By Gabby Herzig
The PGA Tour is in advanced discussions to revamp the Tour Championship format into a bracket-style event, according to people briefed on the matter. The championship, the culmination of the official PGA Tour season and the three-event FedEx Cup playoffs, could be reimagined as early as this year, if ongoing conversations with player directors, TV partners and corporate sponsors continue as planned.
The sources, granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the tour is eyeing a bracket-style format with head-to-head play — a structure familiar to most sports fans because of the NCAA basketball tournaments and College Football Playoff. Both stroke play and match play are being discussed as options, with the possibility of players earning a “bye” based on their FedExCup points heading into the season finale.
If format changes are enacted for the 2025 season, the 30-man field and tournament dates (Aug. 21-24) will remain unchanged. But long-term planning for the event could involve an even more significant evolution.
A source said the TV broadcast could be adapted for a bracket-style format relatively easily. NBC, set to broadcast the 2025 Tour Championship, has experience broadcasting non-traditional golf events, including the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and NCAA golf championship.
The current iteration of the Tour Championship hasn’t necessarily struck a chord with golf fans, leading to calls for the event’s makeover. The convoluted format and scheduling conflicts against the start of the NFL season have proven to be major issues. That’s why a unique twist, such as a match or stroke play bracket, with an added level of suspense and more potential storylines, has been floated by influential voices in the golf industry for several years.
The current Tour Championship format debuted in 2019, when the “starting strokes” model was first introduced. Top players in the FedEx Cup ranking are given a scoring advantage — effectively, a “handicap” or head start as a reward for season-long play. First place in the FedExCup points system begins the event at 10-under-par, second starts at 8-under, third at 7-under, and so on.
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This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.
