Handicap system for Tour Championship is revoked
The PGA Tour has scrapped the controversial handicap system used for the season-ending Tour Championship.
Under the much-criticised format first adopted in 2019, the player with the most FedEx Cup points from the regular season started the Tour Championship on 10 under par, with the second-ranked player on eight under and so-on, on a sliding scale.
Last year that meant Scottie Scheffler teeing off at East Lake on 10 under and US PGA and Open Championship winner Xander Schauffele eight under, a format Scheffler called "silly".
Shane Lowry, who began his Tour Championship debut on three under, also joked: "I give shots to my friends every day at home, but my friends are not Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele."
The tournament will revert to a standard 72-hole strokeplay event and the field size will remain at 30, but the PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council will continue to study the qualification system.
"We want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy the most difficult to win," reigning FedEx Cup champion Scheffler said in a statement released by the Tour.
"Shifting the Tour Championship to a more straight-up format with a tougher course set-up makes it easier for fans to follow and provides a more challenging test for players, which brings out the best competition."
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