The PGA Tour’s three-week-long playoffs, which kicks off Thursday in Memphis at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, continues to provoke discussions about the format among top players.
Some, such as Scottie Scheffler, do not like the structure of it. Scheffler even called it “silly,” adding that he dislikes the notion that it all comes down to the season-ending Tour Championship, which utilizes a ‘Starting Strokes Format.’ Under this format, the top-ranked player—Scheffler in both 2022 and 2023—begins the tournament at 10-under-par, while the second-ranked player in the FedEx Cup standings starts at 8-under. A player’s starting score then continues to dwindle all the way to even par based on their ranking. Players between 26th and 30th begin the championship at even. Everyone in between starts at various levels based on their standing.
Of course, only the top 30 players after the BMW Championship qualify for the Tour Championship, held at East Lake in Atlanta every year. The top 50 make it to the BMW—the penultimate event—while the top 70 players earn a spot in this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind. Making the top 50 carries significant weight, though, because each player who qualifies for the BMW Championship gets to book a ticket to all eight Signature Events in 2025—the 72-man tournaments with elevated purses.
Nevertheless, as it relates to the format, both Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa support it, thus disagreeing with the top-ranked player in the world.
“I love this format because if it wasn’t this format, then none of us would have a chance against Scottie because he’s so far ahead,” McIlroy said.
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“So I really like this format.”
Scheffler leads Xander Schauffele, the second-ranked player, by nearly 2,000 points. McIlroy, who is third, is 1,500 behind Schauffele, which shows how well Scheffler and Schauffele have played throughout 2024. Even then, Scheffler is in a tier of his own.
Meanwhile, Morikawa initially questioned this format, but he has since concluded that this is the best way to end a season.
“I think the simple answer is yes. I think with any sport, playoffs are playoffs, and sometimes the best teams—a lot of the times, the best teams don’t win. What’s crazy about our sport is there’s so much fluctuation and there’s so much variables that you don’t know how someone is going to play. The best player in the world could have a bad week, and it’s like, ‘Man, that week mattered more than others.’ We have four majors, you have the playoffs, you have The Players. Those weeks matter more, but sometimes people have bad weeks. That’s kind of what our playoffs are,” Morikawa explained.
“I don’t think it’s a perfect system. I think we’ve got to down to, guys can complain, this, that. If you’re the best and you want to show up, you have to show up, especially at the Tour Championship. That’s just how things work. There’s a lot on the line, but that’s what’s so tough about our sport. It’s not like you’re just better than every single person every single week. Any of these 70 guys this week could come out and win, and that’s what’s great about our sport, but that’s what makes it tough to crown a title.”
Indeed, the players have a lot on the line. Like Signature Events, the FedEx St. Jude and BMW Championships have $20 million purses, but the winner of the Tour Championship, and thus the FedEx Cup, gets an additional $25 million.
“I think [the format] makes the Tour Championship more exciting from a consumer standpoint. Is it the fairest reflection of who’s been the best player of the year? Probably not. But I think at this point we’re not in for totally fair, we’re in for entertainment and trying to put on the best product we possibly can,” McIlroy added.
“The first year that it was the starting strokes at Tour Championship in 2019, I was able to win that one, and then in ‘22 again. I like this format. It sort of feels like it’s a bit of a reset after the regular season. Everyone is not quite on a level playing field, but it feels a little more like that.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
