Vijay Can Crawl Backwards Around East Lake And Still Win FedEx Cup

Doug Ferguson breaks the bad news to all six fans of the current FedEx Cup structure: the playoffs are over and they still have the Super Bowl to play.

With one Playoff event remaining, the FedExCup essentially is over.

Vijay Singh, who won the first two events, tied for 44th and earned enough points that all he has to do is complete four rounds at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola in two weeks to collect the $10 million payoff.

Villegas, a 26-year-old Colombian in his third year on TOUR, finished at 15-under 265 and collected $1.26 million.

Bob Harig puts it in even more brutal perspective:

Singh can show up in Atlanta, play left-handed one day, blindfolded the next, shoot 100 during each round -- but as long as he completes four rounds he will be crowned the FedEx champion, receive a cool $9 million in cash, with $1 million deferred, and pocket some Tour Championship tip money as well.

How easily can Vijay Singh win the $10 million playoff bonus? Even if he didn't break 100 any of the four days at the Tour Championship, as long as he plays all 72 holes and doesn't get disqualified, the money is his.

But at least Vijay expressed his joy at clinching the $10 million.

Yep, Singh declined interviews with NBC, Golf Channel, print reporters. No words of thanks to FedEx or BMW or the PGA Tour or even Camilo Villegas, who won his first PGA Tour event and basically made it impossible for anyone to catch Singh -- unless he misses his tee time in Atlanta, gets disqualified or decides to stay at home and begin practicing for next year.

Speaking of next year, might this be a bad time to bring up the story I wrote last year for Golf World recommending a true playoff ending to prevent this little mini-debacle from happening? Or that I argued my case with Steve Dennis, FedEx Cup points guru who helped develop the increase volatility (which I think should stay...they just need a new way to end the fun at East Lake)?

Geoff Ogilvy was asked what he thought of the state of the FedEx Cup.

"If I make the Tour Championship I make it. If I don't, I really don't give a f...," the 2006 US Open champion said after the third round.

"I'm not going to lie in bed tonight thinking about what I have to do tomorrow to get in. It's not the Tour Championship it used to be.

"It probably meant more before than it does now, because it was a reward for 40 weeks.

"Now it's a nod to the year and making the cut at (the first two play-off events). The four weeks (of play-offs) are as important as the 40 preceding them."

Okay I'll give a little. They can just go back to last year's points to retain regular season relevancy, make East Lake an ADT-like finish and everyone wins! Including, let us not forget, charity.

Update on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 08:17 PM by Geoff

Scott Michaux makes the case for the new FedEx Cup points structure cheapening Masters invites for the top 30 making it to the Tour Championship.

Comments

[Mike C.]

Don't ya think Vijay maybe wants to thank everybody after the playoffs are OFFICIALLY OVER and not while a tournament's still going on ?? If Tiger did that you guys wouldn't say boo. You'd probably be commending him for his "focus". I mean is any non-Tiger accomplishment in golf worthy of a positive comment ?? Tell you what why don't all you golf writers create a proposal for a PGA Tour playoff and have Tim Finchem implement it. No matter what the fans or players think at least we won't have to listen to this incessant whining about the Fed Ex Cup. If Tiger clinched with a week to go you'd be wetting your pants with joy and the positive ink would flow like Niagra Falls. We wouldn't hear a word about the points system. This is hilarious. And you wonder why a guy like Vijay wouldn't p*ss on you if you were on fire. Jeez.

[Steven T.]

I can't wait for East Lake. No way, weather permitting I'll be on the course myself.

[Scotty]

Hey Mike C. Why don't you go back and read last year's clippings when everybody was ripping the thing because Tiger sucked the life out of it and could have won it by not showing up to two of the events.
Vijay's an ass and he showed it for the 1,000th time today. He looks down on reporters, tour officials, TV networks, wife, women, fans and would look down his nose on you too if he ever got the chance.
If Tiger pulled the same crap Vijay did today, he would have been grilled too.

[Wayne]

Imagine this: The Cubs and the Rays are in the World Series, but the Cubs have already won (all they have to do is show up and finish the games), the Series doesn't start for three weeks, and before it does players will compete in the World Baseball Classic.

[BillV]

As the Original International did in Colorado back in the 1980's they have to re-vamp it to a point where every time they tee it up in the playoffs they start with zero. Cut the field every week as they do now, but if points or whatever not zero-ed out each week it will always be anticlimactic. Calling them playoffs is horse dung.

Given that star-driven money is all that pro golf is about, we'll never see it. God help the Fed Ex Cup if all the stars fouled up on the same week.

I'd rather play anyway ....

[MacDuff]

Why don't they...aw forget it. I'd really like a system to work, a full season and then a playoff but there's no pleasing some folk. And I'm beginning to think a points league is good at denoting team performance but doesn't suit golf played by individuals. A points system for tennis would be similarly irrelevant when what is remembered are the winners of respective tournaments. I've tried to like the FedEx Cup but can't sustain enthusiasm over a whole season -- unfortunately it has turned me off watching more golf, now I watch majors and little else.

[Lefty]

Playoffs without some sort of sudden death element are meaningless.
There should be a cut each week to get down to 32 .
Then for the Tour Championship: Start on Wednesday play four days of match play with one final STROKE play match on Sunday. 2 Guys head to head for ten million dollars.

The final would need to be STROKE play so they can sell it for TV with a predictable 4 hour window.

[melnik]

It's possible Vijay didn't want to spend an hour talking about how his putting sucks. At the time he left he didn't know Villagas was going to win, and he thought he was going to have to play to win next week. He only last week got the bad putting thoughts out of his head, and you can be sure his putting problems was all the press would want to talk about, "hey Vijay, I guess you're best player in the world that can't putt a lick..." I'm just guessing he didn't want to talk about putting. Would you?

[Hawkeye]

The post-round interviews don't make a dime's difference to whether people want to watch golf or not. Period.

[frank D]

well, then i just don't get it - if in this format, or in any format, the winner is pre-determined then WHERE IS THE DRAMA ?

i'm gonna watch the usopen TENNIS match today because i do NOT know who will win the title beforehand

i'm NOT gonna watch the final FedEx golf tournament because, eventhough i like vijay, there is no uncertainty, and it will be toooo embarrasing for me to listen to jim nance intoning a false tone of feigned excitement as his lead-in to CBS CSI promotions

i don't have the answer but this is a letdown

frankD

[frank D]

then again, wouldn't MATCH PLAY provide the appropriate format ?

seed the players based on points accumulated during the year - giving highest ranked seeds the initial advantages - and thereafter single round head to head winner take all eliminations

combine NASCAR points (to determine year end seeds) with NCAA March Madness (lose a match and go home, keep winning the matches and take it all)

anyway it's a though

[dbh]

I tortured a bunch of sport metaphors trying to come up with something analogous to this debacle.
The best I could do was:

A scheduled 4 round boxing match.
Singh wins the first 2 rounds so decisively that, despite getting walloped in the third round, he's declared the winner.
Yet they're still required to fight the 4th round. 3 weeks from now.
What's not to like?

[thusgone]

there's still the payout for the winner of the tour championship tournament though, right? granted, it's not the nail-biter they promised us, but i like seeing them play that course. plus, it will be interesting to see how hard the guys play now that they know it's all over but the shoutin'.

wouldn't it be funny if the rest of the field w/d?