Normal PGA Tour playoffs are important on a number of levels, one of the major ones being financial improvement. A guy winning a playoff normally pockets around a million bucks, along with an extended exemption of at least two years. But what if a playoff were worth $11.35 million? That's what could happen this week at the Tour Championship.
For all the complaining from the players and the media about the continued project that is the FedEx Cup, one thing's for sure -- the third year has been a lot smoother than the previous two. We've had a random winner (Heath Slocum) toss himself in the mix. We've had the Zeus of the golf world (Tiger Woods) put himself in his rightful position atop the standings, but with a decent shot of not winning if someone else were to win the Tour Championship.
For all the good, there is still some uncertainty in the system, with one of those possibilities coming to light this week -- the FedEx Cup could end, on Sunday at East Lake, with two potential playoffs.
The complaints that have always lingered around the FedEx Cup is that it's, plainly, too darn confusing. Nobody totally grasps what's going on, and the point systems and re-rankings have caused even the casual golf fans to turn their heads to something else. Now, if two players were tied at the top of the leaderboard for the Tour Championship and, say Tiger Woods finished 17th and Angel Cabrera ended up winning the first playoff, they'd have to play another one to see who claims the third FedEx Cup.
Obviously, just like with any PGA TOUR event, a sudden-death playoff for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola will be held if two or more players share the lead after 72 holes. That's what happened last year at East Lake when Camilo Villegas beat Sergio Garcia with a par on the first extra holeThe possibilites for this happening are plentiful. Hunter Mahan could win this week with Tiger finishing 15th, and that would force a playoff. As the PGA Tour article points out, "There could even be a four-way tie for first if Stewart Cink wins the Tour Championship and Woods finishes 21st, Steve Stricker sixth and Jim Furyk fourth."
And if there are two or more players tied for the FedExCup points lead after 72 holes, another sudden-death playoff will be held.
In both situations, the playoff will start at the par-3 18th hole. If another hole is needed, the 17th will be used and then the progression will be repeated as long as necessary to decide the champion.
So the other side of this is, could a playoff for $10 million make the FedEx Cup interesting? Would people clue in to see a guy battling another, hole to hole, for a chance to win eight figures, or has the economic struggles of everyone else in the world made people bitter towards the PGA Tour star and their ongoing collection of Benjamins?
I vote that the more drama, the better. Sure, it will be confusing if two playoffs went down, but having someone putt for that much money is what the FedEx cup wants. It is what makes it interesting. Enough money to set most normal people for life, coming down to a left-to-right, 15-footer for birdie.
I say the more playoffs, the better.
