Devil Ball Golf’s 18 for ’15 (Part 3): Wrap-around gift or curse?

We’re back with Part 3 of Devil Ball Golf’s 18-part 2015 preview, setting the table for the year to come in golf. In this installment, we wonder what Year 2 of the PGA Tour’s wraparound schedule will look like.

The 2014-15 season will mark the second time the PGA Tour’s season has bridged calendars, with the tour’s fiscal year, so to speak, running from October to September, concluding when a FedEx Cup winner is crowned in Atlanta. It would seem the PGA Tour’s denizens looked at the new approach with weary eyes, wondering if offering full FedEx Cup points for the former Fall Series event would mean they’d have to significantly adjust their regular-season schedules to assure their positioning for a playoff run, as well all the perks that come with advancing all the way to the Tour Championship.

For the most part, the tour’s stars made it through the playoffs, with noted exceptions Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who had their worst combined campaigns since Woods turned pro in 1996. Conversely, Dustin Johnson, who skipped the playoffs entirely as part of his ongoing “leave of absence,” had such a solid regular season that he still advanced to East Lake and earned almost $ 200,000 for not even playing.

In addition to the extended regular season, the PGA Tour has also announced changes to the playoff points distribution, giving out fewer points in the playoffs than the past six seasons with the hope that more consistent players in the regular season will be more protected.

The wraparound schedule and the change to the playoff structure combine to make the regular season more important, with the PGA Tour clearly hoping for better participation among its top players. However, the world’s best don’t seem convinced. The result? January and February tournaments could actually suffer, with stars choosing to start their season in earnest with the Florida Swing in March. With the WGC-Match Play moving, at least temporarily, to May, the first two months lack an anchor event that is a true magnet for the top 50 in the world. Kapalua’s no longer the draw it once was for the prior season’s winners (and it also feels out of place). The Clambake and Northern Trust Open have good fields, but have lost a step. Phoenix continues to be a great party, but not a must-play event. The Farmers Insurance Open, with Tiger Woods’ and Phil Mickelson’s patronage, remains strong, but competes with the allure of the European Tour’s run through the United Arab Emirates.

The result is a run of events that have a handful of big names every week, but no formal gathering until March. That means an opportuity for up-and-coming players as well as Web.com Tour and Web.com Tour Finals graduates to pick up critical FedEx Cup and Official World Golf Ranking points, as well set up opportunities to play in the bigger events that follow after the Masters, including a six-tournament run in a seven-week span, starting with the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and culminating in the FedEx Cup playoff finale.

Read all of the Devil Ball Golf 18 for ’15: