The PGA Tour’s three-week playoffs begin Thursday with the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, but debate continues to rage among the top players over its format.
Some, such as Scottie Scheffler, don’t like that structure. Scheffler even called it “absurd,” adding that he doesn’t like the idea of it all boiling down to the season-ending Tour Championship, which uses a “Starting Strokes format.” In this format, the No. 1 ranked player (Scheffler in both 2022 and 2023) starts the tournament at 10-under par, while the player ranked No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings starts at 8-under par. Players’ starting scores then continue to drop to even par based on their ranking. Players ranked 26th through 30th start the championship at even par. Everyone in between starts at various levels based on their ranking.
Of course, only the top 30 players from the BMW Championship qualify for the Tour Championship, held annually at Atlanta’s East Lake. The top 50 qualify for the BMW, the penultimate event, and the top 70 earn spots in the FedEx St. Jude Championship, taking place this week at TPC Southwind. But making it into the top 50 means a lot, because each player who plays in the BMW Championship will reserve a ticket for one of eight signature events (72-player tournaments with big prize purses) in 2025.
However, the format is not in keeping with the world number one, with both Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa supporting it.
“I love this format. If it wasn’t this format, nobody would have a chance to beat Scotty because he’s so far ahead,” McIlroy said.
“So I really like this format.”
Scheffler is about 2,000 points behind Xander Schauffele, who is ranked No. 2 in the world, and McIlroy, who is No. 3, is 1,500 points behind Schauffele, which shows how well Schauffele and Schauffele have performed throughout 2024. Still, Schauffler is in a league of his own.
Morikawa, on the other hand, initially had doubts about the format but later concluded that it was the best way to conclude the season.
“The answer is simply yes. In any sport, the playoffs are the playoffs. Sometimes the best team wins, but a lot of times the best team doesn’t win. The great thing about our sport is that it’s so volatile, there are so many variables, you never know how anyone’s going to play. The best player in the world can have a bad week and it’s like, ‘Oh, that week was more important than other weeks.’ We have four majors, we have playoffs, we have the Players Championship. Those weeks are more important, but sometimes you have bad weeks. That’s what our playoffs are like,” Morikawa explained.
“I don’t think it’s a perfect system. I think players should stop whining about it. If you want to go out there at your best, you have to go out there, especially at the Tour Championship. That’s how it is. There’s a lot at stake, but that’s the tough part about this sport. You’re not going to be better than anyone else every week. Any of the 70 guys who are out there this week could win. That’s what’s great about this sport, but also why it’s so hard to win a title.”
To be sure, the players have a lot at stake: Like the signature events, the FedEx St. Jude Championship and BMW Championship have a combined prize purse of $20 million, but the winner of the Tour Championship, and therefore the FedEx Cup, takes home an additional $25 million.
“I think [the format] “It makes the Tour Championship more exciting from a consumer standpoint. Is it the fairest reflection of who the best player was that year? Probably not. But at this point we’re not trying to have a completely fair tournament, it’s about entertainment and trying to give the best product possible,” McIlroy added.
“The first time I hit my starting stroke at the Tour Championship in 2019, I was able to win, and then again in 2022. I like this format. It feels like a little bit of a reset after the regular season. Not everybody’s on a completely level playing field, but it feels a little bit like that.”
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
