PGA Tour eliminating starting strokes format for Tour Championship, FedEx Cup Playoffs this fall
The Tour Championship is going to look a bit different this fall.
Instead of one golfer having a massive advantage over the rest of the field at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, everybody is going to start from the same place.
Advertisement
The PGA Tour announced on Tuesday night that it had eliminated the starting strokes format for its season-ending Tour Championship. Instead, the event will simply be a 72-hole stroke-play event like every other tournament on Tour. Then, whoever wins the tournament will win the FedEx Cup.
The Tour also said that it will keep the field size for the Tour Championship at just 30 golfers. The tournament is the third of three FedEx Cup Playoffs events, which shrink in field size every step of the way. The FedEx St. Jude Championship will include the top 70 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings, and then the top 50 will make it to the BMW Championship the following week.
The Tour is also planning to make East Lake more difficult.
'Our Fan Forward initiative has helped us evaluate each part of the PGA TOUR season and today's announcement is an important first step in the evolution of our postseason,' PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. '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.'
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler won the FedEx Cup last season for the first time, though he had entered the Tour Championship as the No. 1 player in the past three seasons — which gave him a two-stroke advantage and allowed him to start at 10-under on Thursday instead of at even par. The second place golfer in the standings then started at 8-under, and so on until the last group of golfers who made it into the field open the tournament at even par.
Advertisement
The idea behind the starting strokes format was to reward golfers like Scheffler, who dominated all season long. He had seven total wins last season, including at the Masters and The Players Championship. That way, if he has a bad week at the Tour Championship, he's still in a position to claim the season-long title.
However that format, which was first introduced in 2019, hasn't always been a hit with fans. Now, Scheffler said, the final event is going to be much simpler.
'We want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy the most difficult to win,' Scheffler said in a statement. '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.'
Scheffler, who is fresh off his win earlier this month at the PGA Championship, is in the field this week at the Memorial Tournament. The FedEx Cup Playoffs will start on Aug. 7 with the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. The Tour Championship is scheduled to start two weeks later on Aug. 21.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rockies' Scottie Scheffler quip after ending 57-series sweep drought
The post Rockies' Scottie Scheffler quip after ending 57-series sweep drought appeared first on ClutchPoints. Can you believe it? The Colorado Rockies have swept the Miami Marlins for their first sweep in 57 different series. The drought is finally over. Advertisement Alongside the Chicago White Sox, the Rockies have been one of the worst teams in professional sports over the last two seasons. It won't be getting better over the next few years either. However, sweeping an opponent is a great feeling, and nobody can take that away from the players. Before the series started against the Marlins, a comparison tweet was made on X, showing that Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the World, had as many wins since May 2 as the Rockies did at three. Well, now that the Rockies swept the Marlins, they decided to respond humorously. Of course, it is all in good fun. The PGA only plays Thursday-Sunday, but Scheffler is coming off his third win of the season at The Memorial. Scheffler doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. His burst onto the scene has put him in conversations with Tiger Woods on multiple occasions. He has three career Major wins, including two at The Masters. The next Major is next week, and it will be the U.S. Open. Scheffler will aim to win that for the first time in his career. The Rockies are now 12-50. They will likely end the season with the most losses of all time, surpassing the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets at 120. Their schedule does not get any easier as they take on the Mets this weekend at Coors Field, who just swept them at Citi Field. That series is followed by meetings with the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves. Advertisement It was not too long ago that the Rockies lost at Coors Field to the San Diego Padres by the score of 21-0. Since then, they have had wins against the Padres, New York Yankees, and Arizona Diamondbacks. It doesn't come often, but the Rockies can score some runs with a young offense. Related: Rockies go streaking with 2nd straight win over Marlins
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rory McIlroy a laughingstock after PGA Tour career worst
The post Rory McIlroy a laughingstock after PGA Tour career worst appeared first on ClutchPoints. Almost two months ago, Rory McIlroy completed his quest for a career grand slam, winning the Masters Tournament. That was already his third win of the 2025 season. McIlroy won both the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the PLAYERS Championship. It appeared his game had finally reached another level. Advertisement With six days until the U.S. Open tees off at Oakmont, that no longer seems the case. McIlroy flamed out at the PGA Championship and controversially opted not to speak to the media after each round. The Northern Irishman then skipped Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament, which turned heads. This week, he was back on the course at the RBC Canadian Open, an event he has won twice. Not only did the familiarity with TPC Toronto not help get his game back on track, but he is having the worst tournament of his PGA Tour career. McIlroy carded a 1-over 71 on Thursday. That placed him below the projected cut line entering the second round but only by a couple of strokes. Then Friday happened. Advertisement With three holes to play, McIlroy sits at 9-over for the tournament. He is 150th in the field out of 153 golfers. The worst 36-hole finish of McIlroy's career was a tie for 142nd, per Underdog Golf. He will undoubtedly be heading home early. As his round played out, fans took to social media with some truly wild reactions. 'Rory McIlroy has (understandably) mentally checked out following his Masters win. Such a shame considering the form he was in pre-Augusta.,' one fan posted on X, formerly Twitter. Even Barstool Sports' Riggs could not contain himself. 'Rory F***ing McIlroy you are an emotional rollercoaster what is wrong with you I love you so much.' Advertisement Following four straight pars to begin his round, everything went off the rails on the par-4 5th. The five-time major champion carded a snowman eight for a quadruple bogey. From there, he bogeyed 8, 10, and 13 while double-bogeying the par-3 12th. He made his first birdie of the day on 15, prompting the most perfect troll reaction ever. Barring some double eagles coming in, this will mark the worst 36-hole finish of McIlroy's career, just in time for the U.S. Open. Related: Rockies' Scottie Scheffler quip after ending 57-series sweep drought
4 hours ago
McIlroy tumbles out of Canadian Open with a 78. Champ takes 2-shot lead into the weekend
CALEDON, Ontario -- Masters champion Rory McIlroy tumbled out of the RBC Canadian Open on Friday 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 U.S. Open. McIlroy shot an 8-over 78, making a mess of the fifth hole with a quadruple-bogey 8 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 9 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.' Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark, tied for the first-round lead with Cristobal Del Solar after a 61, had a 70 drop into a tie for third at 9 under with Canadians Richard Lee (64) and Nick Taylor (65) and France's Victor Perez (65). Taylor won the 2023 event at Oakdale. 'Hung in there,' Taylor said. 'Making a birdie on the last was important to end the day nicely.' Del Solar was 8 under after a 71. Shane Lowry (68) also was 8 under with Ryan Fox (66), Jake Knapp (69), Sam Burns (66) and Matteo Manassero (65).
