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What will the new
FedEx Tournament look like?
The
PGA Tour has begun the new FedEx Cup season and
points have already started to accumulate. In the
past, the money list was used to determine the top
player. The top earner was the king of golf but
didn’t really have a specific title. Now the top
position will be decided through a point system.
Points will be accrued from tournaments that run
from January through September when the final
championship tournament will be played.
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The
idea is that this FedEx Cup season will build
excitement among the fans, media, and sponsors and
will put some spice into a sport that has seen less
than stellar ratings in past few years. Almost
every other sport has a playoff setup and now golf
is no exception. The top 144 point earners will be
eligible for the final four FedEx Cup playoff
events. The players will be whittled down from 144
to 120 to 70 to 30. One of the player’s main
concerns was a tight competition that was available
only to the best of the best. Well, now they’ve got
it with only 30 players at the final championship
tournament. And the top points earner will win the
PGA trophy for the first time this year. |
The
idea behind this format is that it will be more
exciting to the audience, will be more beneficial to
sponsors in that they will receive more exposure for
their brand (i.e. FedEx Cup), and of course, it will
make for more exciting television. There have been
problems with the televised coverage of past
events. The coverage was not very good and was not
watched by the number of people they would have
liked.
Despite the fact that the changes were created for
almost everyone besides those actually
participating, most players are pleased with the new
format. Davis Love, III is on the committee that
created this competition and he feels confident that
this will be, in the end, a better format for the
PGA Tour. The PGA Tour knows that there will be
problems that crop up along the way that need to be
ironed out but that is true with any new venture.
And time will tell us if this new format is truly a
success.
The
upcoming FedEx Cup season promises to be an exciting
one. Statistically, anything can happen.
Realistically, you will most likely see the same top
3 battling it out for the trophy, but maybe we’ll
actually see a battle rather than Tiger sweeping it
all. This is an opportunity to truly bring
competition back to the sport. We can’t wait to see
how it all unfolds!
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