The dream prize, or just another piece of silverware?
Likewise Harrington had to alter his program, in his case canceling a family vacation to the Bahamas, in order to tee it up. "It was a tough decision to make as we had all been looking forward to a holiday," he said, "but I want to play in the play-offs."
After his victory at the Greenbrier Classic, the first of his career, 26-year-old Scott Stallings raised a few eyebrows when he commented on what the win meant to him. "To be honest, I'm more excited about the FedEx Cup than I am the money," he said. For a young man who had just pocketed a check for $1.08million, the remark was unexpected to say the least. Yes, his enthusiasm for virtually assuring himself a spot in the first two playoff tournaments probably had more to do with qualifying for next week's event in Boston, close to where he grew up, than it did any great love for the FedEx Cup itself, but still; what would you be thinking about?
At the conclusion of last year's Tour Championship, with rain pouring down on to the 18th green at East Lake GC in Atlanta, Jim Furyk holed a short par putt that assured him not only of victory in the tournament but also the FedEx Cup and, most probably, Player of the Year honors. He threw his putter down, turned, and punched the air with gusto and a fierceness (below left) we seldom see from the usually stoic veteran.
On Wednesday evening's Grey Goose 19th Hole on the Golf Channel, John Hawkins, who has hardly been the FedEx Cup's biggest champion since it was introduced in 2007 - "The harder Camp Ponte Vedra tries to make this thing interesting, or at least slightly suspenseful, the bigger mess it becomes," he wrote in Golf World in 2009 - said he was genuinely excited about this year's playoffs.
A change of schedule here, a press conference quote from an excited rookie there, a fist pump here, and a journalist/analyst's about-turn there; no one has come right out and said the FedEx Cup is brilliant and how much they love it, but over the last twelve months we've seen and heard a lot less condemnation of, and even a little love for, the FedEx Cup. Check that, it certainly isn't love, more a reluctant approval, a whispered commendation. Whatever it is, the FedEx Cup isn't the target for abuse it once was.
The FedEx Cup had no Honeymoon period. It was lambasted from the start. The points system was excessively complex and, as it turned out, completely illogical; the schedule was all over the place; the courses weren't great; the Tour's marketing of the year-long points race and season-end playoffs was a little over the top and, ultimately, extremely annoying; the top players took weeks off knowing they had enough points to maintain their position even when absent; and the $10million prize that went to the winner would not be paid in the form of a suitably enormous check, nor would it be pushed out to the awards ceremony in a wheelbarrow. The cash wouldn't be stacked up on a table next to the 1st tee on Sunday afternoon, nor would it be parachuted down from the blimp hovering above the course. No, it was to be an annuity the winner wouldn't be able to access until he reached the age of 45, or retired, whichever came later. An annuity...it just sounded dull.
Most un-Furyk-like.
But the Tour, and Tim Finchem specifically, has taken the criticism and shown a creditable persistence. The system isn't perfect, never will be, and we shouldn't expect it to be. I grew up watching football (soccer) in Britain where there was a season (Premier League, Championship, etc) much like the MLS's but without the playoffs at the end, and a separate knockout competition (FA Cup) which was a bit like matchplay (one defeat and you're out). So I wasn't familiar with football (American version), baseball, Nascar, or hockey and their playoff formats. Looking at them now, each sport's system appears to have weaknesses, and the only reason they work and are accepted is largely because they have been in place for decades - history and tradition have a way of concealing shortcomings.
Last year, Furyk said that in 40 years' time the FedEx Cup will have accumulated a lot of history, implying that it will mean a great deal more then than it does now - more than just a lot of money, and the potential to qualify for big events the following year and therefore make a lot more money.
He's right, it will. So even though I, like most people, still have reservations about the FedEx Cup, I'm happy to accept it is now part of the game. I just wish they'd make the points system a little less convoluted. And a winner-take-all matchplay final wouldn't hurt either.
Current standings here.
Playoff Schedule
The Barclays - Plainfield CC, August 25th -28th.
Deutsche Bank Championship - TPC Boston, September 2nd - 5th.
One week gap
BMW Championship - Cog Hill, September 15th - 18th.
Tour Championship - East Lake GC, September 22nd - 25th.
