PGA Tour is adjusting its Tour Championship. Will the changes make it better?
The PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship will ditch its 'starting strokes' format, beginning this season, the PGA Tour announced Tuesday. The four-day stroke play event will also plan to feature a more difficult course set up at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, with the goal of the winning scores being closer to even par.
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Discussions to transform the Tour Championship began over the winter, with a bracket-style format floated as a possibility. There were discussions that a bracket, which could feature either match play or stroke play, could inject the Tour Championship with some much-needed drama. The previous format, which gave players a head start based on their FedEx Cup points ranking, was widely criticized by fans and players.
The initial conversations to reimagine the Tour Championship were sparked by the PGA Tour's 'Fan Forward' initiative — a comprehensive survey and research process designed to enhance the PGA Tour product based on the improvements fans said they want to see. However, the bracket-style and match play possibilities for the tournament fell apart based on player feedback.
'It's just not what the players wanted to do,' Kevin Kisner, a member of the PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council and a NBC broadcast team member, told The Athletic Tuesday. 'Seventy-two-hole stroke play on an iconic golf course is what all the best tournaments play.'
According to Tuesday's release, the Tour Championship format will continue to be evaluated, particularly the qualification system. Currently, 30 players make it to East Lake at the end of the PGA Tour season, with cuts after the end of the regular season and each of the first two FedEx Cup playoff events.
Starting in 2025, all players at East Lake will compete on a level playing field, making it more possible for any of those players to win the $25 million in bonus money for the champion.
Although the PGA Tour's announcement did not disclose details of specific course set-up changes at East Lake, there is a general sentiment that the tournament will aim to mimic a major-like test. East Lake was renovated before the 2024 Tour Championship. Scottie Scheffler won after starting 10-under-par and shooting 20-under on his card over four days. The year before, Viktor Hovland was 19-under for the week, and in 2023, Rory McIlroy was 17-under.
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'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, PAC member and world No. 1, said in a statement.
(Photo of Scottie Scheffler: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
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