Opinion & Analysis
Why isn’t anybody questioning the Race To Dubai system?
A month ago, Rory McIlroy won the European Tour’s Race to Dubai—a year-long points system ending with a four-event extravaganza where the point values are extra charged. The Northern Irishman’s triumph here was hardly surprising, with his monstrous season that included victories in four of the most significant events counted by the circuit.
But then consider that McIlroy decided to break from golf in mid-October, mere weeks before the beginning of the four-event finale (known as the Final Series). The 25-year-old skipped the first three events of this supposedly lavish quartet closing to the European Tour season, and while he did compete in the fourth and final tournament, he had already clinched the Race to Dubai crown prior to teeing off.
All in all, McIlroy won his second Race to Dubai title in three years before hitting a single shot in the Final Series.
Does that sound crazy?
One would suppose that question might garner varying answers from a wide range of parties—with an outcome objectively radical like this, fierce polarization among the golf faithful would just be an assumption. But so far in the aftermath of McIlroy’s effortless victory, the voices have been nearly unanimous: The 25-year-old deserved to win this way.
Huh?
Where’s the outrage golf fans can unleash over the tiniest detail—a ball drifting ever so slightly from its previous position, a drop a mere two yards from its start point? Isn’t this the same group that constantly derides the FedEx Cup—the same type of four-tournament system on the other side of the Atlantic?
The Final Series is meant to be a punctuation to the European Tour season, a strong, dramatic closing to a year-round campaign. Yet, praising McIlroy’s method, one could easily argue, endorses a very alternate reality—that these four weeks are nothing more than a blip in the 12-month tournament calendar.
And it has been praised. Some remain too apathetic to form an opinion on the matter, but several players and media have lauded the current points breakdown. Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia each offered a firm approval of McIlroy’s premature triumph. Others have suggested it would be “in rather poor taste” for anybody else to claim the Race to Dubai. And most who’ve posed the question of whether the current system is adequate did so only to affirm their conviction behind the status quo.
One of the few that gave an honest thought to this question was the Daily Mail’s Derek Lawrenson, who felt the current setup paved the way to an anemic finish to the European Tour calendar.
It’s not necessary for all of us to follow in Lawrenson’s path, but systems can improve with a healthy dose of questioning. In the face of the champion competing in just one of the four über-important year-end events—a controversy on a platter, really—why is the Race to Dubai being shielded from practically any criticism?
The initial years of the FedEx Cup fell victim to harsh words from all sorts when victors like Vijay Singh were confirmed before the Tour Championship. The PGA Tour brass adjusted and transformed the enterprise into an affair that ensured no winner would be awarded before the final event or that the closing tournament would be an afterthought in determining the champion.
The FedEx Cup Playoffs remain imperfect, and I did refer to it as stale in the aftermath of Billy Horschel’s 2014 double (the PGA Tour announced last week that it was reducing the amount of points in the four playoff events, a change probably not implemented because of what I wrote, but you can’t prove that). Yet, the system is markedly superior to its earlier iterations, something that likely wouldn’t have occurred without a large peppering of public outrage.
The Race to Dubai should be able to evolve from such a constructive process, if there are willing actors. They were certainly willing a year ago when players complained about competing in a minimum of two of the first three Final Series tournaments in order to be eligible for the last event, critiques that convinced the European Tour to remove this clause altogether.
One may surmise that this change weakened the Race to Dubai—although I would disagree, on grounds that the points system, not eligibility, was the force driving the absentee-winner in McIlroy—but it proves that willing actors are present in advocating tweaks to this system. And constantly opening it up to these participants tends to produce positive results in the long run.
The Race to Dubai needs to continue discussion on internal events that might be in any way troublesome in order to ensure the best possible system is being created. The finish to the 2014 season and what it says about the present system certainly deserves to be one of these talking points.
Yes, the vast majority of voices that have spoken here failed to promote tweaks to the four-event finale, but that feels disingenuous. This is a picky sport, one where fans, players and media are prone to argue over any perceived issue. And those hotly debated early FedEx Cups were far less radical in their main point of argumentation (a lack of drama) than this year’s Race to Dubai—where we pretty much knew throughout that McIlroy would eventually clinch.
Simply, I don’t trust that the panel of golf is so one-sided on this issue. There’s a dissenting voice to the Race to Dubai 2014 that has just not manifested itself much yet.
