Fixing the FedEx Cup Playoffs

Are the FedEx Cup Playoffs broken?

That’s a difficult question to answer, because the format over the last two years is much improved. However, it is hard not to feel like the Tour Championship lacks a little bit of drama and there is still room for improvement.

In years past, the season long points race was used to determine the winner of the FedEx Cup. Under this system, only a handful of guys at the Tour Championship actually had a chance to win the $10 million dollars. In order to solve this issue, the PGA Tour decided to revamp the format for the Tour Championship, starting with last years event.

Beginning last year, the PGA Tour employed a weighted leaderboard to start the event. What does that mean?

At the Tour Championship, the leader of the tournament starts the week at ten under par. From there, every other player in the field starts a predetermined number of shots off of the lead based on the number of FedEx cups point they have earned throughout the year. For simplicity here is how the leaderboard looks to start this week.

Tour Championship Leaderboard

Player Name	Score
Dustin Johnson	-10
Jon Rahm	-8
Justin Thomas	-7
Webb Simpson	-6
Collin Morikawa	-5
Daniel Berger	-4
Harris English	-4
Bryson Dechambeau	-4
Sungjae Im	-4
Hideki Matsuyama	-4
Brendon Todd	-3
Rory McIlroy	-3
Partick Reed	-3
Xander Schauffele	-3
Sebastian Munoz	-3
Lanto Griffin	-2
Scottie Scheffler	-2
Joaquin Niemann	-2
Tyrell Hatton	-2
Tony Fianu	-2
Kevin Kisner	-1
Abraham Ancer	-1
Ryan Palmer	-1
Kevin Na	-1
Marc Leishman	-1
Cameron Smith	E
Viktor Hovland	E
Mackenzie Hughes	E
Cameron Champ	E
Billy Horschel	E

As you can see from the graphic above, all the players in the field are not starting on level terms. This event is unique in that the leader board is already set before a single player ever hits a shot. The format is similar to a NASCAR race, where you have two lead cars, and then several rows behind them. In this case, Dustin Johnson is the lead car, and everyone else is chasing him.

Does the new Tour Championship format work?

In years past, you could win the Tour Championship, but fail to win the FedEx Cup. With this new format, who ever wins the Tour Championship, is also the winner of the FedEx Cup. The new format makes the event much easier to follow. Instead of two different events occurring simultaneously, now both events are determined by one outcome of the tournament. Winner take all.

That all sounds great doesn’t?

Well, for the most part, I think this new format makes a lot sense. However, I still feel like roughly half of the field has no chance of winning this thing. The players starting in the bottom half of the 30 man field start at anywhere from eight to ten shots off of the lead. For those guys, the week is just a nice big money grab. With every player in the field guaranteed at least $400k it is hard to feel bad for anyone involved, but I couldn’t imagine making it to the last event of the season with my chances to win being slim to none.

If the PGA Tour wants to make this event a slam dunk, I think every player in the field should have a legitimate chance to win. Right now, that is simply not the case.

Diaper Money

Who knows, maybe this week I will get proven wrong and someone starting at three under will win this thing. If I had to pick one guy to make a run coming from the group sitting at three under, I would say Rory McIlroy.

As a new dad, $10 million dollars is a lot of diaper money, so here’s looking at you Rory. Could he be up for the repeat this weekend? We’ll all find out by Monday.

Enjoy the golf everyone and as always,

Enjoy the chase!