ATLANTA – This is not an attempt to troll the PGA Tour’s decades-long effort to land on the right format for the season finale so much as it is a way to justify a rare midseason course correction.
In May, the Tour eliminated the starting-strokes format that had been used at the Tour Championship since 2019 in favor of a more traditional 72 holes of stroke play with all 30 players starting the week at even par. The starting-strokes notion, which gave players an advantage based on their position on the postseason points list, just seemed silly.
Perhaps the ultimate catalyst for change was Scottie Scheffler, who rolled up to the circuit’s big finish atop the FedExCup standings the last three years. As the points front-runner, Scheffler began each week at 10 under, two shots clear of the player in second place and a full 10 shots clear of those 26th through 30th on the points list.
It was a manufactured reality, however well intended, that didn’t resonate with anyone, including Scheffler.
“I guess no more sandbagging for me at the end of the year,” said Scheffler, who similarly began this week at No. 1 in points. “I was not a huge fan of the starting-strokes format. I was a fan of the points format, but I understand why people wanted to move away from that with FedEx being a huge sponsor and having to give out two trophies at the end of the week and explaining the season long race. This to me is a much simpler format to end the year.”
It should also be no surprise that a return to a more traditional format has produced a leaderboard with far more parity and nuance.
During the starting-strokes era it was a tournament staple for social media sleuths to post the real leaderboard without the contrived handicapping. Scheffler won last year’s Tour Championship at 30 under, which included his 10 under starting advantage, but it was Collin Morikawa who won the net division without the benefit of starting strokes and collected the first-place world-ranking points.
Conversely, reengineering this week’s leaderboard with starting strokes is the best and most efficient way to prove that the Tour’s decision to revert back to the traditional format was worthwhile.
Through three rounds of largely soggy and swampy golf at East Lake, it’s no surprise to see Scheffler (fifth) and Tommy Fleetwood (T-1) are within four shots of the lead. All three have either won or contended during the playoffs.
But it’s the likes of Akshay Bhatia and Chris Gotterup within the top 10 that speaks to the circuit’s return to sanity.
One swing cost Tommy Fleetwood the lead Saturday in the Tour Championship. Another great closing stretch gave Patrick Cantlay a shot at the ideal ending to three years without winning.
Bhatia and Gotterup began the week at Nos. 29 and 30, respectively, on the points list but are still inside the top 10 at the Tour Championship. Had the Tour clung to starting strokes, Bhatia and Gotterup would tied for 15th place and hopelessly out of contention at 8 under to Scheffler’s 22 under.
“I think everyone at my level when they heard about the rule changes were pretty happy, because that means we don’t have to give Scottie and Rory and whoever else is at the top shots,” Shane Lowry said. “This game is hard enough without giving Scottie Scheffler shots. I was pretty happy because then I sort of think to myself, well, I can win the FedExCup now.”
The move back to a more digestible format has benefited both players and fans. For those following along at home, the concept is easy – the winner this week at East Lake collects the Tour Championship and the FedExCup, full stop.
For those plodding along inside the ropes the move away from starting strokes is a welcome breath of clarity.
“It’s a weird feeling and I didn’t enjoy it,” Justin Thomas said. “I remember the first year we had starting strokes, I started at 10 under and I hit the first fairway and had 9-iron in and my mind was just in protect mode, just like, fairway, green, par, fairway, green, par, and I had this 9-iron and I hit it like 35 feet past the hole in the middle of the green and I go up there and I’m like, What am I doing?”
“It’s nice to be a normal tournament.”
The move away from starting strokes feels like a stopgap, and this week’s announcement of a future competition committee, which will be chaired by Tiger Woods, suggests the Tour is due for a historic overhaul that will certainly include a new look, feel and format at East Lake.
Tee times and TV times for the final round of the FedExCup playoff finale, the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.
There is one potential pitfall awaiting the Tour’s format reversal this week. Without the historic perspective of parity, a Bhatia victory, for example, would require a bit of context considering it would be his first and only triumph of the season compared to, say, Scheffler’s season, which includes two major victories (PGA Championship and The Open), a playoff event (BMW Championship) and a signature event (Memorial).
Such a scenario would hold up to the concept of a playoff, but it would also stretch the definition of a season-long race.
For now, that’s a chance the Tour is willing to take, and the result is a much more compelling leaderboard.
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