I’m not sure why the other side has not voiced its opinion strongly as of this moment. Maybe they’re afraid to speak out in case it’s misconstrued as an attack on McIlroy’s season (which, while quite stellar, isn’t an all-time great season as quotes from other players might have you believe). Maybe kvetching about the FedEx Cup has burned everybody out. Maybe McIlroy’s accomplishment came at a time when too few protestors were paying attention or cared enough to weigh in.
Whatever the case, a productive two-way discussion needs to take place on the Race to Dubai. An event as radical as 2014’s can’t sit by untouched; these are the results that must be interrogated in order to gauge whether the system is sound.
Who knows, maybe at the end of this conversing, the current system is deemed worthy. But at least in this instance, it is put through an honest test of healthy questioning following an event that could be construed as alarming.
Systems take a number of years to incorporate an adequate model. In light of McIlroy’s easy win, the Race to Dubai should be subjected to that process.
Opinion & Analysis
Brandel Chamblee PGA Championship Q&A: Rose’s huge McLaren risk, distracted LIV pros and why Aronimink suits the bombers
PGA Championship week is here, and Brandel Chamblee did not hold back in our latest discussion ahead of the season’s second major.
In our 2026 PGA Championship Q&A, golf’s leading analyst made the case that PIF pulling LIV’s funding has left its players competing in a state of confusion, called Justin Rose’s mid-season equipment switch a huge risk at 45, and explained why Aronimink will be a bombers’ delight this week.
Check out the full Q&A below.
Gianni: With the PIF confirming that they’re pulling funding from LIV at the end of the season, what impact do you expect that to have on the LIV players competing at the PGA Championship?
Brandel: I would imagine that they have all been thrown into a state of confusion, and will be distracted, not knowing where they are going to play next year and not knowing exactly their road back to either the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour. Or in Rahm’s case, being tied to a sinking ship for the next few years, likely playing for pennies on the dollar in events that no one cares about or watches.
I doubt this would put him in the best frame of mind to compete at his highest level. Keeping in mind, however, that majors are the only time that LIV disciples get to play in events that matter, so never disregard the motivation they have to prove to the world they are still relevant.
Gianni: Justin Rose switched to McLaren Golf equipment mid-season while playing some of the best golf of his career. What do you make of the change?
Brandel: I don’t really know what to make of Rose switching equipment. It seems a huge risk on his part, even though it is likely, in my opinion, that the clubs he’s playing are similar, if not the exact grinds, to what he was playing previously, with a McLaren stamp on them.
Having said that, at best, it is a distraction when he seemed to be as dialed in with his game as any 45-year-old could be and trending in the majors to perhaps do something that would definitely put him in the Hall of Fame. At worst, given the possibility that these clubs aren’t just duplicates of his old set stamped with McLaren on them, he’s made an equipment change that would take time, and 45-year-old athletes don’t have the time to do such things.
Gianni: Aronimink has only hosted a handful of professional events since it hosted the 1962 PGA Championship. What kind of test does it present, and does a course with less recent major championship history tend to level the playing field?
Brandel: Even though Aronimink has only hosted a handful of meaningful professional events, it has been fairly discerning in who can win there. When Keegan Bradley won the BMW Championship on the Donald Ross masterpiece in 2018, he was the 2nd best iron player on tour coming into that week. When Nick Watney won the AT&T at Aronimink in 2011, he was 2nd in strokes gained total coming into the week.
In 2020, Aronimink hosted the KPMG Championship, and Sei Young Kim won. On the LPGA that year, she was first in greens in regulation, putts per green in regulation, and scoring average on the way to being the LPGA player of the year. And then there is the 1962 PGA Championship won by Gary Player, who eventually became just one of a few players to win the career grand slam on the way to winning 9 majors. It is a formidable test, and if it’s not softened by rain, it will bring out the best in the upper echelons of the game.
Gianni: Is there a specific hole at Aronimink that you think will do the most to decide the winner?
Brandel: The hardest hole at Aronimink in each of the three tour events that have been played there since 2010 has been the long par-3 8th hole, with the par-4 10th being the second hardest, so most of the carnage will happen around the turn, but with the par-5 16th offering opportunities for bold plays and the tough closing holes at 17 and 18, the finish is likely to be frenetic.
