A FedEx Cup for the LPGA?

Last weekend, the PGA Tour concluded with some much-needed FedEx Cup drama. For two years, the PGA Tour's playoff system had failed, basically crowning the winner before the final event had even concluded. Now, for the first time since the PGA Tour went FedEx, we had putts on a Sunday that were for more than just the tournament at hand -- they were for a prize most guys on tour couldn't totally grasp.

So what is the next logical move? The LPGA getting its own FedEx Cup, or so Dottie Pepper thinks. On Tuesday, Pepper wrote on Golf.com that she thinks the LPGA could benefit from a FedEx Cup-style postseason, pointing out the extra exposure for sponsors and such. The problem with Pepper's plan is simple -- the LPGA can't get sponsors right now ... for anything. Why focus on adding something new to the schedule when all the regulars that have been around for years and years are dropping out like bar patrons at 1:58 in the morning.

Here is Pepper's plan.

The 2010 season probably won't start until late March. Perfect. Have the season run from March Madness to Oktoberfest with scheduled weeks off during the men's majors, leaving 24 solid events in which the players accrue points based on the simple, understandable notion that $1 equals one point (something the LPGA did in 2008). The playoffs would comprise three events. In the first two the field would be winnowed from 120 to 60 and then to 30. The survivors would advance to the tour championship, which would bear the season-long sponsor's name. That event would be played under the multiple-cut, winner-take-almost-all format of the old ADT season-ender, which was extremely well received by the players and TV.

For the most part, Pepper brings up some good ideas. Yes, I like the 24 solid events, while skipping weeks when men's majors are going on since nobody would be paying attention to the LPGA anyway.

What I don't agree with is the idea that a FedEx Cup-style postseason would work for the LPGA. Why?

First of all, it hardly works for the men. This year included the two names needed to make people interested. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were in the mix and it made us forget that just four weeks prior, a guy named Heath Slocum won the first playoff tournament. No knock on Slocum, but say he caught fire in the last two events and took home the FedEx Cup -- I'm pretty sure ratings wouldn't have doubled from '08 like they did at this year's Tour Championship.

Second, you can't mimic something in a lesser market and hope for success. If the LPGA wants a draw, do something different. Think of an idea that would make people interested. Maybe make it a postseason, three-week match play event, where you get one player a day, ranked on how they finished in the points system, and you play that person. So, if Michelle Wie has a bad year, and finishes 120 in points, she has to play Lorena Ochoa in the first round of the playoffs, in a "win or go home" style format that would make people care about it. Sure, some of the matches wouldn't draw any interest, but if real money was at stake for these girls, at least the pressure would be for real.

Lastly, the LPGA needs to focus on the here and now. No reason to add something else when current tournaments are folding. Think of something that will get sponsors interested in the regular season events before you add a playoff.

I like where Pepper is with the idea that the LPGA could spice things up, but copying a format that is far from perfect seems like a bad idea for a tour that is struggling. Maybe if things turn in a few years, this could be a solid idea. For now, either think of something new and fresh, or stick to making the current situation bearable.