CBS Sports’s Steve Elling breaks down the new changes to the FedEx Cup, where the top 5 control their own destiny, the next five have a great chance to win, and the last 20 have a shot if they win and players around them falter.
From the article:
“After two seasons of not-so-grand finales in which the top $10 million bonus was all but clinched before the final FedEx Cup tournament was staged, next September’s finale at the Tour Championship in Atlanta will finally decide the windfall.
“There’s 100 percent certainty the winner won’t be known until after we arrive in Atlanta,” said tour official Steve Dennis, one of the program architects.
Because both the regular-season and series points distribution have been re-jiggered, every player that makes the 30-man field in Atlanta has a chance of winning — although not everybody’s odds will be equal. This time, seasonal point totals will be reset three weeks later than in 2008, just before the big-money Atlanta sprint is contested. On your mark, reset, go.
Next time, the top five in points after the Atlanta reset control their own fate and each is ensured the $10 million bonus if they win at East Lake Golf Club. The next five have a terrific chance, Dennis said, depending on where the players ranked ahead of them in points finish for the week, while the remaining 20 have lesser odds and need help from those seeded ahead of them.”
Look for my Golf Observer piece on what YOU, the FANS think of the FedEx Cup soon. Teaser: 86% of serious golf fans say they didn’t like it. The good thing about the quick fix? Now the Tour Championship finally means something, even if it’s just money and an ugly still-never-been-kissed-cup. I hear it’s actually now a tradition in and of itself: to NOT kiss the Cup, it’s bad luck. After all, look what happened to Tiger’s leg!
