Why do golf fans like the FedEx Cup playoffs?

WE KEEP falling for it.

Every year, the PGA Tour dupes golf fans into thinking that its season-ending run of four "playoff" tournaments means something.

Every year, we bite.

Sure, the FedEx Cup playoffs, a four-tournament winnowing that begins tomorrow, provide a few memorable moments.

It was cool to see icy Jim Furyk turn his hat backwards to keep the rain from dripping off his brim, then rejoice, eyes to the heavens, after he made the $10 million putt in 2010.

It was neat to watch Bill Haas splash out on the second playoff hole to keep Hunter Mahan from winning the Cup in 2011.

It was nice that Henrik Stenson, bilked in an historic mass fraud, recouped some of that lost $8 million with his FedEx win in 2013.

And good for Billy Horschel, whose win last season allowed him the freedom to wear bad pants forever.

But the system is contrived; flawed in its concept; irreparable despite several attempts. The premise that 125, then 100, then 70, then 30 golfers "play off" to determine a champion - ridiculous. The Tour Championship tournament, which caps the playoffs, is not the Super Bowl.

This is golf, not the NFL.

But we keep eating it up, even without Tiger (again).

Why?

Timing, and happy endings.

People who love watching golf will do so whenever it is on. Coming hard after the final major, golf nuts are still jonesing for their fix.

Also, golf fans warm to sentimental stories. The FedEx Cup has provided plenty.

Moreover, golf fans are programmed to savor marketed events. Nothing in the sports world is marketed like the FedEx Cup: Its points determine the next season's Tour qualifiers, and its cash means an ordinary golfer can make a career's worth of money in a couple of hot weeks.

This is just one reason why professional golf is upside down.

The Players Championship - the most competitive, richest and best tournament on the Tour - is appreciated less than any of the majors; less than the Ryder Cup; less than many World Golf Championships. But that's a different debate.

The Masters, with its light field, kicks off the season; the gimmicky U.S. Open showcases that week's best golfer on a circus course; the British rewards creativity and grit but is played in an obsoletely unique setting; and the PGA gives the least likely players a chance at lifetime relevance.

What does the FedEx Cup championship do?

Little, really.

It seldom rewards season-long excellence.

It seldom identifies the best golf of the year.

It seldom even indicates any sort of trajectory.

Consider Horschel.

In the 20 tournaments leading up to the Deutsche Bank, the second round of the playoffs, Horschel managed just one top-10 finish and missed six cuts, including the Barclays, which was the first round of the playoffs. His world ranking had plunged from 12th in November of 2013 to 59th, and he made the playoffs ranked 69th in FedEx Cup points.

Not that the playoff win was a springboard.

Since he won the Tour Championship last year, Horschel has managed just three top-10 finishes, missed five cuts and dropped from 12th to 24th in the world.

Similarly, Stenson surged into the playoffs in 2013 and won twice in the series but he has not won on the U.S. PGA Tour since he won the Tour Championship.

Brandt Snedeker's 2012 season was hindered by a rib injury that cost him a U.S. Open start, but he had lots of time off, got healthy late and returned, refreshed, to finish second and sixth in the first two legs before winning the finale.

Was he the year's best golfer?

Hardly.

Rory McIlroy won four times, including the middle two playoff events, and took home the 2012 player of the year award. Tiger Woods finished second, with three wins and 11 top-10 finishes, including third, then tied for fourth, then tied for eighth in the last three playoff events.

Tiger was PGA Player of the Year in 2013, with five wins . . . but no FedEx Cup.

There is the argument that therein lies the charm of the FedEx Cup. Why should the richest always get richer?

Well, ask LeBron. Or Tom Brady.

We are accustomed to rewarding consistent excellence, not fleeting competence and great theater.

After all, Furyk was disqualified from the first-round Barclays for missing a pro-am tee time but rebounded to win it all. The next year, Haas stunned the golf world by splashing out.

Perhaps this season will be different.

Perhaps Jordan Spieth, the best golfer alive, will put away the field. He has three top-10s in his eight playoff tournament starts over the past two seasons.

Perhaps Jason Day, the golfer with the most potential, will capitalize on his FedEx playoff surge last season, when he logged three top-10s, including two top-5s.

Perhaps McIlroy, the most talented golfer, will cap his year of idiocy with a FedEx Cup. Better to be remembered for that than for rupturing an ankle ligament playing soccer and missing a major.

Bet on those guys if you want.

The smart money will be on a guy who's missed six out of his last nine cuts, then finished out of the top 50 twice. That's right.

Troy Merritt.

Can't wait.

On Twitter: @inkstainedretch

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