Fed Ex Fiddling

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The PGA TOUR Tuesday announced that it will modify the original proposal for field sizes in next year’s inaugural PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. This modification follows significant input and discussion during the meeting of the PGA TOUR Policy Board in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida on Nov. 13.

Specifically, the fields in the 2007 Playoff events will be reduced from week-to-week as follows:
Barclays Classic -- 144 players
Deutsche Bank Championship -- 120 players
BMW Championship -- 70 players
THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola -- 30 players

After ongoing feedback from players, tournaments, television partners and sponsors, the Policy Board concluded that a reduction in the fields of the PGA TOUR Playoffs from week-to-week offered the best opportunity for the events to feature a true playoff atmosphere evident in other sports.

PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem said, “I’m delighted with this direction, and believe it represents an important improvement in our Playoff structure. I had recently indicated we would not be recommending any changes in our Playoff structure given that we had preliminarily announced the format earlier this year. However, the TOUR and a number of our players had heard from several sponsors and tournaments that going in the direction of a field size reduction was the right thing to do for the success of the FedExCup. The Player Directors and the full Policy Board were in unanimous agreement.

“Not only am I pleased but am impressed that our sponsors and television partners felt strongly enough to communicate their views on making the FedExCup as good as it can be,” Finchem said.

“We are now well positioned to offer PGA TOUR players, along with other important TOUR constituents, a more compelling finish to our season,” Finchem said. “With this step, PGA TOUR players, sponsors and fans can look forward to the inaugural FedExCup Season and the exciting drama of the 2007 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.”

My Say: You have to wonder just how smart these people are to have come up with this Fed Ex Cup thing back whenever they did and not thought to reduce the fields in the 'playoff' part of the Cup. I personally didn't care and didn't know enough about how it was originally designed. But Brandel Chamblee said there was a playoff aspect to it.