The post Marvelous McIlroy! Rory reels in Scottie Scheffler to win Tour Championship, FedEx Cup appeared first on Golf.

The post Marvelous McIlroy! Rory reels in Scottie Scheffler to win Tour Championship, FedEx Cup appeared first on Golf.

Rory McIlroy was back on his heels.

He had made up six strokes on Scottie Scheffler in the first seven holes to tie for the lead during Sunday’s Tour Championship final round, but had made bogey on 14 after a perfect tee shot. Now, he was standing on the long, par-3, island-green 15th, $18 million on the line.

What does he do?

Hit it to 32 feet and then drill the putt to tie for the lead once again.

“Come on!” McIlroy screamed.

After a clutch par save on the 16th — with a little assist from the flagstick — McIlroy pulled away from Scheffler, the FedEx Cup leader for most of the season, with a final-round 66 to win the Tour Championship by a stroke over Scheffler and Sungjae Im and the $18 million first-place prize of the FedEx Cup.

“I just felt so close all year,” McIlroy said moments after his victory. “I had a couple wins, but I was just waiting for something. Maybe this was it. I got a little lucky with Scottie not playing his best golf today, and I took advantage of that with my good play. But, you know, I went up against the best player in the world today and I took him down, and that’s got to mean something.”

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The final round was a matchup of the tour’s most successful player this season in Scheffler, who led the tour with four wins, including the Masters, and its statistical best in McIlroy, who led in scoring average and Strokes-Gained: Total. However, Sunday afternoon, Scheffler looked far from the player who dominated much of the Spring and had earned a two-stroke advantage to start the tournament in the staggered-start format. His cuts off the tee weren’t cutting, he hit just half of his greens in the final round, leading to his only over-par round of the week. He didn’t look like the player who made four birdies to finish his third round Sunday morning and open up a six-stroke lead over McIlroy and Xander Schauffele.

Meanwhile, McIlroy had a picture-perfect start to his championship Sunday and carried it into the final round.

He first birdied the two holes he had left to play on a marathon Sunday to complete his third round.

“It’s the perfect way to start the day, and hopefully I can continue that into this afternoon,” McIlroy said in the morning.

And he did continue it. Despite a bogey on the first hole at East Lake — the same one he tripled to open the tournament on Thursday — McIlroy made four birdies in the next six holes to pull even with Scheffler at 20-under-par.

Scheffler quickly pulled ahead again with a birdie on 8 to take the lead outright again, but that would be his last birdie of the day.

McIlroy pulled into a tie again on 12. Scheffler seemed indecisive on his second shot from 119 yards, backing off several times and checking the wind in the trees. His approach came up short, coming to rest nestled in the Bermuda rough. Scheffler made a great up-and-down to stay at 21-under, but McIlroy stuck his second to 6-feet and drained the putt.

McIlroy looked poised to take control on the long par-4 14th after a perfect, 346-yard drive, one of his many 330-yard bombs for the week, but blocked his second shot and short-sided himself. His third came up just short of the green, and he made bogey to fall out of the lead.

After the birdie on 15, both players in the final pairing drove it left on 16. Scheffler’s ball was nestled down in the rough, and he manufactured a shot into the front greenside bunker. McIlroy seemed to have the advantage in the fairway bunker, just 130 yards from the hole. He seemed to like his approach, even twirling his club, but the ball sailed long into the gallery behind the green, leaving a difficult third shot from the trampled down rough with the green running away from him.

His third was hot, running too fast, before he caught a break. The ball, which looked to be going off the green, hit the center of the pin and came to rest just 7 feet from the hole.

Scheffler failed to get up and down from the bunker while McIlroy drilled his par putt, giving him a one-shot lead, the first time anyone other than Scheffler had led all week.

The pair provided some light drama on the par-5 finishing hole as Scheffler left his second in the greenside bunker short right, but McIlroy snap-hooked his approach left into the grandstand. He caught another break with the ball ricocheting back into to play.

Scheffler hit his third long of the green, all but dooming his chances.

“It’s yours, Rory, take it,” a fan could be heard yelling as McIlroy was playing his third.

Needing just a par, McIlroy played it safe, hitting his third to 20 feet, and two-putting for the win after Scheffler’s birdie chip fell short.

McIlroy’s win puts a bow on a wild PGA Tour season in which the Tour saw a rival, LIV Golf, launch and sign several notable players. Among them were many of McIlroy’s longtime European Ryder Cup teammates. But McIlroy found himself as one of LIV’s most outspoken critics and, along with Tiger Woods, led some of the player effort to make wholesale changes to the PGA Tour. Just this week, McIlroy announced the creation of a complementary league to the PGA Tour, the TGL, started by himself and Woods through their new TMRW Sports Group.

“Everyone on Tour has had to deal with a lot,” McIlroy said as the recent upheaval in the pro game. “Even the guys that have went to LIV have had to deal with a lot. It’s just been a very tumultuous sort of era in our game. I said it in the sort of prize ceremony there, this is the best place in the world to play golf. It’s the most competitive. It’s got the best players. It’s got the deepest fields. I don’t know why you’d want to play anywhere else.”

On Sunday evening, McIlroy surely had nothing to regret about the path he has chosen. He is now the only player to ever win three FedEx Cups, the last one coming with the largest single check of his career: $18 million.

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The post How do men and women fare on the same course? We find out this week appeared first on Golf.

The post How do men and women fare on the same course? We find out this week appeared first on Golf.

While most of the golf world focuses on the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs this week, a completely different golf tournament is being held in Northern Ireland. With an absolute mouthful of a name — the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by Aviv Clinics — the event actually teaches us more about the game at large than the PGA Tour-ified setup taking place in Memphis. 

Up in Ballymena — on the way from Belfast to Portrush, for those who attended the 2019 Open Championship — this week’s event is a men’s tournament held at the exact same time as the women’s tournament, on the same courses. 

Packed tee sheet

There are 132 men and 132 women competing in their respective fields. That’s 264 competitors, for those keeping track at home. In order to get all these people to card scores in an orderly manner, two courses are needed: Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf Club. 

Galgorm Castle is based in the center of Ballymena while Massereene is down on the shore of Lough Neagh, creating a much different vibe at each. Half of the men’s field and half of the women’s field plays at each course in alternating tee times. So if you’re looking for a difference in scores, there won’t be any real weather draw difference between the men and women. As it should be. 

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The yardages speak from themselves

Take a look at the yardages being played from for each event. At Massereene GC, the women’s 1st hole (385 yards) actually measures longer than the men’s (365). That makes it a true driver-short iron for the ladies, compared to potentially drivable for the men.

Then take a look at the 6th hole, where both men and women will play from the same tee boxes around 460 yards. For the men, that’s a long par-4. For the women, it’s a par-5, amounting to the only par difference on the front side. For those nine holes, it’s a men’s par-36 and a women’s par-35, from nearly the exact same distance. 

Something similar takes place on the back nine, keeping the men’s par to 35 around 3,500 yards. The women’s plays to a 35 from 3,350. When the event is over, you’ll find that these differences, though slight, are exactly what it takes to challenge each group in their different ways. They’re still trying to miss the same bunkers, land on the same greens, find the same fairways. 

“I think we’re on a lot of the same tees as the guys in Massareene,” Leona Maguire said. “So I think it’s very much you’ll make your score at Galgorm, keep it tight around Massareene, and, yeah, try to go low on Galgorm on the weekend then.”

They’re not competing against each other … kind of 

But they also sort of are. Ewen Ferguson raced out to an early lead in the event when he shot the course record Thursday with a 61 on the longer Galgorm Castle course. Atop the women’s field was three golfers with 67, shot on both courses. Does that matter? We’ll talk about it Sunday night. 

Last year the men’s event topped out at 13 under par while the ladies reached 16 under for the championship. It’s a testament to tournament officials and their fair setup that both fields of 132 can produce winners of such a same score. That’s the beauty of how many half-par holes tournament officials inject into each competition. It’s also just a reminder that the best women in the world are worth watching just as much as the best men in the world. If their scores are just as birdie-filled, just as entertaining, then their golf is just as worth watching, too.

More mixing, the better

For years PGA Tour and LPGA Tour commissioners have been asked about a joint event. They’ve never done it. But could they? Undoubtedly. And in a game looking for new flair, what would a co-ed competition at Pebble Beach in the spring look like?

It would have to be a lot of fun. If not Pebble, then could we combine the LA events in February? The Genesis Invitational is already a limited field, and is just down the street from where the LPGA tees off in April at Wilshire Country Club. This week’s courses are 12 miles apart. Wilshire and Riviera? Twelve miles apart. Listen in on some of the press conferences this week and it’s clear this isn’t just a great experience for fans. It’s great for the pros, too.

