The PGA Tour is eliminating the controversial start-stroke format from the tour championship in its latest attempt to make the season-ending tournament more appealing and climactic for golf fans, the tour announced Tuesday.
Starting from August 21st to 24th, all 30 players on the field will begin evenly in the stroke play tournament, starting with this year’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
The winner after 72 holes will capture the FedEx Cup and collect bonuses and a five-year PGA Tour exemption.
The PGA Tour Player Advisory Council (PAC) and Policy Board approved the changes on Tuesday.
“Our fan-forward initiative helped us evaluate each part of the PGA Tour season. Today’s announcement is an important first step in the evolution of the postseason,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “The Player Advisory Council led the in-depth process to address what fans were looking for. The world’s most competitive golf played with the best bets in the easiest and most compelling format.”
The PGA Tour looked at other ways to play the Tour Championship, including a bracket-style format with direct play. On the tour, PAC said it will continue to consider field sizes and eligibility criteria for future tour championships.
In a news release Tuesday, the tour said golf fans hope to bring their winning score closer to par in the Tour Championship.
On the tour, the top 30 golfers in the FedEx Cup rankings said “We will be balanced for 2025, rewarding volatility, rewarding performances during the season, and recognizing the importance of the FedEx Cup.”
“As the PGA Tour continues to evolve and respond to feedback from fans and players, additional features from the Tour Championship are being appreciated and announced in the coming months,” the news release said.
The Eastlake Golf Club could continue to be part of the event rotation, but sources told ESPN.
Last year, World No. 1 Scotty Scheffler began the tournament under the age of 10 as the points leader for the FedEx Cup season. He is under 20, over 72 holes on his own, and his overall score total of 30 under was four strokes than Colin Morakawa, who started at 4 under.
The PGA Tour stated that the Rules Committee “aligns its course setup approach to promote more risk/reward moments throughout each round, further increasing drama and competition.”
“We hope that the Tour Championship will be the most difficult tournament in qualifying and the FedEx Cup Trophy will be the most difficult tournament,” PAC member Schaeffler said in a statement. “Shifting the Tour Championship to a more straightforward format with a more stringent course setup will make it easier for fans to follow and provide a more challenging test for players.
From 2007 to 2018, the PGA Tour won two championships in the Tour Championship. He is the winner of the tournament and the leader of the Seasonal Ring FedEx Cup Point Race. A starting stroke was introduced in 2019 to protect top golfers, while eliminating the confusion of having two champions after the season-ending championship.
The points leader started at 10 under, at least two strokes than everyone else on the field. The second-placed players in points started in third place with 8 under and 7 under and fourth place with 6 under.
Members of the PGA Tour, including Scheffler, criticized the format as being too gimmick. Other golfers complained that they had no chance to win the tournament.
“I’ve talked about it over the last few years. I think it’s ridiculous,” Schaeffler said at a press conference at the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship. “We can’t call it a seasonal race and we can’t go back to one tournament.
“Hypothetically, we reached East Lake, my neck was on fire and it’s not soothed by the way the players do. We had to withdraw from the final tournament, so we finished 30th in the FedEx Cup. Is that really a seasonal race?
It’s been the first time before in front of the field that Schaeffler didn’t guarantee a victory. In 2022 he wasted a six-stroke lead, losing one at a time to Rory McIlroy in the final round. The following year, Schaeffler started at 10 under, becoming under the age of 1, exceeding 72 holes. He finished sixth under the age of 11, tied 16 strokes behind winner Viktor Hovland.