"Stay tuned - this thing is a long way from over."

John Huggan is in fine curmudgeonly form while looking at the havoc the FedEx Cup schedule is creating on the European Tour.

As America's PGA Tour embarks on a lucratively-reshaped season that will "climax" with something called the Fed-Ex Cup - oh, the history, the mystique - and very likely pull many of Europe's leading players across the Atlantic even more than has already been the case, the European Tour's money-list is destined to be won by someone who picks up the vast majority of his cash in so-called co-sanctioned events - where prize- money is eligible on more than one circuit - rather than by a man ranked outside the world's top-50, and thus "relegated" to playing most of his golf outside of the United States.

So it is that the just-released European Tour International Schedule is all about filling dates. Next season, as the blaring press release was quick to trumpet, the European Tour will consist of at least 50 events - a "momentous milestone" - as it winds its often mediocre way across the globe.

Also, Golfweek's Rex Hoggard fires a few shots at the FedEx Cup as he looks at issues with the Champions Tour schedule. And he notes this about another major change in the Valiant Competitors Tour:

Starting with next month's Q-School, players will no longer play for a Champions Tour card. Instead, the hopeful will vie for a chance to qualify for events. The top-30 finishers from Q-School will earn a seat at the Monday qualifying table each week and play for nine spots in that week's tournament.

With the move, golf's most closed club just went private.

"There are some positives and some negatives," George said of the new qualifying system. "How will it impact the international players on the tour? I want to make sure the tournaments aren't impacted by the qualifying. We're going into it very cautiously."

But back to Huggan and Hoggard's pithy FedEx Cup remarks.

Isn't it interesting that time has not helped the Tour's concept age like fine wine, but instead has some of golf's finest inkslingers realizing just how flawed the schedule and points concepts are?

Comments

[Frank Miller]

Is this slow news week? we've read this story before. nothing, not even constant banging on about it will change US domination of the game. and if we all stopped playing would the sky fall in?

[Geoff]

Frank,
I'm not clear what you mean?

I just think it's interesting that going into the FedEx Cup, no one is saying "give it a chance." The various columnists and pundits seem to have already written it off and are looking for ways that it will be tweaked (both scheduling wise and points wise).

[Frank Miller]

Huggans point re Euro Tour problems due to FedEx. Nobody with clout in golf cares about it.

[Geoff]

Well, that's a fair point. But I would counter that the people with clout also really haven't cared much about a lot of other issues facing the game. And they are paid a lot of money to care about such things.

[Tread Softly]

and if the majority of us without "clout" stopped caring the sky might as well fall in.... "in golf, as in life..." to quote Huggan.

[Hawkeye]

Frank - you epitomize the isolationist American. There are quite a few of us outside the US with more than a little "clout in golf" who see that Finchem plays havoc with the schedule for us. I take it that your solution to the Middle East problem is "nuke 'em back to the stone age".
The main problem with the FedEx Cup is that Finchem went one step too far - ending the season in mid-September and back-loading it with some prestigous tournaments instead of the seven yawners you have today would have been enough. Funnily enough, the Euro Tour is like that today, but tomorrow? I care.