to gain more interest in our sport during a time period where our interests went away a little bit because of the start of football season.

"On the other hand, I think the point system isn't quite right yet, and I think we're going to address that that again at the end of the year."

While no one is entirely sure what, if any, changes will occur to the point system, one change expected to be in place for next season is that of designated tournaments. The idea is, for example, to require highly ranked players to play in designated regular TOUR events.

"We will go to one of these models next year," Finchem said of the various concepts being explored. "What model it is, whether it's a rule, whether it's a requirement, we're a few weeks away from doing that."

As for the release of the 2011 schedule, Finchem would only say it would be coming "soon" and it would likely include three or four events without title sponsors.

Among those events are stops in Memphis, Hilton Head and at La Quinta, site of the Bob Hope Classic. The tournament at TPC Blue Monster at Doral is also without a title sponsor, but Finchem said he does not expect it to be among that group.

While sponsorship of those events remains uncertain, Finchem remains cautiously optimistic.

"We have a couple situations where there's sufficient funding in the marketplace to carry us into title positions," said Finchem, who added that the TOUR is not subsidizing any of the events without title sponsors. "This takes a tremendously extended period of time to bring conversation to a transaction. We've had those gaps [but] they've been able to get covered by other kinds of measures in the community."