Outside The Cup Thinking

A couple of interesting FedEx Cup "tweak" pieces were recently posted offering some outside the box thoughts. First, Steve Elling at CBSSports.com says the Tour should maintain it's "Top-10 and you're in" rule during the playoffs, offers other suggestions and notes this on the marketing push:

Week one, day one, we asked Finchem if he believed the initial outrage expressed by fans and media when Woods skipped the FedEx opener was partly attributable to the saccharine series of FedEx ads that have bombarded fans all year long. He insisted the advertising blitz wasn't too "cheesy or hype-y" and that he received great feedback on the incessant TV campaign while attending the British Open. Well, those people like Benny Hill reruns, too. The cheese factor was so high in these ads, fans became lactose intolerant. The 2008 campaign must be seriously reigned in for credibility's sake alone.
Probably because I get impatient with the registration wall or sheer laziness, I missed this from the Augusta Chronicle's Scott Michaux, posted almost a month ago. 
FLAW: RELATIVE WORTH. Let's say Woods doesn't win the FedEx thingy. Does the PGA Tour really think he's not the season "champion" already having won five times, including a major and two WGC events, and blitzed the rest of the tour in the points and money lists. Who's the player of the year?

SOLUTION: Market the FedEx Cup for what it really is - a gimmick to add a little intrigue to what typically is a meaningless end of the season. Don't try to sell it as the definitive answer for a year's worth of effort. What works in team sports is simply contrived here.


FLAW: SHORT FIELDS. The PGA Tour borrowed from NASCAR's "Chase" for its format, but it missed the main point. In NASCAR's chase, every driver still races though only the chosen few are part of the Nextel Cup subplot. The PGA plan (which, to be fair, was foisted upon Finchem by the players) will winnow its field each week, which actually decreases the drama.

SOLUTION: Keep the fields full, bringing more variables into the tournament equation. There are already too many short field events on tour, and it limits competition. Limit the FedEx field within the field to the top 50 in the season-long points chase, reshuffle their points and let them try to play their way into the Tour Championship. To be eligible for the title, you have to play in all three events.