Finchem not shuffling deck - yet

As he addressed the media yesterday outside of Chicago, Tiger Woods invoked card-playing into a discussion about a change he'd love to see in the first PGA Tour playoffs.

"How great would it be, like in the World Series of Poker," said Woods, "[that] at the first tee starting the first day of the Tour Championship all you saw was [$10 million cash] and that's what you're playing for?"

A fitting mention, because just last week, Tim Finchem sat inside the clubhouse at TPC Boston in Norton and wore his best poker face as he talked about the playoffs, too.

The players are grumbling that they want changes to the system?

The PGA Tour commissioner suggested changes would be in place next season.

"I'm just not prepared to say what those tweaks might be," said Finchem, in no way tipping his hand.

The commissioner was at TPC Boston to survey the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second tournament in a series of four playoff events that will culminate with the FedEx Cup champion being crowned Sept. 16 at the Tour Championship in Atlanta. Thrilled at the size of the crowd and the enthusiasm it generated at the Deutsche Bank Championship, Finchem had every right to bask in what could be judged as a positive byproduct of this FedEx Cup business.

Instead, he seemed to exude patience - with the system, with the players, and several times he talked of the playoffs "having a lot of moving parts at once." Finchem said that at no point did PGA Tour officials think that the system as they have it is perfect; it's not, and fixes will be made.

Several days later, Finchem watched the Deutsche Bank Championship get played out in a rousing style, the game's two dominant personalities and talents - Woods and Phil Mickelson - going at it in front of a sold-out crowd on a sun-splashed day. It was a huge success for Deutsche Bank Championship officials, the playoffs, and Mickelson, who finished two shots clear of Woods and two others. Rarely do these giants play head-to-head in a tournament, yet here in the first year of the playoffs, it happened.

Only hours later, Mickelson let some air out of the balloon. He said he wasn't sure he'd be going to Chicago for the third stop in the playoffs, the BMW Championship that starts today. When the lefthander did withdraw the day after his thrilling victory at the Deutsche Bank, it was easy to see why Finchem a few days earlier had been so cautious in his words about the playoffs.

Mickelson's action proved that the playoffs are a work in progress, just as Woods's absence from the Barclays and Ernie Els's from the Deutsche Bank had done. To his credit, Finchem didn't try to point to the exciting finish at the Barclays - where Steve Stricker proved to be a popular winner - as proof that this playoff setup can succeed without the game's top names.

He knows better.

"One of the big negatives to [Woods] not being [at the Barclays] is he brings more eyeballs, and, if he was there, more people would have seen Steve Stricker win," said Finchem.

The TV ratings prove his point. They weren't very good up against the Little League World Series; they were boffo with Woods going head-to-head with Mickelson. Now comes the BMW Championship, minus Mickelson and another good name, Padraig Harrington. He, too, withdrew, and player dissatisfaction with the set-up seems to revolve around two central points:

THE MONEY. All payouts, including the $10 million to the winner, are in the form of a deferred payment. Woods, using that comparison to poker, indicated he favors a cold-cash payout and Mickelson is likewise upset at the deferred payment.

THE SCHEDULE. Now that it's upon them, players are finding four playoff tournaments in four weeks to be a grind, especially when on the front end you have the Bridgestone Invitational and PGA Championship and on the back end you have the Presidents Cup. "It's seven out of nine weeks," said Woods, who more than likely will end up playing six of nine. Mickelson, assuming he plays the Tour Championship next week, would also chalk up six of nine.

Finchem has heard the complaints, too, that he hasn't listened to the players, a charge unloaded by Mickelson just moments after he won that dramatic duel with Woods. The commissioner seems irritated by this point.

"I met, either individually or with groups, with a ton of players," said Finchem at TPC Boston, and he reiterated as much to the media at the BMW Championship yesterday.

"I feel comfortable that we did a good job in reaching out to players on the details," he said. "We've discovered that a lot of players didn't necessarily, for whatever reason, want to pay much attention to it."

Finchem seems to have a good case on this point.

"I think we are in our own cocoons sometimes and we don't get the information, but yet most of us don't seek it out," said Arron Oberholser. "And I think to a certain extent, the PGA Tour does its best to get us the information."

Finchem at the DBC talked of a few players who in early August realized they were on the bubble of making the playoffs. That's when they discovered that the top 144 would qualify and it was a "hard" list, meaning if someone didn't play the first week, officials did not dip down and take alternates.

"We told players this had been decided months ago and they admitted they hadn't paid attention. Well, they don't like it, but it's hard to change things when you're in motion."

That could change for next year. So, too, could the money thing, which is another point that baffles Finchem. "I would recommend that we do whatever the players basically want to do, within reason," said the commissioner. "If it's all cash, it's all cash."

The scheduling matter? That's a bit more tangled. It's set similarly for 2008 - four tournaments in four weeks, the second of which would be the Deutsche Bank Championship.

"Our agreements are for this schedule next year - sponsorships, television, and the rest," said Finchem. "I think that unraveling contracts is not something we normally do on the PGA Tour."

But until Finchem, PGA Tour board members, and players get together to make tweaks, the commissioner vows to enjoy the first playoffs. His trip to TPC Boston convinced him that it's something worth working for. He watched a steady stream of people pour into the venue and like plenty of others, he watched riveting golf for four days.

"[The playoffs are] accomplishing what they set out to do - create a better end of the season," said Finchem, "and give the fans something they can enjoy."