“It’s really cool,” local Northern Irishwoman Stephanie Meadow said. “I think it’s fun, you know, bump in to people that were mutual friends with. To see the guys, you’re not used to hearing the noise of the compression hitting balls next to you.

“I think it’s awesome. I think it’s just a really fun experience for all the fans to be able to see two different sides of the game in one spot and how we do things maybe a little differently, but still kind of come out with the same end, awesome result.”

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The post What do Tour pros *really* think about in nervy moments? Here’s one player’s honest take appeared first on Golf.

The post What do Tour pros *really* think about in nervy moments? Here’s one player’s honest take appeared first on Golf.

There’s never been a more lucrative time to be a card-carrying PGA Tour professional. Take this week’s Houston Open, where the winner will grab a cool $1.35 million from a total purse of $7.5 million, and every player who finishes in the top 20 will bank at least six figures. And that’s nothing compared to what the Tour’s bigger events pay out. Next year’s Players Championship winner will reportedly collect $3.6 million (from an overall prize pool of at least $20 million), up from $2.7 million in ’21. All in, in the 2021-22 season, players will contend for roughly $633 million. That’s an 18 percent bump over last season.

The figures are eye-popping and, for many players, potentially life-changing.

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Ask Roger Sloan, a 34-year-old Canadian who dutifully worked his way to the riches of the PGA Tour in 2015 after stints on the Canadian and Korn Ferry tours. For a journeyman like Sloan, arriving on the PGA Tour is a big deal, partly because it’s the pinnacle of the pro game and partly because of what a big week or two can mean for a player’s bank account. Sloan has yet to win in four full seasons on Tour, but he did come close last season when he lost to Kevin Kisner in a six-hole playoff at the Wyndham Championship. That runner-up finish came a week after Sloan finished 6th at the Barracuda Championship.   

Was his improved play on account of better ball-striking, as his yearlong stats indicated, Sloan was asked Wednesday at the Houston Open. Sloan said it was not. He instead attributed his better form to “a little bit more work from the mental side of things. Just kind of getting out of my own way.”

That can mean many things coming from a Tour pro, but in Sloan’s case, he said, when the pressure cranked up on Sunday afternoons, he’d start thinking less about club selection and course strategy and more about dollars and cents.  

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“Sometimes I get caught up in the magnitude of the situation,” he said. “I can go down the storylines of what that shot represents or what a good finish that week represents … how much money you could make or how many FedEx Cup points I could make and what that’s going to do for [me] — maybe that will get me into the invitational tournaments.

“Meanwhile, I’m just sitting in the middle of the 16th fairway with a 6-iron in my hand and I’ve gone down this pipeline of all these thoughts and it just builds the shot up too much to where it’s not a 6-iron anymore — now it’s the most crucial shot I’ve ever hit in my career.”

The fix? Simple. Or at least Sloan made it sound simple.  

“Just being able to separate myself from the storylines and just really turning a 6-iron into a 6-iron.”

Sloan has played five events in the new season, missing the cut three times. His best finish came at the Sanderson Farms, in October, where he tied for 14th. He’s a Houston resident, meaning this week’s start at Memorial Park is a home game that comes with different kinds of perks.     

“Professional golf is life on the road,” Sloan said. “I think it’s really underrated sleeping in your own bed.”

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The post This pressure-packed FedEx Cup playoff format would make *every* shot count appeared first on Golf.

The post This pressure-packed FedEx Cup playoff format would make *every* shot count appeared first on Golf.

Ed. note: The unsigned email below, by all appearances from the Office of the PGA Tour commissioner, was shared with GOLF.com on an anonymous basis. Its contents could not be independently verified.

Gentlemen:

Congratulations, again, to all of you who finished the 2020-‘21 season among the top 125 players in FedEx points. As you know, that qualified you to play in the first round of our new-for-’21 12-round FedEx Playoff Series (TM), which was decided by players’ aggregate scores for the three Playoff events.

Our new system of eliminating the worst-performing players proved to be popular with our core demographic group, according to an early analysis of a variety of metrics.

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As you know, after each of the first three rounds of the first two events, the players shooting the 10 highest scores (and ties) were eliminated from the Playoffs, with one significant caveat:

All players who finished in the top-30 on the FedEx points list at the end of the regular season qualified to play all 12 rounds of the Playoffs, no matter what they shot on a daily basis. They had our special State Farm Protection (TM) status.

