Question of the week [August 7-13]: What is the best format for the PGA Tour's postseason?
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The top 70 play 72 holes with a 36-hole cut. The top 5 are exempt from the cut, and must play all 72 holes.
John Riordan
Southport, North Carolina
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This would be a good time to try some team competition.
Bob Norris
Cincinnati, Ohio
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I would leave the playoff format as it is until we get to the Tour Championship. I would revert that back to a 72-hole stand-alone event, handing out the same points as the other playoff events. I would look for it to be played on Labor Day weekend and would suggest 36 holes on Thursday with the third round on Friday and the fourth round on Saturday. Once that concludes, the top six in the points would qualify for a match-play portion. The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds would get byes to the semifinals while No. 3 plays No. 6 and No. 4 plays No. 5 in an 18-hole match on Sunday morning. The two winners move on to play the top two seeds in an 18-hole semifinal match on Sunday afternoon. The winners then square off on Monday (Labor Day) in a 36-hole match to determine the FedEx Cup champion.
There is enough money on the line that I would want to see 18-hole matches played for fifth place (between the Sunday morning losers) and third place (between the Sunday afternoon losers). This would keep enough action on the course on Monday for TV not to have the dead spots that match play can provide on the last day. Also, there is an option — which I would leave to a player vote — to start each match with the higher-ranked player getting a 1 up head start as a reward for season-long performance.
Andy Watters
Ambler, Pennsylvania
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I have no problem with a three-tournament playoff with the fields at 70, 50 and 30 players, respectively. But I do think the final at East Lake with the No. 1 player getting spotted 10 shots over No. 30 is bogus. It’s contrived because they can’t figure out what to do for a finale.
How about having a real golf tournament with a tournament winner and a tournament purse? Weight the points as you want to favor a top-5 finisher or whatever, then add up the points and have a FedEx Cup winner and distribute the bonus money. In the past few years, the player who shoots the best score at East Lake barely gets a mention and gets zero credit for it. It’s a four-day tournament against the top 30 players of the year, and should be recognized as such.
A backup plan is to take the top four point getters after the four-day tournament and have a 36-hole match play final on Sunday. Then distribute the bonus money.
Barry Duckworth
Knoxville, Tennessee
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I think this is a great opportunity to start mending fences. These Americans can show the rest of us it's possible to find the middle ground and play for our country. Have Brooks Koepka and Taylor Gooch on the team. Prove to the world that we are as solid as we always have been — especially during tumultuous times. I vote for Justin Thomas to be there as well, especially if there are LIV players there. He will bring camaraderie to the team. It's just as important as a hot putter, and might be worth three hot putters.
Geoff Osborne
Marshfield, Massachusetts
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