The PGA Tour is contemplating a format change to its Tour Championship, according to reports from The Athletic and The Associated Press.
The Athletic first reported that Tour officials were discussing options for replacing the current staggered-start format for its FedExCup playoff finale at East Lake with a “bracket-style event.” The AP later added that several concepts were being discussed, and the Tour was “leaning” toward some sort of seeded match-play bracket, with potential ideas including medal match play; stroke play leading into match play; and having matches decide the top eight finishers.
The AP added that the Tour’s Player Advisory Council has yet to see any proposals and that a switch in time for the 2025 Tour Championship is unlikely.
All sources in the reports spoke to the outlets on condition of anonymity.
The Tour moved the 30-man Tour Championship to a staggered start in 2019, rewarding the FedExCup No. 1 by letting him begin the week at East Lake at 10 under, among other tiered starting positions. However, player opinion has never been overly positive. In fact, just this past season, Scottie Scheffler called the format “silly.”
Keegan Bradley was asked about the reports on Friday at Kapalua. He said he’d only just heard about the potential changes, but he agreed adjustments probably need to be made.
“I do know that the format now I think is a little clunky,” Bradley said. “I think it’s a little strange. There’s no right or wrong way. They’re trying to create drama in the last event of the year, and you got guys like Scottie Scheffler who, you know, if they don’t do something like that, wouldn’t have to even play that week and you win the FedExCup. So, I’m not in a position, thankfully, to make those [changes], but I’m all for trying to make the Tour better.”
The revealed potential tweaks offer some promise.
Medal match play is a version of the head-to-head format where competitors play 18 holes, after which the lowest stroke-play score wins the match. If tied, like normal match play, the match goes to sudden death. Medal match play is most notably used at the NCAA Division II Championship, and it also is featured in the final round of the St. Andrews Links Collegiate, a college event that finishes on the Old Course. Imagine competing on the Old Course, yet your match ends on No. 16; medal match play ensures that every match goes to the final hole, surely an enticing aspect for sponsors who purchase suites around East Lake’s 18th green.
Top amateur championships such as the U.S. Amateur and Western Amateur use stroke-play qualifying before advancing the top finishers to match play. This format would ensure that every player who qualifies for East Lake sticks around for multiple days, as would a match-play format with four culminating matches, presumably for first, third, fifth and seventh place – and corresponding prize payouts. Usually, such matches would come at the end of a bracket that includes consolation elements.
There are certainly plenty of options, with the common thread being a head-to-head showdown for big money on Sunday at East Lake.
“I think that would be certainly interesting, because the pressure that you would feel at the Tour Championship, if you’re going to win the FedExCup 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.”