We thank our friends at State Farm for their support of the PGA Tour and this new program.

To give one quick example of its effectiveness, Kevin Kisner shot a first-round 76 at The Northern Trust at Liberty National in northern New Jersey. That was one of the worst 10 scores that day. But because of his Top-30 State Farm Protection (TM) status, he kept on playing, right through the remaining three rounds of The Northern Trust, the four rounds of the BMW at Caves Valley near Baltimore and the four rounds of the TOUR Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.

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Roger Sloan (79), Matt Jones (79), Wyndham Clark (78), Brandon Hagy (78), Brendan Steele (78), J.T. Poston (76), Matt Wolff (76), Richy Werenski (76) and Hank Lebioda (76) were less fortunate.

These are the 30 players who were, to use the phrase made popular by Steve DiMeglio writing in USA Today, made “bulletproof” by our new system:

     1.  Collin Morikawa

     2.  Jordan Spieth

     3.  Patrick Cantlay

     4.  Harris English

     5.  Jon Rahm

     6.  Abraham Ancer

     7.  Bryson DeChambeau

     8.  Louis Oosthuizen

     9.  Justin Thomas

     10. Sam Burns

     11. Viktor Hovland

     12. Jason Kokrak

     13. Xander Schauffele

     14. Hideki Matsuyama

     15. Brooks Koepka

     16. Cameron Smith

     17. Dustin Johnson

     18. Joaquin Niemann

     19. Stewart Cink

     20. Daniel Berger

     21. Scottie Scheffler

     22. Patrick Reed

     23. Tony Finau

     24. Kevin Na

     25. Billy Horschel

     26. Rory McIlroy

     27. Max Homa

     28. Corey Conners

     29. Kevin Kisner

     30. Si Woo Kim

Our ratings for the three events were excellent. For the first time, the three events that comprise the FedEx Playoff Series (TM) were decided in a playoff.

In the first week, Tony Finau and Cameron Smith shot 264 over four rounds at Liberty National, and Finau beat Smith in the first hole of their sudden-death playoff.

In the second week, at the BMW Championship, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay each shot 262 over four rounds at Caves Valley. Cantlay won on the sixth hole of their sudden-death playoff.

In the third week, at the TOUR Championship, Kevin Na and Jon Rahm each shot 266 over the four rounds at East Lake. Na defeated Rahm on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the TOUR Championship title.

As for the mother of all events, our 12-round, 216-hole FedEx Playoff Series, there were at least seven players with a realistic chance of winning the Series and with it the FedEx Cup and the Player of the Year title: Tony Finau, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Kevin Na, Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau. In the end, both Rahm and Cantlay played the 216 holes in 802 shots. Amazing.

They returned to East Lake on Monday morning, per our plan to settle ties, for a nine-hole stroke-play playoff. They played the back nine. Cantlay shot a 33 to Rahm’s 34, with an eagle 3 on the last to Rahm’s birdie 4. It was stunning.

Cantlay won $10 million.

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Rahm won $5 million as the runner-up.

Na won $2 million for his Tour Championship title.

In victory, Cantlay said, “As silly as it sounds, the money is not what’s really important for me,” Cantlay said. “The money is not what drives me to play this game. Winning golf tournaments, playing golf under pressure, and hitting quality golf shots under the gun — that’s why I’ve practiced my whole life, and [this is] the best feeling in the world, winning golf tournaments. The money is just a consequence of that.”

For the 2022 FedEx Playoff Series (TM), we expect to have a  playoff at the end of each day on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the first week, and then do the same again the second week. If there are ties for the 10th-worst score, those players will play in a sudden-death playoff and the winner of that playoff will continue in the tournament, while the loser (or losers) will be cut.

Yes, playoffs can be brutal. As other sports have discovered, they work best when they unfold over a period of weeks, as the tension, excitement and fun build. 

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com

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The post ‘I was burning inside’: Pro falls prey to PGA Tour rules official’s post-round prank appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘I was burning inside’: Pro falls prey to PGA Tour rules official’s post-round prank appeared first on Golf.

Pace of play (the slow kind) is a hot talking point on the PGA Tour. But on Sunday, Joaquin Neimann flipped the narrative on its head when, playing solo in the first group of the day at the Tour Championship, he looked more like Usain Bolt than Tommy Bolt.