Gianni: The PGA Championship has always sat in the shadow of the other majors. What does the ideal PGA Championship look like in your eyes, and what would it take for it to carve out its own identity?
Brandel: The PGA Championship, to whatever degree it suffers from the comparison to the other three majors, is still counted just as much when adding them up at the end of one’s career. Almost 1/3 of Nicklaus’ major wins were the five PGA Championships he won. Walter Hagen won 11 majors, five of which were PGA Championships.
Tiger Woods twice in his career won back-to-back PGA Championships, and those four majors count just as much as the other 11 he won. The PGA may not have the prestige of the other three, but it carries the same weight. Having said that, I preferred the identity that it had as the last major of the year.
Gianni: You nailed your Masters picks. Rory won, Scottie finished solo second, and Morikawa surged to a tie for seventh. Who are your top 3 picks for the PGA Championship and why?
Brandel: I am not a huge fan of majors played on golf courses that have been shorn of most of the trees, although I understand some of the agronomic reasons for doing so and of course the ease with which it allows members to play after errant drives. However, at the highest level, it all but eliminates any strategy off the tee and turns professional golf into an even bigger slugfest. That means that it will likely be a bomber’s delight this week, but fortunately, Scottie Scheffler is long enough to play that game and straight enough to play it better than anyone else.
The major championships give us very few surprises anymore, going back to the beginning of 2012, so the last 57 majors played, the average world rank of the winners has been better than 15th in the world. So look at the highest ranked and longest drivers who are on form coming into the PGA Championship who also have great short games as the surrounds at Aronimink are very challenging. That’s Scottie Scheffler by a mile and then McIlroy and Cameron Young with a far bigger nod towards DeChambeau than I gave him at the Masters.
In this episode of the Club Junkie Podcast, we dive into one of the most interesting flatstick releases of the year with a full review of the new TaylorMade SYSTM 2 putters. After spending time on the greens, I break down what makes this design stand out, where it performs, and why it has me completely torn between loving it and fighting it. If you are into feel, alignment, and consistency, this is one you will want to hear about.
We also take a look at some of the putters in play on the PGA Tour last week. From familiar favorites to a few surprising setups, there is always something to learn from what the best players in the world are rolling with under pressure.
To wrap things up, I walk through the process of building a set of JP Golf Prime irons paired with Baddazz Gold Series shafts. From component selection to performance goals, this is a deep dive into what goes into creating a unique custom set and why this combo has been so intriguing.
This year my 50th birthday. Gosh, where has the time gone?
As a teenager in rural Missouri, some of my junior high and high school years felt interminable. Graduation seemed light years away. But the older I get, the faster life seems to fly by.
I’m also increasingly aware of my mortality. My dad died recently. Earlier this year, a friend and fellow PGA of America professional and I were texting about our next catch-up. The next message I received was news of his unexpected passing at 48. Shortly after, a woman I dated in college succumbed to cancer at 51.
Certainly, one can share perspective at any age. Seniors help freshmen, veterans guide rookies. But reaching this milestone feels like as good a time as any to do one of those “what would I tell my younger self?” articles.
I’ve had a uniquely varied career in golf. I started as a 27-year-old, average-length-hitting, 14-handicap computer engineer and somehow managed to turn pro before running out of money, constantly bootstrapping my way forward. I’ve won qualifiers and set venue records in the World Long Drive Championships, finished fifth at the Speedgolf World Championships, coached all skill levels as a PGA of America professional, built industry-leading swing speed training programs for Swing Man Golf, helped advance the single-length iron market with Sterling Irons®, caddied on the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions, and played about 300 courses across 32 countries.
It’s been a ride, and I’ve gone both deep and wide.
So while I can consult and advise from a lot of angles, let me keep it to a few things I’d tell the average golfer who wants to improve.
1. Think About What You Want
Everyone has their own reason for picking up a golf club.
Oddly, as a professional athlete, I’m not internally driven by competition. That can be challenging, as the industry currently prioritizes and incentivizes competition over the love of the game.
For me, I love walking and being outdoors. Nature helps balance my energy. I prefer courses that are integrated into the natural beauty of their surroundings. I’m comfortable practicing alone. I’m a deep thinker, and I genuinely enjoy investigating the game, using data and intuition to unearth unique, often innovative insights. I’m fortunate to be strong and athletic, so I appreciate the chance to engage with my abilities. Traveling feels adventurous. I could go on.
