PGA Tour may trim FedEx Cup playoffs to three events

The Deutsche Bank Championship’s 14th season on the men’s calendar may well be its last as the PGA Tour again considers ditching one of its four FedEx Cup playoff events.

The TPC Boston event joined the tour in 2003 and has been the second in the FedEx Cup series since 2007. But with sponsors playing musical chairs across the tour schedule and the financial institution in the final year of a four-year deal, the annual Labor Day tradition faces the ax.

In his Tuesday account about Northern Trust replacing Barclays as sponsor of the first postseason match in 2017, the AP’s Doug Ferguson observed that Deutsche Bank was unlikely to ink a new contract. He also noted that eliminating one playoff game was on the drawing board.

“I’d say if there’s a way we can do other things in the schedule that relate to that general period of time, it might be a good thing to do,” tour commissioner Tim Finchem told Ferguson. “The attitude of the players has always been it’s tough for four in a row. And then you also a lot of times are getting close to the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup. Both, in our view, are big events. You want space between big stuff. So I think it would depend on what else could go in the schedule, which is something we’re looking at.”

Finchem’s head of PR sought to downplay both possibilities.

”Ever since the FedEx Cup has been created, we have looked at ways to make it better. The subject of the number of playoff events has been a subject that’s been knocked around periodically over the last 10 years, this being the 10th year of the FedEx Cup,” Ty Votaw, executive VP and chief global communications officer told SB Nation by phone on Wednesday. “Those type of discussions are not new … but there’s nothing that we can say really at this time.”

As for the future of professional golf in the Boston area, Votaw was noncommittal.

“We’re focused on the 2016 Deutsche Bank. We don’t have anything to say about what’s been reported thus far,” Votaw said. “We’re just focused on making this year’s event as good as it can be and we’ll be in discussions with Deutsche Bank about the future.”

The DBC is one of three tour contests sponsored by the Tiger Woods Foundation, the events’ chief beneficiary. It’s possible that TWF, local presenting sponsor EMC, or some other corporation will step in and plunk down the cash needed to keep the competition in New England.

Indeed, there’s always a chance of a last-minute reprieve like the one in 2012, but Votaw declined to speculate on what comes next.

“Everyone’s focus is on this year’s event,” said Votaw. “We’re going to get through that before we make any determinations about the future.”