No system is perfect. And in golf, keeping fans and players happy with the tournament’s championship format has proven more difficult than outsiders to American politics might agree.
Starting in 2019, the format became a staggered start – where all 30 players in the field start with scores corresponding to their place in the FedEx Cup. Now, for the third consecutive year, Scottie Scheffler starts the week at East Lake leading the field at 10. The field will follow suit and most of them have a long way to go as 25 of the 30 players will start at 4-under or worse.
Scheffler may be the leader, but he’s not a fan of the format.
“I have been talking about this for the last few years; I think it’s stupid,” Scheffler said during his taping at the St. Louis championship. Jude FedEx earlier this month. “You can’t call it a season competition and it comes down to a tournament.
“Hypothetically, we get to East Lake and my neck flares up and doesn’t heal the way it did at The Players. I finish 30th in the FedEx Cup because I had to withdraw from the last tournament? Is this really a season long race? No, it is what it is.”
Scheffler is the Tour’s biggest current star because of his game. He has every right to this opinion.
But how many times have you heard LeBron James or Tom Brady or the late Kobe Bryant complain that a bad injury during the NBA Finals or Super Bowl could make the outcome unfair?
You don’t, because that’s part of the game. This is the playoffs.
Yes, it’s a seasonal competition that starts in January, but the competition always heats up during the playoffs. Just look Keegan Bradley reaching 50th in the FedEx Cup after the championship St. Jude FedEx—clinching the last available spot—and will go on to win the BMW Championship on Sunday. The shaky start puts him within four shots of Scheffler to start this week.
Any good playoff system allows hot hands to thrive.
For Scheffler to easily overlook the urgency of the playoff mentality is almost laughable. In any sport’s playoffs, you’ll have favorites and longshots. Remember some of the NBA’s biggest upsets of the past? Like when the eighth-seeded New York Knicks made it all the way to the NBA Finals in 1999? Or when the 2007 eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors knocked off the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks?
Disturbances happen in sports. Volatility is a good thing.
In the case of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, Scheffler—who didn’t win the last two titles despite his numerical advantage—is the clear favorite, thanks to his regular-season play more than anything else. With six wins this season, Scheffler entered the playoffs with 5,993 points, 2,000 points ahead of second place. Xander Schauffele.
But what about relatives who don’t? They worked hard to get into the top 30 for the tournament championship. The 26-30 seeded East Lake starts 10 shots back of Scheffler, but has a fighting chance to win it all by Sunday. And among most players I’ve spoken to for goals over the past decade, making the tournament championship always ranks high among them.
Billy Horschel took part ahead of last week’s BMW Championship in response to Scheffler’s takeover. “I disagree with Scottie. Scottie said that’s stupid. I don’t agree with that. (The system) has never rewarded the best player throughout the regular season.
“I won the ’14 FedEx Cup. Rory McIlroy was arguably the best player that year. He had earned two degrees. He came in on a high note. I was the 69th at the start of FedEx. I missed the first cut. I go second, win, win, and win the FedEx Cup.”
Horschel handled the pressure very well during that stretch. He played in Sunday’s final set in both of his wins and closed both with the lights flashing each time.
“It’s not unlike the New York Giants starting the playoffs 9-7 (and beating) the undefeated Patriots and then winning the Super Bowl,” Horschel said.
“If you ask two other guys, there’s two different opinions you’re going to get about the FedEx Cup and what they think is the best way, but I believe our system and the way we do it … can we reward the regular season a little more? Of course, we can. But this is a playoff. Anything can happen.”
Has the tiered points system worked so far in the tournament championship?
I think so. Of course, it’s a little strange on Thursday and Friday to see the results fluctuate, but this format allows anyone to win. And for us fans at home, isn’t that what we want to see? Favorites with a well-earned start, but the potential Cinderella story that makes Tour golf exciting is always a possibility.
Once we get to the weekend and the results start to look like a normal tournament again, everyone appears to be on the same page by the end.
“But it doesn’t matter anymore how you start, it’s all about how you finish,” Schauffele said in his presser ahead of the Tour Championship in 2023. “And everybody knows what’s going on when guys are going down so good. the final stretch here at East Lake and everyone knows what’s at stake.”
And for fans at home, it’s easier to see what’s on without all the live predictions and Steve Kornacki–love the live updates by NBC’s Steve Sands.
Sands’ colleague Dan Hicks, who calls play-by-play for the Tour Championship again this year, likes the fan-friendly aspect of the current format.
“This is the best iteration of playoff formats because, simply put, it’s easier for fans to follow at home. No crazy math. Just the lowest score on Sunday wins it all,” Hicks told MyGolfSpy. “Is it perfect? Probably not, but I’m not smart enough to improve it—other than (thinking) is there any way to include the game of games on the weekend somehow? That way the guys towards the back half of the top 30 can get back into contention to win it all.”
A weekend format with match play it could really put players back in the bottom 15 in the mix and they would have to win or go home with every match. This can be good. But for TV, which runs through Sunday, that wouldn’t be ideal because you can’t guarantee fans can watch Scheffler and other stars. Top players may be eliminated on Saturday or earlier. Also, there may be fewer players on the field, which hurts the TV product.
In the bigger picture, where do we think the Tour Championship fits into the golf calendar now that we’re three years deep into the PGA Tour/LIV Golf split?
For veteran golf journalist Jaime Diaz of Golf Channel and Golf Digest, the split has only helped the tournament championship.
“I think because of the separation, it matters more. It highlights the Tour’s competitive advantage over LIV,” Diaz told MyGolfSpy.
So what exactly does Tour have that LIV doesn’t in this case?
“Better players – a lot more of them – and more historical significance, more pressure, harder set-up, better courses,” Diaz said.
The LIV Golf Individual Championship, which compares in distance to the Tour Championship, is at Bolingbrook Golf Club in Chicago on September 13-15. That course isn’t even in the top 20 Chicagoland courses. When compared to the revamped East Lake, Diaz certainly makes a fair point.
Regardless of the venue, it’s the start of the upset again this week as Scheffler looks to claim that elusive FedEx Cup.
There could be a better way to set up the tournament finale, but what we have serves its purpose and provides an intriguing end to the season.
After all, it’s everything golf fans could ask for.
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