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A Proposal for Redesign of the FedEx Cup Playoff Series on the PGA TOUR

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  • Nicholas G. Hall

    (Department of Management Sciences, Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210)

  • Chris N. Potts

    (School of Mathematics, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom)

Abstract

We propose a new design for the FedEx Cup playoff series on the PGA TOUR, and especially for its final event, the TOUR Championship. Playing the TOUR Championship as a strongly seeded match-play event, as in our proposal, provides a good chance of an exciting climax to the professional golf season. We validate our proposed design by estimating the probability that a player who has a particular rank entering the TOUR Championship finishes in various positions in the FedEx Cup standings. The choice of match play in our design is motivated by the belief held by various stakeholders in professional golf that match play is closer to the spirit of a playoff event than stroke play. Moreover, our strongly seeded match-play design provides several advantages, including the following: all players have a reasonable opportunity to win at the TOUR Championship; all players are rewarded for consistently strong performance during the season; and the participation of marquee name players is guaranteed during network television coverage late in the event. We discuss how the proposed design achieves the various objectives outlined by PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem about possible redesign of the FedEx Cup playoff series.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas G. Hall & Chris N. Potts, 2012. "A Proposal for Redesign of the FedEx Cup Playoff Series on the PGA TOUR," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 42(2), pages 166-179, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orinte:v:42:y:2012:i:2:p:166-179
    DOI: 10.1287/inte.1110.0565
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paul Kvam & Joel S. Sokol, 2006. "A logistic regression/Markov chain model for NCAA basketball," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(8), pages 788-803, December.
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    3. Caudill, Steven B., 2003. "Predicting discrete outcomes with the maximum score estimator: the case of the NCAA men's basketball tournament," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 313-317.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael J. Fry & Jeffrey W. Ohlmann, 2012. "Introduction to the Special Issue on Analytics in Sports, Part I: General Sports Applications," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 42(2), pages 105-108, April.
    2. Alan Cinnamond, 2015. "An analysis of the design of the PGA Tour's FedExCup," Birkbeck Sports Business Centre Working Papers 12, Birkbeck College, Department of Management.
    3. Oberhelman Dennis & Galbreth Michael & Fry Timothy, 2013. "Equitable handicapping of scramble golf tournaments," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 9(4), pages 285-300, December.
    4. Wright, Mike, 2014. "OR analysis of sporting rules – A survey," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 232(1), pages 1-8.
    5. Connolly Robert & Rendleman Richard J., 2012. "Tournament Selection Efficiency: An Analysis of the PGA TOUR's FedExCup," Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, De Gruyter, vol. 8(4), pages 1-33, November.

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