You don’t have to overthink it like I do. For you, it might be as simple as hitting balls to escape work, hanging out with friends, and playing loosely with the rules and the score.
The point is to give yourself permission to play for your own reasons, and let that be enough.
But if improvement is your goal, thinking about your destination—and when you want to get there—is important, because it dictates the steps you need to take. When I set out to go from a 14-handicap to the PGA TOUR as quickly as possible, the steps I needed were very different from those of a working golfer trying to break 90 in six months. That’s also different from someone who just wants a few peaceful hours outside each week, away from work or family.
None of these goals are better than the others, but each requires a different plan that you can work backward from.
2. There Are Lots of Things That Can Work
One of the challenges of golf is that, although there are rules for playing, there aren’t clear, industry-wide standards for how to best play the game. There’s a lot of gray area.
You might hear a top coach or trainer insist that a certain move is the best way to swing or train. Then you dig a bit deeper and, much to your confusion and frustration, another respected coach or trainer says something completely different. I don’t think anyone is trying to confuse you—at least I hope not. It’s just where the industry is right now.
You have to be careful with advice from tournament pros, too. They might be great at scoring, but they’re also human and sometimes just as susceptible as amateurs to believing things that don’t really move the needle. Tour players might describe what they feel, but that’s not always what they’re actually doing when assessed with technology.
I recently ran a test on my YouTube channel (which connects to my GolfWRX article “How to use your hands in the golf swing for power and accuracy”), and, interestingly, two of the most commonly taught hand actions produced the worst results in the test.
Coaches can certainly help. If you find someone you connect with to help navigate, that’s great. But there are many ways to get the ball in the hole. In the current landscape, you may need to seek multiple opinions, think critically, and use your own intuition to discern what seems true and whose advice resonates with you.
I’d recommend seeking someone who is open-minded and always learning, because things constantly change. Absolutes like “correct” or “proper” should raise a red flag. AI can be useful, but it tends to confidently repeat popular advice, so proceed with caution.
3. Get Custom Fit
If you’re serious about becoming a better player, getting custom fit is hugely important. There’s no sense fighting your equipment if you don’t have to. Most better players get fit these days and, if they don’t, they’re usually skilled enough to work around clubs that aren’t ideal.
If you plan to play for a long time, it’s worth spending a little more upfront to get something that truly fits you and your game, rather than continually buying and discarding equipment.
Equipment rules haven’t really changed significantly since the early 2000s. To stay in business, manufacturers keep pushing those limits. If you pull a bunch of clubs and balls off the rack and test them, you’ll find differences. I’ve tested two new drivers and seen a 30-yard total distance gap. Usually, the issue isn’t bad equipment; it’s that the combination of components simply isn’t the best fit.
It’s like wearing a new pair of floppy clown shoes. Sure, they’re shoes—but you won’t sprint your best in them compared to track shoes that fit perfectly.
Be wary of what’s called custom fitting, too. Sometimes the term is used as a marketing strategy rather than an actual fitting. In some retail settings, fitters may be incentivized to steer you toward higher-priced components. That doesn’t automatically mean it’s not the best fit, but you should be aware of potential biases.
I learned a version of this lesson outside of golf. Years ago, I bought a tennis racquet at a big box store from a seemingly knowledgeable employee who thought it would suit me best. The racquet gave me tennis elbow, and I spent months recovering with rest and acupuncture. The next season, I invested more time and money to find what actually fit me, and I walked away with something amazing that I still play with years later.
So if you’re going to get fit, be smart about it.
Find someone you believe has deep knowledge—possibly with certifications, but not necessarily. Make sure there’s a wide inventory across many brands. Check recent reviews for the individual fitter if possible. Make sure you trust that the fitter has your best interests at heart. If they’re wearing a hat or shirt with a specific brand’s logo, proceed with caution. Unless you specifically want a certain brand or look, be wary of upsells, especially if two options perform nearly the same.
Also, while golf is called a sport of integrity, there’s a thread of manipulation in the industry. I once drafted an equipment article for an industry magazine, structured just like one of their previous popular stories, with matching word count and great photos. The assistant editor loved it; it was useful to readers and required little work on his part. But the editor-in-chief nixed the story. When I asked why, I was told it was because I wasn’t an advertiser. It turned out the article I’d modeled mine after was a paid ad cleverly disguised as editorial content.
I really dislike games, clickbait, and fear-based manipulation. I hope this changes, but golfers deserve to know it exists.
4. Distance and Strategy Matter
There’s a real relationship between how far you hit the ball and your scoring average, even at the PGA TOUR level.
I experienced this early in my pro career. I started as a power hitter, swinging in the high 120s and breaking 200 mph ball speed with a stock driver.
Back then, some instructors advised swinging at 80%, so I tried slowing down for more accuracy. That worked fine on shorter, tighter courses. But on longer setups, I was coming into greens with too much club, and par 5s stopped being realistic opportunities. Later, when I tested the “80%” idea with a radar, it wasn’t 80% at all. For me, and for most golfers I’ve tested, it was more like going above 92 to 96% of max before full swing control started to noticeably drop off.
If you want more distance, there are swing technique changes that can help. See my author profile for previous articles. Technical changes can be dangerous to play with, though. A lot of golfers want consistency too, and it can be disruptive when you constantly change swing thoughts and mechanics.
The low hanging fruit is usually custom fitting, as mentioned above.
From there, if you have a big banana ball swing that’s fairly reliable but you just need more distance, consider swing speed training at Swing Man Golf. If you’re starting from zero, the first level program using driver swings, a radar to measure speed, and simple resistance bands can move the needle quickly to the tune of 12 to 16 mph and 30 to 40 yards, plus what you gain on iron distance as well.
Strategy matters too. For a golfer shooting in the 90 to 100 range, I’ll share a demo I’ve done when golfers have hired me for their golf vacations. I’d play at average golfer speeds and distances, hitting a smooth hybrid off the tee, maybe 190 yards. I wouldn’t aim at the fairway. Instead I’d aim between the biggest trouble, like the center of the tree line. Then I’d cruise a 6-iron about 160 to a safer area short of greenside bunkers or other major trouble. From there it might be a wedge or a simple pitch, depending on hole length. Go middle unless you are almost 100% confident you will keep it on the green by aiming closer. Then it’s a lag putt for par, followed by a tap-in.
It’s not flashy, but if you want to break 90 or 100 more regularly, something that keeps you out of big trouble like this can be super effective.
This is also where a playing lesson can help. If a coach tells you what to do and where to aim, you’d be surprised at how many shots can get dropped just having the coach be your decision maker until you get the hang of it. In some of those cases, you don’t even need to make much if any technical changes. You might already be there with a playable swing. It could just be better decision making that gets you around the course with a lower score.
Okay, I hope something here was useful for you.
Thanks for being with me all these years, and I wish you and your game the best.
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Mat
Jan 21, 2015 at 4:57 pm
There’s nothing wrong with the system in its points aggregation. That can be adjusted from here to next week. What needs to happen is the format needs to be more head-to-head.
4 weeks, like this:
Top 125 FedEx / R2D get into a field.
Week 1: Most players compete. An average of your seed and your position after the tournament determine total. 75+ continue. This makes Top 10 optional to play. No Friday cuts
Week 2: Most players compete. All Majors winners advance, along with Tournament Top 50+. Major winners are optional. No Friday cuts.
Week 3: Play to get down to a field of 32. 4 Major winners guaranteed 1 seed, but no one else.
Week 4: 5 rounds of match play, starting Thursday. Play twice Saturday, and Sunday title is 36 holes.
Christopher
Jan 20, 2015 at 2:43 pm
“Why isn’t anybody questioning the Race To Dubai system?”
Why write an article about a question’s no-one’s asking! If people aren’t up in arms about the winner, then they’re probably worthwhile winners, with a worthwhile system. We do occasionally get things right on the European Tour! The Play-Offs are only as interesting as the top players in-form, Rory was rewarded for his fantastic year and that’s what counts.
Sargio_Gercia
Dec 31, 2014 at 4:20 am
Ryder Cup. You’re welcome America!
Steve H
Dec 30, 2014 at 1:34 pm
The fact remains, there are only 5 or 6 events that truly matter in Professional Golf – The Masters, US & British Opens, PGA, Ryder Cup and maybe The Players. These events are golf’s equivalent to the Super Bowl, World Series etc. These playoff systems on both tours are just an attempt to keep the best players playing later in the year and hopefully get some eye balls to watch the tournaments that are really meaingless.
