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.
As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!
Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.
Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.
One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?
Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.
Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.
Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”
For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…
Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…
That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.
@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic
Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!
Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.
View this post on Instagram
“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”
Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.
That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.
I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.
One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.
The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.
If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.
Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.
As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.
It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.
David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.
In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:
“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Eventually, though, something shifts.
We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.
Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.
Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.
Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.
So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.
I see someone evolving.
He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.
It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.
‘Why would anybody want to change that swing?’ – Brandel Chamblee says PGA Tour star was wrong to change his swing
‘The stupidest freaking thing I’ve ever heard’ – Billy Horschel slams Open idea suggested by Padraig Harrington
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Golfer proudly posts photo of ball mark on iron, receives immediate roasting
WITB Time Machine: Matthew Wolff’s winning WITB, 2019 3M Open
Oakmont Country Club bans Wyndham Clark over locker incident; Reveals specific conditions to earn reinstatement
Adam Scott puts Callaway blades in the bag at Wyndham Championship
Report: LIV star fires caddie and coach in shock shake up
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’
The championship formula: How 3 key stats separate winners from the field
Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)
Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)
Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...
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