Caddie's Role:Apart from being bombarded by a 30-million advertising campaign heightening my awareness of the importance of the FedEx Cup play-offs I realised the true importance of the event last Thursday morning at the Westchester Country Club.
We stepped onto the first tee for our 7.20am first-round tee time and the main man was standing right there not far away from the understated FedEx trophy, which was not standing out in the murky morning light.
The commissioner of the PGA Tour, as they call the boss over here, was clutching his morning coffee. He appeared as dapper as always, the hair nicely groomed and the suit, which looked as if cut from the finest Italian silk, pressed and pristine.
I don't recall ever having seen Tim Fincham standing on the first tee at any other event, so it was a surprise to see him on the unusual opening par-three at Westchester.
The last time I encountered a par-three opener was at Royal Lytham and St Annes, and it was the scene of one of the greatest caddie disasters at a British Open when Ian Woosnam, who had a chance to win the championship, took off down the first with 15 clubs (14 are permitted) in the bag. Out of deference to my colleague the unfortunate victim of that debacle, I did an extra club count at Westchester.
The FedEx Cup was always going to be a gamble. Despite the PGA Tour being in an extremely healthy financial condition, the television ratings were down for their more prestigious events because they were competing with car racing and NFL football during those events.
Someone came up with the idea of a "play-off" series in early autumn in an attempt to increase the ratings without the strong competition from the other sports. I suspect it was the main man's idea and that is why he took his morning coffee on the first tee at Westchester last Thursday, keeping a close eye on "his baby" over breakfast.
I have yet to hear anyone brag about the idea of the Cup. Golfers are like most mortals - suspicious of change. They are slightly uncomfortable with seemingly unnecessary tampering with a schedule that had become as comfortable as an old pair of slippers. Naturally, there were moans of discontent in the locker-room.
The carrot of 7.35 million for the winner on top of all the money accumulated in the process of winning the trophy was enough to appease the sceptics for the time being.
I assume commissioner Tim was so promptly on the tee last Thursday because the jury is still out on how this new departure on the US Tour is going to turn out. Who will be made to pay if the idea fails?
It could be argued the PGA Tour would work successfully if it were run by a monkey dressed in a finely pressed Italian silk suit. The reason being is that the sporting phenomenon and superhuman icon Tiger Woods plays on the tour. How can you fail if he - and all the attention he so deservedly attracts - is part of 20 of your events each year?
You could fail if you devised a new, improved system and he did not turn up to play.
This is what has happened with the first of the four play-off events. The main golfing man was not there. It is no surprise to us on tour he was not at Westchester last week given the points structure whereby he can still win the FedEx Cup without competing in all four events.
I am sure it was envisaged by the complex points-system creators, who are the only ones thoroughly enjoying the system so far given their expertise is in mathematics.
There is an even worse possible scenario for the devisers of the new system. What happens if Tiger wins the next two events and ends up not having to play in the final showdown because he has won the FedEx trophy already?
Number crunching is the basis of the PGA Tour. As caddies we quote numbers to our players as fluidly as a rap artist spits out his rhythmical lyrics: 145 front, 52 carry, 60 back - it's like another language.
Most tour venues have large electronic screens on each hole with exhaustive statistics about the players on each hole.
During the final round at the Barclays on Sunday the permutations and ramifications of holed or missed putts were shown on screen, indicating how they would affect the players' FedEx Cup standing.
Ultimately golf is a numbers game and the name of those numbers is dollars.
The PGA Tour, despite its success and quality label, does not really have a prestigious award like the Masters, US Open, British Open Championship or PGA title.
The FedEx Cup is a huge effort to create something really prestigious on the US Tour. All major sports in America have their play-offs; golf wants one too. It remains to be seen as to how the tag of a global transport company can create a prized and exclusive image.
If the play-offs turn out to be the most-sought-after prize in golf I will be amazed.
The FedEx is a wonderful marketing tool for the global transporter, but if prestige is about longevity and tradition, should we not be calling it the Ben Hogan Cup or the Bobby Jones Trophy or some such?