Since these playoffs will stick around, my suggestion, is the final tournament be a match play event, making the final round as close to a Game 7 as you can get in golf. Have the venue on the west coast, show it in prime time, but rather than finishing on a sunday, have the final round on a tues or weds. night and avoid all TV conflict with the NFL.
Knobbywood
Jan 3, 2015 at 4:29 pm
So the final day will only be two players? How many people do you think will tune in to watch Kevin Na and Ben Crane scrap it out for five and a half hours for the fedex cup? That’s an extreme example but you get my point and the the PGA tour won’t risk that happening… Although as a fan of the game of golf I would love it to be match play, just don’t see it happening
Greg V
Dec 29, 2014 at 3:25 pm
I, for one, think that the Fed-X cup has it wrong, and particularly the outlandish prize for winning a 4 week play-off. The most important tournaments are the majors, and of those, the most important are the Open Championship and the US Open.
Here is my “fix”: the major champions don’t play the first event of the playoffs, but get seeded into the second playoff event receiving the same number of points that are awarded to the first playoff event winner.
Then they play from there.
And they should play for something much more modest than the $10 Mil.
Joseph
Dec 29, 2014 at 6:25 pm
Not a bad idea. What about a race for the top 16 spots and then match play fom there? Major winners get auto bids. That leaves 12 spots up for grabs. Gotta do something to spice it up a bit.
JHI
Dec 31, 2014 at 2:40 am
No.
Tony
Dec 29, 2014 at 6:41 am
He won 2 majors and a WGC. if he’s not the player of the year then who is?
I don’t like the FedEx system. Couple years ago Rory won 2 of the 4 tournaments and top 10 in final tournament yet he didn’t win. How is that fair?
Golf is different to basketball, baseball and football, it’s not one team against another until they get knocked out each round. Trying to replicate those sports doesn’t really work. Someone could win all 4 majors and be #1 coming into the final tournament but not win, bizarre.
Matthew Bacon
Dec 28, 2014 at 7:41 pm
No one cares about the European Tour
Rich
Dec 29, 2014 at 9:36 am
Perhaps you should. It’s where all the players that thrashed the USA in the Ryder cup this year play a lot of their golf throughout the season.
JHI
Dec 31, 2014 at 2:40 am
Rich,
Ha-ha! Nice one!
Knobbywood
Jan 3, 2015 at 4:33 pm
Check again there rich most of those guys are PGA tour players
Rich
Jan 5, 2015 at 5:00 am
Knobby, think you better check again mate. They have to play a certain amount of events on the European Tour to be members of the European Tour or they can’t play Ryder Cup. They might be members of the PGA tour but by playing Ryder Cup, they are European Tour players. It’s as simple as that.
Rusty Putter
Dec 28, 2014 at 10:41 am
How many golfers are there in Dubai?
12?
golfing
Dec 28, 2014 at 9:14 am
They can make it to suit the show so we can be more interested and the
sponsors get more out for their money.
This is simple, points as it is now, but with a happy ending… a race
between the 4 best over 18 holes to lift the money…on Sunday at Dubai.
golfing
Dec 28, 2014 at 9:18 am
Or a race at 2 for 36 holes, or 4 semi final 36 holes, and 2 at final 36 holes, but the show is only over when the fat lady stops to sing.
Ronald Montesano
Dec 28, 2014 at 8:16 am
Rory McIlroy won the PGA Championship of Europe and the USA in 2014. He won the Open/British Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He was also runner-up in three events and averaged a bit more than 12th place in all events played. If future champs of the RTD have similar seasons before the playoffs, they deserve to win the event.
It’s proper to have one series that rewards an electric finish, running fairly parallel to another that rewards season-long play. If sponsors ever feel differently, we’ll see changes.
No big
Dec 28, 2014 at 3:27 am
What’s the big deal? The rules were set for points-won during the season, and the guy who gained the most points wins – like in the English Premier League or any other intelligently set, point-system league competition.
Each player is responsible for trying to get as many points as possible to win it at the end.
No silly divided-division play-off wild-card silliness like we see in America.
And why don’t any teams in professional sports in America get relegated? Where’s the camaraderie in sticking together as a team? You win as a team, you lose as a team, therefore if you play poor and are the bottom, you should get relegated. Oh but wait.. that’s right! In America, the individual is more important, therefore the team never goes down, the players are never together and are not part of a team! No wonder you guys keep losing the Ryder Cup as well.
