PGA to adjust new cut rule
Feb 14th, 2008 | By TeeOff | Category: Golf, News, PGA, Rules, Watch ListThe new cut rule for the 2008 PGA Tour season has been modified, adding a second cut after 54 holes.
The number of top 70 and ties will stay the same. The update stipulates that if the number of golfers after the initial cut exceeds 78, there will be a second cut after 54 holes. The new, adjusted policy was unanimously approved by the Player Advisory Council and will go to a vote with the Tour policy board at the Honda Classic in two weeks.
The 54-hole cut will bring some consistency to tournaments. From a players standpoint, they will have a chance to pull themselves up from the cut line and into contention. With money and FedEx Cup points on the line, the new version is more fair to both the players and tournaments.
So far this season the cut policy has been used in three tournaments. The Sony Open, the Tour’s first full-field event, had 87 weekend qualifiers. The new policy trimmed 18 players by dropping the cut line a stroke. At the Buick Invitational, 19 golfers were deemed MDF (made cut, did not finish). Then, last week there were 10 players affected by the rule, though a 54-hole cut.
I don’t know how that solves the problems because of which the rule has been implemented in the first place. What if the same positions that were there on the Friday was repeated on the Saturday? Does it mean that there is a good chance these players would again fall in the category of Made the Cut Did not Finish ?
I think the victims with this rule are those players who are close to the cut line and were hoping to make an all out charge towards the top of the leaderboard. Now they will have to be wary of the second cut and because of that might be more conservative in their approach. This might effectively ensure you will not see any great surge from players over the weekend to near the top of the leaderboard.
I still don’t get it. Bring down the cut line to whatever number of players are left less than 78. Ask the others to pack up and go home. No one should be offended. No one would be complaining of unfairly missing out on action. The remaining players can focus solely on charging up the leaderboard. That sounds alright to me!