2019 FedExCup Playoffs

[leftybutnotPM]

38 minutes ago, ChrisP said:

Amazing how the year looked so promising after the Masters for him and that was really it. 

Feels like watching a movie with a great story at the start and then just flames out completely.

The year looked "promising for him after the Masters". Good grief!

So unfortunate that the result at Augusta was nullified and rendered completely meaningless because of failure to beat guys half his age with a fused back. He should be embarrassed and ashamed.  Let's hope he can redeem himself from here on in the future "moving forward" as you like to say, just so we know we're not talking about what he'll be able to do in the past.

 

Edited August 18, 2019 by leftybutnotPM

[billchao]

34 minutes ago, jamo said:

IMO it felt like watching a movie where the climax was in April and then the movie just ends and everyone loves it and doesn't expect a dozen more movies to come out that year. 

He's 43 years old. He's had 8 surgeries and injuries all over his body. Even if the spinal fusion did its job 100%, he's going to have aches and pains. 

But he won the f***ing Masters this year. We all need to stop being disappointed when he doesn't play as consistently as he did in 2000, 2008, or 2013.

I'm with @jamo on this one. The Masters win was a highlight, but Tiger is on the wrong side of the age curve for PGA Tour success with a body that's deteriorated beyond its years. This movie isn't about him. Not anymore.

[70sSanO]

It will be interesting to see how Koepka does next week at East Lake. After leading in FedEx points he falls to 3rd and is currently 3 strokes behind Thomas.

It has been Brooks to lose, but if he falls short of taking home the $15m, I’m sure he will probably face more than just Chamblee’s criticism.

John

[Buckeyebowman]

2 hours ago, leftybutnotPM said:

The year looked "promising for him after the Masters". Good grief!

So unfortunate that the result at Augusta was nullified and rendered completely meaningless because of failure to beat guys half his age with a fused back. He should be embarrassed and ashamed.  Let's hope he can redeem himself from here on in the future "moving forward" as you like to say, just so we know we're not talking about what he'll be able to do in the past.

 

I agree with you. I think what we saw in April was a doggone miracle! An incredible effort by Tiger with the motivation that this was the first major he won, and his Dad was there to see it! I also think that we will probably never see it again. His performance at the BMW was desultory, at best. 

But think about it. With his back, just being able to walk 72 holes of golf over 4 days, and play semi-competitively, is an accomplishment in itself! The folks who think Tiger will come back to dominate the Tour like he did 19-20 years ago remind me of the old timers in the valley (I live in Youngstown, Ohio), who still think that the steel mills will come back! 

Take a reality check, people! It's not going to happen! 

[iacas]

4 hours ago, billchao said:

He probably could have just played more events and collected more points, but he didn't.

Right. It's a wonder he's anywhere near as high in the OWGR as he is, too.

[jlbos83]

17 hours ago, iacas said:

Right. It's a wonder he's anywhere near as high in the OWGR as he is, too.

I guess that winning twice, in big  tournaments, in the past year helps.  But he is going to be headed down again, as those wins start to lose value.  Of course, I know that you know that.  I know I keep forgetting that the Tour Championship was a big win!  It comes down to the OWGR being kind of a rolling average, rather than who is the best "at this moment".  I think its a good compromise, though sometimes it looks funny.

 

It seems (based on a very small sample size) that he plays better when he actually plays.  He played some before the Masters, and was produced something of a miracle.  After that he didn't play consistently for any stretch, and when he did play he seemed to need a round or two to find his legs, by which time actually competing was out of the question.  To me the question (that we have no way of answering) is can he figure out  way to play a it more before the big events without playing too much?  Maybe that means picking two majors to prepare for (maybe based on course, or expected weather?) and maybe play something like three of five weeks leading up to them (or whatever he can do), and just not entering the others.  I can't see him doing that, but the way he did it this year didn't seem effective, so maybe something different?  Of course with his body it may be that he just doesn't know when he might have a "good" week, or when it may be impossible.

Edited August 19, 2019 by jlbos83

[Zekez]

Winning the majors should be worth more Fed Ex points than they are.  Only 100 more points for winning a major than a regular tour event is not right. These are the MAJORS BAYBEE!!  

[70sSanO]

58 minutes ago, Zekez said:

Winning the majors should be worth more Fed Ex points than they are.  Only 100 more points for winning a major than a regular tour event is not right. These are the MAJORS BAYBEE!!  

You fail to understand how much influence FedEx has on the PGA.  A golfer can win a “calendar” Grand Slam and get 2400 points, or just finish second at both the Northern Trust and BMW and get the same 2400 points.

One would establish history that would probably never be equaled, the other re-inforces that the PGA Tour today placates to FedEx.  There is no longer a Money List, it is now FedEx points.  There is no longer a Tour Champion, just a Fedex Champion.

John

Edited August 19, 2019 by 70sSanO

[Double Mocha Man]

21 minutes ago, 70sSanO said:

You fail to understand how much influence FedEx has on the PGA.  A golfer can win a “calendar” Grand Slam and get 2400 points, or just finish second at both the Northern Trust and BMW and get the same 2400 points.

One would establish history that would probably never be equaled, the other re-inforces that the PGA Tour today placates to FedEx.  There is no longer a Money List, it is now FedEx points.  There is no longer a Tour Champion, just a Fedex Champion.

