PGA Tour set to axe controversial tournament rule | Golf News

Expect a shake-up on the Tour Championship hosted at East Lake, as the PGA Tour is poised to forged votes on potential transformations for this pinnacle occasion.

In its fruits, the season’s finale bestows the coveted FedEx Cup title, with Scottie Scheffler triumphing final 12 months in Atlanta. His victory was partially facilitated by starting the 72-hole championship forward of the pack — a controversial characteristic of the present format the place gamers begin with completely different scores based mostly on their standings within the FedEx Cup.

This ‘beginning strokes’ system has been met with combined reactions from audiences and golf professionals, sparking debates and calls to reform the climactic showdown.

While it is unclear what the redesigned occasion would possibly entail, sources like Golfweek counsel the dialogue desk is heating up, with prospects indicating a potential departure from the present start-advantaged scheme post deliberation by the Player Advisory Council (PAC) simply final week.

Voicing the views of many, PAC consultant Sam Burns was quoted 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.”

One potential change that was proposed was reworking the Tour Championship into a knockout matchplay occasion. However, it seems that this concept was finally rejected by the gamers following intensive discussions and review.

Adam Scott, who’s a member of the coverage board, mirrored: “In fairness, we all kicked it around and imagined it, and this conversation went on for months – not every day, but three or four meetings about match play and brackets and stuff.” However, considerations arose in regards to the dramatic change in format for the ultimate occasion.

Scott elaborated: “It’s hard to wrap your head around you play one style all season, and then your final event is an entirely different format. I think the players felt like we had match play in pro golf, and there’s a reason why it doesn’t go that well. Big names go out, and TV dies.”

While the concept could have appeared interesting initially, it was famous that curiosity typically wanes when prime gamers are eradicated early, leading to a much less participating occasion. Furthermore, there have been discussions with NBC and CBS about adopting a knockout format for every spherical, which might have seen a spherical of 16 cut on Fridays.

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This development comes amid a broader dialogue about rule modifications on the PGA Tour. One notable experiment is the trial use of rangefinders in competitors to improve the tempo of play.

Weighing in on this matter, top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler commented, “We’ve been using them at the PGA [Championship] the last couple years, haven’t we? Is it going to help pace of play? Maybe a few minutes. Will it be anything significant? No.”

Scheffler’s remarks mirror a cautious view on whether or not the introduction of rangefinders would have a substantial impression on the general velocity of the sport, whereas highlighting that they’ve been examined in sure competitions already.