Tour Championship 2019: New format easier for players and fans to understand

Does the new format of the TOUR Championship have your head spinning? It’s a big departure from the rest of the year, but the idea is actually to make things easier for fans and players alike.

The new format for the Tour Championship brings clarity for players and fans, but it will likely stir critics who might not like one player starting 10-under par.

In recent years, it was possible for anyone in the field to win the FedEx Cup, but it all depended what their points were starting the Tour Championship and on what everybody else in the field did. The regular season points were all tossed out and a new points system was used. And unless your brain was a supercomputer, it was impossible to figure out where players stood, particularly during a round.

“What we wanted to do as an organization is, we wanted to, as closely as possible, replicate the system that we had in the past,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said to a few members of the media on Tuesday. But they didn’t want to use the points anymore.

With this year’s seeding system, the staggered start, the top player starts at 10-under, and the last player in the field is at even par. Every golfer knows what he must do. Every player has a chance to make up that deficit and take home the FedEx Cup and the $15 million first prize.

"“We’re not sitting here on Tuesday of the Tour Championship saying everything’s perfect, but we think this is the right format to transition into,” Monahan added."

The one thing golfers agree on is that at least now, it’s clear what they have to do.

“You really had no idea where you stood or what the outcome was potentially going to be,” Matt Kuchar added when speaking to media on Tuesday about the old points system.  “It was way too much math to do.”

Parick Reed is in agreement.

"“I think it’s hard to say whether it’s better or not because we haven’t played it yet,” he said in his pre-tournament interview. “I think what it does, for the player’s side, there’s a lot more clarity.”"

Monahan has visited with many players about the changes in this year’s FedEx Cup.

"“I’ve talked to a lot of guys and a lot of caddies and been out a lot over the course of this year, and I think that there’s a great appreciation for knowing what you have to do this week,” he insisted."

Lucas Glover is a total realist when it comes to the changes.

"“Nothing about points and staggered scoring is normal for us, but it’s what we’re doing, and it’s what we need to do, and it’s what we’re going to do Thursday,” Glover said to media on Tuesday."

However, he disagrees with the value of points awarded to major championships during the regular season.

“I think a major is worth more than 600 points,” Glover, a former U.S. Open champ, noted. But he added that the total points for each tournament might be a different conversation.

Commissioner Monahan noted that the points for majors is currently significantly larger than regular events.

“This is year 13, and we made some modification to our points,” he said. “We obviously have given the major championships an elevated position with a 20 percent premium.”

Looked at from a percentage standpoint, 20 percent is a lot.

Perhaps having more points for majors would have put Tiger Woods into the top 30. As it stands, many fans are disappointed that Woods will not be in Atlanta, but that’s a different issue. Woods just didn’t play well after his astonishing win at the Masters.

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“For the two players that aren’t here, Tiger Woods and Shane Lowry, they were inside the top 30 when we started the FedEx Cup Playoffs,” Monahan noted. “And certainly Rory [McIlroy], Brooks [Kopeka], and Gary [Woodland] are here.”

They just didn’t perform in the last two events prior to the Tour Championship.

As far as making up the 10 shots goes, a 10-point comeback for golfers over four rounds is really not an impossible ask.

Paul Lawrie won the British Open coming back from a 10-shot deficit in the final round.  Of course, he had a lot of help from Jean Van de Velde.

Second round cuts at the U.S. Open used to include a 10-stroke rule, meaning anyone within 10 shots of the lead played on the weekend.  They changed to top 60 and ties in 2012. The Masters still uses it.

Still, according to Patrick Reed,10 shots should not be an issue.

"“If you’re playing the best golf that you’re supposed to be playing, then it shouldn’t matter what kind of lead you have over anybody or anything like that,” Reed said. “You should still be able to win the golf tournament.”"

We won’t have to wait much longer to see how the latest experiment from the PGA TOUR’s masterminds plays out. And if nothing else, the only math we’ll have to figure out to determine the FedEx Cup champoin is who finishes the TOUR Championship on top of the leaderboard.