American Scottie Scheffler has had a magnificent golf season on the PGA tour with a win in the major tournament US Masters and five additional wins, including several major tournaments.
But even if the world number one were to win the two opening tournaments in the playoffs, the reward would be meager when the top 30 players compete for the final victory during the tour final on East Lake in Atlanta, Georgia, in just over two weeks.
"A good TV product"
The one who leads the Fedex Cup ranking will then have to settle for a two-stroke lead over the second-place finisher when the season's final four rounds await.
You have to find a balance between it being a good TV product and it still being a competition throughout the entire season, says Scheffler in connection with the ongoing first playoff tournament in Memphis, Tennessee.
For the time being, you can't really call it a season-long competition when everything boils down to a single tournament on the same golf course every year, says the 28-year-old, who tops the ranking overwhelmingly ahead of the three playoff tournaments.
The format was introduced in 2019, and since then, no Fedex Cup leader after the regular season has won the playoffs, which last year meant a prize check of 190 million kronor (18 million dollars).
"Love the format"
Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy likes the change. The world number three has twice taken home the tour final since the change without being ranked as number one beforehand.
I love the format, because if it weren't for this, none of us would have had a chance against Scottie since he leads so big, says McIlroy, who also won under the old format in 2016.
In the first two playoff tournaments, four times as many Fedex Cup points are at stake compared to a regular tour tournament.
Is this the fairest way to determine who has been the best player of the year? Probably not. But we're not looking for perfect fairness. We're in the entertainment business and trying to put on the best product we can, says McIlroy.
Without the format, this year's playoffs would have been without excitement – it would have been just a three-week wait to crown Scottie Scheffler as the king of the PGA tour 2024.
It's not good either. It would have been fantastic for me, but the rules aren't like that, says Scheffler.
All winners of the PGA tour playoffs since the new format was introduced in 2019 – with their ranking on the Fedex Cup ranking after the regular season and before the tour final in parentheses:
2023: Viktor Hovland, Norway (7–2).
2022: Rory McIlroy, Ireland (6–7).
2021: Patrick Cantlay, USA (3–1).
2020: Dustin Johnson, USA (15–1).
2019: Rory McIlroy (2–5).
The format: In the first two playoff tournaments, four times as many Fedex Cup points are at stake compared to a regular tour tournament. Winners of the first two tournaments, for example, receive 2,000 points compared to the normal 500 points.
In the final tour final, the ranking is used to give the top players an advantage over the rest of the field. The leader starts the tournament at 10 strokes under par. The second-place finisher starts at –8, the third at –7, the fourth at –6, and the fifth at –5. Players ranked 6–10 start the tour final at –4 – and so on. Players ranked 26–30 start at par.
