August 31 — It’s no Super Bowl. It’s definitely not the World Series. It’s not even March Madness. Golf fans know that most of the world’s best will tee it up at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston this week, but it’s a pretty safe bet that few know — or care — that Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, et al will vie in the second of four rounds of professional golf’s FedEx Cup playoffs.
Playoffs? Playoffs?! Yes, Jim Mora, playoffs. And by playoffs, the tour does not mean win-or-go-home elimination competition like your standard sudden-death showdowns in football, baseball, or basketball. Instead, the PGA Tour uses a tricked-up points system that no one really understands and that allows golfers to accrue points during the entire season.
Because players keep the points they won during the regular season throughout the four-playoff series, Mickelson can miss the cut at last week’s Barclays and still have 895 more points than Woods, who finished tied for 12th in the first stage of the so-called playoffs.
Simple math. The basics of the playoffs are simple enough. The top 125 on the FedEx Cup points list make it to The Barclays, played last week at New Jersey’s Ridgewood Country Club. The top 100 then move to TPC Boston and the Deutsche Bank Championship over Labor Day weekend.
After Boston, the lowest-scoring 70 players advance to the BMW Championship at Chicago’s Cog Hill, and the 30 with the most points after that tee it up at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The winner takes home a $10 million first prize, with the others in the final round earning bonuses as well.
For sure, it’s that over-sized check at the end that has captured the interest of the golfers. Here’s one guess that the players could care less what the PGA Tour wants to call the whole thing as long as they have a chance at the huge payoff.
Click here if you just have to know more about the PGA Tour’s confusing and rather anti-climactic playoff scheme.
Playoff tweaking. The PGA changed the system in 2009 to encourage a tad more excitement than it had generated since its inception in 2007. In 2008, for example, Vijay Singh won the first two tourneys and essentially had to roll his golf ball onto the first tee for the next two to win the FedEx Cup and the $10 million purse.
The new arrangement worked out as planned last year, when Heath Slocum entered the playoffs in 122nd place and won The Barclays. Steve Stricker took the Deutsche Bank tourney and held the top spot until Woods knocked him off the No. 1 perch with a win at the BMW.
Awk. Ward. And who can forget that wonderfully awkward moment when Mickelson collected his trophy for winning the final Tour Championship event, but Woods hoisted the much bigger FedEx Cup and paycheck?
Oh, and the playoffs don’t even end the season for PGA Tour pros; golfers will continue to play in such far-flung venues as Mississippi, California, Nevada, and Florida. And, of course, the Ryder Cup.
The Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship it is not, and golf fans could care less about all that FedEx Cup playoff hoopla. This week, however, Tiger, Lefty, and a whole crew of young guns will duke it out in New England golfers’ backyard. With the Red Sox tanking and the New England Patriots a week away from opening their season, the tour could not have picked a better time to cruise into Boston.
Will they or won’t they? Deutsche Bank officials deny they have decided not to return as title sponsor of the Boston tourney next year.
“Any report that Deutsche Bank has stepped aside as title sponsor of the Deutsche Bank Championship is false,” Ted Meyer, communications honcho for Deutsche Bank Americas, posted on the New England Golf Monthly website. “Deutsche Bank is in discussions to exercise its two-year extension option for the title sponsorship. Talks are ongoing, but we are optimistic we will reach an agreement and expect to make an announcement this week.”
Meyer’s comment was in response to an NEGM article that stated EMC would take over the TPC Boston event starting next year. “We look forward to another fantastic event this week, and in the years to come,” Meyer said.
Deutsche Bank Americas chief executive Seth Waugh has promised to make his institution’s plans public this week, sometime after knocking the ball around with Woods in Thursday’s pro-am. Stay tuned….
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out at the Boston Golf Examiner and National Golf Examiner websites.)
Related posts:
- Deutsche Bank Championship: Tiger Woods in, looks beyond Boston
- Future of Deutsche Bank Championship hinges on new golf deal and Tiger Woods
- Tiger Woods needs strong play at Barclays golf tourney to advance to Deutsche Bank Championship
- Deutsche Bank to Launch US Veterans Outreach Program Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Dennis McCarthy, PGA TOUR Pro Steve Stricker and Deutsche Bank Americas CEO Seth Waugh to Ring The Opening BellSM
- THE DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP
