Regardless of the obvious flaws in the first two seasons of the FedEx Cup format, the PGA Tour playoffs came about as close as you can to getting things right in the long run.
The PGA Tour embarks on the third season of this great experiment Thursday in the Barclays, with officials hoping that further rule changes will mean that they finally have gotten it exactly right.
Although the powers-that-be concede that this might always be a work in progress, they hope the format will require only minor tweaks from time to time from now on.
The idea is to determine the best of the season, just as the World Series, Super Bowl, the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup do. However, golf has shown that, like tennis and auto racing, it does not fit neatly into that format.
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Since Tiger Woods took home the FedEx title in 2007 after claiming two of his seven victories for the year during the playoffs, there can be no argument about that one.
Vijay Singh stepped up to win the first two postseason events a year ago with Woods on the sidelines and had the title virtually wrapped up before he hit a shot in the Tour Championship at East Lake.
That was one problem, that it was over before the final event.
In addition, although Singh could make a pretty good claim for top-player honors in many seasons with three victories and $6,601,094 in earnings, he was not the Player of the Year in 2008.
It didn't matter that Padraig Harrington had only two victories and $4,313,551 in earnings; the fact that he captured the Open Championship and the PGA Championship meant he was the best golfer not only on the PGA Tour, but on the planet, for 2008.
Even Woods told reporters that Paddy had his vote even though Tiger could make his own case with four victories in the six tournaments he played, including his epic, one-legged, 91-hole triumph over Rocco Mediate at the U.S. Open, and $5,775,000.
So the PGA Tour had plenty of explaining to do when Harrington was sent home to Dublin following the first three events of the playoffs, missing the cut in the first two and failing to make it to the Tour Championship because he wound up 20 spots outside the top 30 in the point standings.
Commissioner Tim Finchem saw it coming and addressed the question even before it was asked by reporters.
"I know there's some consternation about a player like Padraig Harrington, wins two majors, top 10, misses two cuts, and he's in danger of not getting to Atlanta," Finchem said.
" ... I do think that the Padraig Harrington thing actually stirs up debate about this, and debate is good and healthy, and some level of controversy gets people talking about it.
"People around the country are having a lot more discussion on talk radio this year than last year, so I don't know how you measure that, but that's good stuff. So we'll see what happens."
Harrington, to his credit, took the high road.
When asked by reporters at the BMW Championship, in which he needed a high finish to qualify for the Tour Championship, Paddy claimed that, in fact, he got better than he deserved.
"I'd actually think I'd be more inclined if you miss the cut, go home, you're out," Harrington told reporters before finishing in a tie for 52nd at the BMW. "I think I'm in a lucky position that I still have a chance at qualifying. I've missed two cuts. I certainly should be out.
"This is the playoffs. It's four tournaments. It should be judged on the merits of those four tournaments, with a little bit of bias to the start of the year."
Still, Finchem and his lieutenants went back to the drawing board and announced the newest changes to the FedEx Cup format in November.
The points will be adjusted after the third event of the playoffs, the BMW Championship, instead of before the start, putting greater emphasis on the regular season.
Points awarded during the playoff events will be five times greater than those for regular-season events, meaning players will not be able to cruise through the postseason events to the Tour Championship.
In addition, the size of the field for the Barclays was reduced from 144 to 125, and the Deutsche Bank Championship will have only 100 players instead of 120.
The BMW Championship will continue to have a 70-man field, and 30 players will again make it to the Tour Championship.
"We knew we had to re-evaluate the current structure and consider the best ways to maintain interest and excitement throughout the playoffs," Finchem said.
"With the changes we have (made), we believe we have a formula that will deliver what our players, fans, tournaments, sponsors and television partners want and expect from the FedEx Cup."
In reality, with Woods and Singh winning it was sort of like the Yankees and Dodgers prevailing, so the PGA tour did not do too badly overall in its first two tries.
Perhaps the new format will open the door for someone to make like the 1969 Miracle Mets.
