In brief: PGA Tour introduces playoff points system
The PGA Tour rolled out the points structure Wednesday for its new FedEx Cup competition, a chase for $10 million that will emphasize the last four tournaments of the year no matter what Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson or anyone else has done in the majors.
The FedEx Cup starts next year and is designed to give golf its version of a playoff system.
Points will be earned from the season-opening Mercedes Championships in January through the Carolina Classic at Greensboro, and the top 144 players will be eligible for the playoffs – the Barclays Classic, Deutsche Bank Championship, BMW Championship and the Tour Championship at East Lake.
Commissioner Tim Finchem said players will be mathematically eliminated after each playoff event, although those players can continue to tee it up in the $7 million events. The field will be reduced to 30 players, as always, for the Tour Championship, and the player with the most points earns $10 million.
Season points will be distributed to the top 70 and ties during the tour, similar to how money is doled out at tournaments.
The regular season ends a week after the PGA Championship, at the Carolina Classic, and the points will then be reset.
Hockey
Lewis leaving Detroit to coach Bruins
Dave Lewis is headed from the Stanley Cups and stars of Detroit to the failures and fresh faces of Boston. The Bruins hired him as their coach, an official within the NHL said, one day after Mike Sullivan was fired following a last-place finish in the Northeast Division in his second season. An official announcement is expected today.
Lewis spent 15 seasons as an assistant coach for the Red Wings before succeeding Scotty Bowman as head coach after they won their third Stanley Cup in six years in 2001-02.
“”Miracle on Ice” coach Herb Brooks and Patrick Roy, the NHL’s winningest goaltender, highlight the newest class of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Former player Dick Duff and executive Harley Hotchkiss also received enough votes from the selection committee. All four will be inducted in November.
“The Dallas Stars exercised the club option on former Spokane Chiefs defenseman Jon Klemm’s contract for next season. Klemm had four goals and seven assists with 60 penalty minutes in 76 games for the Stars last season.
■Four months after Portland, Maine, defenseman Jordan Smith lost his left eye after he was hit by a puck, the American Hockey League became the second minor hockey league to require face protection for all players. Protective visors are already mandatory in the ECHL.
Miscellany
Bears, Peterson agree to three-year extension
Chicago Bears running back Adrian Peterson agreed to a three-year contract extension through 2009. The Bears also signed receiver Alex Bannister to a one-year contract.
“Paul Mainieri, who guided the Notre Dame baseball team to 533 wins in 12 seasons, is the new coach at LSU.