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Will Tiger Retain The FedEx Cup?
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The FedEx Cup
The USPGA Tour schedule was redesigned for the 2007 season to try and create a more interesting climax to the season and this has been brought together under the umbrella of the FedEx Cup.
The season is now divided into three separate sections: the Regular Season, the Play-Off series and the Fall series.
The Regular Season
During the Regular Season players accumulate points dependant on their finishing position in each tour event. At the end of the regular season the top 144 players qualify for the four week Play-Off series.
The Play-Off Series
The 144 qualifiers have their points totals reset at the beginning of the Play-Offs at a level which reflects their position on the points list and all can take part in the first Play- Off event, the Barclays Classic.
The field is reduced to the top 120 players after that event and those players go on to the following weeks event at the Deutsche Bank.
After that event the top 70 players move forward to the BMW Championship and finally the top 30 after the BMW qualify for the Tour Championship. The person who finishes top of the points list after this event will be deemed the winner of the FedEx Cup and the winner of a cool $10 million!
However, winning the Tour Championship may not be enough to win the FedEx cup outright as it is the person with the most points OVERALL who is the winner.
The Play-Off Series is when the Fed-Ex Cup really hots up so these are the tournaments to keep an eye out for:
The Barclays Classic 23rd-26th August
The Deutsche Bank 31st August-3rd Sept
The BMW Championship 6th -9th September
The Tour Championship 13th-16th September
The Fall Series
Finally, we have the Fall Series. Here players revert to the old Money List system and players are chasing the top 125 places on the overall Money List to ensure they have their cards for the PGA Tour for 2008 and the right to play in the FedEx Cup in 2008. It would appear that most of the big names will already have secured their cards by this point so the later tournaments in the year could be much more competitive without Tiger and co.
Betting Preview
At the time of writing this preview Tiger Woods looks to have the inaugural FedEx Cup pretty much sewn up and that is probably a fitting result that the worlds greatest golfer should win this event in its first year. Some people have criticized the format and some of the players (Tiger included) have been missing from some of the four week Play-Off series but it has definitely brought life to the usual end of the golf season which usually just drifts away. From a betting perspective it will surely be worth considering a gamble early in the season in this event next year as this gives you a bet that you can follow all season long and now that (as looks likely) Tiger has won it once he may not be so driven to win it again. Also, he may not win six or seven times in a season next year and the likes of Rory Sabbatini, K.J. Choi or Adam Scott (finally!) may come to the fore. Whatever happens the FedEx Cup is certainly a bet to have in your ante-post portfolio. Check back to this page regularly for updates on the 2008 season and betting markets. |
