All of this consternation over the new WGC-Cadillac Match Play format reminds me of when the FedEx Cup was first introduced.
Yeah, yeah, I know -- a lot of you hear the words "FedEx Cup" and either double over with laughter or start clenching with rage. But I've always submitted this often-overlooked fact about the season-ending series: It beats the hell out of the previous alternative.
In the last year before the FedEx Cup was introduced, the Tour Championship was played in November 2006 and the two biggest drawing cards -- Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson -- stayed home because, well ... they felt like it. Criticize the brain-bending points system all you'd like (and trust me, I frequently do), but at least players show up and it ends in September.
This week's Match Play underwent some stark alterations from its previous format, which has caused purveyors of the status quo to start pecking away at their keyboards in disgust. But they're missing the big picture. The new format, with each player guaranteed at least three matches, is better for the competitors, better for business and arguably better for fans.
As I wrote prior to the opening round, the previous edition felt like an inverted pyramid, with each day less important than the last. The current one has some staying power; if nothing else, Friday will be more entertaining than Wednesday.
Of course, it's not perfect. There need to be some changes for future years. Here are five ideas that would help alleviate some of that consternation over the new format.
1. Halved matches. They say a tie is like kissing your sister. I don't have a sister, but that sounds nasty. I think a tie must be way better than that. With three round-robin matches over the first three days, there's no reason to have players grinding away through the 23rd hole to separate 'em. Play 18 and if there's a tie, call it a tie. This will actually help when we institute this ...
2. Points system. As one Twitter follower reminded me Thursday night, the Volvo World Match Play Championship features a similar format, but offers two points for a win and one for a tie. The most points in each group advances. Want to make winning more important? Up the ante to three points for a W, World Cup soccer-style. Either way, the points system will be a fairer way of advancing players than a flat win-loss (and no tie) record.
3. No tiebreakers. After just two matches, some players were already eliminated because they'd lost a head-to-head tiebreaker. This is just plain silly. The most compelling portion of any Match Play week should be competitors battling in a sudden-death playoff to advance. Using a head-to-head tiebreaker can often hurt any hopes of this happening. Under a points system, let's say two players each lead their group with 5 points. Rather than simply advancing the one who won head-to-head, let 'em go out there and play for it.
4. No points? No money. Perhaps the biggest issue facing this format is that 22 players were eliminated prior to Friday's round, but still had to compete. Ian Poulter, one of those 22, tweeted his disdain before he teed off. Yes, a 1-2 record garners more money and ranking points than an 0-3 record, but that's not motivation enough. Maybe this is: If a player goes 0-3 and doesn't win a single point for the week, it counts as a missed cut. No money earned. Hey, futility isn't rewarded on most other weeks, so there shouldn't be a consolation prize this week, either.
Well I'm about to play the most pointless round of golf of my life today. Could be a thriller Hahahaha
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) May 1, 20155. Jazz up the drawing. The most entertaining part of the entire week might have happened on Monday at noon ET -- or 9 a.m. at the tourney site, where most players were rubbing the crust from their eyes just to see whom they'd play. The process had an austere rules official pressing a button (think: "No whammies!") to select a numbered pingpong ball. Let's make this thing a bigger deal. Prime-time television. Celebrity cameos. Player faces on the pingpong balls instead of just numbers. There was serious interest in the live drawing when it happened this week. If it happened at a better time with more fanfare, it would be must-see TV.