Fedex Cup upon us!

In a four series event that I would put below the majors and the respective World Golf Championships, the playoffs of the PGA Tour are set to begin at the Barclays, and the dilemma I face is, I may not view this event in the highest regard, but do the players? The PGA Tour, in cooperation with the main title sponsor "FedEx" if that wasn't clear enough already provides a one million dollar grand prize for the winner. For a lot of these players, that kind of cash due in large part to the increased purses for the majority of events is considered chump change, so if the financial surplus isn't enough to motivate the players, what can be done to spice up a very bland event in my eyes?

For starters, in any sport when a playoff comes to mind, it's always a head to head battle featuring the best in the prospective sport when the final ultimately featuring the two best that went through the gauntlet and now face each other to claim the prized glory. If the PGA Tour could develop a system that would create a scenario where, similar to the "Elite Eight" in NCAA basketball, would in the final event which happens to be the Tour Championship, have the final eight in the standings, and divulge in a bracket format which would lead to the final two playing on the Sunday. The drama that could unfold witnessing a Jordan Spieth against a Jason Day would be exhilarating for both the television and live audience. The reason I bring up this proposed event refinement is because what I hate to see, as we saw a couple years ago a guy like Henrik Stenson who dominated the first events in the series, which rendered the third event in the series a moot point for Henrik because irregardless of placement he was guaranteed a top five position heading into the Tour Championship. The display for which Stenson strutted that playoff month was herculean but that's nor here or there, nobody should ever receive a "bye" in any playoffs.

As a converse argument, as much as I'm not a fan of the series, I will say the one advantage it has where it places on the tour schedule is that's it's a great sounding board for players who are on a fringe of making their respective Ryder Cup/President's Cup team. To use an example of a player, because he hails from Weyburn is Graham DeLaet as he is battling for a spot on Nick Price's International President's cup team. DeLaet has for the most part had a miserable 2015 season which has been further hampered by a nagging thumb injury but according to Price in an interview he gave while partaking in a charity event in Saskatoon, and as a forewarning I'm fairly skeptical that he only made these comments while residing in DeLaet's home province was that he was very much on the radar. It's like me going to Toronto and proclaiming that Phil Kessel is the hardest working player in the NHL. I'm pretty sure in reference to that statement I would be met with a chorus of boos, you get the point I'm trying to make. In all seriousness, unless Graham can surprise us all and take home a FedEx event, I give zero chance of him being chosen for the team. In fact, pertaining to the Canadian content on the tour, I think Ontario native David Hearn is far more deserving.