PGA Tour ditched controversial rule Rory McIlroy | Golf News

Rory McIlroy could have sparked a major shift in PGA Tour coverage, after officers heeded criticism and ditched the contentious starting-strokes format at the Tour Championship. The seasoned professional and three-time winner of the match has persistently voiced his opposition to the system.

The regulation permitted the FedExCup frontrunner to start at 10 under par, with others positioned behind based on their standings since its launch in 2019. The PGA Tour has ultimately acknowledged the dissatisfaction and announced an overhaul, emphasizing the affect of the incoming commissioner, Brian Rolapp, who’s set to change Jay Monahan in 2026.

Starting this yr, all individuals will start on degree phrases with the standard even-par start. The highest scorer is not going to only declare the FedEx Cup but also earn a substantial bonus and a prolonged five-year tour exemption.

Never one to mince phrases, McIlroy voiced his displeasure in 2019. He said: “You can shoot the best score of the week and not win the tournament. If that happens to someone, it’s going to be hard for them to wrap their head around. I get it from a fan experience point of view, I get it from giving guys that have played better throughout the year an advantage, but I don’t know.

“We had breakfast with some of the sponsors, and what I said to them was, ‘If the PGA Tour is making an attempt to do this season of championships, which begins with the Players in March, then goes through the 4 majors and culminates with the FedEx Cup at the end.’

“‘If the FedEx Cup really wants to have this legacy in the game like some of these other championships, is people starting the tournament on different numbers the best way to do it?'”

PGA star Sam Burns also chimed in earlier in April, expressing his dismay, saying: “Right now, it’s a bit confusing for fans to have a tournament where we start even all year and then in our biggest tournament of the year, there are starting strokes. There’s a bit of a disconnect.”

Last yr’s winner, Scottie Scheffler, started the event at 10-under and completed on 30-under to beat fellow American Collin Morikawa by 4 strokes. Morikawa started the competitors at 4 under.

Speaking in Atlanta last August, Scheffler shared his considerations in a assertion, as per the Mirror US. “Shifting the Tour Championship to a more straight-up format with a tougher course setup makes it easier for fans to follow and provides a more challenging test for players-which brings out the best competition,” he said.

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“We want the Tour Championship to be the hardest tournament to qualify for and the FedEx Cup trophy the most difficult to win.”

Monahan has declared that “the announcement is an important first step in the evolution” of the season finale. A complete host of solutions have been made over latest years on how the Tour can better recognise the season-long standings.

One of the proposed codecs was a knockout matchplay event, where gamers would enter at different phases based on their rating going into the ultimate match. Other solutions included a playoff-based system. The new format debuted in this yr’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta from August 21 to 24.