[bambam]

The top 125 should be settled before the playoffs - post or in season doesn't matter much to me.

I'm not a big fan of the playoffs as they are today, and I'm not sure they could really be setup to be both fair and interesting. It's definitely better than the past, as the playoff events carry more weight this year, and those playing well now have a shot to win, even if they weren't very high on the list coming into the playoffs. The problem with playoffs in golf IMO, is that there are too many variables that determine a winner each week. Unless you're blowing people out like Brian did this year, the one or two shots that determines the winner could come from 'little' things like tee-times on Thursday and Friday or getting caught in a spot of bad weather on a couple tough holes. Simple things like that can put a guy out of a tournament, much less getting into other variables like course layouts, weather, etc... In other sports you 'earn' those intangibles through the regular season - eg. home court/field advantage.

It would be interesting if the TOUR could find a way to reward good regular season play by giving those at the top of the points list some level of control over tee times, course layouts/selection, and all those other 'little' things that could mean the difference between a top 10 finish and missing the cut.

I also think something that includes match play or team-based, Ryder Cup-style play would be an interesting addition to the tour's annual fall lineup.