Different Strokes, Different Folks?

(I hope you like my incredibly crude MS Paint work used for visual accompaniment for this entry.)

After all that has gone on with the WDs in consecutive weeks of Woods, Els, and Mickelson, I'm beginning to wonder what common thread they actually share as players. Their excuses for withdrawing are pretty transparent and can easily be construed as messages to PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem. In some fashion, each of these players has an objection to the FedEx Cup. What is yet to be revealed (and who knows if it will be) is what specifically are each player's reasons for not liking the FedEx Cup and/or Commissioner Finchem. While I could rattle off my own reasons, that really does not help understand the psyches of multimillionaire top ranked golfers.

So, let's scour the Internet for direct quotes!

Phil from the PGA Championship:

I would like to see some things different with the way the FedEx thing is run, and I've talked to the Commissioner about that. And I think some of those things are being looked into to try to better it.

But your first year it's never perfect. You always try to refine it to make it better.

I mean, you've got this corporation's putting a $35 million check into this thing and the players aren't going to see that money for 20-plus years until well after they retire. And that means that the excitement level for that cash -- like K.J.'s wanted to give it away to charity and other guys wanted to do other things with it; they don't have that ability. I think that would make it even more exciting if we did something like that -- like Vegas used to. Like silver dollars, when they came out with silver dollars. I don't think we'd do that, but to have a big check or like the World Series of Poker with piles of cash.

Woods echoed the same sentiment in Chicago yesterday.

Tiger from that same PGA Championship:

I think if you asked most of the players, they probably don't know what the point structure is once you qualify; what's the breakdown, where do you start at. If you're at 1, the first is 132 or whatever it is, what's the points breakdown? We don't really know.

Ernie Els yesterday in Chicago:

We love what the tour has done for us but we just need to get closer to the big decisions because then we won't get into problems down the line.

We've kind of grown apart a little bit, especially the players and the commissioner's office, because of big decisions that were made without the real knowledge of the players.

They did not express anything to the players. They asked those questions but they didn't come out and say: 'Okay, this is what we're going to do. What do you think?' Unfortunately we are in this position now because they didn't either listen or they just went on with the decision.

I didn't know about it (the deferred annuity) and a lot of people didn't know. We're going to see that money hopefully 20, 25 years down the line.

Woods in Chicago pre-BMW:

A lot of guys are taking weeks off. If you combine the total for the guys who are playing the Presidents Cup, it’s seven out of nine weeks at the end of the summer. Guys are finding it hard to play seven out of nine weeks. Except for Vijay. He’s the only one.

Even mild-mannered Steve Stricker (same piece as above):

Personally, I don’t like it. It’s a lot of golf in a short amount of time. I do like the end of the season that it’s in the middle of September, where if you play well enough you don’t have to chase for your card.

Golf.com's confidential Tour player blogger has a top 5 - abbreviated below:

1. Where's the buzz? The only time I hear guys in the locker room talking about the playoffs is to rip them.

2. We're not playing for real money. First prize is $10 million that you can't access until you're 45, so if you win, I guess you get a big cardboard check you can't cash for 20 years.

3. The FedEx Cup was modeled on NASCAR's Nextel Cup. The playoffs are not going to generate a bigger audience for golf. In fact, the playoffs are so confusing they might turn off some fans.

4. Golf has always been about how many wins you have and how much money you've made. Now we have a points list that gets reset in August. When the FedEx Cup points are reset, Tiger's big lead will be erased, diminishing his year. The idea is to identify the player who has had the best season, how does wiping out his lead accomplish that?

5. And what happens at the Tour Championship, the final event, if Woody Austin and Nick Watney are tied for the tournament lead and the FedEx Cup comes down to Phil and Tiger, who are tied for 25th, but whoever finishes higher is going to be the FedEx Cup champ? Who does NBC show on TV? I think I know the answer.

Ok, you get the point, so I'll stop. But, there's a laundry list of potential reasons out there being quoted:

• Too much golf in a small stretch - no time for vacation, family, etc
• That darned annuity and apparently a love for the WSOP
• Creating a forced playoff that is hard to comprehend
• A system that may very well not identify the Tour's best player that season - or come close
• Not feeling consulted or well educated about the FEC
• Poor buzz factor because it's hard to understand and doesn't seem to work well

That's six reasons to choose from - and probably others unspoken - why the players don't like the FedEx Cup. (Interesting to point out here that most of those quotes came from this week, conveniently just after Phil Mickelson opened the door to rip on the FEC and the Commissioner in public. Perhaps his stance inspired some bravado, or at least a willingness in players to be more blunt in public than the Tour would prefer.)

Now, the next question is what Tim Finchem will do to respond to the calls to make changes for next season. He seemed to take his sweet ole time on steroids, so why not on this?