Don't blame Hoffman for flawed format

The PGA Tour scheduled a pause in its four-event playoff series with the idea that it would help build drama before this week's climatic Tour Championship in Atlanta, where the FedEx Cup Trophy and a $10 million bonus will be presented to the year-long points champion.

But the biggest buzz created during the bye week was the fact that the most wide-open FedEx Cup race in the four-year history of the PGA Tour playoffs won't include Tiger Woods, the defending champion and the world's top-ranked player for the last 276 weeks.

The two-week build-up for golf's "Super Bowl" isn't working because the only people who really care about it are those with a shot at the $10 million bonus. The trumped up points race that is continually shoved down the viewing public's throat week after week is still not understood. Sorry, but the buzz the PGA Tour is trying to create is missing the letters bu and while adding on a few z-z-z-zs.

Despite assurances from the PGA Tour and it TV partners that the playoffs are starting to take hold, it's apparent the current format is flawed. If Charley Hoffman were to win at East Lake Golf Club this week he would win the FedEx Cup without playing in any of the four majors this year. This doesn't seem quite right when the PGA Tour would like you to believe that winning the FedEx Cup is emblematic of year-long excellence.

So why were we repeatedly told early in the year how important it was to earn FedEx Cup points? Because the PGA Tour wants everyone to think so. But it just isn't so, and Hoffman being in position to win the tour's richest prize puts a spotlight on that fact. It also probably has the PGA Tour rooting against him.

But it's not Hoffman's fault. It is the PGA Tour's points system that's out of whack. How can the winner of the three playoff tournaments leading up to the Tour Championship earn 2,500 points for each victory while the winner of any of the four majors earns just 600 points for each victory? Would you rather win the Masters or The Barclays?

If you still believe one's performance in the majors should carry more weight, then you have to be pulling for Phil Mickelson or Dustin Johnson. Mickelson won his third green jacket this year at Augusta National and Johnson battled back from disappointing finishes in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship to win the BMW Championship. It would seem more fitting if either one of them prevailed. But the golf gods might have other ideas, so don't count out Paul Casey, Luke Donald or Martin Laird as possibilities to make a mockery of the PGA Tour's best-laid plans.

PGA Tour Player of the Year honors are also on the line this week because six players have won twice: Johnson, Steve Stricker, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan and Justin Rose. A victory by any one of them would probably earn them POY honors.

But if none of them wins, Matt Kuchar is the likely choice because of his victory in The Barclays, 11 top-10 finishes and the fact he leads the tour in scoring and money earned. It is doubtful anyone would argue with his legitimacy. The same can't be said for others in the Tour Championship's 30-man field.

Information from Golf.com, GolfObserver.com and PGATOUR.com contributed to this post.