Some ideas to improve the Playoff experience

text size

I have a t-shirt that says, "Calculus and alcohol don't mix ... never drink and derive." I am not exactly sure what that means. What I do know is that my math skills barely extend themselves to balancing a checkbook.

MORE MAGINNES

Archive

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

Give us your take on Facebook

GET UP TO DATE

Playoff standings

As a result, I have been seriously handicapped when trying to predict the movement in these PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Although PGATOUR.COM has done as good a job as humanly possible in keeping us up to the minute there have been occasions when I have been completely lost. I am not alone in this. The point structure is difficult to follow. If someone of reasonable intelligence who has studied this structure and covered nearly every event in the FedExCup era is struggling I can only imagine what the casual golf fan is thinking. One thing that everyone seems to understand, though, is that the guy who wins the Cup wins $10 million and that is still a lot of money.

The powers that be in Ponte Vedra have shown that they are willing to make changes and tweak this system to add an even greater level of excitement to what has already been an overwhelming success. There were adjustments from year one to year two to create more volatility and the first two events of the Playoffs showed a fascinating amount of movement among the 144 players who qualified through the Regular Season. Players -- especially those whose years heading into the Playoffs left something to be desired -- were able to make huge moves. Tim Herron, for example, was struggling to keep his job just a month ago. But after making the cut at The Barclays and finishing top five at the Deutsche Bank Championship, he was looking at a spot in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola rather than trying simply to move into the top 125 on the money list.

As might be expected, this type of volatility has caused dissent among some players and caddies. The most common complaint centers around how much movement there is in the first two events compared with the last two. Obviously with 36-hole cuts in the first two events there are going to be guys left out in the cold earning no points. The key to any potential change is maintaining the integrity of the Playoffs while making them more consistent throughout.

One of the suggestions from the driving range is for the Playoff events to have a graduated point system. In other words, The Barclays would have fewer points available than the Deutsche Bank Championship and the BMW Championship would have more than the second Playoff event. Obviously, THE TOUR Championship would have the most points -- it already does. This would not necessarily eliminate the possibility of someone winning the first two events, as Vijay Singh has done, and running away with the Cup but it would create more possibilities. Furthermore, it would protect the guys at the top a little bit more and keep them from lagging too far behind yet still create movement in the middle of the pack.

One thoughtful caddy suggested that the points system shouldn't be changed but that the top 40 players in the 70-man field at the BMW Championship should have to survive a 36-hole cut. This would allow for the same type of shake-up that we saw in the first two events. It's an interesting idea, to be sure.

As I walked down the driving range on Sunday morning players like Tommy Armour III and Bart Bryant knew exactly where they needed to finish to advance to THE TOUR Championship. Well, they didn't know exactly where they needed to finish but they did have a low number in mind that they thought would move them far enough up the leaderboard. Both asked for confirmation and I smiled and quietly agreed. The fact of the matter is that my projections are as useless as anyone else's. In the end 30 guys have advanced to Atlanta and Vijay has a commanding lead in points. Now if someone could just help me with these expense forms.

John Maginnes is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.