FedExCup, From This Day Forward Your Official Name Is FedExCup Playoffs

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After intense merger talks between lawyers for FedExCup(C) and The Playoffs(C), PGA Tour Communications has announced major structural and terminlogy changes to the 2013-14 ResetCup.

The resets are firmly in place and the whole thing is all about the algorithm writers and not the players, so rest assured nothing was changed there.

But we have a new official name for the playoff portion of the proceedings: FedExCup Playoffs. Along with it comes a highly unoriginal caddie bib for the current leader ripped off inspired by the Champions Tour's Schwab Cup, which ripped off took inspiration from the Tour de France.

 The bib is distinguishable with orange accents on the shoulders and pocket.

I guess a few accents are better than dressing up the caddie in a FedEx uniform?

  • The Playoffs officially become the FedExCup Playoffs (with new logo)

Me thinks someone paying lavishly to sponsor the cup wanted more bang for their buck...

• We no longer refer to the Regular Season; we reference the PGA TOUR Season and the FedExCup is the season-long competition that culminates with the FedExCup Playoffs

Got that Lerner? I want that taped to your refrigerator door.

That goes for you, too, Hicks, Nantz, Gannon and the entire Communications Department.

Just curious, do we writers have to capitalize regular season or face parking in the volunteer lot?

 • Once the schedule begins to bridge calendar years, the season reference will include both years, as in: the 2013-2014 PGA TOUR Season
 
• Reference to a specific tournament will still be by the calendar year in which it is played, as in: XXX is defending champion of the 2013 Frys.com Open (which is part of the 2013-14 PGA TOUR Season)
 
• There no longer will be a “Fall Series” on the PGA TOUR; those tournaments should be referred to as “season opening events”

Darn, and I had Fall First in the pool.

 • The 2013 PGA TOUR Season will include 36 events before the FedExCup Playoffs

Therefore prompting Websters to add PGA Tour to its definition for "oversaturation."

• Three Additional Events, played the same weeks as certain Major Championships and World Golf Championships, will offer a slight increase in FedExCup Points (winners receive 300 points, vs. 250 in 2012)
 
• An off week during the FedExCup Playoffs will fall between the second and third events (rather than the third and fourth)
 
• The 2013 PGA TOUR Season and the FedExCup Playoffs end in late September with the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola
 
• The 2013-2014 PGA TOUR Season officially begins 3 weeks later; the season-opening events begin awarding full FedExCup points

Ugh, I spoke to soon. We get three whole weeks off! Thankfully, I know this new shortened off-season and increased workload has meant more pay for the hard working PGA Tour staff. Well, at least at the VP and up level.

• The CIMB Classic and World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions become official events on the PGA TOUR (official victory, full FedExCup points, official money; winners qualify for Hyundai Tournament of Champions) 

Alas, no fixing the format...again.

But why fix what's broken?

Video: Sergio's One-Handed Tree Shot

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The only thing more impressive than climbing the tree and the one-handed backwards shot was the dismount.

Courtesy of the PGA Tour's YouTube account, another must see viral video from Bay Hill:

Golf Gods' Existence Confirmed By Hellacious Bay Hill Storm: Tavistock Cup Forced To Take Back Seat

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I'm too distraught to type my emotions right now, so I'll just copy and paste the key times for a re-arranged schedule now that the storm-delayed Arnold Palmer Invitational is running into Monday. A day normally set aside for the absurd expression of conspicuous consumption known as the Tavistock Cup.

Golf Channel Monday Programming Schedule (all times Eastern)

10 a.m.-conclusion             Final Round Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard
Following API-5 p.m.          Day One Tavistock Cup Coverage

And then there is the Tavistock Cup, re-imagined without, oh, the golfers most  people want to see:

Tomorrow’s better ball competition will be as follows:

Group 1 - 12:20 p.m. Paul McGinley and Tom Lewis will play with Bob Tway and Scott Verplank.

Group 2 - 12:35 p.m. Brian Davis and D.A. Points will play with Peter Hanson and Webb Simpson.

Group 3 - 12:50 p.m. Tim Clark and Adam Scott will play with Ross Fisher and Graeme McDowell.

Group 4 - 1:05 p.m. Fred Couples and Jay Haas will play with Bo Van Pelt and Bubba Watson.
Gate hours will remain the same.

Links Trust Head Says R&A Probably Never Expected To Get Its Way With Old Course Changes!

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Even better, St. Andrews Links Trust head honcho Euan London uses a baseball analogy in making a stunning comment about the extreme nature of Old Course changes that his organization ultimately approved.

From John Huggan's must-read dissection of the Old Course meddling:

“So I understand there are legitimate counter arguments, one that says ‘don’t ever tinker with the Old Course’, and another outlining the futility of trying to out-run technology.

“There was, however, no obligation on our part to go along with the R&A’s wishes. In fact, when they first came to us I don’t think there was any expectation in the minds of Peter and Jim that any of this was going to pass first base.”

As Huggan pieces together, the original stance of the parties involved turned out to be a fictional account. Or at the very least, one designed to mislead about the chain of events.

The original Friday news dump press release suggested the changes were dictated by recommendations from architect Martin Hawtree, but as a subsequent admission from R&A Chief Peter Dawson hinted and Loudon confirms to Huggan, the changes were entirely driven by the R&A and that Hawtree was hired by the Links Trust merely to implement the plan.

“From my perspective, the R&A came to us with what they saw as the ‘big picture’,” says Loudon. “Martin was the detail man.”

Why does this matter? Because we have a governing body making changes to a masterpiece--the masterpiece--for no apparent reason other than to try and elevate scores and mask their regulatory malfeasance.

Sadly, Loudon reveals that the approach to the work wasn't even that thorough in its cynical calculation.

Players like Tiger Woods have wondered how they could try to make the Road hole tougher considering its astronomical scoring average at every Open Championship. Huggan, in going through each of the changes with Loudon, wonders how a hole like the Road could average closer to bogey than par and still need to be made tougher with new greenside contouring.

“You make a good point,” acknowledges Loudon. “Those statistics were not part of our thinking. Maybe they should have been.”

Oh dear.