John

Ugh!  Money and influence win.  I liked it better when golf tournaments were named after the city they were played in.  Or they were called the Bing Crosby Clambake.

[ChrisP]

2 hours ago, Zekez said:

Winning the majors should be worth more Fed Ex points than they are.  Only 100 more points for winning a major than a regular tour event is not right. These are the MAJORS BAYBEE!!  

Agree with this. Actually thinking the majors should even get you an exemption into the Tour Championship. But it will never happen like that. The USGA, R&A and Augusta National have no influence on what the PGA/Fed Ex does with their tourneys and the overall points.

[iacas]

3 hours ago, 70sSanO said:

One would establish history that would probably never be equaled, the other re-inforces that the PGA Tour today placates to FedEx.  There is no longer a Money List, it is now FedEx points.  There is no longer a Tour Champion, just a Fedex Champion.

Huh?

They're playoffs. They're worth more than the "regular season."

The majors are part of the regular season.

[Wally Fairway]

46 minutes ago, iacas said:

Huh?

They're playoffs. They're worth more than the "regular season."

The majors are part of the regular season.

It's all arbitrary, there's no logic just the rules they make and/or adjust each year. All about getting FedEx $60+ million in exposure for their sponsorship.

NASCAR changed their" playoff" formula and lost viewers, I'm thinking the PGA Tour may just be doing the same thing. Ending the season earlier, changing the# of playoff events, and to be honest if it wasn't for the brinks truckloads of cash at stake the Tour Championship doesn't hold much interest as it's the 2nd smallest field of the year (behind only the Hero Challenge)

[Vinsk]

Or...Fed Ex is big enough to just say, ‘ Hey guys...screw the PGA TOUR altogether. We’ll pay bigger purses and just become the circuit for you.’ Fed Ex Premier Golf Tour. 

[70sSanO]

3 hours ago, iacas said:

Huh?

They're playoffs. They're worth more than the "regular season."

The majors are part of the regular season.

Yeah, let’s get the top 125 players at the Northern Trust and call it a playoff.  At least in the NHL they limit it to half the teams to start the playoffs.

And if you beat a higher seed you don’t toss out the original seedlings based on the regular season.  If you squeak in as a lowest seed you don’t get home ice because of you won the 1st round.

Want to give more weighting fine, but not 4 times the weighting.  It is funny that for all the dollars FedEx is throwing into their Cup, they just can’t buy enough credibility.  As much as I loved seeing Tiger win the Masters, how he totally overshadowed the FedEx Cup last year was priceless.

John

[70sSanO]

Personally, if the PGA/FedEx really wants to get more buzz about golf playoffs, they should follow what the NCAA does with their basketball tournament.

48 players are seeded 1-12 in 4 brackets based on season points.

Players 49-80 play on Monday and the winners are seeded 13-16 on points.

The tournament starts on Thursday in whatever format... stroke, match, stableford, mod-stableford.

Maybe give top 4 seeds in each bracket, stokes, points, holes, or ??? on the first weekend so the highest seeds have a better chance to move on.

Sweet 16 plays the following weekend, maybe start on Wednesday.   No added points... mano a mano.

Final played on Sunday.

Hopefully, at some point, you get office pools/bracketology.  Golf Channel could sponsor an online bracket like the NCAA.  TST could set one up.

Either way, once you get people betting on it, you’ve got them.

John

[Zekez]

12 hours ago, iacas said:

Huh?

They're playoffs. They're worth more than the "regular season."

The majors are part of the regular season.

So if the "playoffs" are so important why carry over the points to the playoffs?  No other sport with playoffs carries over from the regular season.  Just start the first playoff tournament with 125 players and the top 70 advance.  And so on.

[iacas]

9 hours ago, 70sSanO said:

Want to give more weighting fine, but not 4 times the weighting.

Uhhhhh, the point is tight there. It’s not that the Tour caved to FedEx.

The playoffs matter more. The Tour disagrees with you on how much.

14 minutes ago, Zekez said:

So if the "playoffs" are so important why carry over the points to the playoffs?  No other sport with playoffs carries over from the regular season.  Just start the first playoff tournament with 125 players and the top 70 advance.  And so on.

Do you understand what “more” means? I did not say the regular season does not matter at all.

Golf isn’t other sports. And other sports do carry over in the form of byes and home field, etc.

[rehmwa]

1 hour ago, Zekez said:

So if the "playoffs" are so important why carry over the points to the playoffs?  No other sport with playoffs carries over from the regular season.  Just start the first playoff tournament with 125 players and the top 70 advance.  And so on.

I've been on board that they should make up their minds:  It should either be points, or playoffs - If we do points, let's do points (previous format).  If we do playoffs, I like your proposal - points on the season to get in, then survival of the fittest.

Instead, we get a mish mash of points and elimination in this last two tourneys prior to a weirdass handicapped final tourney format.  It's arbitrary and we'll see how it plays out.

Maybe it'll be fun.  Maybe it'll fall on its face.  But, either way, I expect to see the best players playing great golf. So it's not the end of the world regardless of whatever format they choose.  so far, I've seen some fun golf, but, (just me), it's seemed less exciting than previously for whatever reason.

Edited August 20, 2019 by rehmwa