The third event of this year's Fed Ex Cup Playoffs will begin Thursday at Cog Hill outside of Chicago. The 70 top players on the point list are all in the field which for some is a nice bonus to a good season, an event without a cut. For others, they try to move on to the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
So I ask everyone. What do you think of this format in its 5th year? How can we make it better? I'm all for the PGA Tour trying to get creative in creating some buzz in and attempting to find a PGA Tour champion if you will but let's be honest, these events lack the buzz and excitement that many PGA Tour events have with a point system that no one can figure out. Also, I don't like the smaller fields for the Duetsche Bank and Cog Hill events. You are taking spots away from guys trying to keep their card. The fall finish events could still be there as well.
What I would like to see as a playoff event is match play. Let the top 128 on the point list battle it out in a March Madness type match play event. The World Golf Championship match play event in February is one of my favorite events to watch and the PGA Tour needs more match play in my opinion. Here is how I would set it up, not that I know what I'm talking about but here it goes:
Have four brackets. Call them whatever the hell you want, who cares. Have a bracket of 32 players each, playing at 4 different courses at the same time across the country. The first week, three matches per player (assuming they win each matchup) will be played. That will cut the field to 16. Four brackets of four will then remain. The matches in the 2nd weekend will be best 2 out of 3 series with the 3 round of a match being played the same day as the 2nd. The winner of each bracket will then meet as the PGA Tour's version of the final 4 and a play a best 2 of 3 series until we have a winner.
Yes this is flawed and it would be a nightmare for television coverage. But some sort of match play drawn out in this setting would be very fun and exciting. Also, make it prime time so everyone can get to see the PGA Tour's best playing match play for a $10 million dollar prize.
