Will the Tour Championship ever take over majors as the biggest event in golf?

[jamo]

See, this is part of the reason why I don't see it rising to the level of a major - it's called the Fed Ex Cup, not the PGA Playoffs or Tour Playoffs sponsor by Fed Ex or whatever. So part of it is a marketing issue - "I won The Masters." "Oh yeah? I won the Fed Ex Cup." "Your point?"

I don't know if that's much of a problem unless they change names after their deal with FedEx expires. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think of Federal Express the company one bit when I hear the name, "FedExCup." It's just become a name to me at this point.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by jamo

I don't know if that's much of a problem unless they change names after their deal with FedEx expires. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think of Federal Express the company one bit when I hear the name, "FedExCup." It's just become a name to me at this point.

If there's still a deal after FedEx expires.

Not that I doubt there will be one, but what then? The Waste Management Cup?

The Masters, US Open, Open Championship & PGA Championship don't have or need sponsors (Yes I know The Travelers & Cadillac's generosity allow us to watch The Maters with limited commercial interruption...but it's not The Masters Presented By Cadillac). And yeah, maybe that's not an issue with many players or fans, but it's what will always make it, at best, a notch below the majors. An important series of tournaments for sure, with a unique 'elimination' format spread over four tournaments. It's a great idea; gives a nice coda to the season that used to kinda just string along until some minimal event in late October or whatever.

But the level of a major? I just don't see it.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by jamo

I don't know if that's much of a problem unless they change names after their deal with FedEx expires. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think of Federal Express the company one bit when I hear the name, "FedExCup." It's just become a name to me at this point.

Even if they did change the name, I don't know that that would be too big of a deal.  I don't mean to try and claim apples to apples here (because its not) but one could make a comparison here to NASCAR.  The Winston Cup became the Nextel Cup became the Sprint Cup, and the name really means absolutely nothing.  Its just the "championship" that everybody is after, regardless of what they name it.

I would think that the Fedex Cup could take a similar path.  But the tradition of the majors is pretty well ingrained at this point so I can't see it quite catching up to the majors anytime soon in prestige.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by Wansteadimp

The problem is comparing golf to other sports - longish streaks are a rarity in golf but  much more common in other sports - there have been 4 players who have had 3 win streaks in the last 30 years - admittedly Tiger has multiple 3 win (and longer) streaks but they are still very rare.

Looking at past history (not a reliable predictor of the future but never mind) Rory would have been better tanking at Crooked Stick to ensure he didn't go into the Tour Championship looking for his 3rd straight victory.

For the record, there have been 8 winning streaks of 4 or more events.  Three of them by Tiger (7, 6, and 5).  Two by Nelson (11 and 4).  Two by Hogan (6 and 4).  One by Jack Burke, Jr. (4).

Your second comment reminds me of a joke:

Q: Why did the statistician always carry a bomb with him when he had to fly on an airplane?

A. Because he knew that the odds of there being TWO bombs on the plane were astronomically small.