When the PGA Tour was looking for new ways to help draw fans, it decided to copy one of the fastest rising sports in America – NASCAR.

To determine their champion, NASCAR awards drivers points depending on how they fare in individual races. At the end of the season, the driver with the most overall points is then awarded the Nextel Cup. The PGA Tour is now using the same formula.

The FedEx Cup, golf’s new points system, has a more complicated design. Money rankings from January through August will be used to decide who enters the FedEx Cup as the leader. Golfers will then get the opportunity to generate points in four events: the Barclays, the Deutsche Bank Championship, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. After each event, the field decreases gradually each time until there are only 30 golfers participating in the Tour Championship.

Unlike NASCAR’s proven method to determine a championship, many fans of golf feel that the current system is flawed. In order to be successful for the long run, pro golfers from across Iowa feel some minor tweaks need to be made to two different areas.

Points system

As the tournament is set up right now, golf superstars do not have to participate in all four events to win. Tiger Woods is testing this theory as he skipped the Barclays, saying he needs personal time. Yet through the first two competitions, Woods is sitting comfortably on the top of the standings, leading because he was the top money leader entering the FedEx Cup along with his strong performance in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Seeing this, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els – all in the top 20 in points – have already decided to skip tournaments in the Cup.

For many of the top players, this is a vacation they can afford to take because the ground between them can be made

up. The point spread awarded for finishes is 50,000 for a first-place finish, 10,000 for second, 5,500 for third and gradually decreasing following that.

ISU men’s golf coach Jay Horton feels this loophole is easy to fix.

“Some of the elite players today get the luxury to pick and choose where they get to play. To combat this, it would be nice if they created a rule that to be able to win the FedEx Cup, all participants must compete in all four events. For me, it’s as easy as that,” Horton said.

The events

The most evident disparity between the NASCAR and FedEx Cup format is the number of individual events it will take to become the overall champion. Compared to the final 10 races in NASCAR, golfers only have those four select events to be determined the champion for that year.

Since these are not premier events in the eyes of pro golfers, participation by some key members of the tour is limited. This ends up hurting TV ratings, especially if Woods sits out.

“The only events that these players care about are the majors, plain and simple. Instead of having these little tournaments count, they should have the four majors decide who the champion is,” said Jim Kain, clubhouse assistant at the Veenker Memorial Golf Course, 1925 Stange Drive. “Players consider the Masters and such the real championship, and rightfully so.”

John Habermann, head golf pro at The Harvester Golf Club in Rhodes, thinks that changes should be made along the similar lines.

“I think that they should make it a season-long tournament and have the majors be weighed more heavily in to the decision than others,” Habermann said. “Ten years from now, I think that it will eventually come to [that].”

Although they each differ on the format of the current system, all agree on one item. The FedEx Cup will not be successful unless Woods competes.

“[If] Tiger is in, the tournament ratings are up. If he’s out of contention or not playing then ratings are down. It’s just the way it is and everybody tunes in just to see him. Everything in golf today depends on Tiger,” Horton said.

That sentiment proved to be true when Woods decided to sit out of the Barclays. The overall goal of the FedEx Cup was meant to help attract new audience members to golf and to help the sport in TV ratings.

Despite their best hope, the general outlook is met with much skepticism.

Still, it is expected that the FedEx Cup will still be around for many more years to come.