A proposed Charles Schwab Cup fix could do the trick for the FedEx Cup, too
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A proposed Charles Schwab Cup fix could do the trick for the FedEx Cup, too

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The PGA Tour's FedEx Cup concept has been fundamentally the same since 2009.

That year, the Tour set its current points distribution, including the first three FedEx Cup playoff events, which would feature quadruple points available to increasingly smaller fields until the top 30 went to East Lake for the Tour Championship. That's where the groaning about the FedEx Cup really begins.

In an effort to make the Tour Championship mean something in determining who wins the season-long race and $10 million, the Tour chose to do a points reset for the 30 qualifiers, giving them all a mathematical chance of winning the FedEx Cup. The top five in the standings all would control their own destiny, earning the FedEx Cup with a Tour Championship victory.

There are plenty of reasons to be critical of the approach. It invalidates the playoff system to that point. It concocts a championship scenario that seems contrived. It's kind of hard to understand. On and on.

Many critics, including myself, have called for some variation of total stroke play or a hybrid of stroke play and match play over either the full 16 rounds of the playoffs or just the Tour Championship. These are folks who want to see such a large prize settled on the golf course in a way most any person can understand instantaneously. For myriad reasons -- TV and sponsor considerations, potential clunker match-ups, etc. -- that's not going to happen. Points are here to stay.

And it turns out PGA Tour Champions may have a proposal not only to fix their Charles Schwab Cup playoff race but also the FedEx Cup.

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About the author

Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is founder and editor of Golf News Net. He has been writing and broadcasting about golf for nearly 20 years. Ballengee lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family. He is a scratch golfer...sometimes.

Ballengee can be reached by email at ryan[at]thegolfnewsnet.com

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