FedEx Cup, playoffs etc,

[birdieman]

Can someone please explain the FedEx Cup and playoffs in the US. I have no idea how it all works, how you get in it, what you win etc etc and frankly cant be bothered to try and find out myself when someone here can tell me!
Thanks in advance
Birdieman

 

[John_Findlay]

Birdieman, it's far too complex. I asked a bookie for odds the other day and he didn't even know the format, but here's the official party line from the PGA Tour;-

http://www.pgatour.com/2006/fedexcup/12/29/fan_guide/

 

[shanker]

Boo Weekly says he can't understand it, either.

 

[John_Findlay]

There's a shock !

Good old Boo. Nice guy. Wrong planet.

 

[madandra]

Does the winner not get $5m?
Well as it is the FedEx the winner will get a knock on their door at 06:45 on the Monday morning to sign on a computery thingy that makes you signature look like Abu Hamzas and then they will be presented with the cheque.

 

[birdieman]

Thanks for the link John, all I gathered from it was that the winner gets $10 million......sweet!
Its like a regular season for 30 odd events, you accumulate points as per the money list with extra points for majors, then for the last 4 events there is a knockout of sorts whittling the players down event by event to 30 from 144 for the final tour championship. What I cant get my head round is you have all this points accumulation which in the end is ignored and it comes down to 4 rounds in the last event (the Tour Championship) to decide who wins the Cup and the $10mill. You could go into the Tour championship in 30th place and still beat the guy in 1st place if you string 4 decent rounds together?
Strewth - This is more complicated than 321 with Ted Rodgers and Dusty Bin!

 

[birdieman]

I've got this wrong I think. It is a league basis right to the end with the player who has accumulated the most points over the whole season who wins -right?

 

[Steve_V]

I've got this wrong I think. It is a league basis right to the end with the player who has accumulated the most points over the whole season who wins -right?

You're right, you're wrong!

The points over the season only determines who gets in, thats the 'top' 144 players for the first event. Now it gets tricky They re-set the points before The Barclays so that Tiger can't just not play in any of them and still win, based on his enormous lead. Basically it makes things more competitive. For the next tournament the field is reduced to the top 120 points scorers after The Barclays, then when the Deutsche Bank is over the remaining 70 highest points scorers play in the BMW Classic to reduce the field to 30 for the Tour Championship.

The thing about the points system is that if you finished high up during the season your reward is its tough to get knocked out early. That's why Vijay is playing this week even though he missed the cut at he Barclays and why Tiger is still 5th in the rankings despite not even turning up. On the other hand Rich Beem had to hole a ten footer on the last hole to make sure he scraped into the next one.

I think this WILL work when they make it a bit simpler to understand.

By the way, the 10 million dollars is paid out as an annuity over 20 years so it's not quite as exciting as you might think!

 

[John_Findlay]

Correct. You still have to be pretty highly placed in the last 30 to realistically stand a chance of actually winning the Cup and the $10m bonus during the last tourny. I just couldn't get my head round why Tiger didn't play in the first play-off tournament last week until I realised it's still basically a points accumulation exercise and he was top at the time. He obviously thinks he'll play consistently better than everyone else in the next 3.

 

[Steve_V]

John, I think Tiger is basically a shoe-in for the whole thing. Given that he just plays somewhere near his best , he has a great record at the Deutsche Bank anyway and Cog Hill(where they played the Western Open for years)should suit him for the BMW. He could probably just put in 4 token rounds at the Tour Championship to win.

K J Choi is probably best placed to challenge him, although if Stricker wins again all bets are off!

 

[Steve_V]

Tiger currently 3 over after 4 holes..like I said, a shoe-in

 

[viscount17]

Don't know about the rest of you but I'm dead against feather bedding in all sports. No seeding - an open draw every time.
The Fed-Ex is supposed to be played over four matches but if you feel too-tired or can't be bothered you can drop out then come back in again when you feel like it. (Tiger the first match, Ernie this - at least Choi is genuinely injured.)
The way the scoring works, with 9000 points for winning, you could be in the top 30 for the final match and still have no chance what-so-ever of finishing in the top 10.

Play it as a four-match knock-out next year?

 

[birdieman]

It means that there is now a big onus on staying and playing in the US September when previously players were winding down after the last Major and some of the US players would come over to Europe etc.
How will the FedEx tie in with Ryder Cup next year?
I think the FedEx will also further weaken the HSBC World Matchplay at Wentworth. From being a top event many years ago it is now very much second rate - if you cant get Mr Woods in it it's a fairly hollow title, is it not?

 

[rgs]

Its a load of pish-my understanding is that the prize of $10m is a pension paid when the player is 62. How is the caddie to get paid?

it may only get exciting for the next event when the field for the Tour Championship is reduced from 70 to 30-players placed between 25-30 could be bumped out if they underperform-currently the likes of Toms, Harrington, Rose, Cink could be in trouble as they missed the cut this week and will fall down a few places-they will need a good week next week to make the tour championship.

 

[furyk_or_unique]

Is it just me, or does the huge amount of money being proferred to already extremely rich people just leave you feeling a bit cold about it all?

I have absolutely no interest in it whatsoever and will be diverting my attention away to the European Tour where if you finish 50th you basically pick up a quarter of the average worker's salary rather than enough to retire on!

Bah!! Humbug!!

 

[John_Findlay]

It's losing the sparkle for me already!

No Mickelson in the 3rd play-off tournament !? Is he just super confident of his points lead or lazy? He could have secured the Fed-Ex Cup this week and taken the rest of the year off. Well, I suppose it'll make the final tournament a bit more exciting.

Also, this idea of the deferred payment of the $10m bonus is odd. It's like your boss asking you to work next week for triple wages but saying he'll pay you in 10 years time. Oh....form a queue! I'm so excited.

 

[Steve_V]

It's losing the sparkle for me already!

No Mickelson in the 3rd play-off tournament !? Is he just super confident of his points lead or lazy? He could have secured the Fed-Ex Cup this week and taken the rest of the year off. Well, I suppose it'll make the final tournament a bit more exciting.

Also, this idea of the deferred payment of the $10m bonus is odd. It's like your boss asking you to work next week for triple wages but saying he'll pay you in 10 years time. Oh....form a queue! I'm so excited.

The whole ten million dollar thing was just part of the publicity stunt that the US PGA had to pull to try and raise some interest in the event. Really,it doesn't matter how much money the winner gets, its who's playing that counts, and sadly in this era that boils down to whether or not one man in particular turns up.

Look at the 'joke' events in December, the various skin games and shootouts have incredible prizemoney but NOBODY gives a toss who wins, because they aren't 'real' golf for want of a better description. At least the Fed Ex cup is played under normal rules.