Regardless that the 2025 PGA Tour season has solely simply begun in Maui, the eye of the golf world instantly turned to the Tour Championship — the ultimate occasion of the yr.
Gabby Herzig of The Athletic revealed on Friday that the tour goals to overtake the Tour Championship right into a bracket-style occasion, a stark departure from the “Beginning Strokes” format at present utilized at East Lake. Her report additionally famous that officers are weighing each stroke play and match play as choices whereas contemplating the opportunity of gamers incomes a “bye” primarily based on their FedEx Cup positioning forward of the season finale.
The present iteration of the format is a polarizing subject amongst gamers, notably Scottie Scheffler, who has referred to as it “foolish” previously. The present format employs a “handicap-like” system, which awards strokes to gamers relying on their FedEx Cup rating upon arrival in Atlanta. The highest-ranked participant begins at 10-under, whereas the second-ranked participant begins at 8-under. Whoever arrives in Atlanta ranked third within the standings begins the match at 7-under, the fourth at 6-under, and the fifth at 5-under. These between sixth and tenth within the rankings start at 4-under, and so forth, whereas gamers ranked between twenty sixth and thirtieth begin at even par. You get the purpose.
But, this format doesn’t create a lot drama or permit many gamers to maneuver up the leaderboard. Scheffler dominated the Tour Championship this previous yr, turning the ultimate 36 holes right into a coronation for his historic season moderately than a dramatic golf match, which followers wish to see. He began with a two-shot cushion at 10-under and held a seven-shot lead by the top of spherical one. It was all however over by then.
Therefore, we have now a perfect resolution that can enhance the finale. It includes stroke play, match play, and byes.
Tour Championship Bracket Format:
The highest 30 gamers within the FedEx Cup standings will nonetheless make their approach to East Lake. However the eight gamers who sit atop the rankings will obtain a bye immediately into the Spherical of 16. Utilizing the 2024 rankings as a information, these eight gamers would earn a bye:
1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Xander Schauffele
3. Hideki Matsuyama
4. Keegan Bradley
5. Ludvig Åberg
6. Rory McIlroy
7. Collin Morikawa
8. Wyndham Clark
All eight gamers had terrific 2024 campaigns, so that they deserved a reward for his or her beautiful play. They’re additionally the whos-who of the PGA Tour, every being fairly widespread past {the golfing} world. Tv rankings often soar when widespread gamers are concerned, so having these eight gamers immediately go to the Spherical of 16 would assist improve the published over the weekend. Sponsors would even be delighted to know that the likes of Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy could be part of the story on Saturday and Sunday, presumably vying for a FedEx Cup title.
However what in regards to the different 22 gamers?
On Thursday of Tour Championship week, the underside 22 gamers within the standings will vie for the 16 spots within the first spherical of the bracket. They’ll play one 18-hole stroke play spherical to find out who advances, which means the underside six gamers from this spherical will head residence early. That may create some drama, not not like what unfolds round a Friday reduce, proper?
On condition that 22 is an excellent quantity, the tour will ship out 11 teams of twosomes throughout this spherical.
The 16 gamers who advance will then sq. off towards one another, primarily based on how they completed within the stroke play qualifier. The bottom rating will earn the ninth seed, the second lowest rating will obtain the tenth seed, whereas the third finest will get the eleventh, and so forth. The Sixteenth-best rating will grow to be the twenty fourth seed and can face the ninth seed in match play. The winner of that match would then advance to play the eighth seed within the Spherical of 16.
Right here’s how First Spherical matches would appear like, that are primarily based on the FedEx Cup standings after this previous yr’s BMW Championship:
9. Sam Burns vs 24. Matthieu Pavon (Winner performs 8. Wyndham Clark)
10. Patrick Cantlay vs. 23. Sepp Straka (Winner performs 7. Collin Morikawa)
11. Sungjae Im vs. 22. Tommy Fleetwood (Winner performs 6. Rory McIlroy)
12. Sahith Theegala vs. 21. Billy Horschel (Winner performs 5. Ludvig Åberg)
13. Shane Lowry vs. 20. Robert MacIntyre (Winner performs 4. Keegan Bradley)
14. Adam Scott vs. 19. Akshay Bhatia (Winner performs 3. Hideki Matsuyama)
15. Tony Finau vs. 18. Russell Henley (Winner performs 2. Xander Schauffele)
16. Byeong Hun An vs. 17. Viktor Hovland (Winner performs 1. Scottie Scheffler)
Every of those matches would have some juice and entertain followers worldwide. However listed here are the six gamers who did not qualify for the 24-man bracket below this hypothetical:
25. Taylor Pendrith
26. Chris Kirk
27. Tom Hoge
28. Aaron Rai
29. Christiaan Bezuidenhout
30. Justin Thomas
Whoever wins their opening match then advances to the Spherical of 16, the place the highest 8 gamers within the standings enter the fray. From there, it’s a battle to the end, a match-play bracket that determines the FedEx Cup Champion, not not like what sports activities followers see yearly in March Insanity.
Better of all, match play is so unpredictable — just like the NCAA Match — so who is aware of how the Tour Championship would end using this format. Would Scheffler get the job performed? Or might somebody like Viktor Hovland, who, together with Ludvig Åberg, famously defeated Scheffler and Brooks Koepka by a historic margin on the 2023 Ryder Cup, knock off the top-ranked participant and go on a historic run to the title? That’s the enjoyable component of this concept: you could possibly have the pre-tournament favourite stave off the competitors or see a Cinderella dance their approach to victory.
As for the order of play, the schedule would appear like this:
Thursday: 18-hole Qualifier (Backside 22 gamers vie for 16 spots in bracket)
Friday: Spherical 1 of Match Play (Seeds 9 by way of 24)
Saturday Morning: Spherical of 16 of Match Play (Prime 8 seeds now play)
Saturday Afternoon: Quarterfinal Spherical of 8
Sunday Morning: Semifinal Matches
Sunday Afternoon: Ultimate Match
What do you make of this concept? It sounds significantly better than the present “Beginning Strokes” format, proper? Tell us your ideas within the feedback.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By means of. Observe him on X @jack_milko.