Tour Championship Coverage

[Frank-0-Sport]

Greetings ....

With the outcome of the Tour Championship still in doubt, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and Fed Ex officials decided to go ahead and give VJ Singh the Fed Ex Cup in a quickly arranged presentation.

This, I think, was a little bit of damage control - Finch and FedX apparently reasoned that the Cup presentation would get in the way of a great finish in the tournament itself. Wow. A rare moment of thoughtfulness for something that up to now has not been well thought out.

Unfortunately, the brains are about to go dead again - they are thinking "fix in 2009". What fix?

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Sport

[N.V.M.]

well, here's a fix. how about designing it so there's no winner until the last round. how to do it, i don't know, but who could argue that? what suspense was there with Fedex when Vijay won it two weeks ago?

[PEZGolf]

While watching the Tour Championship coverage, and I noticed something really funny. During the interview with Trevor Immelman they had a little thing along the bottom and it said:

That is strange. I did not watch that much of the Tour Championship since Vijay had already locked up the Fed Ex Playoffs. This week, the Tour starts the Fall Season with the Turning Stone Resort Championship. The Atunyote Golf Course is only 30 minutes from my house, and the purse is over $6 million. The field has no big names now that JB Holmes withdrew. I never saw or heard any mention of this tournament during the telecast of the Tour Championship.

Last year, only 35,000 spectators showed up. The Golf Channel is showing four days of coverage, and the weather forecast is not good----cool, 54 degrees for a high, showers, and windy. I wonder if the turnout will be even lower. Is the Tour afraid of the low turnout and does not want to publicize this event?

[Bo the Golfer]

I would like to see the Tour Championship go to match play. The years major winners would be exempt in (how foolish was it to not have Paddy in the Tour Championship after winning two majors)-and the first three legs of the Fed Ex Cup would get you qualified in. Make the Tour Championship field 16 players-that would make for an interesting month of golf.

[PEZGolf]

I would like to see the Tour Championship go to match play. The years major winners would be exempt in (how foolish was it to not have Paddy in the Tour Championship after winning two majors)-and the first three legs of the Fed Ex Cup would get you qualified in. Make the Tour Championship field 16 players-that would make for an interesting month of golf.

THAT is not a bad idea, and you are right about the inequity of Paddy Harrington not making the Tour Championship. Tim Finchem needs to CHANGE the concept of the Fed Ex, and NOT just "tweak it". When the Tour Championship was a stand-alone tournament, it meant something with the Top 30 Money Winners qualifying for it. In the last two years, it has been almost an afterthought, since Tiger last year and Vijay this year had the Fed Ex all wrapped up. Just because NASCAR is successful with the point system, that does not mean the PGA Tour should copy it. In addition, the PGA Tour is running into the competition of attracting fans in September during the football season (high school, college, and the NFL) and baseball (the playoffs and the end of the season run to make the playoffs). Golf has to learn to accept its limitations and NOT reach too far for becoming something that it is NOT capable of.

[iacas]

THAT is not a bad idea, and you are right about the inequity of Paddy Harrington not making the Tour Championship.

He doesn't feel bad about it - why should you for him? It's not like he's played well.

Tim Finchem needs to CHANGE the concept of the Fed Ex, and NOT just "tweak it".

I disagree.

When the Tour Championship was a stand-alone tournament, it meant something with the Top 30 Money Winners qualifying for it. In the last two years, it has been almost an afterthought, since Tiger last year and Vijay this year had the Fed Ex all wrapped up.

The money list was almost the same as the FedExCup standings last year, and this year there was a lot more excitement. I think the concept is fine, and I'm sorry, but nobody appointed you the speaker-for-all. You seem to like to speak as if you're speaking for more than yourself. You're not.

Just because NASCAR is successful with the point system, that does not mean the PGA Tour should copy it.

Right - we should just have a season that goes well into October or November and which offers nothing exciting at all between the PGA Championship and the Tour Championship. Yeah, golf was so much more fun back then.

Feel the sarcasm?

In addition, the PGA Tour is running into the competition of attracting fans in September during the football season (high school, college, and the NFL) and baseball (the playoffs and the end of the season run to make the playoffs). Golf has to learn to accept its limitations and NOT reach too far for becoming something that it is NOT capable of.

So going to November like we did two years ago is better? Or should we just shut the season down after the PGA Championship?

The simple fact of the matter is that the FedExCup had a few goals: 1) get the big names to play more after the PGA. Tiger playing three weeks in a row was news in 2007, and the big names playing all of them (especially given the penalty for missing the cut) this year was news too. So I'd call it a success. 2) Give some relevance to the season after the PGA Championship and the Tour Championship itself. This, too, has been accomplished. Yes, last year Tiger locked it up a bit early, and this year Vijay did too - but both were results of a points system that needs a little tweaking. This year's system was a bit of an improvement, but really, who'd have thought Vijay would win twice? I don't think the FedExCup is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it's not the dog doo some would make it out to be, either. It's a worthy improvement to the schedule that will be improved as time goes on.