Help For The FedEx Cup

Posted by John

September 8, 2009

Nobody, and I mean nobody, understands the scoring system used for the FedEx Cup. The announcers don’t get it, the golfers don’t get it and, most importantly, the fans don’t get it.

Scoring systems are the KEY to a sports being interesting. Without an understandable system there is no drama, because there is nothing that puts the competition into perspective.

When you build a scoring system, you have to start with what already exists. Creating a new ‘way’ of scoring is almost impossible because no one can relate to it, they have nothing in their experience like it. The FedEx Cup uses thousands of points and that’s what has killed it from the start.

Who can relate to thousands of points? The networks have made it even worse by showing the leader at zero with everyone else in negative numbers. Nobody is going to get excited about rooting for a leader who has zero points!

Here’s my advice, I’m sure it needs to be tweaked, but I believe the basics are correct. Scoring for a regular season FedEx tournament should give out points only to the top ten, with 10 for first, 9 for second and so on. The winner would also get 2 points for every stroke better than the second place finisher(s). This would keep the scoring for even the best player under 200 points for the season. It would also encourage players to take more risks to make the top ten.

To add interest and reward risk, give additional points for eagles and albatrosses. Even players not finishing in the top 10 should be able to earn points this way. This would also add drama all over the course and make tournaments more exciting. Giving 2 points for eagles and 4 for an albatross provides more opportunity for players to move up in the standings and gives spectators more to watch and think about.

For the finals, the point scale could be ratcheted up, say to 20. With all the computing wizards out there it ought to be easy to input data from the last couple of years and run simulations to determine which scenario is most interesting. The final tournament ought to be among only the top 10 point scorers for the season, with each one having a real shot to win with risky play rewarded.

With a better scoring system, the FedEx Cup could work and might actually be more exciting than a regular tournament – even the majors. Without it, it’s always going to be a dud! Here’s a shout out to IBM – do some pro bono work for the Tour and help them fix this thing. Until then, the FedEx Cup will be an incomprehensible competition with potential spectators tuned in to football and baseball games.