by Jeff skinner
The PGA Tour’s big finish starts today. Tim Finchem (Dr. Finchemstein) is happy with the “volatility” of this year’s FedEx Cup and is sure the ending will be a scenario that no one has thought of yet. Tiger Woods and the boys are back from a week off, the East Lake course is dried out, The Golf Channel and NBC are all set to broadcast hours and hours of coverage. It almost feels like a major, but not quite. The first three tournaments were exciting, The Tour Championship is a good way to finish off “The Playoffs” and the ten million check adds a great hook to the FedEx Cup but all of this hype doesn’t make it a major.
I’ll admit that these Playoffs have been the best yet with jammed packed fields and interesting finishes. Anytime we can watch the all the top golfers on The PGA Tour it is a bonus. The FedEx Cup got all the top players to play every playoff event, something that didn’t happen the first two years. Finchem and his tinkering with the points system has worked to the extent that he got full participation. The three winners gave us plenty of drama. Heath Slocum was a great upset story. Steve Stricker’s win went right down to the wire. Tiger’s win was Woods at his best, most dominating self. All great stories, all great tournaments. Still not a major.
The majors are the majors and The FedEx Cup is an interesting sideshow, but it is a long way from a major. The ten million dollar winner’s share is a huge carrot on a stick. The players are playing for the money here. They would play any of the majors just for the trophy. Maybe the next generation of golfers will treat this like a major. If they grow up watching the world’s best golfers win The Fedex Cup and kiss the trophy and say that it is a major, just maybe they will be brainwashed enough to believe it.
I think they’ll be wise enough to realize that The Masters, The US Open, The Open Championship and The PGA Championship are the only majors that will ever matter. The Players is great, The Memorial is special and The FedEx Cup is fun, but none of them are majors. We’ll enjoy the FedEx Cup Playoffs for what it is: a good ending to the PGA’s season.
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