WESTCHESTER, New York (Bloomberg) — The absence of top-ranked Tiger Woods for the start of the US PGA Tour's inaugural play-offs this week has presented a rare opportunity for golf's other players and a conundrum for the game's top officials.

"This is our chance to get ahead and have him chase us," said Australia's Adam Scott, who is ranked fifth in the world. "We're pretty used to chasing him. Maybe we can put a little pressure on him."

Woods will skip this week's Barclays championship at New York's Westchester Country Club, the first of four tournaments that make up the FedEx Cup play-off. His decision does little to help tour officials sell the concept of the $10 million play-off even after Woods endorsed and promoted it in television commercials.

"It's not a decision I like to see him make, candidly, any week of the year," PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said at a press conference today. "From the standpoint of sponsors, and the fans here in New York, it's certainly a negative."

Woods said he was "physically and mentally" tired after winning the PGA Championship two weeks ago and the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational on August 5. Under US PGA Tour rules, players are only required to compete in 15 events each season to maintain their membership.

When Rob Johnston, general chairman of the Tour Championship in Atlanta, is asked to explain why Woods is taking this week off, "I tell people he has a bye. It's like the play-offs in other sports," Johnston said in an interview. "The top seed gets a bye in the first round."

Johnston doesn't have to worry about Woods skipping his event at East Lake Golf Club on September 13-16. As the top FedEx points earner entering the play-offs, Woods is the only player guaranteed an automatic spot in the Tour Championship, where the inaugural FedEx Cup winner will be crowned and earn a $10 million annuity.

With the regular season concluded, the tour has reset the FedEx Cup points for the top 144 players eligible for the play-off. Woods is atop the FedEx Cup standings, or the No. 1 seed. A win by a player ranked 59th or better would receive 9,000 points and could move that golfer into first place.

After this week, the field will be narrowed to the top 120 players as the play-offs move to the Deutsche Bank Championship near Boston on August 31. It will be cut to 70 for the BMW Championship in Chicago on September 6. The top 30 players after the first three events qualify for the season finale in Atlanta.

With four major tournaments, the Masters, US and British Opens and PGA Championship, already on golf's annual schedule, most fans and some players have struggled to figure out where the FedEx Cup fits.

Most players said they would gain a better understanding of the concept as the play-offs approached, though some were still in the dark.

"I don't know nothing about the FedEx Cup," Boo Weekley told reporters after the third round of the PGA Championship. "I just know I'm playing golf and that's all that matters to me."

Ernie Els, the world's fourth-ranked player, recently referred to the play-offs as the "FedEx thingy." K.J. Choi said he would donate the $10 million to charity if he won, only to be reminded by Woods that he wouldn't get the money until age 65.

"I may be dead by the time my retirement fund comes around for me to be able to utilise it," Woods said at the Bridgestone Invitational earlier this month. "You're actually not really playing for the $10 million."

Even those who helped create the play-off idea have been forced to use analogies from other sports as they attempt to explain its significance to casual golf fans.

Ric Clarson, the PGA Tour's vice president for brand marketing, likened golf's play-offs to the inaugural US professional football championship in 1967 between the National Football League's Green Bay Packers and American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs. The game that later became known as Super Bowl I.

"After the game, they asked (Packers quarterback) Bart Starr if he realized his place in history," Clarson said at a press conference on August 20. "He said `not really, we were just trying to beat the other team.' But as time went on, the Packers clearly realised their place in history."

Clarson's bold comparison has been lost on some golfers.

"It's hard to compare it to a team sport," said Brandt Snedeker, who won last week's Wyndham Championship to vault into 9th place on the FedEx Cup list. "We're individuals."

Snedeker, who graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in communications, said he hasn't spent much time trying to figure out various qualification scenarios from one week to the next.

"It's a little too confusing for me," he said. "I'm not that smart. Once the tee goes in the ground, we're not thinking about FedEx Cup points or this or that. We're trying to win."

With Woods watching from home, their chances have improved dramatically.