With the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup–the playoffs of golf–beginning this week (with Tiger Woods’s absence) the following questions were posed on Relay Worldwide’s Sports Sponsorship Symposium Blog:

Does Woods need to play for the playoff concept to be a success? Or has the PGA Tour, with or without him, already created a platform that sponsors will continue to rally around in years 2, 5 and 10? What are some of the right steps, and what can be improved upon?

I think that whether or not Woods’ plays, the playoff concept has been a failure so far in year one. Maybe that’s to be expected but I (someone who actually pays close attention to golf) still can’t figure out why I should care about the FedExCup. And I’m pretty sure that most casual golfers and fans still don’t know what the FedExCup is exactly.

See, the problem with having playoffs in golf is that golf isn’t basketball. Everyone knows the regular season doesn’t matter in the NBA, but in golf the four tournaments that really, really matter (The Majors) aren’t included in the playoffs. Yes, I know the Majors are weighted and worth more points than regular tournaments but that’s too complicated for the average fan. Regardless of who plays in the FedExCup or who wins the $10 million prize, everyone knows the Majors are still the most important tournaments, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Adding a huge purse to four meaningless tournaments won’t give them true meaning or the history that the Majors have–it just makes them tournaments with a huge purse.

That said, I guess the FedExCup makes the PGATOUR more valuable to sponsors, since it gives them an additional platform to activate around. But if people don’t care about the FedExCup, will sponsors continue to care? The sponsors’ and TOUR’s challenge is to get people to care, but I think this will be a slow process, if it happens at all. But who knows, I could be wrong. What do you think?

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