Monday
Sep102007
"On the record or off?"
Tim Rosaforte takes a tough look at the state of all things FedEx Cup, and suggests a few reasons for Phil's apathy and an exchange with Tiger Woods that will send shivers down Tim Finchem's spine.
Phil's not a big plan of the deferred payment plan. Read between the lines in his quote about wishing there were a big pile of money brought out on the 18th green like the World Series of Poker.
He's also the man who wanted a shorter season. Well, he got one: Shorter, but compressed into two grueling months of high stakes, high pressure and highly taxing tournament golf.
He's also about 0-for-20 in taking issues to the front office, and getting no satisfaction. Some would call this a pout, others a power play, but I can't imagine Lou Piniella saying he couldn't manage the Cubs this week because his kids were going back to school.
Ouch. A rare zinger from Mr. Rosaforte. Nice!
And...
I caught Tiger at his locker after Wednesday's news conference and asked -- after he discussed the problems with playing seven-of-eight after the majors and the deferred payment issue -- if this was fixable.
On.
Let's just say, Tim Finchem and his staff have some work to do.
Monday, September 10, 2007 at 09:11 PM
Reader Comments (14)
It's the world's longest oxymoron.
Pro golfers have always picked their own schedules. Most play between 20-30 events a year out of about 44 total events.
Why should the fact that there is now this made up Fedex Thingy change that?
Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino all played whenever they wanted, why is today's tour player being criticized for skipping an event? And why are people making foolish analogies to other sports?
I think the tour invited these sorts of comparisons when they created golf "playoffs."
The whole premise of the FEC was to get players to play in more events, particularly the best players. The tour hoped that by shortening the season overall and providing a large payout that it would entice the top players to participate.
So it's perfectly acceptable to debate and discuss whether it's right or wrong for Phil or Tiger or Ernie to skip FEC events.
Golf has its climaxes; they just don't come at the end of the year. They come in weeks 14, 24, 29, and 32. Ironically, it's most like the situation in NASCAR before its own Cup series, when the biggest race of the year was the Daytona 500 (or, as it was often described, "we play the Super Bowl in February and then go on to the rest of the season").
Each sport has its own rhythm. Golf's doesn't fit easily into the desires of the TV networks, and if the ratings stay as they are, big corporate sponsors will back away from this experiment thanks to spectator apathy. I'm sure the World Series of Golf had big plans for itself when it got started at Firestone years ago; so did the WGCs. Doesn't make 'em majors. Doesn't make 'em important.
all this is pretty good
The players get labeled whiners for simply doing what they've always done, i.e playing their own schedules.
This Fedex thingy is really just like the old "fall finish" with a bigger bonus and more marketing.
And this is NOT what Phil, Tiger and Ernie wanted regarding the schedule. They simply wanted to cut the fat out of the schedule and move up the Tour Championship.
Anyway, I like the idea of something that tries to put brackets around the entire season and award a champ or player of the year or whatever. I think it's exciting when one tournament means something the following week, and when one player can succeed against ever-toughening fields. I like the idea that one's excellence all season long can be rewarded, even if you didn't win a major.
But I confess that I can see, thanks to everyone's observations here, that it may be just too much to try to pull off. The golf season is long and grueling, and "getting it up" for another championship is a tall order. Especially when the majors are over, and football is a-startin, and baseball a-finishin.