Golf’s season-ending Tour Championship could be held under a bracket-style competition that combines stroke play and match play as the PGA Tour looks at options to improve its playoff format, a source confirmed to ESPN on Friday.
Adjusting the format at the Tour Championship is among several changes that could be considered, the source said, adding that “everything is on the table.”
The Tour Championship is the final event of the three FedEx Cup Playoffs, with 30 players advancing to play for the $25 million year-end top prize awarded to Scottie Scheffler in 2024.
Under the current format, the top-ranked players in the FedEx Cup standings enter the Tour Championship with a goal-scoring advantage. Or that would be just two strokes for the top-ranked golfer above No. 2, Scheffler challenged the format as “stupid” in August.
“You can’t call it a season-long race and boil it down to one race,” Scheffler said. “Thinking, we get to East Lake and my neck is on fire and it’s not healing the way it did at the Players. I finish 30th in the FedEx Cup because I had to pull out of the last race? Is that really the race of the season. No, it’s what it is.”
Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, said last season that he liked the way things were, although he admitted that it might not be the best way to determine the best golfer during the season.
“I like this format because if it wasn’t for this way, none of us would have had a chance to face Scottie because he is so far ahead,” said McIlroy. “So I really like this format.”
Any changes could begin as early as the 2025 season. The Tour Championship is set for Aug. 21-24 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
The Athletic first reported the potential changes to the Tour Championship, with sources calling it “advanced discussions.”
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Field Level Media contributed to this report.
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