Sport

New format to transform season's finale

US Tour: The absence of crowd favourites Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson from this week's Tour Championship is unlikely to be…

Thu Nov 02 2006 - 00:00

US Tour: The absence of crowd favourites Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson from this week's Tour Championship is unlikely to be repeated next year, according to fellow American Davis Love III.

Next September, the traditional PGA Tour finale will cap the inaugural FedExCup series of four play-off events with the final points leader claiming $10 million as champion of the season.

"If Tiger had $10 million at stake and the FedExCup at stake, he'd take a different approach to this event," Love said at East Lake Golf Club yesterday.

"He's not going to give up on letting somebody beat him for the FedExCup because he wants to take a week off in November and he's tired from his year or whatever. Same thing with Phil."

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Champion in 1999, Woods has pulled out of this week's event for the PGA Tour's top 30 money winners for the first time in his career, citing fatigue.

Mickelson, the 2000 champion at East Lake, also missed the event last year and has made a habit of curtailing his playing schedule after the USPGA.

With Canada's Stephen Ames also absent, with a back injury, this week's Tour Championship features only 27 players - its smallest field since the event began in 1987. But Love, a member of the Tour's policy board, is confident the 2007 FedExCup will transform the season. "I think it'll help the overall season. . . It's going to come down to the end.

"Tiger has such a big lead in money (this season) that he's going to win the money title whether he plays (here) or not.

"We tried to come up with a system where that doesn't necessarily happen, where there is an overriding prize that keeps guys playing."

Players will earn points from every PGA Tour event next year, with more points on offer at the World Golf Championship tournaments. The top counting events will be the Players Championship and the majors. The leading 144 players in the points list after the Carolina Classic on August 19th will make up the field for the first three play-off events before the top 30 advance to the September 13th-16th Tour Championship in Atlanta.