With nothing but an open course ahead of him at East Lake GC, Neimann and his caddie, Gary Matthews, tightened their laces and made history, needing all of 1 hour and 53 minutes to finish 18 holes. It was the fastest round in Tour Championship history, edging Kevin Na’s 2016 mark by five minutes.

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If Neimann was expecting to celebrate his achievement with pats on the back in the scorer’s tent, he had another thing coming: some light-hearted (if sharp-edged!) needling from Andy Pazder, the PGA Tour’s chief of tournaments and competition, who greeted Neimann and Matthews with a stern look.

“Andy is sitting right there with the rules official,” Matthews recalled later, “and I looked at him, like, this is serious.”

A few moments later, Pazder beckoned over Matthews and Neimann, and here’s how Matthews recounted what came next:  

“He said, ‘Listen, Joaquin, as a professional, you’ve disrespected the game, you’ve disrespected the Tour Championship. This is not how professionals act, and Gary you’ve been out here a long time and you should know that and here is a fine for $10,000.'”

You could cut the tension with a 2-iron.

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“I look at him like, I was burning inside,” Neimann said. “I was going to say something and he’s like, ‘All right, forgive me. Before you say something, I was just kidding.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I hate you.'”

Boom, roasted! By a PGA Tour rules official! Didn’t see that coming.

To the long list of PGA Tour pranksters — Peter Jacobsen, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter, et al. — you can now add one more name: Andy Pazder.

You can read more about Neimann’s historic round here.

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The post How the insanely lucrative FedEx Cup bonus payouts are divvied up, from 1st place to 150th appeared first on Golf.

The post How the insanely lucrative FedEx Cup bonus payouts are divvied up, from 1st place to 150th appeared first on Golf.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in which player is bound for FedEx Cup glory at the Tour Championship — and the cool $15 million check that comes along with it. More commonly overlooked is how all that other cash is distributed, i.e., the remaining $45 million!

The FedEx runner-up banks $5 million, third place is good for $4 million, while the fourth- and fifth-place finishers have to settle for a measly $3 million and $2 million, respectively.

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Some of these winnings will be sorted Sunday evening at East Lake, but a good chunk of FedEx Cup change has already been sorted among the 120 players who didn’t qualify for the Tour Championship — from K.H. Lee, who pocketed $200,000 for his 31st place finish in the playoffs down to the pack of players who finished between 126th and 150th (including the likes of Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood) and made $70,000 for their efforts.

Yes, it’s good to be a PGA Tour player in 2021! Here’s the full list of FedEx Cup bonus payouts for the 2020-21 season:

PAYOUTS FOR PLAYERS WHO QUALIFIED FOR THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP:

Win: $15,000,000

2: $5,000,000

3: $4,000,000

4: $3,000,000

5: $2,500,000

6: $1,900,000

7: $1,300,000

8: $1,100,000

9: $950,000

10: $830,000

11: $750,000

12: $705,000

13: $660,000

14: $620,000

15: $595,000

16: $570,000

17: $550,000

18: $535,000

19: $520,000

20: $505,000

21: $490,000

22: $478,000

23: $466,000

24: $456,000

25: $445,000

26: $435,000

27: $425,000

28: $415,000

29: $405,000

30: $395,000

PAYOUTS FOR PLAYERS WHO DIDN’T QUALIFY FOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

