World number four Ernie Els is concerned about the PGA Tour's approach to the inaugural four-event FedExCup playoff series.

South African Els believes the Tour should have liaised more closely with the players, especially over the hectic late-season schedule, and fears the gap between the two parties is growing.

"We love what the Tour has done for us but we just need to get closer to the big decisions because then we won't get into problems down the line," Els said on the eve of the BMW Championship in Lemont, Illinois. "We've kind of grown apart a little bit, especially the players and the commissioner's office, because of big decisions that were made without the real knowledge of the players," he added, referring to Tour commissioner Tim Finchem.

Introduced by the Tour to breathe fresh life into the late season with a grand finale, the playoffs had a shaky start when world number one Tiger Woods skipped the opening leg, the Barclays Classic, citing fatigue. Els missed last week's Deutsche Bank Championship to spend time with his children in England before they returned to school and second-ranked Phil Mickelson is a notable absentee from Cog Hill Golf and Country Club this week.

Mickelson swept to the top of the FedExCup points standings with a two-shot victory at the TPC Boston on Monday and has decided to take this week off for family reasons.

British Open champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland has also opted out of the $7-million BMW championship after a hectic tournament schedule since the U.S. Open in June.

"We've had big events upon big events, right through until now," three-times major winner Els continued.

"It's tough for the top players like Tiger, who's had a great summer, won a major, won the Bridgestone, won five times this year and now he's got to play four events in a row.

"Same with Padraig Harrington, he hasn't had time at home. He was in Ireland for five days and then to expect him to play seven weeks, it just wasn't going to happen."

Els said there had been limited liaison by the Tour with the players when the FedExCup schedule was mapped out.

"They did not express anything to the players," he said. "They asked those questions but they didn't come out and say: 'Okay, this is what we're going to do. What do you think?'

"Unfortunately we are in this position now because they didn't either listen or they just went on with the decision."

Another area of concern for the players is the $10 million bonus in deferred compensation that will be earned by the overall FedExCup points champion, once he turns 45.

"The $10-million deal was a big deal but I don't think Tiger knew about it and Phil didn't know about it," Els said.

"I didn't know about it and a lot of people didn't know. We're going to see that money hopefully 20, 25 years down the line."

Woods, a three-times champion at Cog Hill, agreed: "One of the major issues for all of us is that it's not the true payout.

"How great would it be like in the World Series of Poker, at the first tee starting the first day of the Tour Championship, all you see is it [$10 million cash] stacked up there and that's what you're playing for.

"That would create a lot of buzz but I may not be around to collect it."

The BMW Championship, the penultimate event in the FedexCup playoff series, starts on Thursday.

Reuters