FedExCup: Will it deliver?
With the FedExCup at hand, PGA Tour anxiously awaits confirmation from fans tracking its new format.
As he made his way to the clubhouse at Cog Hill recently, 2006 Western Open champion Trevor Immelman was asked one simple question.
Do you and the rest of players actually understand all the intricacies involved in the FedExCup playoffs?
"Yes, absolutely," the young South African said without missing a beat. "We all know the rules."
Good, so that's about 300 professional golfers down and millions of golf fans to go for officials of the PGA Tour, which this week kicks off its inaugural playoff system, one that has many golf fans scratching their heads trying to figure out exactly what it's all about.
The basics are pretty easy to understand:
Each week on tour this years, players collected FedExCup points based on how high they finished in each regular-season event.
The top 144 in points advanced to a four-week "playoff," which begins today with The Barclays and culminates with the top 30 players competing at the Tour Championship next month in Atlanta to determine who takes home the $10 million bonus check as FedExCup champion.
Included in the four-week playoff is the BMW Championship on Sept. 6-9 at Cog Hill, where the top 70 players still standing will fight for the right to move on to Atlanta for the final event.
"I think there is a buzz in the locker room with regards to the point system and the playoffs," Immelman said. "Everybody wants to be a part of it.
"I think it's helped the PGA Tour, it's helped us as members, and I think it's helped everybody involved."
But how will the fans react to a PGA Tour event that is modeled after NASCAR's "Chase" when college and pro football are kicking off and the baseball pennant races are heating up?
To be determined.
"Obviously, we all knew that the events running up against the NFL was a bit of a struggle from a TV point of view," Immelman said. "We're all excited and looking forward to this first season unfolding.
"There are going to be little tweaks made here and there, but overall I think the system is a good one, and it's going to work for a long time."
Like in NASCAR, the points collected during the PGA Tour regular season have been reset for the playoffs.
So, Tiger Woods, who was first by a wide margin in the FedExCup points standings at the end of the regular season, heads into the playoffs with 100,000 points. Second place (Vijay Singh) begins with 99,000, third starts at 98,500 and so on down the line to the 144th player, who will begin with 84,700 points.
To the dismay of PGA Tour officials, Woods, already a lock to win player of the year honors, will skip this week's playoff event, though indications are he will play in the final three.
Since only 50,000 FedExCup points are awarded per playoff event (9,000 for first, 5,400 for second, 3,400 for third, etc.), Woods doesn't figure to lose too much ground. The 50,000 points awarded in the Tour Championship will be divided a little differently because of the smaller field.
In the first two playoff events -- The Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship -- there will be a 36-hole cut. Each of the four playoff events will feature a total purse of $7 million, with the winner taking $1.26 million.
In addition to the $10 million bonus for the overall Cup winner, the rest of the top 10 will receive healthy bonuses as well. The runner-up receives $3 million, the third-place finisher gets $2 million, and so on all the way down to the 10th-place player, who will pocket $500,000.
Got all that?
The PGA Tour is banking on it.
"Everything the PGA Tour has ever done has been a success," Immelman said. "I don't see why this wouldn't be."