Jordan Spieth has hinted that a change to the format of the Tour Championship could be in the offing.
The East Lake tournament concludes the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs. The current format sees players given a starting score based on their position in the FedEx standings ahead of the tournament. For example, in 2024 the player at the top of the standings, Scottie Scheffler, began with a two-stroke lead over second-placed Scottie Scheffler. However, it has divided opinion.
The format was introduced in 2019 to try and provide drama and captivate television audiences, but it has led to criticism from some, including Scheffler, who described it as “silly” and argued it wasn’t representative of the work put in over the season.
Spieth, who is appearing in the Cognizant Classic for the first time in his career this week, does so after attending the latest PGA Tour policy board meeting. Spieth had been a player director, but the role has now been handed to Camilo Villegas, with the three-time Major winner present to “get through the governance for Camilo.”
Even with less say on matters than previously, Spieth hinted that he's aware a change could be coming - although he stressed no final decision had been reached.
He said: “We've had a couple different iterations of it. In the first iteration, I think the push-back was, whoever it was, didn't want two different champions; it was confusing, on the same green.
“Then you go to the stroke format, and although easier to follow, I think the idea is the Tour, the networks, and from polling fans, I think that they believe there's a possibility of a better format, whether that involves any kind of head-to-head matches, it involves less guys on Sunday all playing for it. I think everything is pretty much on the table, and I'm not sure what they've narrowed it down to since.”
In January, The Athletic reported that the Tour Championship format could change, with a match play-style format among the possibilities being considered.
That was not met with enthusiasm by one of the PGA Tour player directors, Adam Scott, who told Golfweek’s Adam Schupak: “You'd have to kind of sell me on that just a little more.”
Golfweek also reported that there was growing support among players for a format that would see the Tour Championship shifted to Wednesday until Saturday (with triple the FedEx Cup points) and a standalone winner. The top eight would then advance to a strokeplay shootout on Sunday to decide who wins the FedEx Cup.
With Spieth no longer involved in the decision-making, he is free to concentrate on building his game back up after a spell out last year following wrist surgery. He returned to action with a T69 at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, before finishing T4 at the WM Phoenix Open and missing the cut at the Genesis Invitational.
Looking ahead, Spieth said the goal is to play as many hard courses as possible, beginning with PGA National, before building towards April’s Masters.
He said: “It was really nice to get back and then even to get into contention one week. So my goal now, as we look towards the Masters, is to try to play difficult golf courses and work my way into contention and just see what I can improve upon by the time we get to Augusta.”
