DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — The PGA Tour voted to overhaul the season-ending Tour Championship so that all 30 players start from scratch and the low score on a tougher East Lake course wins the FedEx Cup.
The change is effective this year, with more tweaks still in the works. The announcement Tuesday evening followed a PGA Tour board vote and a meeting of the Player Advisory Council that has been trying for more than six months to find a solution.
The primary goal was to get rid of the staggered start that none of the players seemed to like.
Since 2019, the leader of the FedEx Cup going to East Lake started at 10-under par before the tournament even began. That gave him a two-shot lead over the No. 2 player, and a staggered from there until the last five players who qualified for the 30-man field were at even par.
Now it will effectively be a 72-hole shootout — everyone starts at even par, just like any other tournament — with FedEx Cup going to the winner.
"We want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy the most difficult to win,” said Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who won his first FedEx Cup title last year. He serves on the PAC.
"Shifting the Tour Championship to a more straight-up format with a tougher course setup makes it easier for fans to follow and provides a more challenging test for players — which brings out the best competition.”
Still to be announced is the prize fund. Scheffler received a $25 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup last year. The tour indicated the bonus money would be distributed more evenly to account for all 30 players — regardless of their position in the standings — have the same chance of winning.
Scheffler won last year at 30-under par for a four-shot victory over Collin Morikawa. Scheffler, the No. 1 seed the last three years, had a raw total of 264. Morikawa shot 262, but he was the No. 7 seed and thus gave Scheffler a six-shot head start.
The tour said it leaned on feedback from its fans to help determine what would make the most compelling finale.
“The Player Advisory Council led a thorough process to respond to what our fans are asking for: The most competitive golf in the world, played for the highest stakes, in the most straightforward and engaging format,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said.
The format revealed Tuesday is similar to the LPGA's season finale, which features a 60-player field and offers $4 million to the winner over 72 holes.
Key components of the Tour Championship change is eliminating the starting strokes. That should make Xander Schauffele happy. Twice he had the low score over 72 holes (one time a tie) and watched someone else leave with the trophy.
More difficult to define is setting up East Lake as difficult as possible. The tour said fans wanted to see scores closer to par, and the rules officials will be in charge of adjusting the setup to encourage more risk-and-reward moments.
Most curious about the announcement was the objective to make the Tour Championship the hardest to reach. It already is difficult to finish among the top 30, and that will be the field size this year when it is held on Aug. 21-24.
The PAC is studying qualifications for future years that could include a smaller field and a greater reward for how players perform from the season opener in Hawaii through the BMW Championship, which precedes East Lake.
Tour official since last August had been kicking around the idea of match play, which rarely performs well on television and in person with only two players competing at the end. They also were trying to create brackets to mimic other sports.
Ultimately, they settled on 72 holes of stroke player on a tougher golf course with everyone knowing what's at stake.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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