FedEx Cup Playoffs 2012

Adiaga 2

Fedex Cup Playoffs start today with the Barclays Championship. They probably haven't captured the imagination of golf fans the way the PGA Tour had hoped but imo it can get pretty exciting towards the end, especially seeing players sqeeze in to the next event and others losing out. Big Irish interest this year too as I'm sure Rory would love to top the season off by winning this. And it's very important for Harrington too because a good run here would see him safely back in the owgr top 50 and therefore back on the WGC gravy train for next year.

Quick guide to how to progress...
The Barclays - Top 125 in the FedEx cup points
Deutsche Bank Championship - Top 100 (after The Barclays)
BMW Championship - Top 70 (after the Deutsche Bank Championship)
Tour Championship - Top 30 (after the BMW Championship)

The points available in the playoff events make it very possible for the guys lower down to climb very quickly and qualify for the next event. It's also easier for guys higher up to drop down and out of the Top 30 for Tour Championship if they don't perform. (all the info here)

abff

I find the play offs fascinating. After a couple of false starts, I think they have the scoring for the playoffs just right.

Applying a factor of 5 for the first 3 events and a re-ranking that allows the top 5 to be sure of winning the Fedex Cup if they win the Tour Championship is a good balance.

Adiaga 2

Agree. The tweaks they made to the playoffs in 2009 have worked out great. It's really interesting seeing the fight to get into top 5 over the first three events. Then you have the toing and froing at the other end to stay in. As things stand PH would go to no. 1(from no. 60) - very early days though.

ssbob

I find the playoffs rankings to be bullsh1t. It does not reward consistency over a full season, it rewards the guys who peak in the fall season.

Race 2 Dubai is much fairer imo in rewarding guys who have had good money earning seasons, it does favour the guys who are in WGC & Majors but that's where you need to strive to be at!

Adiaga 2

I disagree. Consistency is rewarded with the fedex cup. If you have a really standout season leading up to the playoff series then chances are you will still make it through to at least the BMW(if not the tour championship) even if you have a nightmare in the playoff events. The only iffy winner so far has been Bill Haas. I just think it's exciting as a fan and it's different for golf.

The R2D is seriously flawed too. The main reason is the huge disparity in prize money from tournament to tournament on the European Tour. Even if you take 2 big events for example the French Open and Dubai Desert Classic, there's a 30%+ difference in prize money. If you look at other events the difference is even starker. It's not like this on the pgatour(apart maybe with some of the events that run concurrently with majors or wgc's). For the R2D to be fair then there needs to be more parity in prize funds but it won't happen. It's always been like that in Europe but it's even worse now with WGCs and then the dwindling prize funds in regular European tournaments.

What the ET needs to do imo is move to a points system. I read recently that the pgatour was moving away from the money list altogether and using the fedex points to determine a player's rank and postion on tour. This is a positive move imo. What other sport uses money to rank players the way golf has? Not many.

ssbob

Adiaga 2 wrote: »

I disagree. Consistency is rewarded with the fedex cup. If you have a really standout season leading up to the playoff series then chances are you will still make it through to at least the BMW(if not the tour championship) even if you have a nightmare in the playoff events. The only iffy winner so far has been Bill Haas. I just think it's exciting as a fan and it's different for golf.

Agree that it is different and exciting but Bill Haas going in at 22 to the playoffs won the Tour Championship and got the bonus pool, case and point there! I just think it should be fairer in that perhaps the points available should not be double a regular season event.

Adiaga 2 wrote: »

The R2D is seriously flawed too. The main reason is the huge disparity in prize money from tournament to tournament on the European Tour. Even if you take 2 big events for example the French Open and Dubai Desert Classic, there's a 30%+ difference in prize money. If you look at other events the difference is even starker. It's not like this on the pgatour(apart maybe with some of the events that run concurrently with majors or wgc's). For the R2D to be fair then there needs to be more parity in prize funds but it won't happen. It's always been like that in Europe but it's even worse now with WGCs and then the dwindling prize funds in regular European tournaments.
What the ET needs to do imo is move to a points system. I read recently that the pgatour was moving away from the money list altogether and using the fedex points to determine a player's rank and postion on tour. This is a positive move imo. What other sport uses money to rank players the way golf has? Not many.

Fair point re RTD and possibly a points system would reward players better but then it's all about what sponsors want at the end of the day!

Fighting Irish

So who are we backing? I got tiger at 14/1

ssbob

Personally don't think Tiger will win. I fancy Dustin Johnson to find form but the smaller the fields get, Rory is not going to be too far away. Great win for Nick Watney last week.

big_drive

Is this weeks tournament Friday-Monday?

ssbob

big_drive wrote: »

Is this weeks tournament Friday-Monday?

Yes it's labour day in the US on Monday so they have a bank holiday weekend!

Strange though because the BMW is starting next Thursday then!

abff

ssbob wrote: »

Yes it's labour day in the US on Monday so they have a bank holiday weekend!

That explains why I couldn't get any score updates this afternoon!

I agree that it doesn't give much turnaround time until the next event. How far do they have to travel?

Adiaga 2

From an Irish perspective, Rory is safe for the tour championship and McDowell should be safe for the BMW. If PH makes the cut that should be enough to see him through to next week too but it's all about getting into the top 30. (No cuts to worry about after this week either.) Loads of owgr points available too especially with Harrington looking to climb back into the top 50.

Some big names around the bubble for this week include Charl Schwartzel, Jonathon Byrd and Aaron Baddeley.

abff, it's a trip to Indiana next and Crooked Stick where John Daly burst onto the scene winning the PGA in '91.

ssbob

abff wrote: »

That explains why I couldn't get any score updates this afternoon!

I agree that it doesn't give much turnaround time until the next event. How far do they have to travel?

Close to 1,000 miles as this week they are playing in Boston while next week they are playing in Indianapolis, it's roughly a 16hr drive for those who are driving but I would imagine the BMW are prob chartering a plane for the pro's. God help the caddies:D

blockic

The Scenarios for each of the 30 players in order to win the cup are below...and more importantly...the 10 mill!

Makes it a bit more straight forward :rolleyes:

FedEx Cup Scenarios