Mark Schlabach
The PGA Tour eliminates the controversial start -up format of the touring championship in its last attempt to make its end -of -season tournament more convincing and culminating for golf fans, the tour announced on Tuesday.
Starting with the Tour of this year championship at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta from August 21 to 24, the 30 players on the field will even start peer in a stroke of stroke.
The winner after 72 holes will capture the Fedex Cup and collect a bonus and a five -year exemption from PGA Tour.
The PGA Tour (CAP) advisory council (CAP) and the political council approved the changes on Tuesday.
“Our Fan Forward initiative has helped us to assess each part of the PGA Tour season and the announcement today is an important first step in the evolution of our playoffs,” said PGA Tour curator Jay Monahan, in a press release. “The players’ advisory advice has led an in -depth process to respond to what our fans are asking for: the most competitive golf in the world, has played for the highest issues, in the simplest and most engaging format.”
The PGA Tour has envisaged other ways to play the Tour championship, including a supporting style format with a head-on-one room. The tour said that the CAP would continue to examine the size of the field and the qualification standards for future touring championships.
In a press release on Tuesday, the tour said that golf fans said they wanted to see winning scores closer to the tour championship.
The tour said that the bonuses for the 30 best golfers in the Fedex Cup classification “will be balanced for 2025 to take into account increased volatility, reward performance throughout the season and recognize the importance of the Fedexcup”.
“While the PGA Tour continues to evolve and respond to comments from fans and players, additional improvements to the Tour championship are being evaluated and will be announced in the coming months,” the press release said.
The tour also estimates the opportunity to move the Tour championship to another golf club after the 2027 season, sources said in ESPN, although East Lake Golf Club can be part of a rotation for the event.
Last year, world n ° 1 Scottie Scheffler started the tournament 10 sous as points manager of the Fedex Cup season. He had 20 years less than 72 holes, and his total total of 30 sous was four strokes that Collin Morikawawhich started 4 sous.
The PGA Tour said that its rules committee “will adjust its course configuration approach to encourage more risk / reward moments throughout each round, further increasing drama and competition”.
“We want the tournament championship to be the most difficult tournament to qualify and the most difficult to win Fedex Cup trophy,” said Scheffler, a member of the PAC, in a statement. “The trip of the Tour to a more straight format with a more difficult course configuration allows fans to follow more easily and provides a more difficult test for players – which brings out the best competition.”
From 2007 to 2018, the PGA Tour crowned two champions in the Tour championship: the tournament winner and the leader of the points race of the Fedex Cup season. Starting blows were introduced in 2019 to protect golfers at the top, while eliminating the confusion of having two champions after the end of the season championship.
The leader of the points started at 10 sous and had at least two strokes in front of everyone on the ground. Player n ° 2 in points started at 8 sous, n ° 3 to 7 sous, n ° 4 to 6 sous, etc.
The members of the PGA Tour, including Scheffler, criticized the format as being too gadget. Other golfers complained of not having had the chance to win the tournament because they started so far behind.
“I have spoken I have been in recent years, I think it’s silly,” said Scheffler at a press conference at the Fedex St. Jude 2024 championship. “You can’t call it a season race and make it be summed up in a single tournament.
“Hypothetically, we arrive at East Lake and my neck aside and he did not heal as he did to the players. I finished 30th in the Fedex Cup because I had to withdraw from the last tournament? Is it really the race of the season? No, is that it is.”
Starting so far in front of the field has not always guaranteed to Scheffler a victory. In 2022, he wasted an advance of six strokes by carding a 3 against 73 in the final round and lost against Rory McILroy by one. The following year, Scheffler started 10 sous and only made 1 less than 72 holes alone. He finished sixth at 11 sous, 16 strokes behind the winner Viktor Hovland.
