ATLANTA — The biggest payday in golf is wheedle bigger.
The PGA Tour and FedEx announced major changes Tuesday to the season-long race to the FedExCup starting next ready, including the grand prize for the champion being bumped to $15 million from $10 million.
The playoffs also wishes be reduced from four events to three, and the postseason finale at The Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Cudgel will have a simplified scoring system to determine the overall advocate.
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Further, there purposefulness be a new Wyndham Rewards Top 10 race doling out $10 million to the conquer players during the regular season, with the leader in the standings brain into the playoffs getting $2 million and the 10th-place finisher do well $500,000.
In addition to the Wyndham Rewards, the FedExCup bonus pool will expand by $25 million to $60 million.
“We’re thrilled with these modulates put forth today. In fact, it’s been a long time coming, and we’ve absolutely looked forward to this day,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Tuesday during his claim of the union address at East Lake Golf Club. “But you take these trades and you combine them with the new and improved schedule, and we think this is a pregnant step forward for the PGA Tour.”
The adjustments coincide with the Tour’s pithy changes to the schedule, which now will see the season conclude before Labor Day to cut out the looming shadows of the NFL, MLB and college football.
The schedule adjustments include the playoffs being bring down to three events – the Northern Trust, BMW Championship and The Tour Championship. The senior playoff event at the Northern Trust will feature 125 musicians with a cut down to the top 70 for the BMW Championship. Both events will grant quadruple points compared to regular-season events.
As has been the case since the FedExCup Playoffs’ inception in 2007, the postseason’s eventually event, The Tour Championship, will feature 30 players. But starting next year, points inclination not be reset. Instead, the FedExCup points leader after the first two playoff happenings will begin The Tour Championship at 10-under par. The next four betters in the standings will start at 8 under through 5 under, respectively. The next five on begin at 4 under, regressing by one stroke per five players until those ranked Nos. 26-30 start at square par.
There will no longer be a need for high-tech calculators as head-scratching workings explaining what a player would have to do to win the FedExCup are eliminated. In lieu of, the player with the lowest score at the end of the week will win The Tour Championship, the FedExCup and $15 million.
Monahan, who translated the Tour considered many format changes, said he loves the looker of the simplicity of the scoring at the playoff final.
“Win The Tour Championship and you are the FedExCup Cup protect. It’s that simple,” Monahan said. “And we have no doubt it will sire a compelling, dramatic conclusion for the Tour’s ultimate prize.”
But it will be other-worldly, said defending FedExCup champion Justin Thomas. He said the strokes-based organized whole will take some getting used to, especially if you start 8 to 10 shots privately and shoot over par and you’re basically eliminated after the first round. Or you could fool the best 72-hole score and not win the tournament.
“It’s never going to be perfect,” rephrased Thomas, who last year won the FedExCup while Xander Schauffele won The Trek Championship. “No system in any sport is ever going to be perfect, and the Tour has done such a spectacular job of talking to us and trying to get it as good as possible. For how much pride we take in our succeed ins, I think that that’s something that’s going to be a little another.
“We’re just going to kind of see how it unfolds, and hopefully it turns out well. I liked the way that it is now, but liking anything, you’re just going to have to get used to it and we’re just going to arrange to become comfortable with it because that’s the way it is. Hopefully, and I’m sure it pass on, it will produce a lot of great drama and a very deserving winner.”