PGA Tour's new FedEx Cup format reduces playoffs' 'rags-to-riches' appeal

November 28, 7:57 PMGolf ExaminerDave Seanor

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Tour czar made a tradeoff. (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Thanksgiving took on new meaning for PGA Tour player Martin Laird, who grew up in Scotland but presumably learned about the American holiday during his years at Colorado State.

After feasting on the FedEx Cup late this summer, Laird has to be thankful the Tour’s playoff scheme has been a work in progress. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made it to the table, much less have enjoyed any FedEx bounty.

Laird came nowhere near claiming the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus, but he was nonetheless a big-time beneficiary in Year 2 of the playoffs. Laird, 26, was a rookie who had earned his Tour card via the Nationwide Tour. He banked $325,620 in the first three FedEx Cup playoff events, thanks mostly to a tie for seventh at The Barclays. Laird went on to claim No. 125 on the 2008 money list, keeping his status by a whisker.

That wouldn’t have happened under the revised FedEx format announced by PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem two days before Thanksgiving. Among the changes is a reduction in field sizes for the first two playoff tournaments, and Laird would have been among the 19 odd men out at The Barclays, which begins the four-tournament playoff series. Subtract his and the others’ FedEx earnings, and Laird would have finished 142^nd on the money list. Instead of mapping out his 2009 Tour schedule, he’d be prepping for Q-School.

No question, the latest round of FedEx Cup tweaks figures to accomplish the goal of creating playoff suspense after the majors. On the downside, it diminishes the FedEx playoffs’ rags-to-riches potential.

Here are the changes:

• The reset of accumulated FedEx Cup points, or reseeding of the field, won’t occur until after the third playoff event, the BMW Championship. Thus points earned during the regular season will be carried through until the Tour Championship. The change was made to give players more incentive to perform well (and for the marquee names to play more often) during the regular season, knowing that their efforts will continue to have weight once the playoffs begin. (Points were reset before The Barclays in 2008.)

• Points awarded in the playoff tournaments will quadruple in value relative to regular season events.  In order to make the system more understandable to the public, the points system was streamlined. First place in a regular season event will be worth 500 FedEx Cup points; 70^th place will be worth 1 point. (In 2008, tournament winners received 4,500 FedEx Cup points; 85^th place earned 42.5.)

• Playoff field sizes have been reduced to 125 at The Barclays (from 144 in 2008) and 100 at the Deutsche Bank Championship (from120). Fields at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship remain at 70 and 30, respectively.

Bottom line, the changes were made to ensure that anyone who qualifies for the Tour Championship has a mathematical chance of winning the FedEx Cup. (Meaning the 30^th seed could win the Tour Championship but he would take the Cup only if the No. 1 seed finished last.) Moving forward, the FedEx winner will have to do more than just show up for the Tour Championship, as was the case this year with Vijay Singh.

But the bottom line for 19 players is a lost opportunity.

That will be a sore spot for some, because the Tour’s mandate is to provide as many playing opportunities as possible for its members. That can be problematic for rookies and assorted bottom feeders, those who are low in the pecking order of qualification categories. For them, every start can mean the difference between keeping a PGA Tour card and falling back to the developmental circuit.

Apparently the smaller Barclay’s field wasn’t an issue for the Tour’s Policy Board, which voted unanimously to OK the format revisions. No doubt they were told the Barclay’s reduction isn’t likely to have a significant impact on the fields for Fall Finish events or next year’s final money list

Laird notwithstanding, that’s probably correct. Of the 19 players who would have missed the ’08 Barclays under the new format, 11 still finished outside the Top 125 even though they were eligible for The Barclays. (Six of them cashed playoff checks; four missed The Barclays cut; one didn’t play because of injury.)  The Gang of 19 made a combined 105 starts out of a possible 133 in the seven Fall Finish tournaments, which exist to provide adequate opportunities for the entire Tour membership. And that figure skewed low because Roland Thatcher was injured and didn’t compete in any FedEx playoff or Fall Finish events, and Angel Cabrera, who’s exempt thanks to his 2007 U.S. Open victory, skipped Fall Finish.

Among the eight odd men out who finished inside the Top 125, Tim Herron and Jeff Overton were the only ones besides Laird who without FedEx playoff money would have been in serious jeopardy of losing their Tour cards. Herron finished 94^th on the money list, but without the $350,800 he earned in three playoff starts, he would have replaced Laird at No. 125. Overton was 118^th on the money list, but without the $41,370 he earned in two FedEx playoff events, he would have dropped to No. 122.

Of course, had Herron been “on the bubble” he likely would have played more than four Fall Finish tournaments. The Fall Finish performances among the other 18, had they been deprived playoff starts, are pure conjecture, as well.

In a reconfigured Top 125 money list based solely on subtracting playoff earnings from Nos. 126-144 on the FedEx points list, Shane Bertsch and Bob Estes would have moved into the Top 125, replacing Laird and Cabrera. Here’s a closer look at the possible implications for the 19 players, listed according to FedEx points standings, who would have been odd men out this year under the new FedEx Cup format:

Player              $ Rank             Playoff starts / $       Fall  starts / $            Rank                                                                                                                  w/out playoff $

Tim Petrovic       107 / $958,577          2 / $54,600        7 / $300,540             112

Jason Day          136 / $767,393          2 / $55,800        7 / $176,659             138

Martin Laird        125 / $852,752          3 / $235,620      7 / $127,033            142

Joe Durant          129 / $802,568          1 / MC                 6 / $283,330            127

Jason Gore         134 / $779,664          1 / MC                 7 / $231,970            132

Angel Cabrera   122 / $868,182          3 / $258,323       0 / 0                           143

Ryan Palmer         68 / $1,453,183       2 / $31,150         5 / $910,350              73

Tim Herron             94 / $1,164,999       3 / $350,800      4 / $289,475            125

Michael Allen       106 / $981,263          2 / $63,210        6 / $412,917            109

JJ Henry                111 / $931,162          2 / $64,330        7 / $397,562            119

Frank Lickliter       149 / $548,113          2 / $28,840        7 / $59,374              150

Jon Mills                 154 / $489,510         1 /  MC                7 /  0                          153

Chris DiMarco       146 / $590,744         1 /  MC                6 / $163,779            145

Jesper Parnevik    143 / $635,819         2 / $91,600        7 / $105,879            148

Roland Thatcher   161 / $445,212           0 / 0                   0 / 0                           160

Justin Bolli              158  / $458,022          2 / $29,440      6 / $39,080              164

Jeff Overton            118  / $890,489           2 / $41,370     6 / $434,966            122

Glen  Day                165  / $435,263          2 / $55,400      4 / $9,200                168

Lee Janzen             152  / $500,155          2 / $17,400      6 /  $108,014          154

Note: Palmer won the Ginn sur Mer Classic Fall Finish event.