ESPN Golf

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- The wind kicked up, the temperature dropped and the sun ducked behind the clouds Wednesday. South Florida was anything but warm, PGA National not exactly a place for sunglasses and shorts.

The PGA Tour has returned to Florida after an eight-week run out west, and the only guarantee is four weeks of Bermuda greens, although the thermometer reading is not supposed to remain so low.

But before the Honda Classic could even get under way, there was a flurry of activity at the resort that is home to the tournament. Here is a rundown.

Rule 78 amended
After considerable complaining about a new rule instituted this year, the PGA Tour altered its cut policy and will implement the change this week at the Honda Classic.

The background: For years, the top 70 and ties have made the cut at PGA Tour events. But instances occur when the number of players tied for 70th place can swell the field into the 80s and 90s on the weekend. That causes problems when two-tee starts are needed to complete play.

So the PGA Tour policy board adopted a new policy whereby if the number making the cut exceeded 78 players, the playing cut would revert to the number of players closest to 70. Those above that number would be credited with a made cut, but would receive last-place money and would not continue on the weekend.

Not too many players noticed the change -- until the Sony Open, when 18 players made the cut but did not play on the weekend. It happened again at the Buick Invitational, when 19 players left with no place to play.

You'd have thought the players had had their courtesy cars taken away.

The complaining was loud and constant, enough to get the tour to change the rule this week. Now, in a mini-compromise, the cut will be made to the top 70 and ties. If more than 78 make the cut, they will play on Saturday with a chance to improve their position, but there will be another cut to 70 and ties before the final round in an effort to make the field smaller.

"I just think we didn't think through the new rule,'' said PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem. "It's hard to understand. People see players making the cut and not playing. Nobody's happy with that.''

Finchem did say that the tour would look closely at the situation for the rest of the year, and the rule could change again next year, possibly limiting those who make the cut to the top 65 and ties.

"There were a couple of guys who played really well on the weekend by making it on the number,'' said Kevin Stadler. "You have to give everybody an opportunity. I don't know why it's an issue. It's been the same way forever. People were complaining about threesomes and slow rounds but it's been that way for the history of the tour.''

FedEx Cup points changes
The tour announced two changes that it hopes will create more volatility when the FedEx Cup playoff events begin at the Barclays in August.

First, it narrowed the gap between players' point totals and those of the rest going into the playoffs. Last year, leader Tiger Woods' points were reset to be 1,000 ahead of second-place Vijay Singh. This year, no matter how many points Woods or anybody accumulates during the regular season, his total will be reset to 500 ahead of second place, with similar reductions made all the way down to 144th place.

And second, the number of points available at the playoff events has been increased by 2,000 points per finish position. Third place, for example, was worth 3,400 points and now will be worth 5,400 points. The hope is that those who play well will move up more dramatically.

"There's no question it should be narrowed, if you want it to be a true playoff system,'' said Woody Austin, who pointed out that Woods, as the No. 1 seed, has a huge advantage over the 50th-seeded player. "He would have to do leaps and bounds better than Tiger. In any other playoff system, they get home-field advantage or home-court advantage, but you just have to beat him.''

Last year, just five players who made it to the Tour Championship had a realistic chance of winning the FedEx Cup. Under the new system, 12 players would have had that opportunity at East Lake.

Florida swing changes

More than a few eyebrows were raised when it was learned that next year two World Golf Championship events will be played within three weeks. The Match Play Championship is followed two weeks later by the CA Championship at Doral, with the Honda Classic in the middle. Ask the Canadian Open officials how they feel about being squeezed between the British Open and another WGC event, the Bridgestone Invitational.

The difference here, however, is that Honda follows the Match Play, in which a majority of the field is eliminated by the previous Friday. And Doral is just 86 miles down the road. Then the tour will head to Tampa and Orlando.

"I think that's going to be a big help for this event,'' said Ernie Els, who plans to play all four this month. "Guys would rather stay down here for a while instead of driving to Tampa and then Orlando and then back to Miami.''

Presidents Cup
It was almost surreal. There was the PGA Tour commissioner sitting beside longtime protagonist Greg Norman. And there was Fred Couples on the screen via satellite hookup. Norman and Couples were being announced as captains of the 2009 Presidents Cup teams. It took you back to a time long ago.

Back in 1994, Norman had a plan for a "World Tour" that would bring together select 40-player fields with no cuts, $3 million purses and a guarantee of $30,000, plus $50,000 in travel expenses. At the time, it was huge money, and it piqued the interest of many players -- including Couples. The eight events would have aired on Fox Sports, Norman said.

The big problem: These events would have conflicted with PGA Tour tournaments, and Finchem -- new on the job -- effectively squashed the idea by telling players they would not be given releases to play them, could be suspended by the PGA Tour or would have to give up their membership.

The idea died. Then, four years later, came the World Golf Championship events.

And Finchem and Norman have had their differences ever since.

So it looked a bit uncomfortable Tuesday when Finchem was announcing Norman as the International captain and Couples as the United States captain.

"What's happened in the past is in the past,'' Norman said. "I think it's good to know that if you sit on a board of any company, you don't want to have a friendly board. You need to have some bit of contentious, open discussion because not everybody is going to think exactly the same way. I'm sure Tim's views on things are different than mine and Freddie's views on things that are probably different from mine, as well. & The issues are always going to be there. Those issues have nothing to do with the Presidents Cup.''

Bob Harig is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.