31: K.H. Lee, $200,000

32: Charley Hoffman, $195,000

33: Alex Noren, $190,000

34: Si Woo Kim, $186,000

35: Max Homa, $183,000

36: Hudson Swafford, $181,000

37: Cam Davis, $179,000

38: Kevin Kisner, $177,000

39: Keegan Bradley, $175,000

40: Webb Simpson, $173,000

41: Brian Harman, $171,000

42: Marc Leishman, $169,000

43: Cameron Tringale, $168,000

44: Harold Varner III, $167,000

45: Shane Lowry, $166,000

46: Lucas Glover, $165,000

47: Matt Jones, $164,000

48: Carlos Ortiz, $163,000

49: Aaron Wise, $162,000

50: Lee Westwood, $161,000

51: Charl Schwartzel, $160,000

52: Paul Casey, $159,000

53: Sebastián Muñoz, $158,000

54: Tom Hoge, $157,000

55: Branden Grace, $156,000

56: Russell Henley, $155,000

57: Cameron Champ, $154,000

58: Maverick McNealy, $153,000

59: Emiliano Grillo, $152,000

60: Robert Streb, $151,000

61: Jhonattan Vegas, $150,000

62: Chris Kirk, $150,000

63: Patton Kizzire, $150,000

64: Kevin Streelman, $150,000

65: Keith Mitchell, $150,000

66: Harry Higgs, $140,000

67: Mackenzie Hughes, $140,000

68: Talor Gooch, $140,000

69: Ryan Palmer, $140,000

70: Phil Mickelson, $140,000

71: Matthew Wolff, $110,000

72: Seamus Power, $110,000

73: Matt Fitzpatrick, $110,000

74: Tyrrell Hatton, $110,000

75: Martin Laird, $110,000

76: Joel Dahmen, $110,000

77: Ian Poulter, $110,000

78: Troy Merritt, $110,000

79: J:T: Poston, $110,000

80: Pat Perez, $110,000

81: Bubba Watson, $110,000

82: Andrew Putnam, $110,000

83: Doug Ghim, $110,000

84: Brandon Hagy, $110,000

85: Adam Long, $110,000

86: Peter Malnati, $105,000

87: Wyndham Clark, $105,000

88: Adam Schenk, $105,000

89: Lanto Griffin, $105,000

90: Adam Scott, $105,000

91: Kramer Hickok, $105,000

92: Brian Stuard, $105,000

93: Henrik Norlander, $105,000

94: Doc Redman, $105,000

95: Brian Gay, $105,000

96: Roger Sloan, $105,000

97: Brandt Snedeker, $105,000

98: Hank Lebioda, $105,000

99: Tyler McCumber, $105,000

100: Denny McCarthy, $105,000

101: Brendon Todd, $101,000

102: Luke List, $101,000

103: Adam Hadwin, $101,000

104: Chez Reavie, $101,000

105: Brendan Steele, $101,000

106: Sepp Straka, $101,000

107: Garrick Higgo, $101,000

108: James Hahn, $101,000

109: Zach Johnson, $101,000

110: Russell Knox, $101,000

111: Matt Wallace, $101,000

112: Sam Ryder, $101,000

113: Gary Woodland, $101,000

114: Jason Day, $101,000

115: Matthew NeSmith, $101,000

116: Scott Piercy, $101,000

117: Kyle Stanley, $101,000

118: Anirban Lahiri, $101,000

119: Dylan Frittelli, $101,000

120: Richy Werenski, $101,000

121: C:T: Pan, $101,000

122: Matt Kuchar, $101,000

123: Brice Garnett, $101,000

124: Scott Stallings, $101,000

125: Chesson Hadley, $101,000

126: Justin Rose, $70,000

127: Ryan Armour, $70,000

128: Patrick Rodgers, $70,000

129: Bo Hoag, $70,000

130: Camilo Villegas, $70,000

131: Nate Lashley, $70,000

132: Michael Thompson, $70,000

133: Rory Sabbatini, $70,000

134: Rickie Fowler, $70,000

135: Cameron Percy, $70,000

136: Austin Cook, $70,000

137: Tommy Fleetwood, $70,000

138: Chase Seiffert, $70,000

139: Charles Howell III, $70,000

140: Vincent Whaley, $70,000

141: Nick Taylor, $70,000

142: Francesco Molinari, $70,000

143: Mark Hubbard, $70,000

144: Ryan Moore, $70,000

145: Michael Gligic, $70,000

146: Joseph Bramlett, $70,000

147: Bo Van Pelt, $70,000

148: Beau Hossler, $70,000

149: Vaughn Taylor, $70,000

150: Satoshi Kodaira, $70,000

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The post ‘Absolutely criminal’: The FedEx Cup format’s fatal flaw, according to Patrick Cantlay appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘Absolutely criminal’: The FedEx Cup format’s fatal flaw, according to Patrick Cantlay appeared first on Golf.

Patrick Cantlay had a lot on his mind on Wednesday, and he let it all out during his pre-tournament press conference at the 2021 Tour Championship.

Cantlay, who defeated Bryson DeChambeau in an epic playoff on Sunday to win the BMW Championship and claim the No. 1 position in the FedEx Cup standings, sounded off on who’s to blame for Bryson’s hecklers, social media, and the PGA Tour’s new PIP ranking, all of which you can read about right here.

The revealing comments were something of a surprise coming from a player the average golf fan doesn’t get to hear from all that often. And he wasn’t done there. Cantlay also offered up his strong opinion about the current format of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

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In short, your current FedEx Cup leader is not a fan of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

“I think, frankly, it’s not a good format,” Cantlay began when prompted by reporters. “I think it’s obvious why they went to the format because the previous format was confusing. I think this format is less confusing. But I don’t think it’s a good format.”

