Tim Finchem's Legacy Will Largely Depend on the FedEx Cup

Not since the days of the great Bobby Jones has America experienced such tremendous growth in the popularity of golf. 

Never in the history of the sport has the popularity of the game of golf spread like wildfire to nearly every corner of the world. 

Tiger Woods has without question been the engine driving this unprecedented growth, but PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has been the one steering the ship.

As many PGA Tour players such as the increasingly outspoken Tom Pernice Jr., are quick to point out, Tim Finchem’s job has been made a great deal easier due to the presence of the world’s most popular athlete, Tiger Woods.

Let's not in any way kid ourselves into thinking that Tiger Woods has not significantly helped Tim Finchem do his job over the past decade. 

However, we must also give credit where credit is due, and Tim Finchem can be credited with doing an excellent job of harnessing the popularity Woods has brought to the game.

Finchem has harnessed golf’s newfound popularity into massive television contracts, live golf on national television every single weekend, and huge sponsorship deals, which have all resulted in massive increases in the size of purses at every PGA Tour event.

Just 10 years ago, the PGA Tour money leader, David Duval, earned $2.5 million and there were only 26 players on tour who earned over $1 million. 

Fast forward 10 years and the tour’s money leader, Vijay Singh, has earned over $6.6 million (not even considering the $10 million he earned for winning the FedEx Cup). 

In 2008, there were an incredible 104 millionaires on the PGA Tour, an increase of more than 300 percent in the past decade. 

Tiger Woods has indeed brought the PGA Tour to water, but Finchem has allowed them all to drink.

Several years ago Finchem came up with the idea of an end-of-the-year playoff system now know as the FedEx Cup.

At first glance, many fans and analysts alike thought this to be an excellent idea that would provide the tour with yet another exciting event. 

However, two years after its launch, the FedEx Cup has been anything but. 

In this day and age of instant gratification where virtually anything can be achieved in a matter of seconds with the click of a mouse, it is difficult for us to remember what happened 10 minutes ago, let alone the quite, behind-the-scenes achievements of a man over the past decade.

The fact the Finchem has helped grow the game of golf to extraordinary levels while creating hundreds upon hundreds of millionaires in the process is quickly forgotten.

The fact that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were by far Forbes Magazine wealthiest American athletes in 2008 is also easily overlooked.

Aside from the fiasco that the FedEx Cup has become, Tim Finchem could arguably be considered one of the greatest sports commissioners of all time.

However, Finchem’s legacy now very much depends on his ability to somehow turn around the faltering FedEx Cup. 

The urgency positioned upon Finchem to fix the current FedEx Cup format has now been increased tenfold with the European Tour’s introduction of the 2009 Race to Dubai.

The Race to Dubai is everything the FedEx Cup is not and has already begun to draw some serious interest from many of the PGA Tour’s brightest stars.

The Race to Dubai is simple to understand. The top 60 players on the European Tour’s Order of Merit (aka the money list) make it into the race’s final event, which will be played in the Dubai desert. 

The Race to Dubai also provides a dramatic conclusion. The winner of the final event in Dubai is the overall champion and takes home a $3.6 million check. 

Tim Finchem will undoubtedly have a lot on his plate is he plans for the 2009 season and beyond. 

A looming recession, the threat of eventually loosing some major sponsors in 2010 and the very real threat of some of the PGA Tour’s largest sponsors literally going out of business in the coming months and years are just a few of the challenges currently facing Finchem and the PGA Tour.

But make no mistake, fixing the FedEx Cup will surely be on the top of Finchem’s agenda as the commissioner knows that his ability to turn around the FedEx Cup playoffs will have a dramatic affect on his legacy as well as the PGA Tour’s ability to continue to thrive in the face of competition from the European Tour.