Jeff
Dec 27, 2014 at 9:03 pm
The reason the same people the deride the Fed-Ex Cup that like the European system is the Fed ex cup feels gimicky. In most fans mind, it’s hard to award any golfer but Rory a season long award. The race to Dubai standings always seem more in line with the actual quality of a players season, where who knows when and why the fed ex cup points change.
Nick
Dec 27, 2014 at 6:25 pm
It is very simple to me: The Race to Dubai is more in line with traditional European scoring systems such as the Premier League which reward year-long consistency, whereas the Fedex Cup promotes a more American system of peaking at the right time such as the NFL, MLB, NHL and NCAA Tournament Playoffs.
In Europe, they have always rewarded consistency over an entire season, whereas here in America we become affixed to the “playoffs” as almost a marketing scheme to make it more exciting towards the end. It is neither here nor there and I am CERTAINLY not bashing America, but I expected each governing body to behave in this way given their respective cultures – the Euro tour more resembling the BPL and the Fedex Cup more resembling our playoff system here. Nobody complains because that is what they are used to. Golf may be “a little bit different” than most sports, but it has become clear that each of the governing bodies wants to move golf in a more stereotypical-to-culture direction.
No big
Dec 28, 2014 at 3:29 am
It’s because of the hype for TV ratings geared by marketing for commercial minutes sponsored by the very manufacturers who put up the money to broadcast the show and also to provide the goods being bought to fuel the economy, etc etc, yada yada yada what a load of bull
Rich
Dec 27, 2014 at 5:38 pm
Hang on a second. Golfwrx shows little or no interest in the European Tour during the whole season and yet publishes an article that is critical of how the European Tour operates the Race to Dubai? Not everyone wants to do the same as the USA. The Fedex cup system is dumb. Billy Horshel had a great play off series but he won because he had a good “postseason”. He was not even close to the best player for the whole year. McIlroy was the best player on the European Tour by a mile. How is this not the right result? Stick to what you know best Golfwrx and that’s golf in the USA. Stay out of European golf. You don’t know anything about golf in Europe or on the European Tour and it’s blindingly obvious here with this article.
Bogus
Dec 27, 2014 at 7:13 pm
You are spot on my friend! Only sticking their noses in when negative words are to be throw against the Euro’s or their tour
No big
Dec 28, 2014 at 3:32 am
Exactly, Rich!
Golfwrx also ignores the Champions Tour, the LPGA, the Asian Tour, the Australasia Tour, the ELT, as well as all the other “foreign” developmental tours as well the kids’ tours around the globe.
And it calls itself a golf website. But then again it’s a part of GolfDigest, so what do you expect!
Ronald Montesano
Dec 28, 2014 at 8:02 am
“But then again it’s a part of GolfDigest, so what do you expect!”
Inaccurate, No big.
Ponjo
Dec 28, 2014 at 6:54 am
+1
Gerard
Dec 28, 2014 at 7:32 am
Rich goes bang! Spot on mate, could not agree more. Seems to be the American way or the highway a little bit doesn’t it.
Rich
Dec 28, 2014 at 8:29 am
Yes it would seem so Gerard but it’s not surprising…………..
Knobbywood
Jan 4, 2015 at 8:47 am
I think it’s funny how all the euros come rushing in to defend their precious euro tour as if it were their baby… All this geographic loyalty is akin to gangs disagreeing for no other reason than they grew up on different side of the city… No valid arguments folks grow up… Most of your European Ryder cup players play on the PGA tour most of the time anyway…
Derehk
Dec 27, 2014 at 4:54 pm
Because its a season long race to Dubai and not a playoff.
Prime21
Dec 27, 2014 at 3:17 pm
Because it is The European Tour. The current set-up does not allow players who are playing both tours to make each event in the Race to Dubai. If they gave them an ultimatum to play or be disqualified from the event, they would lose their top draws, such as Rory, and their attendance and television numbers would suffer as a result. In the end, I would say they are doing exactly what they should be doing, considering the alternatives. Unfortunately this means that some seasons will have uneventful “races”, much like the early years of the FedEx Cup. If they have to choose between having Rory or Justin for 1 event or none, they are going to take 1 every time.
