Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - According to almost everyone, the FedEx Cup Playoff format needs to be changed. After prepping this column, trust me, that's a lot easier said than done.

Vijay Singh was crowned the FedEx Cup champion for the year Sunday. That was already a formality, assuming Singh didn't tear his ACL on Saturday afternoon or sign an incorrect scorecard along the way.

Actually, with the scheduling snafu created by the Ryder Cup, Singh had three weeks to make he sure he didn't tear his ACL or sign an incorrect scorecard. He just needed to finish all four rounds.

In fact, NBC broadcast Singh's trophy presentation while the Tour Championship was ongoing. It was a pretty nifty finish there in Atlanta, but that can't be what the PGA Tour was looking for with this season-long race.

Last year, the complaint among players was that the Playoffs should mean more. Tiger Woods (remember him?) could afford to skip an event in the four-tourney Playoffs and still win. Of course, it didn't hurt winning two of the three Woods showed up for, but the drama wasn't there. He built too large a lead in the regular season for anyone else to overcome during the Playoffs.

Fast-forward to 2008, and the points system is changed a bit to place all of the emphasis on the Playoffs.

Singh won the first two Playoffs events. When Camilo Villegas captured the BMW Championship, it eliminated the chances of Mike Weir and Jim Furyk catching Singh. Now, the whining revolves around the fact that the regular season didn't mean enough.

Fellas, pick one.

Whether you're of the belief the regular season means too much or too little, everyone agrees that some tweaking is in order.

Luckily for the players, the format is ever-evolving.

"We need a system that gives us an acceleration of enthusiasm, an acceleration of excitement as we come into this Tour Championship, and we have to make sure that that happens," said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem before the start of play last week. "We are going to be looking at some ways to change this. We haven't developed any preconceived notions or any quick solutions, thankfully. We're blessed that we have some time."

So before next season's Playoffs, let's find a better system.

An easy, and honest answer to anyone with a beef would be to not let the same guy win multiple times in the Playoffs. Singh and Woods both did that, so don't fault a system that's supposed to benefit winners and actually delivers.

The regular season needs to matter. Why is there a need to bring 144 players to the first event? On the PGA Tour website, it states over 250 professionals played a PGA Tour event. Is there a need to bring more than half of those to this elite Playoff structure?

What if you took the top 75 players in the FedEx Cup points list and invited them to the Playoffs? The regular season would still mean quite a bit since you've cut that group in half.

How can we find a nice balance in respect to the points with only 75-man fields?

Well, there's the rub.

If you scrap all of the points and start over in the Playoffs, as occurred this year, the regular season will be rendered somewhat meaningless. With a field of 75 every week, the schedule is valued a little more since less people make it, but truthfully, it's a tough call on what to do from there.

That's why smarter people than myself, like actual mathematicians and engineers, are working on it.

If this is supposed to be a year-long race, culminated in the Playoffs, the tour is presented with a fundamental question. Which is it - a year-long race or a four-tournament sprint?

The tour has a lot to think about, but at least it's thinking.

This is going to be an imperfect system that elicits a ton of bellyaching so long as good players win a lot and seal up victory. Take solace, tour greats, that in two years, the format has already changed twice and will keep getting tweaked until it's right.

If there is a right way of doing it.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

- There are rumors that the European Tour is thinking of lowering the number of tournaments a player needs to enter to gain membership. Some PGA Tour regulars are talking of heading to Europe after the Tour Championship to play around the world. If the tour counts the majors and WGC events, that helps cut the number of tournaments needed. This is a wise move, since those elite guys (Mickelson and Singh) will come.

- Actually, Singh won't. He announced on Tuesday that he's taking time off to heal an injured right forearm. For a guy like Singh, who loves practice, this time off might make him crazy. Think the guy from "Shawshank Redemption" who just can't handle life on the outside.

- With the Ryder Cup in the books, it's time to look at 2010. The captains will both be named in the next three months. A month ago, I thought Davis Love III and Jose Maria Olazabal were locks, but both said they're more interested in making another team. Corey Pavin is a name that comes up a bit for the U.S. It's almost a shame the PGA of America requires its captain to be a major champion, otherwise Kenny Perry would make sense. Pavin would be satisfactory I guess, although I still shake my head every time I think how perfect Fred Couples would have been at the job. Since Freddie's the Presidents Cup captain, he won't get the gig two years from now.

- As for Europe, Sandy Lyle is getting a lot of sentiment. He was skipped over in basically a numbers-crunch of too many qualified guys. Lyle would make great sense right now since Olazabal, Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn all want to focus on making the team. I think Bjorn is still a great outside choice since he's on the committee that picks the captain. It would be like when Dick Cheney was in charge of selecting then Gov. Bush's vice-presidential candidate.

- Non golf thought - Do you think more Americans right now could better explain the financial woes facing the country or Cloris Leachman's performance in "Dancing with the Stars?" I don't know.