PGA Tour scraps 'starting strokes' format for finale
The PGA Tour has 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 on Tuesday evening followed a PGA Tour board vote and a meeting of the Player Advisory Council (PAC) 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 field 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 the 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 $US25 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 — 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.
Xander Schauffele has twice he had the low score over 72 holes (one time a tie) and watched someone else leave with the trophy.
The tour said it leaned on feedback from its fans to help determine what would make the most compelling finale.
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.
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.
The PGA Tour has 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 on Tuesday evening followed a PGA Tour board vote and a meeting of the Player Advisory Council (PAC) 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 field 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 the 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 $US25 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 — 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.
Xander Schauffele has twice he had the low score over 72 holes (one time a tie) and watched someone else leave with the trophy.
The tour said it leaned on feedback from its fans to help determine what would make the most compelling finale.
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.
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.
The PGA Tour has 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 on Tuesday evening followed a PGA Tour board vote and a meeting of the Player Advisory Council (PAC) 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 field 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 the 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 $US25 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 — 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.
Xander Schauffele has twice he had the low score over 72 holes (one time a tie) and watched someone else leave with the trophy.
The tour said it leaned on feedback from its fans to help determine what would make the most compelling finale.
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.
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.
The PGA Tour has 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 on Tuesday evening followed a PGA Tour board vote and a meeting of the Player Advisory Council (PAC) 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 field 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 the 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 $US25 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 — 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.
Xander Schauffele has twice he had the low score over 72 holes (one time a tie) and watched someone else leave with the trophy.
The tour said it leaned on feedback from its fans to help determine what would make the most compelling finale.
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.
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Advertiser
11 hours ago
- The Advertiser
McIlroy misses the cut before US Open, Champ leads
Masters champion Rory McIlroy has tumbled out of the Canadian Open with his worst round in nearly a year, with Cameron Champ taking a two-stroke lead into the weekend in the final event before the US Open. McIlroy shot an eight-over 78, making a mess of the fifth hole with a quadruple-bogey eight in his highest score since also shooting 78 last year in the first round of the British Open. He had a double bogey on No.11, four bogeys and two birdies. "Of course it concerns me," McIlroy said. "You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. "Still, I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't." At nine over, the two-time Canadian Open winner was 21 strokes behind Champ on the rain-softened North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. "Obviously, going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways," McIlroy said. "Still sort of searching for the sort of missing piece off the tee." Champ had four birdies in a 68 in the morning a day after opening with a 62. He was at 12 under, playing the first 36 holes without a bogey. "It's firmed up a little bit, but fairly similar to yesterday," Champ said. "The fairways I feel like were firming up a little bit. The greens slightly, but pretty close to how they were yesterday." The three-time PGA Tour winner got one of the last spots in the field after being the eighth alternate Friday when the commitments closed. "I definitely didn't think I was getting in," Champ said. Andrew Putnam was second after a bogey-free 62 on the course hosting the event for the first time. He won the 2018 Barracuda Championship for his lone tour title. "I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of good iron shots, too, and my putter was on fire," Putnam said. "Pretty much did everything right. Didn't really make many mistakes." Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen, tied for the first-round lead with Cristobal Del Solar after a 61, had a 70 and dropped into a tie for third at nine under with Canadians Richard Lee (64) and Nick Taylor (65), and France's Victor Perez (65). Del Solar was eight under after a 71. Shane Lowry (68) also was eight under with Ryan Fox (66), Jake Knapp (69), Sam Burns (66) and Matteo Manassero (65). None of the Australian trio, Harryson Endycott (two-under) and Aaron Baddeley and Karl Vilips (both two over), made the three-under cut. Masters champion Rory McIlroy has tumbled out of the Canadian Open with his worst round in nearly a year, with Cameron Champ taking a two-stroke lead into the weekend in the final event before the US Open. McIlroy shot an eight-over 78, making a mess of the fifth hole with a quadruple-bogey eight in his highest score since also shooting 78 last year in the first round of the British Open. He had a double bogey on No.11, four bogeys and two birdies. "Of course it concerns me," McIlroy said. "You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. "Still, I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't." At nine over, the two-time Canadian Open winner was 21 strokes behind