What Is This Fed Ex Cup, You Ask?

[FrankoSport]

Greetings ....

What is this Fed Ex Cup Series that starts in 2007 you ask .... ??

Only the very latest "season-ending" series concept to be rolled out by the PGA Tour. They've been at this sort of thing for several decades now. Here's a rundown ....

1974-1975: Players Championship
The Players Championship's very first two stagings were in late August. The idea was that the Players would wind-up a season that featured up to 10 $250,000 Super Events (purse averages then were $170,000). Those "super" events were never created. The Players was moved to March, beginning 1976.

The PGA Tour did decide that some events would be designated, requiring that winners of major championships as well as the Players Championship, plus the most recent US Ryder Cup Team Members and the previous year's Top 30 money winners all play in such events.

Problem One: In 1974, there were only 3 designated events (Colonial, Kemper and World Open at Pinehurst). Then from 1975 thru 1978, only one such event per year (Atlanta, Westchester, Pleasant Valley and Philadelphia respectively). From 1976 to 1978, the lone designated event was played immediately after the British Open.

Problem Two: Any winner of a Major Championship within the last five years would be a designated player EXCEPT for the British Open Winner, who would be "designated", as well as exempt, for ONLY ONE YEAR! At that time, the British Open's signifigance was acknowledged by just about every entity on the globe except the PGA Tour. It was not until 1990 that the PGA Tour started awarding 10-yr exemptions to British Open winners -AND- it was not until 1995 that the PGA Tour finally recognized the British Open as a fully official event -AND- it was not until 2002 that the PGA Tour awarded pre-1995 British Open champions official victory credit.

Problem Three: The PGA Tour did not hand out 10-yr exemptions to Masters champions until - Would You Believe? - 1974. 1973 Masters winner Tommy Aaron was a designated player, but in some years he had to use a Top 50 Career Earnings Exemption (at the time usable for up to 3 occasions). The PGA Tour never thought to make an exception for Aaron!

Problem Four: Winners of the Western Open and Canadian Open, who would receive automatic invites to the revamped World Series of Golf beginning 1976, as well as "designated" event winners, were never given enhanced exempt status beyond the existing norm of the time, which was a 12-month exemption for any regular PGA Tour event winner. Back then, making the Top 60 Money Winners List was considered more important than winning a tournament.

1976-1986: World Series Of Golf
Beginning 1976, the unofficial version of World Series of Golf - just the 4 winners of the Major Championships playing 36 holes - was replaced with an official version played over 72 holes with fields of first 20, then 26, 36 and then 36 to 48 players a year. The World Series was held first on Labor Day weekend, then late September, then its now-familar spot in late August.

At first, the World Series of Golf was limited to current winners of the 4 Grand Slam majors plus the Players, Western, Canadian and previous year's World Series. Also: the top 2-3 best players from each of three PGA Tour segments; the leader of certain foreign orders of merit; the PGA Tour's Top Five Leaders in both official money and scoring average; any player winning at least two PGA Tour events since the last World Series. For some reason, the winners of designated events were not included.

Beginning 1983, the World Series invited all winners of official PGA Tour events. Beginning 1984, winners of selected International events would also be invited, and all categories not dealing with the winning of an event were dropped.

The World Series was intended as a wind-up for the season, although in truth official events continued for several weeks after.

The World Series did produce winners such as Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Tom Watson, Craig Stadler, Nick Price, Curtis Strange, Jose-Maria Olazabal, Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson and David Duval. But it also produced such winners as Lon Hinkle, Dennis Watson, Dan Pohl, Roger Maltbie, Mike Reid and Fulton Allem - and you all know where the careers of the latter group went after winning the World Series.

The very lowest point - in my not-so-humble opinion - for both the World Series and the PGA Tour occurred in 1981. Bill Rogers won the event and got a 10-yr exemption. Just before this, Rogers had won the British Open, an event that's been around far, far longer than the World Series, and which carries a lot more prestige. For this wonderful achievement, Rogers got Zip, Zilch, Nada, Nothing from the PGA Tour!

And then in the 1981 season's final official event, the mere, meek little Pensacola Open, played some eight weeks after the World Series, both the Player-of-the-Year and Leading Money Winner titles were up for grabs. Nearly all leading candidates - Bruce Lietzke, Tom Watson, Ray Floyd, Tom Kite - were there. Rogers was committed to other things at that point. And to pour even more salt into the wound, Rogers was a contender ONLY for Player-of-the-Year. If his $50,000 British Open check had counted as official, then he too would have been a contender for Leading Money Winner.

Well, Rogers won Player-of-the-Year anyway. Tom Kite, who had won only once in 1981, at the very regular AMC Inverrary Classic, was the Leading Money Winner.

The final nail ..... In 1981, the PGA of America - the folks who run the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup, and who used to run the Tour until 1968 - revised its annual Player of the Year award. Previously, only the winners of the US Open and PGA Championship got 25 points for wins, while Masters and British Open winners got only the same as any regular tour event, 10 points.

Beginning 1981, 30 points would be given to winners of the 4 Majors, 20 points to Players Championship and World Series of Golf winners, 10 points to winners of any official PGA Tour event. The Western Open and Canadian Open did not receive special consideration. Players did not receive points for finishes other than first in any event. Also: points for Money List and Scoring Average (20 for 1st, 18 for 2nd, and so on down to 2 for 10th).

The 3x-2x-1x formula was correct. But the PGA of America should have also given points for a win as well as for 2nd thru 70th place on a descending scale different from that for Money and Scoring Average. No points should have been awarded for anything other than finishes in official events. And finally, the Western and Canadian winners deserved at least 15 points (if not 20) rather than 10.

1987-2006: Tour Championship
The Tour Championship was launched in 1987 as a way of deciding all major season-ending honors. It has decided only the Money Title on two occasions, Player of the Year one time.

Since the The Tour Championship specificly invites just the Top 30 Money Winners, only the Race for Top 20 Money Leaders (exempt for next year's British Open) is decided. The Money Races for Top 30 (next year's US Open) and Top 40 (next year's Masters) are decided at events OTHER than the Tour Championship! To pour more salt into this particular sorry wound, the PGA Tour does not award any bonus exemptions or other rewards for making the Top 20 or Top 30 on the Official Money List.

The reward for winning the Leading Money Winner Title itself is the same as that for winning a major or the Players, a 5-yr PGA Tour exemption. On the European PGA Tour, the Order of Merit Champion receives a 10-yr Euro Tour exemption, with no eligibility conditions of any kind (other than being first on the Merit List -AND- a Euro Tour Member's Card) needed to earn such an exemption.

The Tour Championship has no provisions for inviting any winner of a Major Championship, Players Championship or World Golf Championship who is not otherwise eligible.

In recent years, any non-member player with at least as much earnings as the 30th player on the Official Money List receives a Tour Championship invitation. This poses a problem in that if such a player wins and then accepts a PGA Tour Membership, then he would be integrated into the Official Money List, thereby bumping down those eligible for rewards at certain thresholds -- Top 20 (British Open), 30 (US Open), 40 (Masters), 70 (Bay Hill, Heritage, Memorial), 80 (Colonial), 125 (fully exempt) and 150 (Q-School Final Stage).

2007 and beyond: Who the !?!?! Knows..?

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Sport