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World No 1 Scottie Scheffler has questioned the “silly” format for the FedExCup Playoffs and whether it is the right way to determine the season-long winner on the PGA Tour.
Only the top 70 in the season-long standings get to qualify for the FedEx St Jude Championship, the first of three FedExCup Playoffs and live from Thursday on Sky Sports Golf, with the top 50 then progressing to the BMW Championship the following week.
The top 30 then qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake, where the FedExCup leader begins the week on 10 under and a starting strokes system is used based on where a player is in the standings.
Scheffler has gone into the Tour Championship top of the standings the past two seasons but failed to go on to win the FedExCup, having lost out to Rory McIlroy on the final day in 2022 before Viktor Hovland finished in top spot last season.
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Highlights from the fourth round of the 2023 Tour Championship, where Viktor Hovland topped the season-long standings.
“I think it’s silly,” Scheffler said ahead of the FedEx St Jude Championship. “You can’t call it a season-long race and have it come down to one tournament.
“Hypothetically we get to East Lake and my neck flares up and it doesn’t heal the way it did at The Players, I finish 30th in the FedExCup because I had to withdraw from the last tournament? Is that really the season-long race? No. It is what it is.
“It’s a fun tournament. I don’t really consider it the season-long race like I think the way it’s called. But you’ve got to figure out a way to strike a balance between it being a good TV product and it still being a season-long race.
“Right now, I don’t know exactly how the ratings are or anything like that, but I know for a fact you can’t really quite call it the season-long race when it comes down to one stroke-play tournament on the same golf course each year.”
Scheffler heads into the Playoffs with a commanding lead at the top of the FedExCup standings over Xander Schauffele and McIlroy, chasing a record fourth FedExCup title, having won six times on the PGA Tour in 2024 alongside his dramatic Olympic success.
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Rory McIlroy is ready to push for a big finish to the PGA Tour season after missing out at the US Open and discusses what exactly he will need to do to achieve it.
Quadruple points on offer at the first two Playoff events may change Scheffler’s position before the Tour Championship, with the reigning Masters champion insisting he will look back at the season positively even if he misses out on FedExCup victory for a third successive year.
“I try not to think too much about the results at tournaments and I’m not going to look back on my season really any differently if I don’t win East Lake,” Scheffler added. “I’m going to show up there, do my best.
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Watch the story of Scottie Scheffler’s final round at The Masters, where he secured the Green Jacket for a second time in three years
“I’ve been No. 1 the last two years going into the tournament. Went in 2022 having a really great chance to win and wasn’t able to pull it off, and last year really just playing poorly pretty much the entire week.
“I’ve had close calls there, and I’m looking forward to the challenge of going back there and playing with the lead again. We’ll see what happens. Those guys could catch me in these next couple weeks. But I’m looking forward to hopefully fending them off and going into East Lake with a lead.”
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McIlroy sees positives in FedExCup format
McIlroy won the 2016 FedExCup with Tour Championship victory under the old format, where the tournament and the season-long standings were two separate rewards, then was the first winner under the new system in 2019 before claiming a record third FedExCup victory in 2022.
“I love this format because if it wasn’t this format, then none of us would have a chance against Scottie because he’s so far ahead,” McIlroy said. “I think it makes the Tour Championship more exciting from a consumer standpoint.
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The best of the action from the final round of the 2022 Tour Championship, where Rory McIlroy prevailed in a final-round tussle with Scottie Scheffler.
“Is it the fairest reflection of who’s been the best player of the year? Probably not. But I think at this point we’re not in for totally fair, we’re in for entertainment and for trying to put on the best product we possibly can.
“Yeah, the first year that it was the starting strokes at Tour Championship in 2019, I was able to win that one, and then in ’22 again. I like this format. It sort of feels like it’s a bit of a reset after the regular season. Everyone is not quite on a level playing field, but it feels a little more like that.”
Watch the FedEx St Jude Championship live from Thursday at 1.15pm on Sky Sports+ and 5pm on Sky Sports Golf. Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
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