Champ on the rain-softened North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. "Obviously, going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways," McIlroy said. "Still sort of searching for the sort of missing piece off the tee." Champ had four birdies in a 68 in the morning a day after opening with a 62. He was at 12 under, playing the first 36 holes without a bogey. "It's firmed up a little bit, but fairly similar to yesterday," Champ said. "The fairways I feel like were firming up a little bit. The greens slightly, but pretty close to how they were yesterday." The three-time PGA Tour winner got one of the last spots in the field after being the eighth alternate Friday when the commitments closed. "I definitely didn't think I was getting in," Champ said. Andrew Putnam was second after a bogey-free 62 on the course hosting the event for the first time. He won the 2018 Barracuda Championship for his lone tour title. "I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of good iron shots, too, and my putter was on fire," Putnam said. "Pretty much did everything right. Didn't really make many mistakes." Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen, tied for the first-round lead with Cristobal Del Solar after a 61, had a 70 and dropped into a tie for third at nine under with Canadians Richard Lee (64) and Nick Taylor (65), and France's Victor Perez (65). Del Solar was eight under after a 71. Shane Lowry (68) also was eight under with Ryan Fox (66), Jake Knapp (69), Sam Burns (66) and Matteo Manassero (65). None of the Australian trio, Harryson Endycott (two-under) and Aaron Baddeley and Karl Vilips (both two over), made the three-under cut. Masters champion Rory McIlroy has tumbled out of the Canadian Open with his worst round in nearly a year, with Cameron Champ taking a two-stroke lead into the weekend in the final event before the US Open. McIlroy shot an eight-over 78, making a mess of the fifth hole with a quadruple-bogey eight in his highest score since also shooting 78 last year in the first round of the British Open. He had a double bogey on No.11, four bogeys and two birdies. "Of course it concerns me," McIlroy said. "You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. "Still, I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't." At nine over, the two-time Canadian Open winner was 21 strokes behind Champ on the rain-softened North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. "Obviously, going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways," McIlroy said. "Still sort of searching for the sort of missing piece off the tee." Champ had four birdies in a 68 in the morning a day after opening with a 62. He was at 12 under, playing the first 36 holes without a bogey. "It's firmed up a little bit, but fairly similar to yesterday," Champ said. "The fairways I feel like were firming up a little bit. The greens slightly, but pretty close to how they were yesterday." The three-time PGA Tour winner got one of the last spots in the field after being the eighth alternate Friday when the commitments closed. "I definitely didn't think I was getting in," Champ said. Andrew Putnam was second after a bogey-free 62 on the course hosting the event for the first time. He won the 2018 Barracuda Championship for his lone tour title. "I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of good iron shots, too, and my putter was on fire," Putnam said. "Pretty much did everything right. Didn't really make many mistakes." Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen, tied for the first-round lead with Cristobal Del Solar after a 61, had a 70 and dropped into a tie for third at nine under with Canadians Richard Lee (64) and Nick Taylor (65), and France's Victor Perez (65). Del Solar was eight under after a 71. Shane Lowry (68) also was eight under with Ryan Fox (66), Jake Knapp (69), Sam Burns (66) and Matteo Manassero (65). None of the Australian trio, Harryson Endycott (two-under) and Aaron Baddeley and Karl Vilips (both two over), made the three-under cut. Masters champion Rory McIlroy has tumbled out of the Canadian Open with his worst round in nearly a year, with Cameron Champ taking a two-stroke lead into the weekend in the final event before the US Open. McIlroy shot an eight-over 78, making a mess of the fifth hole with a quadruple-bogey eight in his highest score since also shooting 78 last year in the first round of the British Open. He had a double bogey on No.11, four bogeys and two birdies. "Of course it concerns me," McIlroy said. "You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. "Still, I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't." At nine over, the two-time Canadian Open winner was 21 strokes behind Champ on the rain-softened North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. "Obviously, going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways," McIlroy said. "Still sort of searching for the sort of missing piece off the tee." Champ had four birdies in a 68 in the morning a day after opening with a 62. He was at 12 under, playing the first 36 holes without a bogey. "It's firmed up a little bit, but fairly similar to yesterday," Champ said. "The fairways I feel like were firming up a little bit. The greens slightly, but pretty close to how they were yesterday." The three-time PGA Tour winner got one of the last spots in the field after being the eighth alternate Friday when the commitments closed. "I definitely didn't think I was getting in," Champ said. Andrew Putnam was second after a bogey-free 62 on the course hosting the event for the first time. He won the 2018 Barracuda Championship for his lone tour title. "I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of good iron shots, too, and my putter was on fire," Putnam said. "Pretty much did everything right. Didn't really make many mistakes." Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen, tied for the first-round lead with Cristobal Del Solar after a 61, had a 70 and dropped into a tie for third at nine under with Canadians Richard Lee (64) and Nick Taylor (65), and France's Victor Perez (65). Del Solar was eight under after a 71. Shane Lowry (68) also was eight under with Ryan Fox (66), Jake Knapp (69), Sam Burns (66) and Matteo Manassero (65). None of the Australian trio, Harryson Endycott (two-under) and Aaron Baddeley and Karl Vilips (both two over), made the three-under cut.