Mikko U
Dec 27, 2014 at 3:10 pm
I don’t really understand this fixation with playoffs or season finals. Why can’t (or shouldn’t) the player who has had the best season from the first tournament to the last win? If a football club secures the championship with four rounds to go, they’ve either been dominant or the others just haven’t showed up to play. Why should someone who was in good form in April lose to someone who was in good form in September?
Of course I understand that different tournaments have different sponsors and prize funds, the bigger the purse the more attractive and difficult the tournament is to win. Thus bigger tournaments should count for more than a Mickey Mouse tournament played alongside a major.
I don’t mind the Race to Dubai Finals or the FedEx Finals with huge purses but I’d hate to see a guy come from nowhere to top the money list at the end just for going on a hot streak for a couple of weeks. While it might not be as exciting to see a player securing the top spot over 20+ tournaments than in the last ones, I also think the big finals can undermine the work put in in the previous ten months.
No big
Dec 28, 2014 at 3:33 am
Because, Mikko, from the Yank perspective, they don’t understand a major sport that doesn’t have a fake play-off system to really not see who’s actually the best of the season, but the best of the moment to help them sell more stuff on TV.
Knall
Jan 4, 2015 at 3:09 am
Lol thats a great summary of most american sports from a euro perspective. They probably find our league systems just as stupid though.
WhoNeedsFairways
Dec 27, 2014 at 2:45 pm
If the Race to Dubai is supposed to be the culmination of an entire season then how can you not expect McIlroy not to win it? Regardless of his participation in the last 4 events. Look at it from a more holistic perspective… If you look back on this season several years from now, would it seem odd that the person who won two majors in a single year also won the season-long trophy? Of course not… It makes perfect sense. But unfortunately for the powers that be it doesn’t fit in with their plans here and now to manufacture a thrilling playoff… Golf has no room for playoffs… Both models are stupid…
Steve
Dec 27, 2014 at 5:35 pm
That’s not true. Golf has plenty of room for playoffs, they just have to find the right way to do them. The alternative is only having 4 events a year that are actually important. Playoffs at least have the potential to add some more excitement.
WhoNeedsFairways
Dec 27, 2014 at 6:44 pm
Have to respectfully disagree. there are plenty of other tournaments outside of the 4 majors that are important and add excitement… Players, Bay Hill, all the WGC events, BMW match play, Phoenix. There’s plenty of excitement… Just not enough for them to make golf a 12-month sport. And IMO, they shouldn’t try to .,,
Joseph
Dec 27, 2014 at 2:10 pm
You can throw the FedEx Cup into the same discussion. Professional golf has been and will continue to be all about the majors. Other than someone becoming ridiculously rich by winning 10 M, I just don’t care a whole lot.
Largechris
Dec 27, 2014 at 2:07 pm
In previous years the race to dubai has been a good competition, Stensons win was fantastic in 2013.
Not much the tour could or should do about it when a player has a season like McIroys. That’s the nature of sport, sometimes you get anti climaxes. Anything else is WWE.
Johnny
Dec 27, 2014 at 1:56 pm
To piggy back what Dan said, how many people really care? The correct answer is very, very few. If that many.
Tony
Dec 29, 2014 at 6:33 am
Yes, well said. USA is the centre of the universe, everyone else is inferior, irrelevant and any time spent talking about matters outside the USA is a waste.
Jay
Dec 27, 2014 at 1:51 pm
He dominated the regular season in such a way that the “final series” was irrelevant.
Jon
Dec 27, 2014 at 1:50 pm
It seems to me that the rest of the field needs to do a better job of winning. It’s not like Rory was handed a bunch of wins for free. It was a fair win and no welfare involved. Those who complain should work harder if they want to win the Race to Dubai. It is impossible to have a tournament championship where everybody will be satisfied and given a winners trophy.
Dan
Dec 27, 2014 at 1:47 pm
Because nobody cares about the race to Dubai
Knall
Dec 27, 2014 at 2:16 pm
Pretty typical american answer…
Mark
Dec 27, 2014 at 2:23 pm
You are both correct!
Mikko U
Dec 27, 2014 at 3:13 pm
No, only the first reply is correct.
Forsbrand
Dec 27, 2014 at 4:18 pm
I am European and both the Fedex and Race to Dubai are both meaningless. May as well have a seven club challenge over four rounds.
Steve
Dec 27, 2014 at 3:03 pm
Definitely this