FedEx Cup: PGA Tour announces Tour Championship revamp for 2019

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan unveiled a string of changes on Tuesday that go into place next year and are created to simplify the playoff system, ending with the Tour Championship at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta with the $15 million finale. Then they showed us the data on how many people understand it, especially golf fans versus non-golf fans.

The adjustments coincide with the Tour's significant changes to the schedule, which now will see the season conclude before Labor Day to escape the looming shadows of the NFL, MLB and college football.

On Sunday night a golfing millionaire will be ten million dollars richer as the FedEx Cup is wrapped up for another year at the Tour Championship.

The Associated Press reported on the format changes for the Tour Championship three weeks ago, and players have been mulling over them.

Instead of a points reset at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, beginning with the 2018-19 event the TOUR is instituting a strokes-based bonus system related to the FedExCup standings through the BMW Championship.

The next five players will tee off at four-under, regressing by one stroke for every five players until those ranked 26-30 start at even par.

"We now have a single leaderboard", said Andy Pazder, the tour's chief of operations. "So we wanted it to be something that our players embraced and fully supported". "So every viewer, every spectator and every player on the golf course will know precisely where they stand at any moment".

A three-times victor this season, Thomas worked only on his short game during the week off following his share of 12th place at the season's penultimate event.

Johnson, dealing with some off-the-course controversy, has just one top 10 since the end of July, while Thomas has the chance to rise to No. 1 in the world and the FedEx Cup standings this week.

Bill Haas at No. 25 had the lowest seed of any FedEx Cup victor when he won in 2011. Yet at the same time, we wanted to retain much of what we'e built over the previous 11 or 12 years, which is a system that identifies a player who's had a great year. He won the Tour Championship before in 2016 and finished tied for second in 2014.

Each player in the top 10 will be invited into Wyndham Rewards at its most exclusive Diamond level.

Among the noteworthy changes, the PGA Tour will trim the playoffs to three events and cut the field from 125 players to 70 after the Northern Trust and entering the Dell Technologies Championship. Xander Schauffele held on to win the tournament, but Justin Thomas took the FedEx Cup trophy to cap a breakout season. The leader will earn $2 million, followed by $1.5 million for the runner-up with the 10-place finisher earning $500,000.

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All of which makes Tuesday morning's announcement at PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. seem all the more radical.

Still to be determined is how the Official World Golf Ranking will distribute points when the victor might not have the lowest score for the week.

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