The FedEx Cup: Still Searching for an Identity After Five Years

Although no one can deny that it was exciting watching two men battle out it out in a sudden death playoff for a $10 million prize last Sunday, the same underlying issue that has been plaguing the Fedex Cup for five years was once again on display at East Lake Golf Club.  

We have now completed year five of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup, and the series is still searching for a true identity.

Since 2007, the PGA Tour has been marketing one thing, yet the exact opposite has been happening.

Between 2007 and 2009, the tour’s buzz word was “playoff,” yet the FedEx Cup was anything but a true playoff. 

Tiger Woods skipped the inaugural event back in 2007 and still managed to easily win the FedEx Cup, which would be the equivalent of the New England Patriots not showing up for their first playoff game and then winning the Super Bowl.

In 2008, Vijay Singh won the first two playoff events and needed only to remain standing for four rounds at the Tour Championship in order to claim the Fed Ex Cup title, despite the fact that Camilo Villegas won the final two playoff events. That would be the equivalent of the New York Yankees winning the first three games of the World Series, then loosing the next four and still being crowned the champion.

Then we come to 2009, where Phil Mickelson won the Tour Championship in dramatic fashion, yet Tiger Woods was the one handed the FedEx Cup and a $10 million check.  That would be the equivalent of the Pittsburgh Steelers being handed the Lombardi Trophy last year despite the fact that the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl.

So, after three years the PGA Tour changed their tune.  “Playoff” was out as their buzz word and replaced by the phrase “a season long race for the cup.”

In 2010, the “season long race for the cup” phrase was somewhat relevant as FedEx Cup champion Jim Furyk had seven top-10s, 13 top-25 finishes and three wins including the Tour Championship.

The PGA Tour was finally able to take a deep breath and relax, as they felt they had found the right formula for the FedEx Cup.  For the first time in four years, the tour could say that the FedEx Cup was exactly as advertised, a season long race for the cup.

However, it now appears that the tour may need to head back to the drawing board once again.

During this most recent version of the FedEx Cup, Bill Haas tied for 24th at The Barclays, tied for 61st at the Deutsche Bank Championship, tied for 16th at the BMW Championship and then won the Tour Championship and somehow managed to win the FedEx Cup title despite the fact that several players were far more successful than Haas during both the regular season and the FedEx Cup series.

Luke Donald had 13 top-10 finishes and 15 top-25 finishes in just 18 events.  Donald also won a World Golf Championship (the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship) and had top-five finishes at three out of the four FedEx Cup events, including a tie for third at the Tour Championship.

If there was ever a player that truly deserved to win a “season long race,” it would be Donald. 

One could even argue that Webb Simpson was more deserving of the “season long race” title than Donald or Haas.

Simpson had two wins, 10 top-10 and 19 top-25 finishes in the 24 events he played on tour this year.  During the FedEx Cup, Simpson had three top-10s in the four events, including a win at The Barclays.

Simpson also finished second only to Donald on the PGA Tour’s 2011 money list.

So here is what it all boils down to.

Between 2007 and 2009, the PGA Tour was advertising the FedEx Cup as golf’s version of the “playoffs,” when in reality it was awarding it’s champion based on consistently great play throughout the entire season.

Since 2010, the Tour has been advertising the FedEx Cup as a season long race, when in reality this past Sunday afternoon was the equivalent of a wild card team winning the Super Bowl.

Now, the PGA Tour and commissioner Tim Finchem have accomplished some truly amazing things over the past two years while operating in one of the most difficult economic environments this country has ever seen. All tournaments are fully sponsored through the 2012 season, and the tour just signed a new television deal with CBS and NBC that will last through 2021.

But when it comes to the FedEx Cup, the tour just can’t seem to come up with the right recipe.

They want the FedEx Cup to be a season long race where consistency is rewarded, but they also want some volatility in the FedEx Cup in order to create some excitement. That being said, the Tour is still reluctant to turn the Tour Championship into golf’s version of the Super Bowl (even though that is exactly what it wound up being last Sunday). 

It’s this failed balancing act that has been the root cause of the FedEx Cup’s endless search for a true identity.

Is it a season long race, or is it golf’s version of the playoffs?

Are players rewarded for playing consistently great golf all year long, or for winning the big one, The Tour Championship?

The 2011 edition of the FedEx Cup has once again left many fans scratching their heads and asking a question that should have been answered more than five years ago—exactly what is the FedEx Cup?

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