Courier-Mail
13 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
Sunrays ends stellar campaign in Show A Heart as trainer resists Group 1 JJ Atkins lure
Don't miss out on the headlines from Horse Racing. Followed categories will be added to My News. Champion jockey Tommy Berry believes classy filly Sunrays would have been competitive in next Saturday's Group 1 JJ Atkins but unfortunately he won't get to find out. The Kelly Schweida-trained Sunrays will now go for a spell after winning the Listed Show A Heart for two-year-olds over 1500m at Eagle Farm on Saturday. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Schweida then grabbed a double early in the card, with Cejay Graham piloting $20 chance Vodka Martini to victory in the 1000m Lightning Handicap, ahead of Austmarr ($7) and the Schweida-trained Metalart ($6) Owner Peter Moran may have been tempted to run her in the JJ Atkins (1600m) but he and Schweida will stick to their guns and send Sunrays for a rest. Asked if the supremely gifted filly, who has now won five of her six races, could have been competitive in the JJ Atkins, Berry didn't hesitate in his response: 'If she didn't run today then yes. 'The aim was to run today and then go to the paddock. But running today, I felt like she was on the way down now. I don't think she was at her best today. 'She was a little bit flat in the way she raced and she didn't travel up that well for me off the bridle so she's got improvement 'At her best, if she'd missed today and had the extra week in between runs, for her to run top three (in the JJ Atkins) wouldn't have been out of her means.' It would have been tough for Sunrays to back-up just seven days later in a long campaign that started in late January and finished with Saturday's mighty effort when the $3.20 favourite beat Jenni Gone Bonkers ($10) and Navy Pilot ($5.50) on a Soft 5 track. 'She'll be going straight for a spell now, so that was a great way to sign off her prep,' Schweida said. 'It was a great win, I don't think I've seen a jockey look more confident than Tommy did. 'He was pretty adamant she would be hard to beat, but she still had to tick the 1500m box and also the Eagle Farm box today. 'She's just so tough and she's done it all off her first prep, which is why we elected not to take her to the Group 1 next week (JJ Atkins). She's done a super job.' Sunrays will be sent for a spell after winning the Show A Heart. Picture: Trackside Photography Berry said he felt lucky to pick up the ride from regular jockey Cejay Graham, with the top Sydney hoop guiding her to wins in the Group 3 Ken Russell Stakes (1200m) on the Gold Coast and the Listed Bill Carter Stakes (1350m) at Doomben last month. 'Cejay had done a really good job on her before I picked up the ride,' he said. 'She gave me some really good insight into what she was like to ride, so that made things much easier for me. 'She's a lovely progressive filly, and I still think the best is yet to come with her. 'If you look at her frame she probably hasn't filled into it yet. She's still a bit narrow but there's nothing wrong with her heart, she had to dig deep today. 'It's very exciting to see what she can do over the spring.' Originally published as Sunrays heads for well-earned spell after ending successful campaign with victory in Show A Heart at Eagle Farm
West Australian
16 hours ago
- West Australian
McIlroy misses the cut before US Open, Champ leads
Masters champion Rory McIlroy has tumbled out of the Canadian Open with his worst round in nearly a year, with Cameron Champ taking a two-stroke lead into the weekend in the final event before the US Open. McIlroy shot an eight-over 78, making a mess of the fifth hole with a quadruple-bogey eight in his highest score since also shooting 78 last year in the first round of the British Open. He had a double bogey on No.11, four bogeys and two birdies. "Of course it concerns me," McIlroy said. "You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. "Still, I felt like I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't." At nine over, the two-time Canadian Open winner was 21 strokes behind Champ on the rain-softened North Course at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. "Obviously, going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways," McIlroy said. "Still sort of searching for the sort of missing piece off the tee." Champ had four birdies in a 68 in the morning a day after opening with a 62. He was at 12 under, playing the first 36 holes without a bogey. "It's firmed up a little bit, but fairly similar to yesterday," Champ said. "The fairways I feel like were firming up a little bit. The greens slightly, but pretty close to how they were yesterday." The three-time PGA Tour winner got one of the last spots in the field after being the eighth alternate Friday when the commitments closed. "I definitely didn't think I was getting in," Champ said. Andrew Putnam was second after a bogey-free 62 on the course hosting the event for the first time. He won the 2018 Barracuda Championship for his lone tour title. "I hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of good iron shots, too, and my putter was on fire," Putnam said. "Pretty much did everything right. Didn't really make many mistakes." Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen, tied for the first-round lead with Cristobal Del Solar after a 61, had a 70 and dropped into a tie for third at nine under with Canadians Richard Lee (64) and Nick Taylor (65), and France's Victor Perez (65). Del Solar was eight under after a 71. Shane Lowry (68) also was eight under with Ryan Fox (66), Jake Knapp (69), Sam Burns (66) and Matteo Manassero (65). None of the Australian trio, Harryson Endycott (two-under) and Aaron Baddeley and Karl Vilips (both two over), made the three-under cut.
