With three victories at the FedEx Cup finale, all of them coming at East Lake Golf Club, Rory McIlroy is always pleased to return. “It's been a happy hunting ground for me,” he said about the golf course Bobby Jones called home for most of his golfing life.
With the big topic of the week being the new format for the end-of-season play on the PGA Tour, McIlroy, like many, thinks the changes still allow the players to be nicely compensated while giving the fans what they have been asking to see, which is match play. He was not involved in the structure of the new format, he said, but PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp walked him through the changes last week.
“It's certainly different,” he said about the final two weeks. “Two weeks, two different venues. But it's cool. I think they've taken a big swing, and conceptually, I think I really like it.”
The first week, he believes, will be a challenge, trying to make sure he finishes in the top 16.
“The second week, I think for me, one thing I said to Brian is you really want to win a few matches in that second week,” he explained. “It's going to be hard for some guys to be playing match play and playing for 14th position or whatever it is.”
He noted that the new format for the last three weeks of play has all the necessary incentives.
“The regular season champion is going to be adequately rewarded after that final stroke-play event, and then the Tour Championship match play is going to be completely different,” he added. “It's sort of a departure from what we've had the last few years, but I do think it'll be a great thing.”
As Rolapp said in his press conference Tuesday, making changes and improving from time to time keeps a sport fresh and interesting. He said they did that at the NFL.
When asked what kind of venues he would pick for the new three weeks of season-enders, we should not be surprised that McIlroy said history should be an important part of the decision.
“You take the U.S. Amateur last week at Merion. Watching that on TV was really cool,” he noted. “You can go to a 6,600-yard golf course, and par is irrelevant. I like that idea as well.”
McIlroy said he has always wondered if golf even needs playoffs when it has the majors.
“They're just not at the end of the season, they're sort of interspersed in the middle of the season with the major championships,” he explained, but he’s not opposed to them, and his bank account has certainly benefitted. He does think the new plan is more exciting as a season-ender.
Now, for those who like a little controversy, McIlroy said that the PGA Tour having a season that goes from February to August might be a good thing for the DP World Tour as the two have a partnership.
“That means you could put the final events of the DP World Tour season in January,” he explained. “So, people could actually go over, whether it's to the Middle East or elsewhere, to play those final two events, if that was something that was interesting to them, and then also could be at their first couple of events of the season to make sure they're ready to go for the Championship Series in 2028.”
Interesting food for thought. McIlroy is always thinking ahead, even when you think he maybe he isn’t.
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