In an attempt to approve its much maligned season ending tournament, the PGA Tour announced this week that its controversial starting strokes format to the Tour Championship is no more.
Beginning this August, at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, the Tour Championship will switch to a 30 player field, with all golfers starting at even par, eliminating the starting strokes format that has been in place since 2019. The championship will now be a 72-hole event and the winner will take home the FedEx Cup, prize money (to be determined), and a five year PGA Tour exemption.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – SEPTEMBER 01: Scottie Scheffler holds the FedEx Cup trophy during the final round … More
For years the PGA Tour has been looking for ways to make the Tour Championship more interesting and appealing to golf fans. In a statement released this week, commissioner Jay Monahan stated, “our Fan Forward Initiative has helped us evaluate each part of the PGA Tour season and today’s announcement is a first step in the evolution of our postseason.”
During the Memorial Tournament, the PGA Tour’s player advisory board met and approved the changes to the season ending event. Monahan went on to state, “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.”
In response to data indicating that fans want to see scores closer to par, the PGA Tour Rules Committee will “adjust its course setup approach to encourage more risk/reward moments throughout each round, further heightening the drama and competition to determine the FedEx Cup champion.”
World number one player, and Player Advisory Council member Scottie Scheffler recently declared, “we want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy to be the most difficult to win.
Xander Schauffele backed up Scheffler’s stance saying, “I think it being sort of the hardest tournament to qualify for, just being 30 guys and 30 guys after a year-long race, I think it kind of fit to not make it 30-under winning.” He went on to say, “I think it makes sense to make it difficult. So with that being said, I mean, pin locations, grow the rough, make the fairways smaller. I mean, to start you just make fairways small and grow rough, make greens firm and fast. It’s going to be pretty difficult.”
“As the PGA Tour continues to evolve and respond to feedback from fans and players, additional enhancements to the Tour Championship are being evaluated and will be announced in the coming months,” the PGA Tour’s news release stated. This has fueled speculation that the Tour Championship could be moved from East Lake Golf Club to other venues or the format could be tweaked to a possible match-play bracket style tournament in the future.
For now, the match-play style bracket format possibility has fallen apart based on player feedback. “It’s just not what the players wanted to do,” Kevin Kisner, a member of the Player’s Advisory Council said. “Seventy-two-hole stroke play on an iconic golf course is what all the best tournaments play.”
Mike Fore is a Minnesota based golf writer and co-founder of Break80 Golf LLC and the Break80 Podcast.
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