I have often been asked which format I like more — the FedExCup play-offs on the PGA Tour, or the Final Series on the European Tour.
To start with, I think they are products of two different thought processes. The play-offs, as we see in most other sports on that side of the Atlantic, is a very American concept. They want a group of matches to be separate from the rest of the season, and create more hype and excitement around it.
Even though they are connected to the regular season — you’ve got to be inside the top 125 players to make it to the first of the four-event play-offs — the group of four tournaments is almost standalone in nature.
Of course, it does help if you have had a good regular season. That is very much the case with Jordan Spieth this season — he is still No. 2 in the standings despite missing the cut in his last two starts.
However, you have to play well in the play-offs to have a chance of winning the biggest prize in golf. It does not matter how good or bad you were throughout the season if you can hit a purple patch during the four weeks that count. Last year’s champion Billy Horschel is a great example.
The movement of the players in the play-offs is what creates extra excitement among the fans. And yet, it does not recognise the overall efforts and consistency of a player throughout the season. In an ideal world, you’d like Spieth to walk away with the $10 million cheque this year, just like you’d have wanted Rory McIlroy to win it in 2012 and last year.
Which is where the European Tour’s Final Series scores over the play-offs. In complete contrast to the PGA Tour, it is more a recognition of what a player does throughout the season, rather than the last four tournaments.
Now, from a player’s point of view, I’d slightly favour the Final Series. After all, it is a little difficult to define a season on the basis of four events that are neither majors, nor World Golf Championships. But I completely understand the logic behind the play-offs. If I had to change something, I’d perhaps split the $10 million bonus cheque and give a portion of it to the player who has had the best overall season.
I thought it was a very interesting decision by Sergio Garcia not to play the first two events of the play-offs. He was around the 30th position at the start of The Barclays, and has fallen to 54 this week.
What it means is that the Spaniard will have to possibly finish inside the top-five at the BMW Championship to move into the top-30 of the FedEx Cup standings and make it to the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
Sergio is banking on the fact that the recent changes in the points system take the volatility out of the FedExCup, and what really matters is that you play well enough to make it to the Tour Championship, and if you win that, the chances are that you will also win the $10 million bonus cheque for winning the FedExCup.
— Jeev Milkha Singh is a four-time champion on the European Tour
