So, the 2005 season is over. That is, the PGA Tour season is over and will not resume until January. It could not have ended any sooner for the top stars in the game that contend the Tour's exhaustive schedule lasts way too long — an 11-month season. Commissioner Tim Finchem has tried to accommodate to the wishes of the top tier players by shortening the relevant part of the season.
With the announcement and introduction of the FedEx Cup, the season is effectively shortened to nine months for the best players in the world. The season will have more continuity and position the top stars to maintain a 20-25-event schedule while playing in more events that actually matter for the FedEx points race. In essence, the Tour is taking a chance on restructuring an already-popular product in an attempt to appease the stars that have been feeling pressure to be more active during the Tour schedule.
But, in the meantime, some of the top stars of the Tour have extended their golf seasons by traveling far abroad to play in events in Asia and Australia. Although the Tour season ends in November, some of the world's best — including Tiger Woods — are teeing it up in events through Christmas. And it's not as though these events are particularly convenient for the players to attend. That is, unless you call an 18-hour plane flight convenient.
Doesn't it seem the least bit hypocritical to cry out that the PGA Tour season is way too long, but then go ahead and play several more events well after the schedule ends? If you complain that the PGA Tour schedule is way too long, then players would logically cease their golfing seasons when the Tour schedule ends. It only makes sense.
Apparently, that logic does not register with or apply to many of these golfers who have cluttered silly season schedules. After all, huge purses and large appearance fees greet the players as soon as they hit the tarmac. There is a lot of money to be made by participating in these lesser events abroad that are seeking stature and notoriety. And these golfers are independent contractors that really have no legal requirement to play exclusively on the PGA Tour. If there are millions in extra spending cash are to be made, then why not do it?
Very simply, booking a busy post-PGA Tour schedule makes the Tour look bad on multiple levels. First, it makes the Tour look less relevant if the world's best are willing to play beyond the schedule in events with lackluster fields. It is almost as though Woods and others are participating in foreign renditions of the Southern Farm Bureau Classic. That is a pretty strong slap in the face if you think about it long enough.
Second, these commitments further extend the relevance of the golf season well beyond the PGA Tour year. That totally destroys the concept of the FedEx Cup, which was designed to create a recognizable beginning and end to the Tour schedule. But, if the best in the world continue to compete in meaningless events abroad after the Cup wraps up in September, then the Cup is just another in a series of failed experiments by the Tour.
The Tour Championship was originally designed to give closure to the season and help determine the Player of the Year and money list races. Guess what? The Tour Championship has not been relevant in deciding either in over a decade.
Then, in the late-'90s, the World Golf Championships were supposed to be high-profile, big purse events that filled in the gaps between major championships and highlight golf around the world. Now the only event that draws any particular attention is the World Match Play event. That was a real winner.
And the writing is on the wall with these events that the FedEx Cup could very well go the way of these two ideas. If it does not get full and genuine support from the top players, then many lesser players will become vocal about the sacrifices they had to make so that the top stars could just play a shorter schedule.
The Tour is making a huge gamble on the FedEx Cup and the gamble is premised on the idea that the entire Tour is behind it. But, with playing schedules that are year-round, the stars are not lending their full support. Unless things change abruptly come 2007, the Tour may be facing another institutionalized bad idea.
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