PGA Tour moves toward changes to FedEx Cup finale. Finding a solution everyone likes won't be easy
KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Commissioner Jay Monahan wasn't kidding when he told the PGA Tour staff in his year-end message that “everything was on the table.” That includes what could be another massive overhaul at the Tour Championship to determine the FedEx Cup champion.
How soon it happens — and what it looks like — is part of a study that ultimately will require PGA Tour board approval.
And like everything else, getting everyone on the same page might be the biggest obstacle.
“I'd like to see something the players are excited about and the fans are excited about,” said Patrick Cantlay, one of six players on the board. “There has been some talks around it, but nothing definitive.”
Two PGA Tour officials said several concepts are still under discussion as officials review what effect it would have on everything from television to corporate hospitality at East Lake to finding the best way to reward the top performer.
The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private. One person directly involved in studying the various concepts said none has been brought to the Players Advisory Council, which has taken on a more active role in another slate of changes that involve player eligibility and field sizes.
“I just think it's important to have an open mind,” Cantlay said. “The format has changed a number of times, and trying to get the right one for that elite of an event I think is important.”
The tour is leaning toward a bracket of seeds. While considered the purest format in golf competition, match play on television can be less compelling as the field shrinks. One of the options involves stroke play to narrow the field and a form of medal matches — head-to-head stroke play — assuring 18 holes.
Cantlay, who won the FedEx Cup in 2021, doesn't like the current format, which began in 2019 and includes “starting strokes” — the No. 1 seed starts at 10-under par, down to the last five seeds starting at even par. That was created to eliminate confusion over one player winning the Tour Championship and another winning the FedEx Cup.
Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship in 2018, his first since multiple back surgeries, and it took all the attention away from Justin Rose winning the FedEx Cup. In a previous version, Phil Mickelson won the Tour Championship and Woods won the FedEx Cup in 2009.
“Let me see if I get this straight — I shot 65 and he shot (70) and he gets a check for $10 million,” Mickelson said that day. He was joking, but it illustrated the conflicting storylines the tour wanted to avoid.
The FedEx Cup champion now gets $25 million.
Scottie Scheffler won it last year to cap off his marvelous season as the world's best player, though he didn't post the lowest 72-hole score because of his head start. It was the fourth time in six years the FedEx Cup champion did not have the low score at East Lake.
Adam Scott, who also serves on board, urged caution when it came to what he referred to as a “legacy” event, which he considers the Tour Championship. He won it in 2006 in the first week of November. The FedEx Cup began the next year.
He said the Tour Championship has "kind of gotten lost in the wash” because of so many iterations since 2007.
“But I guess it’s needed to have a look at it, not only to satisfy the players but to give a fitting end to the season,” Scott said. "Seemingly, it's not really doing that. It takes a lot of criticism in the lead-in to the event. Looking for a better format is worthwhile.”
Bracketology — think the NCAA basketball tournament and now college football — requires seeds, and it doesn't translate in golf like other sports because there's such a fine line between the 30 top players. But it could provide easy storylines for television and for fans to follow.
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley described the current format as “clunky.” The idea of some form of head-to-head competition got his attention.
“I think that would be certainly interesting, because the pressure you feel at the Tour Championship ... if you’re going to win the FedEx Cup and win whatever amount of money is at stake, that’s real pressure,” Bradley said. “So to watch two guys go out and play for it would be pretty cool.”
Scott and Collin Morikawa said seeds are different in golf, even when compared with another individual sport like tennis, because talent isn't easily separated in 18 holes.
“It's not obvious the No. 1 seed is going to dust off the No. 55 seed,” Scott said.
He raised the idea of a format the tour once briefly considered before going to the “starting strokes” format in 2019.
“I think if we're open-minded, you can play a traditional event on Wednesday to Saturday and have a Tour Championship, and have a small number of players tee off on Sunday for the FedEx Cup,” Scott said.
Tony Finau felt head-to-head would be out of place with so much riding on the outcome.
“To put all the chips on the table for match play, I think that would be the wrong move,” he said. “We play too many stroke-play events and we don't even have one match play. I get that could create more drama, maybe something head-to-head. As a player, I don't see how that would be the most fair.
“Whatever the format is," Finau added, "there's a lot of money at the end.”
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
