Report: FedEx Cup set for major overhaul

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bruced
August 27, 2018

The Associated Press has learned that the PGA Tour is planning to totally revamp the FedEx Cup going forward.

AP cites five people aware of the discussions who say that a new scoring format will be used for the final FedEx Cup playoff event, the Tour Championship, at East Lake.

The No 1 player heading into the Tour Championship based on FedEx Cup points would start the event at 10 under par, with scores to par staggered depending on the 30 players’ position in the standings – although exactly how they will be staggered was not revealed.

The winner goes on to be crowned FedEx Cup champion, regardless of how many FedEx Cup points he has, as the points are only used to determine players’ score to par at the start.

The people speaking on the matter chose to remain anonymous because the tour has not publicly announced what they are planning to do, and because the plans have not totally been finalised yet.

Also starting from next year, the number of FedEx Cup playoff events will also be reduced from four to three.

The Northern Trust will rotate each year between Liberty National in Jersey City and the TPC Boston, followed by the BMW Championship and then the Tour Championship.

Each week, the size of the field is reduced, until only 30 players remain for the East Lake finale.

These changes are being made in part to avoid a repeat of the situation that happened a year ago, when Xander Schauffele won the Tour Championship by one shot over Justin Thomas, who still won the FedEx Cup.

Thomas said it was “weird” to lose the tournament and still win the $10 million prize, and the tour is eager to avoid splitting attention on two trophies.

“Wasn’t my week this week in terms of winning the golf tournament, but it definitely came with a nice consolation prize,” said Thomas, in what was surely one of the understatements of the year.

FedEx Cup US Tour