Could it happen to golf?

[BruceMGF]

This weekend, a couple things I saw on TV came together. First, was Kelly Tilghman (I think) on Golf Channel referring to this weekend's tournament as part of "the regular season", obviously in distinction to the Fedex Cup thingy in the fall. The other was a "sports update" on CBS with an NBA player making a commonplace statement about a win that we've all heard a thousand times - "we haven't won anything yet, we're not too excited, what matters is winning the championship ..." So could this happen to golf? Imagine Adam Scott after winning the Masters: Q: So how does it feel to win? A: I haven't won anything yet. The good thing is it's a lot of Fedex points. Q: But the green jacket? Augusta? The tradition? A: The only thing that matters is the one at East Lake. Although it's early in the regular season, these Fedex points help put me in position for a playoff run. Do you think it could happen? Do you think it would be a good thing if it did?

[BruceMGF]

(Let's see if this looks better)

This weekend, a couple things I saw on TV came together. First, was Kelly Tilghman (I think) on Golf Channel referring to this weekend's tournament as part of "the regular season", obviously in distinction to the Fedex Cup thingy in the fall.

The other was a "sports update" on CBS with an NBA player making a commonplace statement about a win that we've all heard a thousand times - "we haven't won anything yet, we're not too excited, what matters is winning the championship ..."

So could this happen to golf? Imagine Adam Scott after winning the Masters:

Q: So how does it feel to win?

A: I haven't won anything yet. The good thing is it's a lot of Fedex points.

Q: But the green jacket? Augusta? The tradition?

A: The only thing that matters is the one at East Lake. Although it's early in the regular season, these Fedex points help put me in position for a playoff run.

Do you think it could happen? Do you think it would be a good thing if it did?

[sofingaw]

I doubt it will happen. No sport that I know of pays homage to the past (for better or worse) than golf. It's one of the things that most all players of the game love about it. The fact that modern day ams can play on the same courses as the greatest to ever play, is one example of this. I can see the FedEx cup gaining more prestige, sure. And 10 million bucks is no chump change, even to all but maybe Tiger. But the majors will stay the majors, and they will maintain a level of prestige above that of the rest if the tourneys. Most especially The Masters, and the Open Championship. A big prize fund can't quite wipe away many decades of prestige, IMO.

[MEfree]

I don't see any player taking a major win lightly anytime in the near future, but I think the players care a lot more about the Fed Ex Cup than most of the public realizes.  There is a lot of $ tied into the Fed Ex Cup.  Boo said after winning that he was happy to be involved in the Fed Ex Cup and hoping to get back to East Lake.

The big difference between golf and most other sports is that roughly 1 in 30 players/teams win a Championship each year while only 1 guy out of 125+ can win the Fed Ex Cup.  Put another way, 50 or so guys get a Super Bowl ring each year while there is only 1 Fed Ex Cup Champion (and as many as 4 major winners).  Other than the elite players, most are happy winning a regular event every couple of years and keeping their card, so nobody is going to say winning a major is not one of the ultimate goals.

[tristanhilton85]

The FedEx Cup is cool and it's becoming bigger and bigger each year but no, I don't see this happening. The majors will always be what is most important in golf. I think that if you ask any golfer what they would rather win, a major or the FedEx cup, the answer would be a major each time.

[JamesMorgan]

I cant see it to be honest, for me if i was asked if i could win one thing in golf it would be the Masters. But who knows.

[zipazoid]

Couple reasons why I don't ever see that happening -

First off, golf is an individual sport, and has a ton of tradition tied to it. The FedEx is a Johnny-come-lately attempt to put a finale on a season that never really seemed to end, which it has done quite well. And while the pros do seem to put importance on winning the FedEx Cup, I doubt if any Major winner would trade their green jacket or claret jug for one.

Secondly, the team sports were created with a championship finishing their season. From the first training camp or spring training day, the goal for every team is to win the championship. In other words, the leagues were constructed that way.

No, golf is too individualistic with too many long-standing championships to play a second fiddle to the FedEx Cup.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

Couple reasons why I don't ever see that happening -

First off, golf is an individual sport, and has a ton of tradition tied to it. The FedEx is a Johnny-come-lately attempt to put a finale on a season that never really seemed to end, which it has done quite well. And while the pros do seem to put importance on winning the FedEx Cup, I doubt if any Major winner would trade their green jacket or claret jug for one.

This.  I think the Fedex Cup is more important to the rank and file type player because of the financial aspect of it, and less important to the players that have HOF aspirations or who aspire to be considered the  best in the game.  Does anyone think that, if given a choice, e.g., Luke Donald would prefer a Fedex Cup win to a major win?

[Beachcomber]

I like the FedEx Cup... But don't ever see it being on par with winning a major.  At least not in my lifetime.  The biggest issue I see with the event is that it has a title sponsor name all over it.  Nothing against FedEx, but that is lame.  They should have put more of a formal name in place in my opinion... Then had the title sponsors name as a suffix.... Like The Links Cup, by FedEx.... or something like that.

[newtogolf]

Majors will always be more important than FedEx.  No one really cares about FedEx beyond the prize money, it doesn't come close in terms of prestige to winning a Major.

[iacas]

It won't happen - and again, the comparison to another sport fails because other sports don't award four championships each year.

[saevel25]

the fact that golf offers 4 majors a year is significant. The Fed-ex cup points is nice because its trying to make other Tourniments significant again. Which i get, and its actually nice. I don't mind the race for points at the end of the year, but when it comes down to it. A guy could win 5 fed ex championships in his career i bet he would give them up for one major. Its how the golfers are hardwired. Some of them even might make one major there primary. Maybe one would give up the british or the PGA championship if it meant they would have 1 US open title. Its all in perspective. But when it comes down to it, the majors are still the majors. There is no diminishing them.

[zipazoid]

At the risk of being redundant to my last post, we have to keep the FedEx Cup in perspective based on what it was trying to do - put a climactic END to the PGA Tour season, as opposed to what it was before - a series of 'who cares' events that just went on & on. Now, the season is over when the Tour Championship is played. A winner is crowned, go watch football. (which, btw, I thought was a stroke of genius - end the season right when NFL football is starting up)

So it has accomplished what it set out to do - extend interest in the Tour after the PGA Championship for about another month or so then end it with a nice elite (but not quite a Major) event.

Now, to assume the winner of the FedEx Cup to have accomplished on a par with winning a Major, I doubt it. To me, winning the FedEx Cup would be akin to winning the Vardon Trophy - it's a reward for consistent good play throughout the year. Heck, in theory you could win the FedEx without even winning a single tournament - just post a ton of top 10's.

So it has its place, for sure. But not the same level as the Majors.