Cantlay’s primary beef with the playoffs involves the Tour Championship, and the fact that when the format was shaken up after 2018, there was no longer a true winner of the season finale. Instead, players are given starting scores based on their FedEx Cup ranking (Cantlay starts this year’s event at 10 under), and whoever ends up with the lowest score-to-par wins the tournament and the FedEx Cup.

“I dislike the fact that we no longer have a Tour Champion. So I dislike the fact that no one knows, when they look at the leaderboard, who shot the lowest round this week,” Cantlay explained.

He used the example of the 2020 Tour Championship to make his point. Last year, Xander Schauffele shot the lowest score over four days at East Lake, 265. Dustin Johnson shot a 269. But DJ started at 10 under, and Xander at three under, so Johnson claimed the win, and Schauffele dropped to third.

“I think the fact that Xander didn’t get a tournament win for beating the field by two or three shots is absolutely criminal, not just because he’s my friend, but I think that if that happened to anybody that would be criminal,” Cantlay said, “And there has to be a better solution.”

Cantlay just might be on to something. For another good example of the unintended consequences of the new format, you just have to look at the 2018 Tour Championship, the final one played under the old format. Back then, Tiger Woods shocked the world by claiming his first PGA Tour win in over five years. But because Tiger didn’t rack up enough points during the regular season (he was 20th to start the Tour Championship), the FedEx Cup trophy went to Justin Rose.

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Had the tournament been played under the new format, Tiger wouldn’t have completed his comeback or captured his 80th Tour victory.

However, a grand solution to the FedEx Cup Playoff format is not easy to come by, as Cantlay admitted on Wednesday.

“I am not a mastermind on golf formats and there are lots of moving parts, so I’m not saying that I have the answer,” he said. “There are lots of smart people and I guarantee you there must be an option for a better format out there than the current one we are playing in.”

He continued, “With that said, I am going to do the best possible job I can at winning in this format because that’s all I can do. And in no way will that take, impact my ability to perform in this format. I think if you play the best golf this week, you’re going to be in a great spot by the end of the week.”

Indeed, if Cantlay is able to play his best this week, he’ll win both the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup, along with the $15 million winner’s prize.

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As you’re watching the storm-delayed conclusion of The Northern Trust on Monday, the first event of the 2021 FedEx Cup Playoffs, you might find yourself asking a simple question: how exactly do the FedEx Cup Playoffs work?

The format of the playoffs has changed multiple times over the years, so it can all be quite confusing to even a loyal PGA Tour fan. If you find yourself in that group, we’re here to help. Here’s everything you need to know about the FedEx Cup Playoffs format.

2021 FedEx Cup Playoffs format

The latest FedEx Cup Playoffs system first debuted in 2019. With the changes, the playoffs were reduced from four tournaments to three.

All season long, players are awarded FedEx Cup points based on their performance in official PGA Tour events (for example, a regular Tour event typically awards 500 points to the winner.)

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The Top 125 players in FedEx Cup standings at the end of the regular season-ending Wyndham Championship qualified for the first playoff event: this week’s Northern Trust at Liberty National, while those outside of the Top 125 headed home or to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

The Top 70 in the standings at the completion of the Northern Trust move on to next week’s BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland.

FedEx Cup points awarded at the Northern Trust and BMW are far higher than regular-season events, with the winner receiving 2000 points. In this way, performance in the playoffs is weighted more heavily than in normal events.

Once the BMW is complete, the Top 30 in the standings get to move on to the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.

How the Tour Championship works

The FedEx Cup standings are then used to set starting positions at the Tour Championship for the 30 players that make it that far. No. 1 in the standings begins the Tour Championship at 10 under, No. 2 at eight under, and so on. Players ranked 26-30 start the finale at even par. Once that is done, the standings and point system are abandoned, and whoever finishes with the lowest score to par wins the FedEx Cup and its $15 million bonus.

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Subpar’s Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by 5-time PGA Tour Winner Billy Horschel who explains the putting tweak he made that helped earn him a 10 million dollar pay day.

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On a special edition of GOLF’s Subpar, former PGA Tour pro Colt Knost and his close friend and on course rival Drew Stoltz breakdown the Tour Championship and take a look back at the rest of the 2019-2020 FedEx Cup Playoffs.

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